from MAVHUTO BANDA in Lilongwe, Malawi
Malawi Bureau
LILONGWE, (CAJ News) – MALAWI’S Blantyre Water Board (BWB) is set to undergo a full audit after its reliance on outdated systems, instead of modern technologies, led to persistent water supply failures affecting the city’s residents.
The parastatal has drawn government scrutiny after investigations revealed that obsolete operational systems, including paper-based documentation and postpaid billing, resulted in unnecessary expenditures and high levels of non-revenue water.
Reports indicate that traditional documentation processes consumed a significant portion of nearly US$20 million invested in recent upgrades.
Due to old and worn-out infrastructure, BWB’s non-revenue water stands at 44 percent—meaning nearly half of the water produced is lost without generating any income.
As a result, the BWB has struggled to provide clean and safe drinking water to Blantyre’s 1.4 million residents, prompting intervention from the national government.
This week, Roza Mbilizi, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, met with BWB’s top management to assess operations and expressed clear disappointment.
“I was disappointed to learn that BWB is still using a postpaid billing system in this modern technological era,” Minister Mbilizi said.
She added that officials informed her the parastatal had procured prepaid meters in an effort to modernize at a cost of MK8 billion (approximately $62 million), but the investment yielded little improvement.
“I discovered that faulty meters were procured. Therefore, I demanded a full audit report on the purchase of these faulty meters,” Minister Mbilizi confirmed.
The Minister has since recommended that BWB invest in digitalisation, including the use of artificial intelligence to enhance monitoring, efficiency, and overall operations.
Blantyre, Malawi’s center of finance and commerce and the country’s second-largest city after Lilongwe, relies heavily on a functioning water system for industrial, commercial, and domestic needs.
BWB is one of five major water parastatals in Malawi, highlighting the strategic importance of improving infrastructure and operations.
Minister Mbilizi’s concerns reflect a broader reality: in today’s era, it is crucial for government ministries, departments, and parastatals to digitise operations.
Digital solutions improve efficiency, reduce leakages, enhance accountability, and provide real-time monitoring—enabling governments to deliver essential services reliably.
Paper-based processes, outdated billing, and manual monitoring are no longer sustainable, particularly in critical sectors such as water, energy, and finance.
For Malawi’s water challenges in Blantyre, immediate steps should include the replacement of obsolete meters with smart prepaid systems linked to automated billing.
The minister also suggested the implementation of digital monitoring platforms to track water production, distribution, and loss in real-time while deploying AI and analytics tools to detect leaks, optimize pumping, and improve operational efficiency.
Mbilizi indicated the training of staff in digital operations would ensure seamless adoption and sustainability.
She said these measures would help guarantee continuous water supply for industrial, commercial, and domestic users while safeguarding the financial sustainability of parastatals like BWB.
The ongoing audit and push for digitalisation signal a pivotal moment for Malawi, demonstrating that modern technology is key to efficient service delivery, financial prudence, and improved quality of life for citizens.
– CAJ News