By Isaac Salima and Patience Lunda:
Some property owners in Blantyre and Mzuzu cities have raised concern over Blantyre City Council (BCC) and Mzuzu City Council (MCC)’s decision to raise city rates.
BCC has announced an upward adjustment of property values effective April 1, 2025.
A statement signed by the council’s chief executive officer Dennis Chinseu indicates that residential property levies have been revised by 0.00127 (which means 10 percent) of the total value of the property while for commercial property, the rate has been revised to 0.00324 ( about 35 percent).
The development means owners of residential and commercial property would be paying a leg just to continue owning such property.
Representing the business community, Abbas Panjwani said the hike would punish innocent people.
“At a time when businesses are already grappling with rising operational costs, inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty, a hike in property rates will only add to their financial strain. This burden will be particularly severe for small and medium-size enterprises, potentially leading to job losses, reduced investment and, in some cases, business closure— ultimately hindering the city’s economic growth,” he said.
Other property owners described the move as a slap in their face, saying Malawians are already struggling to afford basic necessities in the midst of an errant inflation rate.
“However, property owners have already been complaining about very high city rates; that the last Quinquennial valuation exercise was not done well and that objections to the valuers so inserted were not exhausted. Instead of dealing with the queries, the council proceeds to increase the rates further, thereby contributing to the rise of the cost of living in the city. All this is being done when there are complaints of poor service delivery and the general state of public infrastructure in the city is at its lowest standard.
WAWANYA— Why not increase the tax base“There is also the issue that it is the same property owners that bear the blunt of this increase. Why not increase the tax base by including areas that are outside the city boundary (peri-urban) such as Mpemba, Chileka, Ngumbe, Lunzu, etc, into the city so that they become rateable. Such a move [changing the rate in Kwacha] is insensitive and politically naive in that at a time the government is trying hard to lower inflation, an arm of the same government is doing the opposite,” said G.M. Wawanya.
Mike Mangwanya, who owns a commercial building in Blantyre, said the adjustment was poorly timed.
“We are complaining about rising commodity prices and this means that landlords and landladies will have to increase their rentals and Malawians who have no property will be at the receiving end of all this,” he said.
However, Chinseu defended the move, sa
