STRIKING workers at the Lilongwe Water Board, the only water supplier in Malawi’s capital, have turned off the taps to demand a 100% pay hike and better working conditions, workers said on Friday. “We are not re-connecting the water until our demands are met,” one worker said, on condition of anonymity. Employees at the parastatal locked their managers in their offices on Thursday and turned off the city’s water supply. Another worker, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said angry employees deflated tyres of board chairman Greenwell Mponela’s official vehicle. Mponela is a functionary of the ruling United Democratic Front of President Bakili Muluzi. Muluzi appoints loyalists and functionaries to lead and staff parastatals, and they are often accused of extravagance and financial mismanagement.