Local government spokesperson, Anjoya Mwanza, has confirmed that Blantyre will be the first to hold the city summit on Wednesday, 22 February, 2023 where some focus will be placed on council’s development priority areas.

"Now all cities are planning for their summits based on the areas they have prioritised one of which is waste management.  The Blantyre City Council will start to host the summit next week Wednesday on 22nd February," Mwanza said.

Meanwhile, Mwanza has also disclosed that after sensitizations of stakeholders on the secondary cities, government will shortly commence the identification of land and carry out perimeter survey which will facilitate the preparation of master plans.

However, environmental activist, Maloto Chimkombero says the summits will be another useless talkshow if the city council’s continue with no action on proper waste management.

"The issue of waste management in this country has to be priotised. But the problem is that we only priotize it when it comes to summits and conferences. We have had alot of talks than action. So these summits will be another talk show if action on proper waste management is not taken," he said.

The city summits are in line with the ministry's City Transformation Agenda, Malawi 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals, where civic leaders, city managers, residents, and business captains, will systematically engage on city management, governance, and development issues.