READ BELOW THE STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING – CENTRAL HOUSING AND PLANNING AUTHORITY (CH&PA):
The Ministry of Housing – Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) categorically rejects as erroneous, grossly misleading and without basis the assertion by Kisskadee that President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has “bought” approximately 182 acres of land at Plantation Onderneeming.
Read more: CH&PA REJECTS FALSE AND MISLEADING CLAIMS ON ONDERNEEMING LANDS
This claim is demonstrably false and represents a fundamental misinterpretation of Order No. 180 of 2026 and the legal process being undertaken.
It should be stated that the lands identified in the Order are Government lands held under Transport No.130 of 1876. There has been no personal purchase or acquisition of these lands by President Ali.
Order No. 180 of 2026 represents the first step in bringing the identified lands under the Land Registration system, thereby facilitating the legal processes necessary for Certificates of Title to ultimately be granted to beneficiaries.
The President, as the Minister responsible, is authorised to sign the Order. His execution of the Order is therefore an exercise of his official statutory responsibility and must not be misrepresented as evidence that he personally purchased or acquired the lands.
The two parcels identified in the Order serve specific housing purposes.
Parcel 936, comprising approximately 26.8526 acres, is a regularised area occupied by informal settlers. Bringing this area under the Land Registration system will advance the process through which eligible residents can obtain Certificates of Title, thereby providing them with security of tenure and legal ownership of the lands they occupy.
Parcel 1793, comprising approximately 155.126 acres and formerly identified as Block “CHPA 3”, is a new housing development. The land-registration process is therefore necessary to facilitate the eventual issuance of Certificates of Title to beneficiaries within that development.
Against these facts, the assertion that President Ali “bought” the approximately 182 acres is not merely an inaccurate description of the Order; it creates a completely false impression of a personal land transaction where none exists.
The lands are Government-owned, the Order is part of a statutory land-registration process, and its purpose is directly connected to housing development and providing beneficiaries with secure ownership documents.
It is therefore particularly troubling that Kisskadee would take a legal and administrative process intended to provide citizens with security of tenure and facilitate housing development and portray it as the President personally acquiring almost 182 acres of land.
There is absolutely no basis for such a claim.
The Ministry and CH&PA call on Kisskadee to immediately correct the false and misleading impression created by its article and to exercise greater care in interpreting statutory instruments before publishing assertions concerning the ownership and disposition of public lands.
The public deserves factual and responsible reporting, particularly on matters concerning land ownership and housing. To suggest that the President personally purchased Government lands when he was exercising his authority as the responsible Minister in furtherance of the land-registration process is reckless, misleading and wholly unacceptable.
