Airtel Malawi, a leading telecommunications company in the country, has on Wednesday made a donation worth K150 million through Malawi Red Cross Society towards those that have been affected by tropical Cyclone Freddy in the country.
Tropical cyclone Freddy hit the southern part of Malawi on 11 March this year leaving more than 500 people dead and more than 500,000 people displaced.
Speaking in Blantyre, Airtel Malawi Managing Director Charles Kamoto said out of the K150 million, K50 million will be channeled to support the purchase of relief items.
Kamoto further said the remaining K100 million will cover for free talk time to over 600 000 Airtel Malawi subscribers from the cyclone affected areas.
“As Airtel Malawi we wanted to not only support with the K50 million cash, but also help people in the affected areas to connect with their loved ones during this difficult time. Therefore each of these customers will receive 5 free minutes per day for two days. To locate the recipients we have used data on the affected areas from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA) and mapped tbese areas to our Airtel sites and the subscribers using these sites.” said Kamoto.
On the receiving end, Malawi Red Cross Secretary General McBain Kanongodza said they are grateful for the support that Airtel Malawi has provided.
“We are thankful to Airtel Malawi for the donation that they have made today and we will use the 50 million kwacha to buy food and deliver to the selected camps. The 100 Million Kwacha free talking time to the areas affected by the Cyclone is important as it will ease communication especially in restoring family links and coordination of humanitarian aid”, said Kanongodza.
Some of the districts that were affected by Cyclone Freddy were Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje, Phalombe, Thyolo, Zomba City and Zomba District.
