By Charles Chindongo
Good governance and social commentators in the country have praised President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika for swiftly relocating selected statutory corporations and state-owned enterprises back from Lilongwe to Blantyre and Zomba cities.
Three months ago, Mutharika ordered the relocation of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC), the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the Malawi Prison Service (MPS).
MBC Digital has established that some have complied with the executive order.
MACRA has since resumed operations in Blantyre. The authority’s Head of Communication, Limbani Nsapato, welcomed the move, saying the Chichiri offices are spacious and will enhance the institution’s operational efficiency.
In a separate interview with MBC Digital, Deputy Commissioner of Malawi Prison Service, Thomas Damba, said they are expecting to complete the process in Zomba soon.
“Head Offices of MPS are supposed to be located near the biggest correctional facility in the country,” he said. “Zomba Central Prison is the biggest, with over 2000 inmates against a holding capacity of slightly over 800.”
Weighing on the matter, good governance expert, Wonderful Mkhutche, praised Professor Mutharika for moving in quickly to relocate selected government institutions and state-owned enterprises.
According to Mkhutche, the move will help to revive the economy in other regions of the country.
“It is a welcome decision by the DPP-led administration, which will also help to revive the economy in other regions of the country, ” Mkhutche told MBC Digital.
Social commentator Emmanuel Mwanyongo believes the decision is timely and cost-effective, as some of the companies and organisations were operating in rented premises.
“Unfortunately, MACRA was operating in five locations spread across Lilongwe when they had their own office complex in Blantyre, ” he bemoaned.
President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika believed that moving all Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ head offices to Lilongwe was an economic sanction against the Southern Region.
During Dr Lazarus Chakwera’s tenure as Malawi’s 6th president, he moved MACRA, MEC and Malawi Prison Service to the capital, Lilongwe.
