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Malawi / Mozambique: Mwanza, Moatize Councils hold bilateral talks on Covid-19 – MANA
9:38 CAT | 28 Aug 2020
The croos border meeting was held on Monday, in Moatize, Tete province, Mozambique. [Photo: MANA]
Mwanza District Council and their counterparts from Moatize in Mozambique have agreed to work together in the fight against further spread of the novel Corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic among communities in the two districts.
Chief Director of Planning and Development for Mwanza District Council, Ernest Kadzokoya disclosed this to Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Wednesday following a cross border meeting held in Moatize on Monday.
According to Kadzokoya, the meeting was held with support from Malawi Red Cross Society and United Purpose, with the aim of sharing experiences and strategize on possibilities of putting efforts together to combat the disease.
“Despite the fact that both district councils have tightened preventive measures against the pandemic such as use of masks, it has been observed that it is incomplete if we are working independently from each other because we share boundaries with our colleagues,” he said.
“Communities from the two countries are related; therefore, they exchange visits regularly and it is something which cannot be prevented as such concerted efforts are needed to fight the pandemic,” Kadzokoya added.
Kadzokoya who also led a nine-member delegation from Mwanza District Council cited lack of proper travelling documents and use of unchartered routes by some travellers as some of the common challenges faced by the two councils.
He said such people undermine Covid-19 fight because they are not tested for corona virus before crossing the borders.
“Enhanced coordination to intercept such people and hand them over to relevant authorities of the two districts was recommended during the meeting so that they should go through screening for Covid-19 first,” Kadzokoya said.
Kadzokoya, therefore, described the meeting as successful saying it granted both sides opportunity to share experiences and identify gaps in the fight against the disease.
District Commissioner for Moatize District Council, Maria Jose Ntefula commended Mwanza District Council officials for organising the trip, saying the interaction has helped the members to discuss crucial issues that are cross-cutting to both councils and come up with modalities to work together.
Meanwhile, 27 confirmed Covid-19 cases have been registered in Mwanza with 26 recoveries and one death. However, Malawi News Agency (Mana) could not immediately establish the Covid-19 situation in Moatize at the time of going to press.
By Brian Wasili
Source: MANA - Malawi News Agency
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