President Laz cancels Malawi independence celebrations amidst Covid-19 threat

July 5, 2020 Wongani Chiuta - Nyasa Times 40 Comments

Newly elected President Lazarus Chakwera  was set to be inaugurated this Monday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe during a ceremony which would have also marked  56th Malawi Independence Celebration  have been cancelled amidst threat of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic due to rapid increase of  virus cases the country has so far registered.

Malawi’s newly-elected President Lazarus Chakwera: To address the nation on TV and radio.-Photo bu Lisa Kadango, Mana

Chakwera, was already  sworn in as Malawi’s sixth President at the Malawi Square in Lilongwe  alongside Vice-President Saulos Chilima last week.

But the President who  also expected to deliver his inauguration speech,  said the stadium event will not go ahead, instead inauguration will be restricted to 100 invited people at Kamuzu Barracks.

“In view of this accelerating rate of local transmission and its wide geographical spread, I have decided to cancel the celebration to prevent any persons who may be exposed to the virus in one part of the country from spreading it to other parts as they travel to and from the celebrations,” said Chakwera.

Chakwera, therefore, urged  members of the public who were planning to travel to the capital for the celebrations to cancel their travel plans accordingly.

“I know that those of you who were planning to attend the celebrations had already gone to some expense in making preparations, but I am counting on your good nature and good sense to see as I do that your health and safety is of paramount importance,” he said.

Meanwhile, the inauguration will proceed in a scaled down event.

Chakwera’s predecessors have used the inauguration speech to provide policy direction, especially on the economy, in the coming five years in a country that is clocking 56 years of independence on July 6, but has remained one of the poorest in the world, relying on donors for 40 percent of its recurrent budget and 80 percent of the development budget.

President Chakwera inherits a country deeply divided, politically, regionally and ethnically. With an economy not much better than it was at independence in 1964, with poverty deeply entrenched, with a government steeped in corruption. And with a Covid-19 pandemic spreading.

Chakwera  defeated immediate former president Peter Mutharika by around 59% to 40% in the 23 June election which was a rerun ordered by the courts of the elections held in May 2019. Mutharika won that election but then Malawi’s Constitutional Court annulled it in February 2020 because of extensive vote rigging.

It was only the second known time in Africa’s history that a court had annulled an election and certainly one which the incumbent leader had won. The first was in Kenya in 2017.

On being sworn in last Sunday, Chakwera promised “a government that serves, not a government that rules; a government that inspires, not a government that infuriates; a government that listens, not a government that shouts; a government that fights for you, not against you”.

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40 replies on “President Laz cancels Malawi independence celebrations amidst Covid-19 threat”

  1. The matter of fact is covid is here with or without politics it’s up to you as an individual to protect yourself. If our new government is taking steps to mitigate chi situation ichi I say bravo coz at the end of the day if not me, a relative, a friend or colleague somewhere will be affected either way without proper measures we all lose. So if you start pointing fingers at Chakwera, Chilima, or whomever you want to call a cadet remember this. We all came from one family the first on earth.The first family on this Earth was Adam and Eve cast out of Eden because of disobedience. They Populated earth only for the whole lot except Noah’s family to perish because of disobedience. Noah’s family repopulated only for the whole lot to be scattered giving us different languages skin cultures and u name it because of the tower of Babel kufuna kuzikweza anthufe. If you read the Bible you will know who the one and only saviour is. Now to get back to our current situation pa nyasa pano brothers and sisters I for one will take precautions and follow the rules as stipulated and given by our leaders. They are not rulers they are leaders there is a difference and our mindset should have this point rooted deep. Please stay safe for yourself and the one next to you

  2. Laz tell army commander to bring the stupid sword to your residence period if you think swearing in by the chief justice is not enough m stop this nonsense of trying to import covid 19:into the army barracks

  3. Hehehehe, koma sewelo la tikufelanji lafika pokoma. Bambo a sikono akuti Kuli Corona, dzulo amanena kuti matendawa kulibe kumalawi kuno.kkkkkkkkkkk

  6. Remember that we are past campaign time and should be looking at how to solve the problems that are lying ahead of us. Blaming the UTM/MCP leadership will not help anyone in the country and remember that it will not be leaders of the current government will get ill – All of us in Malawi are at risk of contracting covid19. Generally most Malawians never believed that covid 19 existed and that it can kill abd this is evidenced by the way we carelessly mingle in market places and other public places without social distancing and without wearing face masks.The problem is not our TONSEe alliance leaders but the bad attitude that we Malawians have towards the disease. Let’s forge ahead by following the necessary health precautions. Pointing fingers at each other will not help us in any way or protect us from the virus.

  8. Hehede Ulu. Kulibe Covid 19 ku Malawi sayth the wise Politician. Today the chickens have come home to roost. Face the music.

  10. Hehe ,interesting to see people who deny the existence of covid 19 advising the nation on protective measures.this disease if not tamed ,it will spell the beginning of lost trust and goodwill from the general public.there is a mountain to climb

  13. Yesterday I said God at times allow some things to happen for a reason. He allowed our leader Bingu to depart early and accepted the wishes of a few displaced Malawians that Joyce Banda be appointed the president in order for everybody to determine her capabilities. Just after 2 years she lost an election. This time around things are unfolding before our own eyes and you and me should be the best judges to the calamity be falling us. Sadly, innocent lives will be lost due to the folly of a few misguided and corrupt people. God have mercy.

    We all along have been told Covid 19 is real and that it is killing people, but MCP & UTM dispelled those assertions that DPP was saying all that to avoid an election. Now who is more wiser between the Pulofesa and Pastor/Marketer? Your guess is as good as mine.

    1. Zoona, sometimes God allows situations to so that we should learn something. Anthu ankangoona za elections basi.

  14. Inu nonse you have commented in these 4 comments , you are cadets. Go away ur time is over. Let the Tonse govt settle down, you dont owe Tonse a vote, you voted for DPP. Start putting DPP house in order.

    Donot comment stupidly here

    1. Inunso ndiinu Chindele Cha chabechabe, munthu akasiyana nanu maganizo ndiye kuti ndi cadet aaaah umbulitu umenewo…..mukufuna aliyense akhala ndimaganizo ofanana ndi Anu????

    2. Olo mwanena zimenezi still this isn’t a logical argument, reply to them with logic, awuzeni why COVID was a hox then n now a reality, let’s have logical arguments osamangokamba chifukwa mumatha typing in English, cadets or not. Am just a spectator trying to see Malawi prosper both economically and mindset

  15. Kikikik Mr Covid Chakwera ntchito ija ndiimeneyotu. Lero I was at KCH, I have witnessed the death of a relationship due to Covid 19. Ndiye paja baby chilima said there is no Covid so we can freely hug each other, lero ndizimenezi. APM was clever not to risk Malawian lives for the sake of retaining power. He went slow on gatherings. Lero ndiuyo Suleiman akudwala Covid . Mutha muwona. Kuyendetsa boma siphadatu Mr judicial coup Chakwera.

  17. Man of the people is making practical decision not to stop election that took place and not stealing COVID19 funds, not kupanilira MBC,
    not monopolizing the police, not running a family government, not promoting one tribe, and not failing to be transparent and accountable to the citizens.

  18. Thanks for listening to my advice to cancel the inauguration ceremony. My second advice is impose lockdown now! Coz if we continue like this ,Malawi will surpass any country in Africa with cases

    1. No lockdown without food packages pajatu nokha munawauza amalawi kuti ndiosauka and government first needs to say how it intends to help them. Bas

  19. I don’t agree that the economy of Malawi was better than now. My simple argument is that, if the economy was good as people say, Malawi would not be a third developed country in the world. Kamuzu would not have found people of Mwanza Neno literally naked. We should have better roads and people would have had better house, not grass thatched house made of mud. We should have better schools than those I saw in the 60s 70s which were so dangerous and some were grass thatched. People were poor than today. Saint Andrews and Johnstone were for foreigners. Crops were yellow not green. So where was the economy good. People today are able to send their children abroad for studies, even themselves flying as if they are driving, most people are driving , better houses and we cannot say all are corrupt. So please show me the evidence. How many had bank accounts, had nice houses apart from MHC which I witnessed one bedroom house with a 7 members in it, how they slept God knows. So tell me what are the evidence of better economy, if people were living in grass thatched houses, made of mud and trees. Where is the evidence when nsabwe and msikizi were all over peoples house.

    1. The problem with Malawi is that we are not objective in our criticism of the DPP government. Yes they failed in many respects, but is there nothing good that they did. I have been there during the days of Kamuzu when he was bragging that anthu akugona mu nyumba zosathonya! Up to now there are lots of grass thatched houses in Lilongwe along the M1 road. I even don’t think it is right to praise Chakwera and say that he will turn around the economy of the country as if he has the answer to all our problems. We may end up being disappointed unnecessarily. Let’s give him room to do his best but let’s not have Messianic expectations of him. Believe me, the problems of Malawi are not like simple arithmetic. Let us be realistic

  20. Mmmmh..There is God in heaven. May God save our leaders and our nation…All along I believed that we don’t have COVID 19 in Malawi and that it was DPP excuse to postpone the elections…may God heal our land

  21. For the first time mcp and it’s allies acknowledge Covid19 is real. Unfortunately it’s now Too late, it has already affected those close to them. The useless judiciary busy stifling govt effort to combat Covid19. Had there been lockdown maybe the citizens would not have returned from rsa but without it they saw a chance for better life back home.

  22. You were opposing that there’s no Covid 19.Why you cancelling the event?We can’t trust this Government.

    1. You can’t Trust don’t Generalize Bwana ngati tupanga nawo ma trust issues anuwo

    2. How about the other Govt that, for the love of imports, imported more than 800 Covid cases?

    3. Kkkkk mmafuna mupiteko kuti mukabeko? Kkkkk si DPP Government tu iyi. Yakatangale paliponse.

  24. Atupele is being vindicated that government is not for apprentiship. these made were making careless statements during the campaign on convid 19 and it here now haunting them. Chakwera is going to run the worst government in the history of Malawi because his leadership was not approved by God

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