Africa-Press – Malawi. Lilongwe’s poshest government houses are already being lined up for sale to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) insiders, with one ex-minister overheard boasting that the deals will be sealed “the moment APM is sworn in.”
The remark, made ahead of Tuesday’s elections, has fueled fears of a fresh asset-grabbing spree if former president Peter Mutharika makes a comeback. The properties being targeted include ministerial mansions in Areas 10, 12 and 43—some of the most exclusive addresses in the capital.
Party sources say senior figures in the DPP never forgave Mutharika for failing to sign off on a plan to sell nearly 30 government houses to Cabinet Ministers in 2019. He had allegedly promised to approve the sales after the elections, but the deals collapsed when the courts annulled the results and the party lost the Fresh Presidential Elections.
Ironically, Mutharika himself is rumoured to have acquired two government homes at bargain prices—one in Area 10 and another in Blantyre—while serving as a minister under his late brother’s administration. His running mate is also said to have benefited from a similar deal.
At a recent rally in the Northern Region, Mutharika even joked about buying a house in Mzuzu if he wins, with insiders claiming the old mayor’s residence is already on the shopping list.
Critics warn that the DPP appears ready to revive its old playbook. During its last term, senior party figures were accused of grabbing government houses and even tractors at knock-down prices, and in 2019, plans to sell MRA staff homes to DPP loyalists were only shelved after public outrage.
Officials at the Office of the President and Cabinet had previously halted house sales in 2013, citing the risk of leaving civil servants without accommodation close to Capitol Hill and State House during national emergencies.
Today, nearly half of the government-owned homes in Lilongwe’s prime areas are reportedly already in the hands of DPP officials and cadets who bought them cheaply between 2004 and 2012. One senior OPC source now warns that if Mutharika returns, “the remaining stock could vanish within a year.”
With such boasts circulating, the battle inside the DPP appears less about policies for Malawians—and more about who gets the keys to the country’s most coveted taxpayer-funded mansions.
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