Ministry of Lands says it has committed to settle K121 million rental arrears for the building housing the Office of the Ombudsman in Lilongwe, thereby saving the office from eviction.

Ministry of Lands spokesperson Enoch Chingoni said the issue was resolved and government has committed to pay the outstanding bill and arrears dating back to 2020.

At the helm: Ombudsman Grace Malera

The development followed revelations by Nation Online on Friday that owners of St. Martin’s House, which houses the

Office of the Ombudsman, had asked government to pay the rentals within seven days from last Monday or face eviction and seizure of property.

Chingoni confirmed receiving the warning from the property owners and said a payment had been prepared and would be credited to the landlord’s account.

On why government has not been paying rentals since 2020, he said the delay was due to transfer of tenancy agreement as well as the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (Ifmis), the government’s electronic payment platform.

Chingoni said: “The delay was caused by the transfer of tenancy agreement from St. Martin’s to Episcopal Conference of Malawi and due to the introduction of new payment management system, Ifmis, the landlord was required to register with

PPDA [Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority], so the process delayed the payment. Now the process is concluded, payment will be made a indicated.”

Reads the letter from property managers: “This notice serves to remind you that in accordance with youragreement of lease, your rental and other charges are payable at the beginning of every half year.

“You have failed to timely effect payment amounting to K121 270 577.89 due for the period January 2021 to December 2021, January 2022 to June 2022 and 2020 arrears, which has been outstanding for a long time.

“You are accordingly in breach of the terms of your agreement of lease and we are demanding full payment of the outstanding amount of K121 270 577.89 within seven days from the day you receive this letter. Also be advised that unless payment of the aforesaid sum is received at our offices within the next seven days (7) from the day of this letter, we will be left with no option but to close the offices on 18th March 2022.”

In the last two years, the Office of the Ombudsman has had its offices sealed for failure to pay rentals, a development that affects operations.

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