Bakili Muluzi, Joyce Banda launch cyclone recovery project

Former presidents Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda have launched an initiative that will culminate in the construction of houses for some of the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The cyclone made landfall in Malawi on March 11 this year, killing people and displacing thousands in the Southern Region. In Mulanje alone, 25,000 households were displaced and…

Former presidents Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda have launched an initiative that will culminate in the construction of houses for some of the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Freddy.

The cyclone made landfall in Malawi on March 11 this year, killing people and displacing thousands in the Southern Region.

The two leaders are goodwill ambassadors of President Lazarus Chakwera’s Cyclone Freddy recovery initiative Tigwirane Manja and launched the initiative to construct the houses for people in Traditional Authority Njema, Mulanje District.

Under the initiative, 136 two and three-bedroom houses will be constructed in affected districts.

In Mulanje alone, 25,000 households were displaced and people affected have been staying at camps, with 151 people dying, 217 missing and 147 people sustaining various degrees of injuries following one of the worst cyclones to hit Malawi.

Speaking after the launch of the construction of the houses in Mulanje, Banda said the initiative is part of the third phase of the recovery process to build back better so that the affected households can go back to their normal houses.

Banda said, at Chakwera’s request, the former leaders want to support the government as it reconstructs infrastructure that was damaged by the cyclone, including critical roads and government buildings.

“So, as the government is engaging in those big reconstruction projects, as it continues looking for funds for this enormous task of rebuilding, we, as former presidents, thought it wise to support in other equally important projects such as the construction of houses for people as the government decommissions the camps,” Banda said.

Muluzi echoed calls for people living in disaster-prone areas to relocate to higher and safer ground.

Muluzi said relocating to safer ground could save lives.

“What happened in this country in March this year was unprecedented and a calamity; we saw whole villages being swept away, notably in Chiradzulu. It is, therefore, my call, as we continue supporting our people, that there is a need to ensure that people are not living in river banks below mountains because this places them at a higher risk of suffering more when disasters strike,” Muluzi said.

Immediately after the disaster struck in March this year, Chakwera invited former presidents to discuss and map the way forward on the recovery process.