Veep Kachali blasts critics

Malawi’s vice president Khumbo Kachali on Wednesday ranted at critics of the state presidency’s love for travel, saying they should be in deep shame because he and President Joyce Banda do not travel to the homes of the critics’ mothers.

The ranting was reminiscent of Bingu wa Mutharika’s ‘Go to hell’, ‘mumangolira ngati nkhuku’, or Bakili Muluzi’s ‘Timayenda kwamanu’.

Speaking in Karonga where he officially opened a multimillion kwacha Lupaso Multipurpose Community Telecentre, a fuming Kachali said the presidency does not use the critics’ mothers’ money in the endless travels, hence they should not waste their time because the travels are far from over.

“As long as we are serving, we will never stop visiting you Malawians, anywhere where chiefs want us to go, we will be there.

They say ‘you are travelling excessively’, do we travel to your mothers’ homes?” said Kachali amid chants from party members present at the function.

“Aaah! The president is travelling too much; the president and her Vice are always together, ooh!? Did you want them to be sitting in your mothers’ and father’s homes? Do you want your mothers and fathers to be the ones travelling? Shame on you critics.”

Kachali said it is only when the President and her deputy travel that they know and have first hand versions of the concerns of Malawians.

“From now, I am going straight to Lilongwe; on Sunday I will be back in the north to launch the Mzimba Central and Southeast by-elections.

On Friday I will be in Blantyre, isn’t it travelling? Am I travelling to your mothers’ homes that way?” asked Kachali.

Turning to the business of the day, Kachali said access to information allows citizen to make informed decisions hence the government is improving access to information communication technology (ICT) services in rural areas through establishment of the telecentres.

He added that with funding from the World Bank, the government has invested K6 billion to improve quality and lower cost of internet connectivity in the country through an expanded fibre optic infrastructure from the Indian Ocean to increase available broadband.

He also asked the community to make use of the facility.

Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu said the government through the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has so far established 43 of such telecentres across the country and that every constituency will have such facility through the “Connect a Constituency Project”.

Situated in Mwayamba village in Senior Chief Kyungu’s area, 22km northwest of Karonga boma, the K85 million Lupaso Telecentre serves 11 schools and villages and provides ICT services including internet, telephone, photocopying, faxing, documents binding and lamination, library, computer and secretarial lessons, conferencing and television and video.