Mutharika urges Malawians to stop rumour mongering: Commends Catholic Church for being Malawi’s moral compass
Malawi’s spiritual health is determined by the thinking, the attitudes, and the character her people, a situation that demands the church to orient its members on the need to work collectively towards development, says President Arthur Peter Mutharika.
He said this on Saturday at Zomba Catholic Secondary School ground during consecration of the Very Reverend Father George Desmond Tambala as Bishop of Zomba Diocese.
“Our collective national character determines whether we develop or whether we regress into petty existence. For some time now, Malawi has been suffering a disease of the spirit. Something one scholardescribed as pneumapathology – a disease of the spirit. We are a nation crying for transformation, yet we resist change every way it comes. We are full of cynicism and we have no faith in ourselves as a nation,” said Mutharika.
“We want change, but we don’t want to change the way we think. We want to take a positive direction, yet are blinded by negative attitudes. We want to see everything negatively,” he noted.
President Mutharika reminded Malawians to stop dwelling on negativity and spreading sensitive rumours and lies against authorities and fellow citizens alike.
He made specific mention of a case in which social media users were fed and believed a false story in which a banker in Bangwe Township was believed to have murdered his wife.
Unfortunately, the issue was mere fabrication though it spread like wildfire before anyone would
clarify.
Turns to God
The President asked the church to play a greater role in healing the nation from this kind of sickness which leads to hatred, lack of patriotism and integrity.
“I will count on you the Church to teach us the old ways of believing in truth,” said Mutharika, adding: “You are the people to heal the national spirit because the church is the guardian of morality. Please heal our souls! And I count on you as the church to assist government in making a Malawian culture of Patriotism, Integrity and Hardwork.”
Mutharika continue: “Make us believe that God gave us everything we need to develop. And God made us to believe in ourselves if we believe in Him. Make us believe, that in the beginning, God made us to love our country, and to care for the environment that nurtures our existence.
“Make us believe that God made us to be a people with high sense of integrity. Make us believe that God made us to achieve anything with excellence, if we do whatever we do with all our mind; with all our soul; with all our strength. And with God, everything is possible.”
‘New Thinking’
In his remarks Bishop Tambala said he is ready to lead the church into a new way of thinking which will be fully based on serving the underprivileged and the poor in communities. In line with his vision, Bishop Tambala has chosen “God is rich in mercy” as his theme during his calling as bishop.
Father Tambala, who was appointed Bishop by Pope Francis in October 2015, was born on November 18, 1968 in Zomba.
He has served the Catholic church in various capacities since April 13, 1996 when he was ordained as priest at Chiphaso Parish in Lilongwe Archdiocese. He did
his secondary school education at Child Jesus Nankhunda Minor Seminary in Zomba.
He later did his Philosophical studies at Inter Congregation Institute in Balaka. In 1990 he entered the Novitiate of Discalced CarmelitesOrder and made his first religious profession on July 31 1991. In 2001, Father Tambala obtained a Licentiate Degree in Theology at the Faculty of Northern Spain having followed specialization courses at Teresa – St. John of Avila International Centre. Father Tambala speaks 7 languages: English, Chichewa, Yao, Swahili, Italian, Spanish and Italian.
Other works and responsibilities that Bishop Tambala has undertaken as a priest include Parochial Vicar at Kapiri Parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe from 1996 to 1998, Postulants Master and Teacher of Spirituality at Inter Congregation Institute in Balaka from 2000 to 2002 and Provincial Delegate Superior in the Mission of the Province of San Joaquin of Navarre in Malawi from 2002 to 2008.
Others include Superior of the House of Spirituality of Nyungwe in the Archdiocese of Blantyre from 2002 to 2008 and Definitor General in Charge of Africa and Madagascar and the Order of Discalced Carmelites, from 2009 until his appointment as Bishop of Zomba Diocese.
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Didn’t he take a “Mugabe” @ the function?shaaaaaaaaaa!
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND SINCERE SPEECH THAT OUR PRESIDENT HAS EVER MADE. IT COULD HAVE BEEN OVER AND ABOVE THE SIMPLE THINKING MALAWIANS MOST OF WHOM ARE EITHER PERPETRATORS OR VICTIMS OF CYNISM AND RUMOUR MONGERING. YES WE ARE A SICK PEOPLE WHO PRETEND TO BE IN CONTROL OF THINGS AND WE GO IN GREAT NUMBERS ON SUNDAY TO PRAY… A SMALL NATION BUT KNOWN WITH UMFITI AND ALL NEGATIVE THINGS HERE & ABROAD. A NATION OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ASSERT SELVES BUT DO NOT BELIEVE IN OUR SELVES…YET A FAVOURED NATION! MANY CONGRATS… Read more »
Its good that majority of voters don’t even follow these online lies here and on facebook. The more you wish APM bad the more blessed he will be. Malawians you are so low thriving on lies instead of working hard. Wake up, work hard, respect your leader. No matter how much you shout hear, real voters wont see your crap here. History should teach you.
A church with thousands of priest who were sodomising young altar boys, with popes that protected pedophiles, nazis etc? A moral or immoral compass? I wonder
Anybody who still sees sound leadership in Mutharika despite the economic hardships the country is going through, surely that person needs mental assessment. And more importantly if that person has any sort of academic qualifications, well! then perhaps that explains the sort of education system we have in the country.
God chose us to be a people of high sense of integrity. Thanks bwana APM. Now where is the integrity for allowing Mathanyula by suspending the law that criminalize the same….you have stooped so low…no integrity at all.
The flow is open to each and every jack and jacqueline, but Jehovah has a final say. As for the parties said to be in disray, I for one would say, better happen now than what we will see in 2018. Amen?
What Mr.Non Sense has written is indeed,no sense try again you need not defend a liar and a rogue for personal gains.
It is true that one of our diseases in Malawi is creating and peddling false stories – lies! Most of these lies are strange and unbelievable! You hear of a pastor who has turned into a snake, a musician who is satanic, and the story the President mentioned, of a banker killing his wife! All lies and without proof. Unfotunately Malawians receive these stories without question. A friend once said to me that If he posted a bizarre story on social media that ‘the driver of the bus that he had travelled on from Lilongwe to Blantyre last night turned… Read more »
mkulu uyo akukumbuka God chifukwa anagwa eti. Paja pomulumbilisa anakana kugwira bukhu lopatulika. Siunati uziona.