Minister Chimwendo Officially Inaugurates First Ever Lilongwe City Summit: Says cities must spearhead sustainable development

Minister of Local government, Unity and Culture, Richard Chimwendo Banda has today officially inaugurated the first ever Lilongwe city summit at Bingu International Convection Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

In his opening remarks, Banda said his ministry initiated the Lilongwe City Summit initiative to spearhead development and make settlements more inclusive and conducive through sustainable urbanization.

“Cities and towns across the country must spearhead sustainable development by among other things implement policies that are conducive for humanity including provisions of good road networks, clean water and sanitation, good planning and modern architecture among others,” he said.

He added that, other cities such as Zomba and Mzuzu will also have a privilege of holding such a summit in order to work in line with the Malawi 2063 aspirations.

Chimwendo who is Leader of the House in Parliament also urged the Lilongwe City Council to come up with innovative strategies to change the face of Lilongwe, by addressing challenges that the city is facing such as waste management and street vending and bring long lasting solution to such problems.

“We want garbage free cities, water secure and climate resilient as urbanization keeps on increasing.” he said.

Speaking earlier, Lilongwe city mayor Richard Banda, Said the city’s vision is to ensure that the country is working towards attaining the Malawi 2063, through working in line with the sustainable development goals, by addressing issues of waste management, street vending, green and leisure and infrastructure development and insure the city is working with various stakeholders and other partners in development.

“We are looking forward to seeing a beautiful Lilongwe city where we can manage our waste, and coming up with good infrastructure to ensure that our city is looking good, and it is the city’s responsibility to make sure that such goals are reached,” said Banda.

The Lilongwe city summit attracted a number of stakeholders and held discussions in thematic areas of waste management, street vending, infrastructure development and green and leisure. It was conducted under a theme, “My City, My Responsibility, Together Building the City We Want”