BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Blantyre City Mayor Jomo Osman has issued a stern warning to the Blantyre Water Board and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, demanding immediate improvement in service delivery after residents went without water and electricity for nearly three weeks.
Speaking at a press briefing in Blantyre on Tuesday, Osman said the prolonged outages had left thousands of residents struggling and exposed the city to a potential cholera outbreak as people resort to unprotected water sources.
“We cannot sit and watch while the people of Blantyre suffer. For three weeks now, some areas have had no water, no electricity. This is unacceptable,” Osman said.
He accused the two institutions of failing to act with urgency and threatened to mobilize fellow councillors to stage a protest at their offices if the situation does not change.
“If these bodies do not improve, I will mobilize my fellow councillors and we will go to their offices. The people deserve answers,” he warned.
Osman questioned why the city did not face similar problems during the previous Malawi Congress Party administration, suggesting that the current challenges could be deliberate.
“I wonder why there was no such problem during the MCP regime. The same people who were working then are still there. I sniff this could be sabotage,” he said.
The mayor said it was unfair for President Peter Mutharika to be blamed for failures in water and electricity supply when the institutions responsible were managed by the same personnel who served under the previous government.
“I will not accept President Mutharika to be insulted on areas of water and electricity that he has failed, yet these institutions are managed by the same people who worked under the MCP government,” Osman stated.
He said the situation was now a public health concern, with residents forced to draw water from streams and shallow wells.
“Blantyre dwellers risk suffering cholera as they access water from unprotected water sources. This is a disaster waiting to happen if nothing is done,” he said.
Osman urged BWB and ESCOM management to explain the cause of the outages and provide a clear timeline for restoration. He said the council would not remain silent while residents’ health and livelihoods were at risk.
Both the Blantyre Water Board and ESCOM are yet to issue an official response to the mayor’s remarks.
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