APM Donates Minibus To Former School Dedza Sec…Set Aside K15million For Painting, Road Rehabilitation
President Professor
Peter Mutharika has donated a minibus to his former school Dedza Secondary
popularly known as Box 48.
Mutharika’s Special
Personal Assistant Ben Phiri handed over the vehicle worth K5million to the school
on Monday.
The donation is going
to ease transport problems that the students and the staff at the school have
been experiencing for so many years since the institution has only single lorry
and an old grounded school bus.
President Mutharika
donated the bus following the requests by the school management and students
when Mutharika paid them unannounced visit few weeks ago.
“The president is an
alumni of Dedza Secondary School and he within his own will decided to make a
surprise visit to the school because he believes that what he is today is
because of what he learnt during those days at Dedza Secondary school.”
explained Phiri
“When he came here he
discovered that there are quite a lot of challenges and one of which was
transportation problem. Again the other problems were to do with the road to
the Boma and again the state of the school as it stands right now. So he
had to pull his resources together to purchase the bus just to make sure that
the transport problem is sorted out”
Phiri further said by
donating the bus to his former school the president felt that as alumni it is
important that he leads the way for others to follow the good example of what
he is doing.
He said the starting
next week the school will be painted and that Mota-Engil will begin to
rehabilitate the 6Km dilapidated road from Dedza Boma to the school. He
mentioned that the road will be an all season gravel road.
“The president will be
rehabilitating the road from the school to Dedza Boma and again the school will
be painted and all starts next week. I must mention that this has got nothing
to do with the government. It’s not government money! He has used his resources
to do it and at some extent his friends have come in to help him.”
Phiri also indicated
that the whole road construction project and painting of the school
infrastructure will cost MK15 million. Therefore the whole project including
minibus donation total’s to MK20 Million.
Receiving the minibus
donation, Deputy Head Teacher for the school Edness Banda thanked the president
for living up to his promise at a short period of time. She said this help will
bring back the lost glory of Dedza Secondary School.
Banda said the school
has for a long time been using a lorry to pick sick students to Boma and that
it was difficult for the staff to travel to important functions at division
offices and in Lilongwe education headquarters offices.
“We are proud of
receiving the donation and we are also proud of our president for assuring us
that he is going to rehabilitate the school and the road”
The deputy head teacher
also promised that the school will take care of the bus and the school
property.
Dedza secondary school
which was opened in 1951 has produced a lot of leaders including current
Finance and Economic Development Minister Hon. Goodall Gondwe, current Chief
Secretary and former president late Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika.
