Court orders eviction of Kanengo Northgate estate encroachers

High Court of Malawi Judge Howard Pemba has ordered sheriffs to evict hundreds of people who encroached Kanengo Northgate project premises and erected permanent structures, disrupting plans by developer GM Properties (GMP) Ltd.

The order comes after the judge on November 8 2024 ruled that the land title number Alimaunde 26/5 belongs to GM Properties with a lease of 199 years granted in late 2005.

Luwa: GM Properties own the land. | Nation

In the latest ruling, Pemba also found that people from Kwindanguwo Village were duly compensated and that their clinging to the land is blatantly disobeying the court order.

Said the judge: “We command you to enter on property title number Alimaunde 26/5 [Kwindanguwo Village] situated within the district of Lilongwe and take possession thereof, deliver the same to the claimant in order to maintain the status quo as sought by the order herein dated 8th November, 2024 plus recover your costs of execution of this order from the defendants.”

The judgement also shows that some villagers from Kwindanguwo area were compensated and needed to move out of the place, but that those from Kuliyani were yet to be compensated; hence, could only move after that was done.

One of the respondents in Civil Cause Number 60 of 2024, Watipaso Mzungu, said in an interview yesterday that they are waiting for the company to assess and make compensations.

“The court determined that those who have not received compensation, like myself from Kuliyani Village, need to be given that. We are waiting for GMP Ltd to come and do that,” he said.

Documentation The Nation has seen shows that in 2007, GMP Ltd engaged Shelter Afrique, a property development subsidiary of African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance a pilot housing project for the first 20 houses.

Shelter Afrique provided $1.2 million, with GMP co-financing about an additional 20 percent of the project in developing the infrastructure for the project and the whole land was used as collateral for the loan.

Lawyer for GMP Ltd, Jefferson Luwa said in an interview yesterday that nine houses were taken up by buyers, but deposits were made into an escrow bank account which Shelter Afrique controlled.

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