December
2005
OFFCIAL OPENING OF THE AREA
49 SECTOR 7 HOUSING PROJECT
Speech by Chairman, Board
of Trustees, CCODE
Mtafu A. Zeleza Manda
Hon Bazuka Mhango, Minister for Lands, Housing, physical Planning
and Surveys, MP Hon Bonface Kadzamira MP for Area 49 which part
of Lilongwe City Central Chief Executive, Lilongwe
City,
Prof Donton Mkandawire Principal Secretary for Lands, Mr Mkondiwa
Ladies and Gentlemen
Honourable Minister, welcome
to Area 49 Sector 7. On 3rd October the World Habitat
Day, when you were touring the areas within the vicinity,
the construction of these houses was underway. The federation
members had expected that you would visit them just as you
visited other areas. They
were worried and thought that their initiative was not being
recognised by Government, by the Minister for Housing, and
for that matter on World Habitat Day.
That you have accepted to witness this occasion today
makes them happy and proud.
Honorable Minister, the
purpose of CCODE has been explained already by representatives
of federations. As
an NGO CCODE supports the federations so that they can reach
out to policy makers and planners. Since its formation in 2003, We have federations
in all the major urban areas and in some district centres
. Total membership is nearly 30,000. One federation may comprise
up to 70 people in one neighbourhood. These communities come
together to find lasting solutions to their housing problems
and poverty. They are assisted by CCODE trustees and staff
members.
The Trustees are:
| Mtafu Manda |
Alma Consultancy |
Land and housing |
| Linda Milazi |
Consultant Hydrologists |
water and environmental sanitation |
| Chimwemwe Thole |
Secretary
MRTTP |
Income generating activities |
| Esmie Kainja |
Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare
and Community Services |
Community
mobilisation /gender/HIV-Aids |
| Mike Moyo |
Gitec Consult, P O Box 30725, Lilongwe
3 |
|
| Mrs Jumbe |
Peacock Investments, P O Box 2218, Lilongwe |
Finance and administration |
| Sr Margaret Lupiya |
Medical Missions Sisters, P O Box 30214, Lilongwe |
Now out of Malawi |
Honourable Minister, although
the trustees are doing something to make things move for the
NGO, what you are witnessing today could not be realised without
the support and understanding of institutions and individuals.
I would like to mention
here that we have had strong support from your PS, Mr Mkondiwa.
Federation members are aware that Principal secretaries are
high ranking officials in government and accessibility to
them can be arduous. But, Mr Mkondiwa is so accommodating
that he does not mind seeing a mob of federation members at
Zowe House making demands directly to him. I had ample knowledge
of how the government operates. If it was other PSs, they
should have asked for appointments or made so many postponements,
just to avoid meeting poor people; people in bare feet. Hon
Minister, the PS indicated at one meeting that your ministry
would draft a MOU to guide the relationship with CCODE on
behalf of federations. We are looking forward to the document.
Hon minister, I should also
thank the Chief Executive of Lilongwe City, Prof Mkandawire,
and his director of Planning, Mr Mpoola for allocating the
parcel of land to the federation members .
We have 222 housing plots here.
The roads you see were also
developed by the City of Lilongwe.
More important here is that
the City accepted our request to reduce the standard plot
sizes to accommodate more members and meet the requirement
of the urban poor. The plots sizes are between 150 square
m and 200 sq m.
I also want to thank Hon
Boniface Kadzamira who is MP for this area. This man is practising
politics of development. He has tirelessly worked with all
federation members who are from various political parties.
I only hope that Hon Kadzamira will continue that way
I would fail in my duty
if I forget the support and encouragement from SDI, WaterAid
Malawi , DED Malawi
and others. Such support has been moral, financial and material.
We want to thank them most sincerely.
Honorable Minister, housing
provision is one of the missions of your ministry. I and every
body else recognise the difficult task it is to provide adequate
housing for the Malawians. The government does not have adequate
resources. One way to meet the people’s needs is to harness
their own potential. The federation members contribute K20
monthly to their Mchenga Fund. The members then get loans
from the fund for repayment in 3-5 years. These houses are
a result of Mchenga Fund loans. I would like to inform you
Sir, that when we did test case loans, repayments were 100%.
The individuals get loans and the groups are collaterals.
This assures the repayments.
When we were launching the
project in September and before, I had the difficult task
of proving theoretically that through this initiative the
urban poor can provide housing for themselves. I was trying
to prove that if land is delivered the urban poor can develop
houses in line with your ministry’s policy and the City of
Lilongwe Urban plans. All
they require is support. I
as a physical planner, can say that my friends both from your
ministry and from Lilongwe City were very sceptical. At times I and
Mrs Nkhoma were becoming frustrated.
Today, I do not have to
explain much, but to point to the houses, houses built on
planned land, houses built on land allocated officially. We
want through CCODE to show that the poor can build houses
for themselves. We also want to show that it is not necessary
to invade land. The City Assembly can provide land for legal
housing. To all others witnessing the launch what you see
today is meant to show that an alternative mechanism
to land delivery exists. The authorities are ready to work
with communities that are organised. Once more we thank the
City of Lilongwe
for the understanding they have for the plight of the poor
in the City.
Honourable minister, to
assist you deliver housing to the people of Malawi,
we need more land in Lilongwe
City, we need land in Blantyre
City, we need land
in Mzuzu City,
we need land in Zomba
Municipality,
we need land in town assemblies and district centres. I know
your ministry has the land. Please do not delay.
The urban population of
Malawi is growing
very rapidly. Malawi
is presently the fastest urbanising country in the world followed
only by Bhutan and Uganda. Malawi’s urbanisation is about 6.3
% per year.
Hon Minister, when we see
the weak and poor invade land, they are not deliberate criminals.
Those people are tired of rents. Those people are tired of
being on the waiting list. Those people are tired of promises.
At the breaking of the ground ceremony I made a request Sir,
that if these points do not give adequate answers to the issues
of squatting, the Town and Country Planning Act mandates your
office to institute studies. This is one area that you need
informed advice. One of the issues likely to emerge is about
delay in land delivery. A person waits too long to be allocated
a plot, and when it has been allocated there are so many encumbrances
before it can be developed. For the urban poor all these add
up to costs.
I am informed that your Ministry is
in the process of developing a housing policy. Sir, that policy
will not make sense if it does not include a chapter on housing
for the urban poor. The policy must address the issues of
informal settlements, the issues of housing finance. We want
to see something like a Malawi Urban Housing Fund- if it reaches
K5 billion, the better. Please let cabinet discuss this issue.
It is only Malawi
that has no national allocation of funds for addressing urban
housing problems. We
know your ministry has rural housing programme. Your ministry
gives the impression there is an urban housing programme for
the country. Housing is not just a need, but also a right.
When we launched the project here,
I mentioned that these federations are attracting more and
more people. I want to repeat the invitation of other NGOs
to the housing sector. Presently I know only Habitat for Humanity
as the other NGO in the sector.
Sir, one of the MDGs is about improving
lives of people in slums or informal settlements. Two major
approaches are advocated to realise this goal. One is what
you are witnessing today- the construction of houses for the
urban poor on virgin land. The other approach is to upgrade
existing informal settlements. Sir, some if not most of the
squatter settlements are on land controlled by your ministry.
Something should be done. I know you might transfer the squatter
areas to the City, but that is not sustainable. By allocating
this land to federation members the City has shown its commitment
to the MDGs. They have done this before in several locations.
The city has provided nearly 26,000 plots to the public, of
which 3000 plots were provided in nine new THA normal estates,
1500 plots in THA basic scheme, 12000 plots in THA layout
scheme and 6000 plots in upgraded areas.
However, the problem is huge. You are
aware that 34% of people in Lilongwe
( nearly 240, 000) live in informal or squatter settlements.
The government and the City of Lilongwe
may not have adequate resources. The support being given to
communities to help themselves is therefore commendable and
should be followed by other urban assemblies.
Lastly Hon Minister, in Malawi the household
size is estimated at 5. This means that with 222 plots over
1100 people are to benefit. There are over 240,000 people
who need to upgrade their houses in Lilongwe
alone. And the population is increasing. I plead with you
to take measures so that the housing problem does not worsen.
As I said last time Lilongwe City
has land to accommodate its citizens comfortably. Your Ministry
has land to address the problem. Your Ministry also has authority
to do this. Why are you waiting for problems to compound?
Thanks you for your attention.
Mtafu A. Zeleza Manda
Chairman, Board of Trustees, CCODE
