Chakwera calls for depoliticization of infrastructure development

President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has emphasized the need to depoliticize development, stressing that every Malawian is entitled to social and economic benefits accruing from the government.

Chakwera was speaking when he presided over the inaugural Umodzi Day Celebrations in Lilongwe on Thursday.

He said the future Malawians have outlined for themselves in Malawi 2063 espouses that everyone must be aboard the ship to the country’s desired destination.

“The development of assets such as roads and rail cannot be done in one part of the country while neglecting others, for development must never be used to divide Malawians, but to empower and unite them.

“From Chitipa to Nsanje and from Mchinji to Nkhotakota, every Malawian has a right to feel that the electricity in the country is theirs to enjoy, to have confidence that the fertilizer they need to feed themselves will be delivered to them at an affordable price, to know that there are health services and schools nearby to enhance their capacity to rise out of poverty, to know that the police service will indeed serve them by keeping them safe and not abusing and milking them at every turn like they live in a police state, and to know that theirs is a country in which there is no university quota system dividing Malawians by region and destroying the spirit of our students’ innovation and competition,” he said.

Chakwera said this is why for the past three years, his administration has pursuit national unity as a pillar for achieving meaningful transformation for all.

“I have been going to every region of the country to remind every citizen occupying every district of Malawi, including far flung places like Likoma Island, that they are all part of this great country and that they matter to its development. This is why I have graced every cultural celebration as truly Malawian and have welcomed every religious and political grouping as having a stake in our national development,” he explained.

At this point, President Chakwera described Umodzi Day as no ordinary day and declared that the first Thursday of each month of November will be Umodzi Day, a day of celebrating and cultivating national oneness.

He said the day should help in promoting Malawian things, Malawian fabric, Malawian food, Malawian languages, Malawian dances, Malawian art, Malawian inventions, and Malawian attractions.

“Going forward, this is to be a day for remembering Malawian history and teaching the young the values of Malawian culture. Going forward, this is to be a day for promoting Malawian peace.

“I have established the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission and appointed outstanding Malawians to serve as its Commissioners. This is also why we have chosen peace as the theme for this Umodzi Day, for this is to be a day for remembering that peace must be promoted, not taken for granted.

“For this reason, I call on all leaders, whether political, or cultural, or religious, or corporate, to use their voices and platforms to promote peace instead of provoking Malawians towards resentment, division, and disrespect.

“As leaders and as citizens, we each have a responsibility to be peacemakers, for it is written that those who make peace are blessed because they shall be called the children of God,” said Chakwera.

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