MALAWI: Bishop Mtumbuka Saves St. Mauritius Secondary School
Bishop Mtumbuka shakes hands with Sitzmann
By Luke Bisani
The Bishop of the Diocese of Karonga, in Malawi Rt. Rev. Martin Anwel Mtumbuka has directed his administration to facilitate and procure an electric transformer to be used at St. Mauritius Secondary School in Rumphi.
The directive follows the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi’s (ESCOM) failure to procure a transformer, which forced the learners to use other alternatives to electric power.
Speaking during the consecration and official opening of the school last Saturday, Bishop Mtumbuka disclosed that ESCOM advised the diocese to procure the transformer.
“ESCOM told us to buy the transformer ourselves, which was billed at around K15 million before the devaluation of the kwacha. Now, I order the [diocesan] administration to utilise my budgetary allocation for the 2024 pastoral services and purchase the transformer directly from South Africa, as ordering it through ESCOM might take ages,” said Bishop Mtumbuka.
Headteacher of the school, Madalitso Mbalazada, said the school lacks enough staff houses, a development that is forcing many teachers to stay in rented houses.
A Germany-based university professor, Dieter Sitzmann, who represented three donors for the school project, expressed willingness to support the country’s education sector.
The over 700,000 dollars boys’ secondary school [St. Mauritius Secondary School] was constructed with financial support from Germany-based Umckaloabo, the Rotary Club of Coburg, and Manos Unidas of Spain.
The school opened in 2022 with forms one and two; however, its official opening was on November 18, 2023.
