‘Malawi leaders need to act on water crisis’

The Leadership for Environment and Development (Lead) has asked for a solution to the current water crisis facing Malawi.

Lead regional director Professor Sosten Chiotha said this recently in Lilongwe when Lead associates from 15 African countries graduated as the organisation’s fellows after a training in leadership and environment.

 “Malawi is one of the countries that are water stressed. We do have a lot of water in Lake Malawi, but it is not being used. We depend on rivers which will dry up. We also depend on boreholes,” he said.

 “Let us have leaders who understand the issue and come up with solutions,” he said.

Chiotha also dismissed suggestions to pump water from Lake Malawi to supply the City of Lilongwe, arguing it would be a costly venture to tap water from the lake that lies on a low elevation and about 150 kilometres away.

 “The problem is not distance, but the elevation from the lake. Malawi has unreliable energy to pump the water up to Lilongwe. That is why that water is not accessible to the city,” he said.

His comments follow those made by principal secretary in the Ministry of Water Development and Irrigation Sandram Maweru who recently said it would be expensive to pump water from the lake to supply the city.

Currently, Lilongwe and Blantyre cities are facing erratic water supply.