Parliament to summon Lilongwe Water Board, Council over sewage horror

Malawi Parliament’s committee on environment and natural resources say it has summoned Lilongwe Water Board and Lilongwe City Council over the horror   which residents in the capital  especially those  in Area 18  faced by consuming water contaminated with sewage .

Committee chair Welani Chilenga said all preparations for the meeting has now been completed.

“We want to find out as to what happened that people should drink water that was contaminated with the human waste, that was disgusting,” said Chilenga.

The summoning of the Lilongwe Water Board and Lilongwe City Council officials before parliament comes barely a week after they appeared before Malawi Human Rights Commission to answer questions on the same issues.

Chilenga said after the meeting, the committee would make recommendations to the plenary of the 193 strong House.

Lilongwe Water Board chief executive officer Alfonso Chikuni blamed Lilongwe City Council’s obsolete sewer pipes which he said broke and contaminated the water.

The LWB CEO attributed the existence of worn out and rusty water pipes to a backlog of investments where the materials were not being replaced despite that some of them are over 50 years old.

At least 18 residents were in hospital suffering from diarrhoea due to the contaminated water.