National News

Mzuzu hosts running mates debate tonight

Privately owned Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) will this evening take its Presidential Running Mates Debate to Mzuzu for the first time amid expectation from civil society for the hopefuls to outline development plans for the region.

The debate, coming after similar ones in Lilongwe and Blantyre, is scheduled to have three running mates, namely Mohammed Sidik Mia (Malawi Congress Party-MCP), Frank Mwenifumbo (United Democratic Front-UDF) and Michael Usi (UTM Party), according to ZBS managing director Gospel Kazako.

Mia (L), Mwenifumbo and Usi during the Blantyre debate

In an interview yesterday, he said the live audience and viewers/listeners should expect a different event from the two previous sets.

Said Kazako: “We are incorporating new issues. There is a lot of excitement as this is the first time for a debate of this nature to be held in Mzuzu in the Northern Region.

“It will be very different from the ones held in Blantyre and Lilongwe.”

Commenting on the debate, Peter Mumba, governance chairperson for Mzuzu Civil Society, an umbrella body of civil society organisations in the Northern Region, said they expect the running mates to unpack tangible solutions to breathe a new lease of life into the economy of the Northern Region.

He said: “The Northern Region has been described by some politicians as the ‘dead North’. We want to know from these running mates what are some of the measures that they should take to change this perception.

“We want to hear what the challenges that we are facing are and what strategies they have to solve these problems.”

Kazako said gates at the debate venue, the Grand Palace Hotel, will close at 6pm.

Related Articles

Back to top button