By Pickson Chipeso

Lilongwe, April 8, Mana: Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu, says the Government wants to turn Malawi into a digitally driven country by constructing network towers across the country.

Kunkuyu made the remarks at Parliament in Lilongwe Tuesday when he responded to a question from Thyolo Thava legislator, Mary Navicha, on poor connectivity in her constituency due to lack of network.

The minister said towers have been constructed in some parts of the country, but he acknowledged the poor connectivity in some parts of the country.

“We are still continuing with that expansion,” said Kunkuyu. “We have resources that have been allocated in the budget, but also resources towards the University Service Fund (USF) from the digital Malawi project.

“We aim to utilize these resources in the construction of towers in the hard to reach areas,” he explained.

The minister added that his ministry would want to see online banking services and payments being accessible to everyone in the country, so that people do not have to travel long distances for the services.

He assured the Thyolo Thava legislator and the public, in general, that the towers are being constructed from various models through the USF, and also through the operators who construct their own towers.

Navicha had complained that people in her constituency struggle to have access to phone calls or internet, let alone mobile banking.

She also sought clarification from the minister on rumours that the towers in the country are linked to Smartmatic system that is going to be used in the September 16 general election.

But Kunkuyu assured the legislator and the public that the towers in the country are purely for connectivity and communication.