Demolish ‘chijachi’ on Parliament roundabout, minister orders: Lilongwe City Council says sculpture constructed by Beautify Malawi Trust without consulting

Deputy Minister of Local Government Halima Daud has advised Lilongwe City Council to demolish a sculpture on the Parliament Building round about in Lilongwe which is christened by Malawians on social media as “Chijachi’ as they fail to make sense of the  substandard quality.


Deputy minister Daud, Mayor Kaduya (L) and some officials from LCC and the ministry leave the roundabout after the tour ‘Chijachi’

The deputy minister said she toured some facilities in the city on Monday, including the sculpture, saying  it is substandard and an eyesore.

“This things it there not to make the Lilongwe city beautiful. Nobody knows what that thing stands for and it makes the city look ugly,  hence as a Ministry, we have advised the Mayor of Lilongwe city and other officials from Lilongwe City Council to demolish it,” Daudi said.

She advised the council to be aware of any development taking place in the capital city in order to avoid substandard developments.

“Whatever is being done in the city the council should be aware about it, if the council sees anybody doing anything in the city without consulting the council, it must not hesitate to ask and this would help avoid developments like  [Chijachi],” she said.

Daud said the sculpture could be a death trap for road users as it has developed cracks and has electrical wires dangling.

She said she has since advised the city council to work with the Roads Authority to icome up with a solution to the roundabout.

In her remarks, Lilongwe City Mayor Juliana Kaduya said the sculpture was constructed by former first lady Gertrude Mutharika’s Beautify Malawi Trust without consulting the city council.

“The previous government was doing developments on its own in the city without knowledge of the city council.

“The statue at the roundabout near parliament building was done by the former first Lady through her initiative called BEAM Trust and it was built without consulting the city council, up to now as the council we do not know its name,” Kaduya said.

It is reported that BEAM Trust fished out K35 million from Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) to construct the statue at parliament roundabout.

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43 replies on “Demolish ‘chijachi’ on Parliament roundabout, minister orders: Lilongwe City Council says sculpture constructed by Beautify Malawi Trust without consulting”

    1. True. Instead of demolishing it, just construct better ones at KCH round about, at cash build round about, at crossroads round about, at Mchinji road round about, at Likuni bypass round about, at bunda round about, at matchasi round about, at BNS round about, at Area 18 Puma round about etc etc. Why demolish the only artwork we have at the Parliament round about as if that is the only round about we have in Lilongwe? What kind of reasoning is this one? Inu a Malawi Chewa Party (MCP) why are you wasting a lot of energy on petty issues? Nosense!!!!!

  1. After demolishing “Chijachi” construct something better than that.

    We don’t need our city to look shabby

  2. Bring it down when you have money to build another one. Ask the right people on urban monuments and structures at roundabout first…Malawi seems to be junk pit….

  3. Mutharika and his wife were busy turning public roundabouts into playgrounds for their grandchildren to climb up and swing. Idiotic, to think that they would apply for planning approval like th rest of us as in Malawi ya lero anything a President or his wife wants to do is considered acceptable.Lock up Mutharika and his aged wife. Lock up the shameless stealing corrupt Mutharika and his aged wife.,

  4. just ask Malawians for ideas musanayambe kupanga zinth and you’ll get them for free than kuononga ndalama , nthawi, mphamvu, pa chinthu chomwe aliyense sakudziwa kuti ndi chani kapena chikutanthauza chani….. K35 million gone ….shame on you Getrude and your team.

  5. Mayiyu analibe mpahunziro, Pulofesa Mutharika anamikatira wayamba kuganiza iye nde Imelda Marcos. Tengani chosema chopussachqo ndi kuchiwotcha basi. Mayiyu ndi Pulofesa adaba ndalama zathu indikuwathangitsa munyumba yaw yachifumu ndikusandutsa sukulu kapena chipatala.

  6. Lilongwe already does not look good. The roads are very bad. Area 23 road is finished and I wonder if we have engineers and if our contractors mean business. Contractors like Master and Plem have been doing bad jobs to be honest. Every year and after the rainy season government is wasting a lot of money fixing potholes. The Biwi Chipasula to Area 23 is another eyesore. The old bus depot is an eyesore. The police houses in Falls are another eyesore. The whole of the old Lilongwe through Malangalanga is an eyesore. The clean up campaign by the president did not work and wastes are accumulating again with the Lilongwe City Council doing nothing. One wonders as to whether were are cursed or not. All earth roads in locations are very bad if not nonexistent. Go to area 49, Gulliver. All the tarmac roads put by Malawi Housing are finished. That was stealing. Why is the city councils asking for city rates? WHat do they do to convince us they are doing something. Go to 6 miles where the wastes are dumped and look at the scavengers there.

    1. Unfortunately in area 23 we have both a minister and a major thought it will be a blessing but nope its a curse. They are all useless. Tionana 2025

  7. Paja pamalo paja pakudzajoina six lane high way ndiye chisadzanyansitse malo ayi ndithu….”CHIJACHI” chichokedi koma

  8. There is no progress in demolition. We count progress when we build. Let’s hope that after you demolish you will have something better for the nation no sooner than later.

  9. Getu ameneyo. ndi cani koma. kufanana ndi cithumwa ca Mwananveka . dzopanda dongosolo ngati contractor anavekela pa clock tower xmas decoration 2019. anangozika mpanda zinai za nkungudza nkuzungulisa ndi loboni. ati contractor . dpp inatilowa mmakabudula ndithu.
    bangwe 1 akulandila k10 million ya week ndi cisale wao.
    SAAAD

  10. A country on the move! What pathetic leadership we have. Things getting haywire while someone sits and watches things like those being mounted in the capital city.

    I agree, something must be done beginning with the council. Someone is sleeping on duty. We can’t go anywhere that way.

    It’s high time these people in authority jerked up!!

  11. Ombudsman and/or ACB, please investigate this matter. BEAM Trust should refund the K35m to LWB. The Trust should also bear the cost of demolishing “that thing”.

    Beautify Malawi, my ass! Chijachi is more like Uglify Malawi. Meanwhile, let’s christen this sculpture “GERTRUDE “. Anybody seconding?

  12. Somebody somewhere did not do his job accordingly. Vuto la kulekerera ku Malawi. The same with these illegal foreiners plying trade everywhere in the country somebody coming today that there is a law which restricts them only to refugee camps. Where was the law all these past 20 years. Somebody failed Malawians. They ought to be dismissed from their work.

  13. The country it’s just a banana Republic everyone can do whatsoever he/ she wants. Do we have City planners in Malawi and city Engineers? If yes, Are they working? Lilongwe is one of the unplanned and disorganized city in the world. Do those Engineers travel outside Malawi after finishing university and get exposed to the world and have and ideas how the city should look like. Apa chibala aba school apa chishop apa akukumbapo nchenga pa nseu. Kungomaliza school ku universityko basi phwiii Malawi osawatumizako kuja akaone or ku Zambia. Pamenepo mukaphwasula doyo have an Idea kuti muikapo china chifukwa given panyasiratu. Kuli Kamuzu the country was will organized and beautiful with some ornamental trees growing along the road. Pano poor Malawi bwinja lake lakuti. Kuona ku City center chiudzu nga tikamwetako wafolera nyumba. People are still use slashes. You can buy petrol trimmers from 6.2 billion which faking part of it was booked for buses to get Malawian from RSA. Public toilet in town . So pano panyasa mukagumula osaganiza kuti pakhale chani?

    1. Doubt if Engineers can be blamed for Lilongwe City planning. Fact is, Lilongwe as a whole is not well planned, we have a chance to right this wrong. The city is still too young!

    2. Pepani a Joni Chidongo nkhani ili apa ndiyokhudza bungwe lija ankayanganira amayi Getu osati mayinjiniys aku City Council. Bungwe lime lija adzichitira zawo opanda langizo lamunthu wina chifukwa amayiwo anali ndi mphavu zoopsa. Ndipo ma yinjiniya awo anali a kunja.

    3. If the school they went to was worth a thing, then they did not need to go somewhere to see how they do city planning. It’s pathetic, our education just sucks, it’s in the pits.

  14. when did the Lilongwe City Council notice that there was some activity at the roundabout?
    was it built or sculpted overnight
    chimenecho chichoke (chijachi)

    komanso ku Lilongwe city assembly ko someone has to be taken to task. amalekerera zopusa ngati zimenezo

      1. Ndiye zokhazokhazo , this impunity need to go. That mean today one i mean one can decide to build something whether good or bad as long as is politically inclined. When government changes it will starts coming back to them. Tiyeni tigumule basi timange state of the art roads ,building,hotels,stadiums many to mention mwina Lilongwe city mkusintha

  15. Buy the way, what has this thing to do with Lilongwe water board?

    I understand Beam has its own sponsors and funders, do you mean this thing was constructed with funds from Lilongwe water board?

      1. I will email you with attachments of taylormade lessons for you. You need some teaching

        1. Well, you missed my point brother, i meant to say if she used our money then that is bad

    1. Have you heard the term ‘money laundering’? The only way Mrs Mutharika would have got money from LWB is to say they were building that rubbish. 75% of that cash went in her pocket.

  16. DPP woyeee,. Koma chijachi kkkkk omayi kukonza towoni ya Leyas eti .Zazii zopanda mchere.

    1. Chichokedi zitha kutheka ndi chimene chimatibweretsera COVID chifukwa sitikudziwa kuti ndichichani.

      Kwinaku chingatilepheretse kudya katatu…nchoyipa zedi

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