By Jones Gadama
No public statement. No pomp. But when duty called, leadership answered.
During the period between 2020 and 2025, the M1 Road — Malawi’s economic backbone, its lifeline — suffered painful neglect and abandonment. Road maintenance was brought to a complete halt.
While potholes deepened and widened into craters, Malawians were fed empty promises coated in chocolate.
Transporters endured abnormal hours of travel, vehicles broke down, and delivery of goods was delayed. The cost was borne by every Malawian.
The neglect reached its worst point at Chiweta. A vital section became badly damaged and completely impassable, cutting off the supply of fuel and other essential commodities to the country and threatening the entire nation’s economy.
It is at such moments that true statesmanship is revealed.
President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, with the decisiveness and compassion that have defined his leadership, did not waste time in rhetoric.
He saw the suffering of his people and the strangulation of the economy, and he acted. He issued a direct presidential directive for the immediate construction and rehabilitation of the Chiweta section.
A leader who listens, a President who acts.
Today, that directive has become reality. The Minister of Transport and Public Works has officially handed over the contract to the contractor, marking the commencement of the rebuilding of the country’s lifeline. What was impassable will become passable. What was abandoned will be restored.
This is the Mutharika difference: less talk, more action. Where others promised, he delivers. Where others abandoned, he rebuilds.
Under his visionary leadership, infrastructure is not a slogan — it is a priority, because he understands that a good road network is the foundation of trade, development, and national dignity.
The roar of machines at Chiweta is the sound of a nation moving forward again. The M1 is rising, and with it, Malawi’s hope, under the steady, proven hand of President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
