Malawi Vice President, Dr. Saulos Chilima, has postponed a meeting he was scheduled to hold in Mzuzu today due to the rise in Coronavirus cases.
Confirming the development was Chilima’s press secretary Pilirani Phiri who said the Veep has made the postponement in adherence to the new guidelines released by government stopping large gatherings in the wake of increased Covid-19 cases in the country.
Dr Chilima who is also Minister of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms says he believes that the meeting with parastatal bosses and council leaders would have attracted a large number hence the postponement.
Through his spokesperson, Chilima added that with the increased cases of the COVID-19 pandemic, people need to pay attention to all the restrictions as urged by the government through the ministry of health.
“The postponement is in line with a Covid-19 Situation Update released by government which states that owing to the escalation of infections and deaths due to Covid-19, there is need to implement stricter measures to contain the spread of the Corona virus in cities, towns, municipalities and communities throughout Malawi.
“The Office of the Vice President notes that the Mzuzu meeting would have attracted more participants as it would have brought together all northern region based District Councils, Parastatal CEOs and their Directors of Finance hence the postponement of the meeting to a later date to be announced.” Said Veep’s spokesperson Phiri.
Meanwhile, a new date and other details for the interface meeting will be announced soon.
Recently, the veep held similar meetings in Lilongwe and Blantyre where he challenged parastatals to adopt the public sector reforms to spur national economic growth.
Chilima said for some time, the parastatals’ performance has been a mixed bag hence the Tonse Alliance-led administration expects them to improve going forward
