Minister of Transport and Public Works Ralph Jooma has thanked President Peter Mutharika for 500 satellite Televisions which China has given Malawi.
On Friday, the People’s Republic of China handed over 500 satellite Television Villages to Malawi at a ceremony that took place at Nankhwali Primary School in Mangochi.
Jooma who is also Member of Parliament for the area said the satellite TV project has already had impact on his constituents. He said pupils are able to get new knowledge from some education programmes that they watch.
The 500 satellite TV villages are under China’s project of connecting 10,000 villages to satellite TV in some African countries.
In Malawi, 20 households in each of the 500 villages were identified from all 193 constituencies from Nsanje to Chitipa in consultation with Members of Parliament and Chiefs.
Each village that was selected received a 32’ TV screen, two projector decoders, three satellite dishes and three sets of solar panels and batteries to power the TV units.
Minister of Information, Civic Education and Communications Technology, Mark Botomani received the villages on behalf of the Government of Malawi.
He hailed the Chinese government for helping Malawi towards digital migration advancement.
“The project has given people living in rural areas an opportunity to have access to as much information as possible thereby making the rural communities more enlightened and progressive as they effectively participate in the country’s development and democracy,” said Botomani during the handover ceremony.
Chinese Charge d’ Affaires Wang Xiu Sheng commended the cordial bilateral ties between Malawi and his government.
Sheng said the satellite TV will improve the lives of Malawians in many aspects as they will now be part of the global community.
