Reported by Mustapha Omolabake Omowumi, Managing Editor | Sele Media Malawi.
Member of Parliament for Mwanza Central, Felix Njawala, has strongly defended the importance of boreholes in improving access to safe water, promoting public health and supporting sustainable development in communities that continue to depend on unsafe water sources.
Njawala made the remarks while commissioning four newly constructed boreholes in his area, a development reportedly valued at K60 million, arguing that it would be a serious mistake to underestimate the role of boreholes in communities where reliable piped water remains out of reach for many households.
The legislator said that while efforts to expand access to piped water should continue, the reality facing many rural communities is that residents still rely on wells and other water sources whose safety cannot always be guaranteed.
His comments highlight a persistent challenge facing parts of rural Malawi, where access to an improved water source does not necessarily mean that communities have access to water that is safely managed, consistently available and within a reasonable distance of their homes.
Njawala therefore described the construction of boreholes in underserved communities as more than a physical infrastructure project, saying such facilities can have direct implications for health, household welfare, dignity and local economic development.
The intervention comes against a broader national backdrop in which Malawi continues to face disparities in access to safe drinking water between urban and rural communities.
According to UNICEF Malawi, although the country has made progress in expanding access to improved water sources, significant gaps remain in safely managed drinking water. UNICEF’s 2025–26 WASH Budget Brief indicates that only 18 percent of Malawi’s population had access to safely managed drinking water based on 2023 Joint Monitoring Programme data, with the situation considerably worse in rural areas, where the figure stood at about 10 percent.
Boreholes remain critical where piped water is limited
The significance of Njawala’s remarks lies in the distinction between encouraging communities to use piped water and ensuring that alternative safe sources remain available for people who are not connected to formal water supply systems.
In many rural areas, boreholes remain among the most practical sources of groundwater for domestic use. However, their effectiveness depends not only on construction but also on proper siting, water quality, functionality, maintenance and community management.
The Malawi Ministry responsible for water and sanitation says its mandate includes developing and managing water resources while providing safe water supply and sanitation services to support the country’s social and economic development.
For communities in areas where piped water infrastructure is either unavailable or difficult to extend, properly constructed and maintained boreholes can therefore provide an important bridge between water insecurity and reliable household access.
Njawala’s intervention is particularly significant given previous reporting about water challenges in Mwanza.
The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation has previously reported that some communities in Mwanza have continued to struggle with access to safe water. In one report, MBC highlighted the situation in Humba Village, where residents were depending on unsafe water after difficulties were encountered in drilling a promised borehole. Njawala was quoted describing the lack of clean water in the community as unfortunate, underscoring the continuing challenge of water access in parts of the district.
Earlier reporting has also documented the wider water challenges facing communities under Traditional Authority Kanduku in Mwanza. A report published by Africa Brief described how some communities had historically relied on unprotected wells and streams, while Mwanza District Water Development Officer Laston Chagunda reportedly explained that the district faces persistent water shortages partly because of its low water table and difficult terrain.
The same report noted that Mwanza had more than 600 Afridev boreholes at the time, although frequent breakdowns remained a concern. This illustrates that simply increasing the number of boreholes is not enough; ensuring that existing water points remain operational is equally important.
Njawala links safe water to public health
Njawala also pointed to the death of a person from Kosamu village last year, which he said was suspected to have been linked to the consumption of unsafe water.
The circumstances surrounding the death would require independent health or medical confirmation before a direct causal relationship could be conclusively established. Nevertheless, the concern raised by the legislator reflects a well-established public-health connection between contaminated water, inadequate sanitation and waterborne diseases.
The World Health Organization states that cholera is caused by ingesting Vibrio cholerae bacteria, commonly through contaminated food or water, and is closely associated with inadequate sanitation and insufficient access to safe drinking water.
UNICEF Malawi similarly identifies safe water, sanitation and hygiene as fundamental components of disease prevention and child survival. The organisation reports that access to WASH services remains uneven across Malawi, with rural communities facing particular disadvantages.
This makes investment in community water infrastructure a public-health measure as much as a development intervention.
Where households are forced to obtain water from unprotected wells, streams or other unsafe sources, the risk of contamination can increase, particularly where sanitation facilities are inadequate or where flooding and other environmental conditions affect water quality.
UNICEF has documented similar situations elsewhere in Malawi. In Nsanje, for example, communities affected by unreliable water sources experienced diarrhoeal illnesses and other waterborne diseases, including cholera, before a solar-powered water system was installed to improve access to safe water.
More recently, UNICEF reported that unsafe water was contributing to health risks in communities in Karonga, where new solar-powered water systems were helping provide reliable access to clean water for more than 2,000 people.
These examples demonstrate why water infrastructure should be considered an essential component of preventive healthcare.
Water access also affects women and household livelihoods
Beyond disease prevention, Njawala’s comments draw attention to another often overlooked dimension of water insecurity: the amount of time households spend searching for water.
Traditional Authority Sudala reportedly supported the legislator’s position, saying the newly constructed boreholes would help reduce waterborne diseases while also easing the burden on women who often walk long distances to collect water.
This is an important consideration in rural development.
When a reliable water point is located close to households, women and girls can spend less time walking long distances to fetch water. The time saved can instead be devoted to education, childcare, farming, small businesses and other productive activities.
UNICEF Malawi reports that 37 percent of rural households spend 30 minutes or more fetching drinking water, compared with 13 percent of urban households. The organisation also notes that women and children frequently bear much of the burden of inadequate water access.
The 2019–2020 Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey similarly found significant rural-urban differences in water access and reported that almost half of rural households without water on their premises spent more than 30 minutes fetching drinking water.
The implication is that a borehole located within a community can deliver benefits beyond the immediate provision of water.
It can reduce the physical burden of water collection, free up productive time and potentially improve household welfare.
For women who are responsible for collecting water for cooking, cleaning and other household needs, a nearby functioning borehole can mean fewer hours spent walking and waiting at distant water points.
Infrastructure must be matched with maintenance
While the commissioning of four boreholes represents a significant intervention, sustainable water access requires more than drilling and commissioning new facilities.
One of the recurring challenges in Malawi’s rural water sector is the functionality of existing water points.
UNICEF reports that only 77 percent of water points nationwide are functional, with some becoming non-functional because of ageing infrastructure, deterioration of catchment areas, neglect, lack of spare parts and inadequate community-based management systems.
This means that communities and authorities need mechanisms to maintain the newly constructed boreholes once the initial construction has been completed.
Community ownership, trained area mechanics, availability of spare parts and transparent arrangements for minor repairs can help protect investments in water infrastructure.
The experience documented in Mwanza itself reinforces this point. Earlier reporting from the district indicated that while hundreds of boreholes had been installed, frequent breakdowns remained a challenge.
Consequently, the success of the four new boreholes should ultimately be measured not only by the number of facilities commissioned but by whether they continue providing safe and reliable water to residents years after their inauguration.
Mwanza’s wider water challenge
Mwanza has previously benefited from government and development-partner interventions aimed at improving water security.
The Malawi Ministry responsible for water has reported projects involving borehole construction in Mwanza under national resilience and drought-risk programmes. One such programme included the construction of 12 boreholes in Mwanza as part of a wider intervention covering several districts affected by climate and water-related challenges.
Such programmes reflect the growing recognition that rural water infrastructure must also take account of climate resilience.
Droughts can reduce groundwater availability, while floods can contaminate water points and damage infrastructure. UNICEF has noted that climate-related emergencies can interrupt or degrade WASH services, increasing risks to public health and household wellbeing.
For Mwanza, therefore, the construction of boreholes should ideally be accompanied by measures that protect water sources, improve sanitation, strengthen maintenance systems and promote responsible water use.
Development beyond politics
Njawala’s comments also place the borehole project within the broader question of what constitutes meaningful community development.
Water infrastructure can sometimes receive less public attention than roads, schools, bridges or other highly visible projects. Yet access to safe water underpins many of those sectors.
Children who spend less time collecting water have more opportunity to attend school and study. Families with reliable water access can maintain better hygiene practices. Health facilities require dependable water for cleaning, handwashing and patient care. Farmers and small businesses also depend on water availability for various activities.
This makes water access a cross-cutting development issue rather than a stand-alone infrastructure concern.
Njawala’s warning against mocking or belittling the importance of boreholes therefore speaks to the need to recognise the practical value of basic infrastructure in communities where people continue to face fundamental service gaps.
The construction of four boreholes at a reported cost of K60 million represents an investment in an essential service. Its value, however, will ultimately depend on the quality of construction, water safety, accessibility, community ownership and long-term maintenance.
For Mwanza residents who have relied on unsafe water sources, the availability of functioning boreholes can represent a meaningful improvement in daily life.
At the same time, the intervention should not be viewed as a substitute for long-term expansion of sustainable piped water systems. Rather, boreholes and piped schemes can complement each other as Malawi works towards universal access to safe and reliable water.
The central issue remains straightforward: communities cannot achieve lasting improvements in health, dignity and economic productivity without dependable access to safe water.
As Mwanza continues to address its water challenges, the four newly commissioned boreholes offer an opportunity to strengthen local resilience while demonstrating the importance of investing in basic services that directly affect people’s everyday lives.
For Sele Media Malawi, the broader lesson is clear. Water infrastructure is not merely a development statistic or a political talking point. For households walking long distances to find water, for mothers trying to protect their children from waterborne diseases and for communities seeking sustainable development, access to safe water is a basic necessity and a foundation for healthier and more productive lives.
“Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) “Thirsting for that drop of clean water”” reporting on persistent safe-water challenges in Mwanza and comments by Felix Njawala.
“UNICEF Malawi Water, Sanitation and Hygiene” national WASH access, rural water challenges, functionality of water points and public-health context.
“UNICEF Malawi WASH Budget Brief 2025–26” data on safely managed drinking water and rural-urban disparities.
“World Health Organization Cholera in Malawi” public-health information linking cholera with contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.
“Malawi Ministry of Water and Development Malawi Resilience and Drought Risk Management Project” information on borehole construction, including interventions in Mwanza.
“UNICEF Malawi Safe water improves sanitation and hygiene in health centres” evidence on the relationship between safe water and prevention of waterborne diseases.
“UNICEF Malawi Solar-powered safe water transforming lives in Karonga” recent example of safe-water infrastructure improving community resilience.
“Africa Brief LifePump ends water woes in Humba village” background reporting on water access, boreholes and water challenges in Mwanza.