Chakwera blames previous govts for underdevelopment in Northern Region: “I’ll ensure equal distribution of public resources.”
Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has blamed previous administrations for denying people of the Northern Region equal access to public resources, which saw the region lagging behind in infrastructure development.
Chakwera made the remarks at Jenda Trading Centre in Mzimba on his way to Mzuzu where he is expected to carry out various official duties.
The Malawi leader stated that the Northern Region has failed to develop overtime due to economic challenges brought about by corruption by the previous governments, among others.
“I am happy that districts such as Mzimba are doing well in paying back the loans. Our intention is that the government should give more loans to more people,” he said.
In September 2021, a renowned academician Dr. Levi Zeleza Manda criticized the previous administrations for pursuing a “deliberate policy to exploit the resources in the north and give back nothing in return”.
Manda cited the unequal distribution of resources generated from a pulpwood project in the Northern Region (Nkhondi or Mpoto).
“For years, Kaziwiziwi and Mchenga produced thousands or millions of tonnes of coal from Rumphi district. Guess what? The headquarters of Kaziwiziwi and Mchenga Coal mining were in Lilongwe; not in Rumphi where the coal was being mined; not even in Mzuzu. For years, Kaziwiziwi and Mchenga did not have a health facility, not even a primary school. Nothing in the name of social responsibility, the late Simbarashe Mungoshi wrote in his master’s thesis,” he said.
While acknowledging the challenges the region is facing, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Deputy Secretary General Catherine Gotani Hara expressed hope that the government would look into all of them.
Gotani Hara said they have heard of an onion market in India; asking the Ministry of Trade to facilitate exports such that farmers in Mzimba District can benefit.
Hara expressed worry that some people who are tasked to list down names of beneficiaries of social interventions are spearheading corruption by shortlisting names of their relatives.
Among others, Chakwera is expected to attend this year’s Umthetho and Mzuzu University graduation.
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