Former president Joyce Banda, who is also People’s Party (PP) torchbearer in the May 21 presidential elections, has said she is the only one with solutions to power supply challenges facing the country.
Banda said this when she addressed people at Songani ground in Zomba Malosa Constituency on Monday.
“Our party will find alternatives to curb charcoal-burning by, among other strategies, adding enough megawatts to the national grid as one way of dealing with power supply challenges. It cannot take me more than 100 days to fix the problem of blackouts,” Banda said.
Banda, who returned home in April last year after spending over three years in self-imposed ‘exile’, said she would then ensure that proper penalties are imposed on people engaged in charcoal burning.
“You cannot impose a penalty on people who burn charcoal when there are blackouts. We are, therefore, going to improve the situation and then impose stiff penalties on the people who burn charcoal,” Banda said.
After the Monday meeting, the former president invited traditional leaders to a luncheon on New Year’s Day, treating chiefs to sumptuous meals at her private Domasi residence in Zomba.
PP lost the 2014 tripartite elections to the Democratic Progressive Party after, coming third.
(Source: The Daily Times Malawi, 3rd January 2019)