Malawians have called on government to borrow a leaf from Zambia by ordering the removal of free open defecation zone billboards.
A letter which was widely shared by Malawians on social media on Friday shows that Zambian authorities have directed that the billboards should be brought down.
According to a Zambian government official who authored the letter, the billboards which are erected with support from UNICEF are dehumanizing.
In Malawi, similar billboards written in Chichewa or English can be found in many areas across the country. The areas are where UNICEF has managed to convince people to build and use toilets instead of defecating in open spaces.
Malawians now want the billboards removed just as Zambia has done.
“Malawi please do the same! I have always hated these billboards! Insulting does not even start describing it. Dehumanising closer to it,” tweeted Ombudsman Martha Chizuma.
She added that UNICEF can find a better way of sensitising people about open defecation.
Another Malawian Idriss Ali Nassah also described the billboards as ridiculous and observed that implementers of the initiative parade women to “celebrate their graduation from the bush to the pit latrine”.
That’s the reasoning behind ending OD. People should feel ashamed to defecate in the bush. If those that don’t know the whole process of CLTS, they should attend one in their village & understand it better. No need to bring down the billboards.
A Malawi kukonda kutengera, munali kuti nthawi yonseyi? You were waiting for Zambia to condemn the billboards?
Enafe tilibe nao vuto. Mukuti apeze mau ena, inu osawapezela bwanji?
If you want the removed the I guess you have got the message otherwise from an academical point of view every cholera country should have the billboards …. Same as ” tasiya kugona (na) Po panda chitetezo” for both malaria and STDs/contraception