According to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), the function will start at 12 noon at Santhe Trading Centre in Kasungu District.

“Then, President Mutharika will conduct a rally at Santhe Admarc ground before proceeding to Kasiya in Lilongwe where he will first unveil the plaque at Kasiya Turn-off and then conduct another rally at Kasiya Trading Centre ground. The distance between the two rally venues is 43km,” said Secretary to Government Lloyd Muhara.

The 95 km long, Lilongwe Old Airport-Kwanyanda-Santhe and Kasiya spur road project starts from the M12 (the Lilongwe to Mchinji road). It extends Westwards passing through Nsalu-Kabudula and Kwanyanda Trading Centres. It joins the M18 at Santhe Trading Centre in Kasungu district.

The project involved upgrading of the existing earth road to class 1 bitumen standard. It also involved widening of the road to 6.8m carriageway with 1.5m single sealed shoulders on either side of the road. The works will also involve construction of a four span bridge across the Bua river and five box culverts on other river crossings.

It is connecting areas of high agricultural activities in the country on top of providing easy mobility for people and goods and easy access to markets for agricultural produce especially tobacco and other produce.

The road provides alternative access route to Kasungu district and beyond to those from Central and Southern part of Malawi by connecting with the M18. It further provides an alternative route into the Northern corridor via the Lilongwe West Bypass thereby decongesting the M1 road that runs from Lilongwe to Kasungu.

The project started in January 2015.