Mutharika launches Poppy Appeal with K1mil donation ahead of Remembrance Sunday
Malawian President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday inaugurated the Poppy Week at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre ahead of Remembrance Sunday which will be on November 13 – the second Sunday of November.
President Mutharika receiving a Poppy flower during at Sanjika palace.Pic-Francis-Mphweya-MANA
Mutharika bought a Poppy flower at K1 Million as a way of fundraising for the Commonwealth Ex-Service Leagues of Malawi (COLEM) for for ex-servicemen and their families.
The poppy has become a symbol to mark the respect for those armed forced members from Kings African Rifles who died during the First World War and World War II as well as the millions of other people affected by war.
“I appeal to all Malawians to support this noble task by buying poppies and wear them with pride,” said Mutharika.
President Mutharika noted that while other countries are doing remarkably well in honoring their war heroes, Malawi cannot afford to lag behind hence the need to scale up the support rendered.
COLEM’s chairperson, Retired Major General Buxton Titus Namwali bemoaned lack of a budget line for the ex-service men as one setback towards the realization of a descent life among the elderly heroes.
Namwali disclosed that war veterans at Zomba Memorial Home are living like destitute with houses which are not electrified and are without piped water .
He called on other well wishers to join hands with government in making efforts to improve the ex-soldier’s lives.
Deputy Minister of Defense, Vincent Ghambi assured COLEM of government’s commitment to look into the issue of coming up with a specific budget line for the former men in uniform.
Every year, on the 11th hour on the Remberance Sunday, the nation falls silent for two minutes
A National Service for Remembrance is held at the country’s Cenotaph in Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, where the President, the vice president and diplomats pay their respects.
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These people died long time ago. Some of us were not born. It was not our war. There are more Malawians dying to day not of war but of poverty. Lack of food, lack of medical. Lack of everything. What is the president going to cerebrate theirs. I think it is better stop people dying now than cerebrating people wen never even met or saw. Sorry I am not cruel. A patient died under operation because electricity went off. People are dying in Màlawi not of a bullet but of corruption.