No, this meme does not show Malawi’s President Mutharika inaugurating a single water tap
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 12, 2019 at 12:39
- 3 min read
- By AFP South Africa, Tendai DUBE
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The meme shows two pictures: in the first, President Mutharika is cutting a ceremonial ribbon tied to a tap, and the second shows him with his hands clasped while an open tap fills a transparent bucket.
In one misleading Facebook post archived by AFP Fact Check, the meme is captioned: “President Peter Mutharika's official commissioning of a Water tap in Mzimba”.
Commenters on the post poked fun at the idea of a ceremony being held for a single tap.
The Mzimba Integrated Urban Water and Sanitation Project was launched on March 5, according to a post on the Malawian government’s Facebook page from the same day. The post included a series of photos credited to Lisa Kadango of the Malawi News Agency.
The Mzimba project, costing a total 16.7 billion Malawian Kwacha (US$22.85 million), was approved in 2015 and financed by the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Malawi's government.
According to this report on the project uploaded to the AfDB's website, the new sanitation infrastructure is intended to provide clean water for between 31,000 and 48,000 people. It includes new water facilities in schools and market places.
The photos posted on the Malawi government's Facebook page also show that Mutharika inaugurated more than a single tap on the day of the ceremony.
Here he is unveiling a plaque commemorating the launch:
As well as cutting a ribbon next to a gazebo which reads “potable water for all”.
According to the charity WaterAid, one in three Malawians still don't have access to clean water.
In 2018 AFP reported on a cholera outbreak which affected hundreds of people, killing nine, as a result of unsafe water in the country.
Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima and former president Joyce Banda are both challenging Mutharika for the presidency as the country gears up for national elections on May 21.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us