Movement decries rising poverty in Malawi: Mtambo donates to child-headed family

Leader of the newly-established Citizens For Transformation (CFT), Timothy Mtambo, celebrated this year’s Easter Monday by visiting and cheering the sick and needy children in Traditional Authority (T/A) Chadza in the outskirts of the Lilongwe City.

Mtambo also donated assorted food and non-food items to alleviate the suffering among the needy families.

But it was in Kadzitche Village where the firebrand freedom fighter was dumbfounded.

In this village, a 13-year-old boy is shouldering the responsibility of caring for a 70-year-old grandmother and four of his siblings, who include an 18-month-old baby girl.

Their mother of the children died last year whilst the baby girl had barely turned half a year. Their father abandoned them immediately after the burial of his wife, forcing the children to drop out of school to assume the role of parents for themselves and their aged granny.

Mtambo, speaking in an interview after his interaction with the frail granny and the children, condemned the man for abandoning his offspring and government – through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare – for failing to come to the rescue of the poor such as this child-headed family.

“When I see a person suffering, it touches me to the core. I was alerted by a certain journalist about a child as young as 13-years-old heading such a huge responsibility of taking care of his frail and ailing grandmother and his siblings. So, when we heard about that, we were touched because in CFT, we believe in transformative agenda,” he said.

Mtambo also questioned the government’s seriousness on improving the social and economic status of the people when levels of poverty continue to skyrocket among citizens, with majority of Malawians failing to afford even a single meal per day.

He said the situation in T/A Chadza; and many other areas in the country, clearly demonstrates that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led administration has failed to improve the socioeconomic livelihoods of Malawians.

He said CFT has established a Humanitarian Response Department, which will be responsible for identifying and providing social assistance to the needy across Malawi.

While commending Mtambo and his movement for the support, the grandmother, Valentine David, asked well-wishers to assist her build a decent accommodation for her and the grandchildren.

David also pleaded for support towards the children’s education and welfare.