portable water as their biggest problem, urging political party
leaders contesting in the May19 presidential and parliamentary
elections to prioritise the commodity in their policies.
At least 20 of the 30 people interviewed this week said, if they were
in leadership positions, they would sort out the problem of water, a
commodity they said made development possible.
"We have persistent water problems in this district. Imagine, this
could be the second year without water at the main hospital in Madisi.
People have gone all these years with dry taps and yet this is a
hospital they depend on for all their health needs," lamented Esther
Kaluzi, 33,a mother of five children.
Her sentiments were echoed by many other respondents, who said the
general lack of water had impacted heavily on development and people's
livilihoods.
"Who would love to live without portable water for as many as five
years? Not me. But, what can we do, we continue to stay here because
our parents lived here, and left pieces of land for us. We have
nowhere to go or, if we have, we can only go and come back- this is
the only place we know," said Michael Chalira, 48.
He said it was sad that, over 43 years down the line of independence,
people were still living 'primitive lives', depending on water from
rivers and zithaphwi.
A visit to Madisi hospital revealed the said lack of water, and
guardians said they were paying K8 for some people to source a pale of
water for them- often from dirty sources.
As a result, said Agness Khongoni, water-borne diseases were order of
the day during the rainy season.
"Even now, you would find people down with water-related illnesses yet
we have a member of parliament," she said.
Coming after communities' concerns over the general lack of portable
water were food security, road infrastructure, education, and health.
Some people doubted, however, if expressing their concerns would
change anything, saying they were tired of blowing their problems'
trumpets to the wind.
Sports trophies top list of campaign tools
By Richard Chirombo
Most Central region aspiring members of parliament (MP) have employed
the use of sporting activities, among other campaign tools, in the
past 11 months, AEP-Malawi can reveal.
Visits to Ntcheu, Dedza, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi and Salima
this week revealed that sporting activities were prefered by most
politicians, with the main focus on football and netball, as it
offered them some good ground to sell themselves to prospective
voters.
Football, also known as soccer, is loved by many in Malawi's rural
areas, with netball usually ranking second. Netball is mainly used as
a gender-balancing tool.
A visit to 15 constituencies in the seven districts revealed that, at
least, seven football and netball trophies were still on, or finals
had just been played during the past three weeks, as campaigning comes
close to the finishline drawn for May19.
In Dedza South constituency, where Malawi Congress Party president
John Tembo is also standing as MP, there have been more that 10
football and 8 netball trphies sponsored by politicians during the
past 10 months. Tembo himself has distributed footballs to various
youth clubs in the constituency.
The same is true for Ntchisi North, Salima South, Dowa North East,
Lilongwe City South East, Lilongwe Mapuyu South, Ntchisi North, Ntcheu
South, Ntcheu West, Dedza South West, Kasungu North, Salima Central,
Salima North, Dedza East, Kasungu North-North East, Dedza East, Dowa
South East, among others.
Some of the youth interviewed, however, said they took part in such
competitions not because of political party affiliation, as
politicians wanted it to appear, but because they were largely starved
of such opportunities and saw the trophied as a means of getting money
as well as improving their physique.
Gostino Damiano of Dedza South, for instance, said his club had
received footballs from Tembo though he had not registered to vote on
May19 despite being eligible at 23 years.
"You vote, nothing changes," he said.
He said, however, expressed appreciation to aspiring politicians who
introduce such trophies.He said such competitions keep the youth in
good form while, at the same time, creating lasting relationships.
Martha Chamgwera of Ntchisi North said the trophies were commendable,
and would work towards building peaceful elections on May19, as it was
more likely that youth of opposing political parties would engage in
violence against others they know.
However, the impact of such trophies in influencing people's votes
remains unclear.
There have been concerns, too, from football authorities over
sustainability of such trophies. They say, since raw talent uncovered
during such competitions often has nowhere to go thereafter and
convert their skills into cash due to the one-naturedness of the
trophies, such trophies have been of little benefit to sports
development in Malawi.
AEP/ Richard Chirombo
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