Lilongwe City too dark—Mayor

Lilongwe City mayor Willy Chapondera has admitted that the city is becoming darker every passing day amid growing cases of vandalism of electricity poles, which were recently erected in the city.

Speaking in an interview, Chapondera said a solution needs to be found soon because the situation is putting him in an awkward position as the city father.

He said only a small section of the M1 Road from Kamuzu International Airport has working street lights. But most of the road, especially the national police headquarters section, is in darkness.

Streets in the city, including those in areas 43, 10, 47 and 12, are also in darkness.

He said: “There is no denying that the city is getting darker every day. We need to find a solution to vandalism of electricity poles as soon as possible because even streets leading to important people’s residences are in darkness.”

Chapondera said even though councillors presented the problem to the Lilongwe City Council(LCC) secretariat a long time ago, no action has been taken.

LCC acting chief executive officer Vito Mulula referred The Nation to the director of engineering, who did not pick his phone despite several attempts.

Last year, the council embarked on a programme to rehabilitate street lights and install new ones in areas where there were none. But most of the lights are not working, while many have been vandalised, including some on streets leading to institutions that provide security. n