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Madonna`s Malawi school displaces people

Pop diva Madonna`s planned school in Malawi has forced 200 villagers to move house.

London: Pop diva Madonna`s planned school in Malawi has forced 200 villagers to move house. The singer has paid more than USD115,000 to compensate the residents of Blantyre, Malawi, after they were ordered by government officials to make way for her $15 million Raising Malawi Girls Academy, reports a news website.
"The district commissioner for Lilongwe told the villagers to move off the land and make way for the construction of the academy because it was government land reserved for development projects," said an official from the commissioner`s office. The villagers had reportedly threatened to block the project which aims to provide education to 500 impoverished children unless they were given more cash after being paid USD500,000 by the 51-year-old star`s Raising Malawi foundation. However, they were reportedly told by Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, a senior official for the charity, they had been given "generous compensation" and had no reason to complain. They have been relocated to other villages. Madonna has two adopted children from Malawi as well as two biological kids. IANS