Foreign Minister to meet Malawians living in UK
Malawi Foreign Minister Ephraim Mganda Chiume and government officians will meet Malawians in Diaspora on Sunday June 3 in London.
The Minister will be meeting Malawians living in the United Kingdom at the High Commission for the Republic of Malawi to discuss a wide range of issues .
According to London community of Malawians – Clement Chunga, Wati Mkandawire and Harry Mabaso – the meeting will start at 6pm at Malawi High Commission offices whose address is : 36 John Street, Holborn, London. The Post Code is WC1N 2AT.
President Joyce Banda – who will also be visiting UK from Monday June4 – announced in Parliament that her government will establish Malawi Diaspora office in Ministry of Foreign Affairs “to harness talents of Malawians living abroad.”
The Malawian community will give in their input to the Minister and other government officials on this and other wide ranging issues including the fevered debate on dual citizenship.
Lawyer Grace Manyika has been circulating an online petition to on the subject of dual citizenship.
Coordinator of Malawi Diaspora Forum (MDF) Thom Chiumia said they intend to lobby the new Banda administration to make it possible for people not to choose between Malawi citizenship and that of another country.
“We would want government to create an environment where Malawians in the Diaspora can inject in the national economy through remittance such as access to open Foreign Dominated Accounts (FDA) to help boost forex generation, investments and job skills. Dual citizenship plays a major role in this regard,” he told MaraPost recently.
Malawians in Diaspora – people who live far from their country of origin – find it easy to renounce their Malawi citizenship and take the citizenship of their adopted country because Malawi doesn’t allow dual citizenship.
Disapora Forum, which was formed in 2010 to nudge the Mutharika administration in the right direction after there were signs it was going off-track, says it will remain true to its cause.
