Ministry reopens Lilongwe Golden Peacock Hotel after two week of closure over poor sanitation

By Chisomo Phiri

The Ministry of Tourism has on Thursday reopened Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe which it closed on September 14, 2023 over what it called noncompliance with the minimum operating standards in line with the private sector.

Speaking in an interview with local media, the Ministry of Tourism Public Relations Officer Joseph Nkosi said the hotel has rectified all areas which led to its closure except a few such as adding staff.

“We have been working with the hotel since the time we closed it and a number of areas have been rectified so they are good to resume operations but we have asked them to maintain standards so that what happened should not happen again,” he said.

On his part,Golden Peacock sales personnel Everisto Phiri said the hotel has lost revenue of over K50 million during the two weeks period it has been closed but he said management worked hard to bring back operations.

“We have lost a lot but all the same we are excited that now we have been cleared to resume our operations. We have talked at length with the Ministry and we have agreed on certain terms to remain in business,” he said.

The Ministry also returned the license which it revoked at the time the hotel was closed.

However, Nkosi warned the hotel managers that the Ministry will not hesitate to revoke the license again if the standards go down again.

Before reopening, the Ministry officials inspected all sections of the hotel including the workers, the kitchen, the dining, rooms, conference rooms and offices to prove that the hotel has met the standards again.