Minister opens Mpemba tele-centre: Dausi promises good internet connectivity in rural Malawi

Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Nicholas Dausi has reaffirmed government’s commitment to connect the country’s rural areas with internet through constituency tele-centres.

He made the remarks on Friday when he opened Mpemba tele-centre in Blantyre which is one of the 31 constituency centres to be commissioned this year.

Dausi said unlike in the past, internet is increasingly becoming a driving force for socio-economic development and that Malawi as a country was making great strides to connect its masses with internet.

“Malawi is the sixth fast growing country in terms of internet connectivity in the SADC region. This could be testified through our various programmes government is implementing such as the fiber optical cable currently under way. The tele-centres, one of which, we are commissioning today, are part of the programmes aimed at increasing access to internet by the rural masses.

“Through the internet, people can buy goods, access health services, do their education and also conduct various businesses without physically visiting the market place,” the Minister pointed out.

He described Mpemba tele-centre as a great opportunity for people in the area, noting that people would the chance to look for the right information content, advance their professional careers through e-learning programmes and e-commerce.

“It is the President’s wish to have all the constituencies in the country connected to the internet. Let me assure Malawians that this will be achieved,” Dausi added.

The Ministry through the Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has connected and established 48 tele-centres with internet.

MACRA Project Manager, Ndaona Muyaya said apart from the constituency tele-centres the regulatory body has also connected centres like post offices.

He said the development was one way of increasing access to internet by Malawians.

District Commissioner for Blantyre, Bennet Nkasala hailed the information ministry through MACRA for giving the rural masses an opportunity to be connected to the entire world.

He noted that through the centre, the community of Mpemba would have access to information and those illiterate acquire some basic computer skills.

“We expect a lot to be happening at this centre. People will now do on-line businesses and that is an economic boost to the country,” Nkasala said.

The DC has appealed to communities of Mpemba to safeguard the facility and protect it from people of evil intentions.

About K53 million was injected to come up with the tele-centre which has state of the art computers, modern printers and chairs.

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