Britain to give cash benefits to 440 Malawi war veterans: To protect them from extreme poverty
At least 440 Malawian ex-servicemen are among the 7000 Commonwealth war veterans who, from this year, will start receiving regular cash transfers to prevent them from going hungry under the new Department for International Development (DFID).
The programme, worth £11.8 million, extends to their widows and widowers in more than 30 countries.
Making the announcement during the Remembrance Day centenary reception and Bell Ringing Ceremony at her residence in Lilongwe, the British High Commissioner to Malawi, Holly Tett, said the UK recognises the sacrifices that the Commonwealth veterans made.
“UKAID will be supporting veterans across the Commonwealth to show the depth of gratitude that we have to these men and women. I am really pleased that we will be able to increase the cash transfers so that they can afford two meals a day,” she said.
In his remarks, the Commander of Malawi Defence Force, General Griffin Supuni Phiri thanked the UK for the support, saying his organisation tries its best to look after the war veterans but faces challenges to satisfy the need.
“We do not take such kind of gesture for granted as this will go a long way in uplifting the welfare of these veterans and families.”
A war veteran, 16683 Sergeant John Masanya, who fought in the Second World War as a rifle man and later as a Radio Operator, said the new form of support from the UK would ease up his daily challenges.
The British High Commission in Lilongwe also supported MDF’s Charity golf, football and netball tournaments last week to raise extra resources for the war veterans.
The new Department for International Development (DFID) programme, which will be supporting the 440 veterans through regular cash transfers, will be delivered through the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, a charity which has been supporting those such veterans who served The British Crown for almost 100 years.
Big up HOLLY TETT.
Am # 441
Better give them direct otherwise we all know what the DPP government is capable of doing
Long overdue. Its time you also considered reparations for the general misrule and human rights abuses that you lot visited on our innocent forefathers when you colonised our territory. Bad enough you brought the flu with you.
This is not kindness and our government should stop sucking up to the British. It is their obligation to support the veterans who fought a war they did not know what they were fighting for. The veterans of this war in Britain get enough money to live comfortably not just to afford two meals a day. The UK government should be ashamed!!
This is not kindness. It is a responsibility the British government have toward our veterans just as they have for British veterans who do not have to worry how to find two meals a day. It is high time they paid up. Malawians contributed a lot to this war!!