Plan Malawi disowns Mulanje school project

Plan International Malawi has denied constructing a sub-standard two-classroom school block in Mulanje which has started falling.

National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust in Mulanje last week visited a number of development projects in Mulanje West Constituency, including the  structure in question at Monekera Primary School in Traditional Authority (T/A) Juma.

Councillor of the area Lawrence Kamowa, Area Development Committee (ADC) chairperson Botomani Lozani and constituency governor Bob Maonga all claimed the structure was built by Plan International Malawi.

But Plan Malawi area manager in Mulanje, Daniel Kapatuka,   insisted that they did not build the school block.

“We do not put a white line in structures that we build, but a blue one. We are, therefore, distancing ourselves from the project,” he said.

However, the school’s head teacher, Enock Bikosi, said the block was built with money from Local Development Fund (LDF).

At this point, lawmaker for Mulanje West Patricia Kaliati (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) said she would find out about the project which she admitted was substandard.

Mulanje Nice district civic education officer Twambilire Mwabungulu said his office will continue to monitor projects taking place in the district.

“We are happy that such shoddy work has been exposed. If it were not for our initiative, this would have been hidden,” he said. n