Students from Maranatha Boys Academy are being temporarily kept at White House lodge in Blantyre after sheriffs closed their Matindi campus over rental disagreement with the landlord.
The development follows Friday’s incident where sheriffs evicted students and other members of staff out of Maranatha Boys Academy, Matindi campus as the landlord Elvis Nserebo is claiming K35 million rental balances.
It is reported that Nselebo and Maranatha Academy authorities agreed that Maranatha will pay K240 million as rent for a period of 10 years, a thing which according to documents seen by this publication, Maranatha honoured by June this year.
However, it is further reported that Nserebo was offering the school premises for sale despite the agreement still in existence but Maranatha authorities were blocking the possible buyers by showing them the agreement documents.
This irked Nselebo who later told his tenant that they have an outstanding rental balance of K35 million and as Maranatha Academy authorities rejected the balance claims, it is reported that Nserebo engaged lawyers to ask sherrifs close the facility which saw students stranded.
Maranatha Academy Managing Director, Ernest Kaonga, told this publication that the institution is now housing at White House lodge until the matter is resolved and says parents and guardians should worry nothing about their children.
“I want to assure parents and guardians out there that all the students are safe. The whole school administration team is with them at the White House lodge which is even more comfortable than the Matindi campus.
“About what has really happened, I don’t want to comment much on that since the matter is in court, but I think someone just wants to dent Maranatha’s good image because the money which is being claimed here, we honored it already,” said Karonga.
The two parties will appear before court on Monday morning August 16 for hearing.
