The Ministry of Youth and Sports says the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) met all the conditions and terms when it hosted its campaign launch at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe last Saturday.
This comes amid reports that the ruling party hosted the event, which was presided over by President Lazarus Chakwera, for free as has been the case in similar events in the past.
In an interview yesterday, the ministry’s Principal Secretary (PS) Isaac Katopola said: “First, the facility is provided on request and also the nature of the function.
“When you have used the facility, it must be usable within a short time and they [MCP] cleaned the facility and that is why it was able to host the Airtel Top 8 final [between Silver Strikers and FCB Nyasa Bullets] the following day.
“Like any other client, they paid for the facility. They [also] paid for electricity, water and so on and so forth. Actually, I would say they led by example.”
However, the PS could not be drawn to comment on how much the MCP paid for using the facility.
But last year, the ministry announced that it had hiked the hiring fee from K4 million to K10 million for an event.
In a separate interview, MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila also said they met all the conditions of using the facility.
She said: “It was not for free. We paid for everything, be it water, electricity, etc.”
During the event, Chakwera, among others, pledged to construct a 41 000 capacity stadium in Blantyre by 2027, retaining the name Kamuzu Stadium.
He also pledged a 30 000 capacity stadium in Mzuzu by 2028 and a sports complex as an integral part of transforming Chipoka into a secondary city.
However, during the 2019 campaign, Chakwera promised to build a Freedom Park National Stadium in Blantyre which has not yet materialised.
Ironically, in 2014, immediate-past president and leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party Peter Mutharika also promised to build a new stadium in Blantyre, but it was not fulfilled.
