The opposition UTM has adhered to government’s demand to withdraw its coronavirus sensitization campaign on the grounds of lack of capacity.
In a statement yesterday signed by Minister of Information, Civic Education and Communications Technology Mark Botomani, government blamed the main opposition parties for planning sensitization campaigns without being oriented by the Ministry of Health.
The communique further stressed that political parties should refrain from using the novel coronavirus for political gains.
Having visited Chileka, Blantyre on Tuesday in a campaign against the pandemic, UTM’s professionals and ambassadors patron Felix Njawala said they will wait for the government before resumption of the campaign.
“We will continue distributing the soap, but we will wait for them to give us the information. It’s unfortunate because in this modern era all the information is available on the internet. The World Health Organization website has all the information needed, even the Ministry of Health is also getting information from the website,” said Njawala.
In Chileka, the UTM team distributed detergents and disseminated information concerning the coronavirus. The move was subject to appraisals from beneficiaries in the area.
However, the government has been faulted for its directive. Some quarters argue that the government is the one politicizing the issue by overlooking collective efforts in preventing the pandemic.
“Malawi has not yet registered a case and thank God for that. However, the Ministry of Health needs extra hands to reach out the masses. Our country is small but too big for the relevant ministry alone. Please Capital Hill, you are the one politicizing the issue,” Wrote Duncan Mzale.
Lydia Masache commented: “The government doesn’t want to be outshined. The truth of the matter is, this regime knows that it has lost public trust as such all positive efforts from the opposition calm is linked to politics, shame!”
