Generation plant at Phombeya
By Lily Kampani, MANA
President Lazarus Chakwera has pledged that his administration would add not less than 1,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid in the next four years.
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He made the statement on Wednesday in Lilongwe at Parliament in response to questions from Members of Parliament (MP) on issues raised during his State of the Nation Address delivered on May 12, 2021 during the opening session.
“We have in the pipeline to increase electricity generation and supply in the country in the short to medium term,” Chakwera said.
He announced that 15 projects would roll out including a 60 megawatt Salima Solar Project and 50 megawatt Mzimba wind project.
President Chakwera
“Nine out of the 15 projects are due for completion this year while the rest are estimated to be completed by 2023-2025,” he said.
Machinga East Member of Parliament, Esther Jolobala expressed concern that people in her constituency have not benefited from National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) to which Chakwera disputed, saying out of K6 billion disbursed so far, K127 million has been given to 54 groups in Machinga.
“NEEF loans are for all Malawians and should not be politicized or used to grant political favours,” he said.
Chakwera revealed that he believes in a foreign policy that makes Malawi a friend of everybody in reference to the Israel-Palestine conflict citing that Malawi agrees with United Nations (UN) two state solutions.
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