During my last week in Malawi we went to the water board to sort out our bill. Even though we’d registered as a personal account the water board had us classed as a commercial tap. This means that the rate we pay is about 60% more than we should be paying. In Malawi things don’t move quickly. We were assured that the account would be changed but the change would not be reflected until the October water bill. Grudgingly I paid the July bill of K1900 (about $16.50). I decided that with the rising cost of food I had to adjust my budget. I told Mrs. Chatuluka on whose property the tap is located, that I would be willing to pay up to K1000 per month for water. The water board people assured me that this was a reasonable amount to budget. I told her that if the bill exceeded that amount I’d shut off the water entirely. I didn’t anticipate that the bill would exceed this amount since there was a lock on the tap. We gave Kelita the key and told her to give it to no one. She was told that if she gave the key to anyone she would be in danger of losing her job. Really, Kelita is very trustworthy.
When he went to the Day Care this week Mabvuto was presented with a bill for K2400 (about $18.00). When he saw this he was very angry. He spoke to Mrs. Chatuluka who claimed to know of no reason for this large bill. Kelita then took Mabvuto to the cow pen where there is another tap attached to the same water line. We were never told of this tap. Obviously the Chatuluka’s didn’t want us to know about it. Mabvuto immediately affixed a lock to that tap.
When he returned the next day he was told by Kelita that the Chatuluka’s had gone out the previous night and detached the water meter and took water directly from the pip. Mabvuto then went to the water board and told them to fix that.
When I heard all of this I told Mabvuto to pay the K1000 we had agreed upon. I told him to give Mrs. Chatuluka until today to pay the balance. I instructed him to go to the water board and have the tap shut off if the balance is not paid. The cooks can walk to thte nearby public tap. It will save me money.
I’ll be happy when I have my own building so that I don’t have to deal with this family. I assume the behaviour is done out of spite because I fired Maemory.
Maemory sent Kelita to collect the pay which she refused to take when Mabvuto twice offered it to her. He sent it with Kelita. He’s a nice guy.














