Karonga residents demand social responsibilities from NRWB: Accuse water board for funding BEAM ‘for political favours’

Residents of Karonga the northern border district of Malawi have asked the Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) officials to start carrying their social responsibilities in the area, saying the company is  enriching political leaders and organizations out of their expense.

The communities referred to the company’s recent donation of K1.5 million to the First lady’s Beautify Malawi Trust (BEAM).

Speaking during the interface meeting, the renowned and outspoken youth activist who is also the Director for Karonga Youth for Justice and Development (KYJD) Steven Simsokwe wondered why the NRWB fund the political organization BEAM Trust while failing to carry its social responsibilities to their customers.

“Starting from today we want the company to start doing its social responsibilities here in the district. It is very concerning  to see that poor families struggle to pay expensive bills but their money is diverted to political organization like BEAM Trust,” said Simsokwe.

He said as Karonga residents they will not allow politicians to reap out of their expense.

Simsokwe together with Karonga district council officials as well as CSOs commended NRWB for coming up with a new system of categorizing its customers according to what they earn.

While concurring with Simsokwe, Wavisanga Silungwe who is the chairperson for Karonga Business Community (KBC) asked the NRWB officials to explain what the community should do with the August abnormal bills.

In their response, Francis Munthali, who is the NRWB Director of Finance, said his company is ready to carry its social responsibilities but asked the community to come up with a proposal.

On issues concern the last month abnormal bills, Munthali assured the NRWB customers in the district to pay what they were charged in the July bills.

The newly introduced system will help to manage water demand, full cover the fixed operating cost and protect the vulnerable customers according to the NRWB officials.

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