There is an increasing backlash against President Lazarus Chakwera and Homeland Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda for allegedly importing the Indian variant of Covid-19 into the country.
The Tonse administration is criticized for failing to carry out comprehensive screening and enforce serious quarantine measures on people arriving in the country.
Despite publicly banning travellers from India and Pakistan, the country is said to continue getting labourers from the two countries who are set to work in industries and manufacturing companies owned by Malawians of Indian origin.
The country’s borders are said to be porous with the Ministry Homeland Security failing to patch up the holes and stop people from being smuggled into the country.
The Tonse Alliance had criticized Peter Mutharika administration for letting the South African variant in Malawi when the country repatriated its citizens from the Rainbow nation.
Out of 24 Covid-19 cases reported yesterday, 22 involved workers from Salima Sugar Company where some Indian nationals tested positive after arriving in the country from India.
Commenting on the Ministry of Health’s Facebook post about the new cases, Malawians accused the Tonse admnistration of failing to implement its own directive to ban travel from India.
“They banned flights from India on paper, at the airport flights continued to trek in. They proposed institutional quarantine on paper, but in actual sense everyone was allowed to go home. That’s the Malawi we all know,” said Mavuto Nkando.
Mpilo Mizere said: “Is this not the beginning of the third wave with what is happening in Salima? Why are we so causal with our borders and screening? We seem to always be reactive and not proactive.”
While Kalero Kapambana said: “The laxity in our handling of immigration now yielding results.”
