GOVT BAN CHOKES MPONELA, HOSPATALITY INDUSTRY CRUMBLES

Barely five months after imposing a government ban of meetings for all civil servants outside Lilongwe, we can reveal that the decision has severely suffocated most businesses who have been plying their trade at the once-buoyant Mponela Trading Center in Dowa.

Our random checks and findings show that most businesses in the area have lost between 80 to 90 percent of their revenue in the aftermath of the ban, prompting most accommodation and hospitality outlets operating at the trading center to downsize their staff.

Those affected, according to our findings, are not only limited to large-scale and medium-scale businesses but also small-scale businesses such as restaurants, Kabaza operators, second-hand clothes traders, and other traders who are into business of selling various merchandise.

Ironically, we can also reveal that while government continues not to grant Mponela its fair share of business as was the case before June 2022, on one hand, civil servants continue to hold their normal meetings in other districts and places such as Dedza,Liwonde,Mchinji and Kasungu, among other notable areas.

Frustrated with loss of business, The Nation can reveal that it has even taken hotel business operators at Mponela-situated about 60 kilometers away from the Capital City, Lilongwe-to gang up and pen government to consider rescinding its unpopular decision by lifting the ban.

According to a letter, jointly signed by ten hotel representatives at Mponela, addressed to Ministry of Tourism, and copied to Member of Parliament (MP) for the Area Darlington Harawa, the operators lament that the ban of meetings in Mponela has led to poor living standards of many as hotels have sent a lot of their employees on unpaid leave, adding that and there is a threat of terminating their services if the situation doesn’t change.

“This situation is negatively affecting our efforts of assisting government in job creation. You may wish to know that the ban has created far much negative impacts apart from hotels alone. It has affected small restaurants, small suppliers (including farmers) who used to supply various materials to hotels and many others,” they complain, unanimously.

According to the operators, as a consequence, they fear that the situation is likely going to indirectly affect loan servicing to National Economic Empowerment Fund Limited (NEEF) “as their reliable markets have almost closed.”

The accommodation and hospitality outlets that have jointly lodged a complaint to government include Linde Hotels, Cornerstone Motel, Chikho Hotel, Hillside Lodge, Vintage Lodge, Rams Lodge, Holiday Lodge, Kasangadzi Lodge, Discovery Lodge and Ambele Lodge.

In a telephone interview, chairperson for Mponela Business Association Kondwani Kuwonga-Nkhoma confirmed that the business environment in the area has worsened especially in the aftermath of government ban on conferences outside Lilongwe.

Kuwonga-Nkhoma said since time-immemorial, Mponela has been well known as the fastest developing center in Malawi and that its hotel industry has been a major ingredient for the past development.But he said that is now history in the wake of the ban in force.

“The hotel industry has been contributing a lot to the thriving economy of Mponela.It is unfortunate that even small businesses such as Thobwa, Kabaza, butcheries and other merchandise have been heavily bruised. We recently met [at Mponela 2 Primary School premises] as a unit and we agreed that we escalate this issue directly to the Minister [Michael Usi] who promised to come back to us after meeting Secretary to President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba.We are just waiting for his feedback,” he said.

Speaking separately, Linde Hotels General Manager Blessings Kakwela disclosed that since the austerity measures were introduced, their business has so far lost an estimated revenue of between 80 to 90 percent, describing the development as “scary.”

According to Kakwela, Linde Hotels-which has been known over the years for offering quality accommodation and modern conference facilities-bemoaned that as it stands, the business is even grappling to pay overhead costs, adding that it is also struggling to meet its total wage bill as well as paying for basic utilities such as water and electricity.

“In fact, we are also finding it hard to meet our bank obligations and in the next few months, we fear for worse and we might be forced to retrench our staff,” he said.

Meanwhile, some workers at Linde Hotels have confided in us that the company has a total workforce of about 362 people but they hinted that the company now plans to lay-off over half of the staff due to loss of government business.

On this one, Kakwela declined to shed more light, but only said: “Whilst we were somehow recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, boom! Came this punitive ban and things are tough for us and we are even contemplating turning both Thope Lodge and Linde Hotel into academic institutions.”

On his part, Lawrence Nyirongo who operates Hillside Lodge, said business at Mponela has grounded to a complete halt as a result of government decision to institute a ban, stressing that local traders have over the past years been depending on the guests who visit Mponela to buy products after their respective meetings.

Nyirongo described government as a biggest employer and customer, adding that since the ban was effected, there has been no major infrastructure developments at Mponela.

On June 8 2022, Zamba announced at a meeting with Principal Secretaries from various government ministries and departments that the government has banned lakeshore meetings for all civil servants.

Zamba indicated that all meetings were to be held within duty stations and that board meetings for parastatals must be held in boardrooms

Zamba said the measures were introduced to tame waste because people in the public sector largely use activities to benefit financially.

END-