President Lazarus Chakwera has expressed dissatisfaction with the poor progress of Dedza Loop Road construction works.
Speaking at Dedza Market on Tuesday during a whistle-stop tour of development projects in the district, President Chakwera said there is no room for shoddy works in his government saying he strives for quality roads.
“I was shocked the moment I came out of the vehicle to see the state of the road. In Malawi, we are known for strong roads, not this. Next time I visit I dont want to see this,” he said.
He called on Dedza District Council authorities to ensure that there are standards for road construction projects.
He said plans are underway to turn the district into a Town Council.
Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda hailed the President for sparing time to interact with people in the district.
He commended the President for honouring the people of Dedza with the road project and promised to take part in ensuring its completion.
Group Village Kapalamula thanked the President for the visit saying people in the district have been waiting for such visits way back.
She hailed the President for putting peoples welfare at heart by constructing the road, health centres, schools, and police posts among others.
During the visit, the President also thanked the people for their honesty in bringing out different challenges faced by communities which include hunger and duplication of people benefiting from social safety nets.
He assured the people that all the issues raised would be addressed urging people to access loans through National Economic Empowerment Fund to overcome hunger shocks that resulted from erratic rains in the previous farming season.
He also called on government departments to coordinate in addressing some of the challenges including same people benefiting from social safety nets.
He further directed Local Government Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda and Dedza District Commissioner Thomas Chigwenembe to rework and fix Traditional Authority Kasaumbu chieftaincy issues, which have been there for the past 11 years.
Before touring different sites in the district, the President met chiefs and urged them to coax their subjects to register as a way of promoting good governance assuring them of his continued commitment to transform the livelihoods of Malawians.
Member of parliament for Dedza Central East Constituency Joshua Malango assured the President that more people in his constituency have registered for the forthcoming elections.
“Out of the targeted 50,000 registrants, 32 411 have registered so far,” he said.
His counterpart, Member of Parliament for Dedza South Constituency Ishmael Onani said President Chakwera was introduced to the people of the district by the late John Tembo who was also president of the Malawi Congress Party.
He said for this reason people in the district will always stand by the President promising 98 percent of votes from the district in the coming general election.
