Court kicks out CSOs

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Malawi Youth

Their application was found wanting and the top most court in the land decided to kick them out.

The Supreme Court has thrown out an application by two civil society organisations (CSOs) to join the Salima-Lilongwe Water Project case, paving way for Khato Civils to proceed with implementation of the project.

Lake Malawi water project
Charles Kajoloweka: his organisation made the application

The two organisations Youth and Society (YAS) and Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) applied to join or replace Malawi Law Society (MLS) in the Salima-Lilongwe Water Project case.

MLS earlier asked the court to review Lilongwe Water Board’s (LWB) decision to award Khato Civils Limited the contract for the water project before an environmental impact assessment was conducted.

That application was dismissed by Justice Lovemore Chikopa and MLS chose not to take further action. This prompted YAS and CHRR to file an application asking to replace MLS in the case.

But according to the local media, the court has also dismissed the two organisations’ application and has ruled that the earlier ruling made by Chikopa stands.

This means Khato Civils, which already brought into the country its equipment, can proceed with implementation of the project.

Khato which is owned by businessman Simbi Phiri claims to have already spent K9.8 billion on the project.

The company was awarded the multibillion kwacha project earlier this year. The project will allow LWB to pump water from Salima to Lilongwe with the aim of lessening water challenges in the capital city.

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2 Comments

  1. This proposal to pump water from lake Malawi sounds like a very good idea on paper but in reality it is not…..in fact in the next few years Malawians will realise that this was just another gimmick for those in power to make a fortune out of it….

    I know for a fact that most Malawians suffer from logic deficiency, so I will try to make a few points below to try to jog your memory….

    First of all mine is a question, does those people who are advocating for this project know how much electric power would be required to pump water all the way from Salima to Lilongwe?

    I know this sounds like a silly question to ask but, as a country we are failing to generate enough power at the moment to serve every household let alone our industries, so where on earth are we going to get the extra amount of power to pump water from the lake?

    And let me remind every Malawian that the excuse we are being given for the nonstop blackouts in our country is that there is no enough water in lake Malawi to generate power at Mkula and Tedzani falls, and yet they want to pump more water out of the same lake and expect to generate enough electricity at the same time……where is the common sense here….

    We are also being told of another project on Linthipe river in Dedza to create a dam for the same purpose of supplying water to the city of Lilongwe, how much water does Lilongwe city need to justify these two enormous water projects to run concurrently?

    Is this not the reason why our country has remained so poor for 50 years, because we are being led by corrupt leaders who always put the priorities of our country upside down for their benefit?

    Please stop this Salima water project now and sort out the electricity issue for our country to develop……this is the first priority…..

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