By Owen Nyaka:
The Water and Environmental Sanitation Network (WESNET) has applaud President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for prioritized Water and Sanitation Ministry as standalone Ministry in his Cabinet.
WESNET Executive Director Willie’s Mwandira says they are super excited with the development of returning the Ministry and that the it is their belief that there is political will from the top leadership of the country to prioritize WASH.
In excercise of the powers conferred upon the President under section 94 (1) of the constitution President Chakwera has appointed a twenty seven member cabinet which includes Abida Mia and Liana Kakhobwe Chapota as Minister and Deputy respectively.
It is sad to note that the WASH sector was not being priotized for decades. WESNET, recently issued a statement on Malawi’s Response to the Cholera Public Health Emergency saying the sector was neglected for decades and it is resulting in the low achievements in sanitation and hygiene in the country.
The statement further say the current challenges in the fighting infections diseases such as cholera and Covid-19 is mainly a result of the past negligence of the sector.
Ministry of Water and Sanitation estimates that 89 percent of the Malawi population have access to clean water (at basic and limited levels) and there are geographical variations in access to safe water amongst urban, peri-urban and rural dwellers.
Furthermore, existing water supply mechanisms need to match the increase in demand for water during this Public Health Emergency period hence the need to have adequate funding and operate as a standalone Ministry.
OK, I said that neglecting WASH can have far reaching consequences on the other priority sectors as well. For instance, education and health are some of the social sectors that are a priority in Malawi.
But since the WASH sector has been neglected for decades in Malawi, the WASH related diseases like Covid 19 and Cholera could not be managed with the necessary speed that is required to manage emergencies.
The occurrence of Covid, for instance, chocked the: schools, hospitals, businesses, churches etc. Most of these institutions closed down for sometime because of Covid 19.
Recently, schools in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe could not open on schedule because of the Cholera pandemic.
This means that these WASH related pandemics can paralyse the economy of a country and wipe out all the investments that have been put into the priority social sectors of Health and Education.
That’s why we applaud the State President for priotizing Water and Sanitation in his Cabinet.
