Ex-Dedza South contender under fire over boreholes

Tom Sangala October 6, 2019

763 1 minute read

The behaviour of one of the contenders in the May 21 Tripartite Elections in Dedza South Constituency Wilford Sangala, who has removed spare parts from two boreholes he had fixed during election campaign period, has irked community members in the area of Traditional Authority Kamenyagwaza in the district.

Senior Village Group Chinyamula told The Sunday Times that Sangala assisted the community in maintaining two boreholes which were not functional in the area but to their surprise, he reclaimed the parts he had purchased upon losing the parliamentary seat battle to Ishmael Onani.

“It is unfortunate that he [Sangala] came and removed parts from two boreholes when he lost the parliamentary seat. We appreciate the good work he did during the campaign period but the constituency had to have one winner and the best thing was to accept the defeat rather than removing the parts from the boreholes,” he said.

The traditional leader added that the development has aggravated water challenges in the area as women and children now have to walk long distances in search of water.

“As we are speaking, we are drinking unsafe water which is putting us at risk of contracting water borne diseases and also as a community, we are concerned that our children especially girls and women are covering long distances to fetch water,” Chinyamula said.

One of the affected women in the area, Loyce Masina, described the development as worrisome, branding Sangala as childish for the behaviour he has displayed.

“We wonder if he was contesting to serve the interests of poor people. Had it been that his intentions for contesting as an MP were genuine, he would have taken the defeat as a springboard but he chose to disappoint the majority. This has been a challenge on us as we are now struggling to have access to clean water,” she said.

When contacted however, Sangala, claimed to have taken the equipment for maintenance and promised to return them to the communities.

“Yes, during the campaign period I was up and down maintaining different infrastructure, including boreholes but after campaign, I realised that the two said boreholes had developed problems and we took some parts to be maintained. I understand their concerns but they should be rest assured that soon those boreholes would be fixed,” he said.

He said he has no malicious intentions, insisting that the move was to ensure that people in the area have functional boreholes.

National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Dedza Civic Education Officer Patrick Siwinda said it is unfortunate that upon losing an election, most contestants resort to removing infrastructure they put up during campaign period.

“What these people forget is that they signed up to address such issues. The boreholes were beneficial to all,” he said.

Siwinda further said Nice will be closely monitoring the situation.