The council’s public relations officer Tamara Chafunya told Zodiak online that BICC owes the council 90 million kwacha, while ADL Limited owes it 11 million kwacha, and that this is part of a campaign to recover over 11 billion kwacha that the council is owed.

The two companies are yet to react.

The Lilongwe City Council says property and business owners owe the council over 11 billion kwacha in city rates.

Council spokesperson Tamara Chafunya says an exercise to recover that money is underway.

She adds that “The council has been engaging the property owners for some time including providing waivers, and we feel it is time something is done to recover the money.”

One of the workers at the ADL House which houses multiple businesses and organizations say “this is an inconvenience.”

“This means making loses because our business involves serving air travelers from and to outside Malawi.”

While ADL Limited wants more time before commenting, BICC’s Umodzi Park says the issue is not for media consumption.

The ADL House, for example, houses among other organizations Kenya Airways, the World Health Organization, Manica Travel, Smile Life Insurance, and Satguru.