Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who died in 2016 continues to get backlash on account of the challenges Malawians are grappling with.<\/p>\nOne of such challenges is access to health services, which the government promised in 2020 to address through construction of 900 health posts within two years.<\/p>\n
Today, it has constructed only 135, with the projecting lagging due to funding challenges, among others.<\/p>\n
This regardless, government insists construction of the mausoleum is not the only thing it is doing.<\/p>\n
Moses Kunkuyu<\/b>\u201cIt has to be appreciated that despite the challenges that are facing as a country, the entirety of government machinery continues to function,\u201d government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu told Malawi News.<\/p>\n
Government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture, wants to construct the mausoleum for Chakuamba in his village in Nsanje District.<\/p>\n
It has issued an expression of intention to award the contract to PMC Limited.<\/p>\n
Following the notice published on November 4, Malawians and civil society organisations have expressed outrage.<\/p>\n
While not discarding the project entirely, some of the citizens we have spoken with (see on page 4) have questioned the government\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n
One of them, Brian Salingana from Dedza District, said the mausoleum serves no real purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disappointing to see the government spending so much money at this time,\u201d he said. \u201cThese funds should be used to address critical issues like fuel shortages, the hunger crisis, fertiliser supplies and healthcare needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe timing is poor, and the government has far more urgent matters to prioritise. Citizens need real solutions that improve their everyday lives, not costly monuments. We urge leaders to focus on pressing needs and make responsible choices for the country\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, President Lazarus Chakwera promised that his government would construct 900 health posts in hard-to-reach areas of the country as one way of achieving universal healthcare.<\/p>\n
In a State of the National Address, Chakwera said the plan was to allow people access quality health care within a radius of five kilometres.<\/p>\n
He had set the year 2022 to get the job done.<\/p>\n
Malawi News has established that two years after the deadline, government has constructed only 135 health posts.<\/p>\n
We have also gathered that each health post was budgeted at K250 million.<\/p>\n
In addition, each of them would serve about 5,000 people.<\/p>\n
At that cost, if the budget were to be constant, with K2.7 billion, government would construct about 11 posts which would have served roughly 55,000 people that are struggling to access universal healthcare.<\/p>\n
Nicholas Mwisama, Executive Director for Transparency Initiative, has urged the government to be sensitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis money could have helped alleviate the suffering of people in hard-to-reach areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said, for example, Malawi\u2019s healthcare system faces significant challenges, including shortages of medical personnel and equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn rural areas, residents often rely on traditional medicine due to lack of access to modern healthcare facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not just the health sector, but many other sectors such as the education that are suffering. If they got this type of prioritisation, Malawi would be somewhere by now,\u201d Mwisama said.<\/p>\n
He urged the government not to proceed with the project until later.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it goes ahead, it will be a clear sign to Malawians that it has lost direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cA household that lacks food and other basic needs cannot prioritise spending on tombstones unless the head of that household is captured with disease of the mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cMalawians are sleeping on floors of hospitals that don\u2019t have drugs. People don\u2019t have food, fertiliser and other basic needs. It would be prudent for the government to abandon this project.\u201d Mwisama said.<\/p>\n
Gift Trapence, chairperson for the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), equally expressed disappointment that government prefers putting money in a monument to pressing needs of the people currently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing is not good when millions of Malawians including the people in Nsanje itself and Chikwawa are suffering from hunger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment should stop this project. Prioritising a monument over hunger crisis has no justification nor does it show reasonableness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But government in unmoved.<\/p>\n
According to Kunkuyu, the project comprises the mausoleum, a district library and houses for Chakuamba\u2019s family members.<\/p>\n
He said government appreciates the public concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at the project from one angle of \u2018Gwanda Chakuamba Mausoleum\u2019 and the timing may validate the concerns but looking soberly at the totality of the project which includes a district library, access roads and houses may trigger different reactions,\u201d Kunkuyu said.<\/p>\n
He said government has not stopped everything else to concentrate on the mausoleum project.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoads, schools, hospitals and libraries are still being built countrywide. Singling out one for exclusion on the mere basis that it includes a mausoleum, may deprive the people of this community of Nsanje access to a good road, a district library and decent houses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The notification of intention to award a contract does not indicate all the other structures that Kunkuyu highlighted.<\/p>\n
Source: The Times Group<\/b><\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Malawi Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BY Cathy Maulidi: Africa-Press – Malawi. Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who died in 2016 continues to get backlash on account of the challenges Malawians are grappling with. One of such challenges is access to health services, which the government promised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":64826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-64827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\n
How to spend K2.7 billion - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to spend K2.7 billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"444\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"How to spend K2.7 billion\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\",\"name\":\"How to spend K2.7 billion - Malawi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":444,\"caption\":\"How to spend K2.7 billion\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to spend K2.7 billion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\",\"name\":\"Malawi\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to spend K2.7 billion - Malawi","description":"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to spend K2.7 billion","og_description":"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion","og_site_name":"Malawi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":444,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"How to spend K2.7 billion","datePublished":"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion"},"wordCount":856,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg","keywords":["Malawi"],"articleSection":["all news","files"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion","name":"How to spend K2.7 billion - Malawi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-09T08:07:06+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-09T08:09:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Government\u2019s decision to spend K2.7 billion on a pet project of a mausoleum for late politician Gwanda Chakuamba who die ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/11\/sm_1731127125.741478.jpg","width":720,"height":444,"caption":"How to spend K2.7 billion"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/how-to-spend-k2-7-billion#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to spend K2.7 billion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/","name":"Malawi","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}