Madonna’s new school for girls is forcing 200 Malawian villagers out of house and home.
The Malawian government has ordered residents of Chinkhota, a village just outside the capital city of Lilongwe, to get out to make way for a $15 million girls’ school funded by Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity, The Associated Press reports. Madonna — who is the mother of two children adopted from the poor African nation — has already broken ground on the school, which is expected to open early next year.
On Thursday, Lilongwe District Commissioner Charles Kalemba told 200 villagers that the government land some of them have been living on for years has been handed over to Madonna. Kalemba believes the school will be beneficial to the nation’s young people and urged the residents to move.
Kalemba told the Villagers of Chinkhota: “The government allowed you to occupy this land because there was no project yet, but now that Madonna wants to build you a school you have to give way. This school is the future of our children. You are lucky that Madonna has compensated you for your houses, gardens and trees.”
Village head man Binson Chinkhota also wants the villagers to leave. “We have been compensated and this school is a pride for us as it is the future of our children,” the community leader told members of the press on Thursday. The displaced residents have been offered other government land, but the news has still infuriated many.
Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, who will be principal of Madonna’s still-unnamed institution, says the singer paid the villagers more than 16 million kwacha (about $115,000) to help them start their new lives in new homes.