Tourism director redeployed
Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture director of tourism Isaac Katopola has been redeployed to the Ministry of Disability and the Elderly where he will be senior deputy secretary effective February 20.
Katopola’s deployment comes after he served the Tourism Ministry for 18 years.
He confirmed the deployment in an interview yesterday.
“Yes, it is true that I received a letter that I have been posted to the Ministry of Disability. I am happy that after 18 years at the Ministry of Tourism, I am leaving a happy man,” he said.
Katopola joined the ministry as a tourism officer in 1996 and rose through the ranks to become director of tourism, a position he has served for about six years.
“I have done my part, people can judge me on what I have done. I must say I am happy that I have contributed something towards the development of Malawi’s tourism sector.
“Some of my many contributions include the establishment of the grading system for hotels, making Malawi visible on the international scene through advertisement on big television channels like CNN after a long time, development of new tourism structures as well as placing systems to check standards for small and big operators,” he said.
Katopola, however, said there are still challenges that the country needs to work on infrastructure development, especially in the tourism of wildlife sector where Malawi is very weak.
I had a short interface with Isaac Katopola when Callista Chapola Chimombo was minister of Tourism in those days. After talking to the minister when I met her at the London Summit and was advised to talk to the Director, I was disappointed with the level of arrogance that Mr katopola vented on a Malawian who simply wanted to help his country. The rest is history. I am really sad that he is being moved now. He was the ministry