President Mutharika ask Malawi to pray:  Govt set Feb 8 day of national prayers

Malawi President  Peter Mutharika has declared a National Day of Prayer and Worship following the torrential rains that culminated into floods, killing at least 200 people displacing over 200 000 and destroying property in 15 district.

Minister of information and Civic Education Kondwani Nankhumwa in a statement released on Thursday that the Interdenominational Prayers will be held on Sunday, 8th February 2015 at Robbins Park in Blantyre.

“This will be an opportunity to pray for survivors and victims of the worst floods in the nation’s history,” says Nankhumwa.

“ Once more, the President and Government extend their deepest condolences to the families of the victims of these floods.Government will with the support of its development partners continue providing assistance to the survivors and those in need of assistance.”

Nankhumwa says Government is thankful and appeals to all well-wishers to continue providing assistance to the affected families and communities.

The  deadly floods has forced government to consider revising downwards this year’s projected 5.8 percent economic growth rate.

Malawi’s economy was this year expected to expand by about 5.8 percent, according to government and International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, propelled by the expected good agriculture season and a buoyant manufacturing and mining sector.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, President Peter Mutharika said floods have caused a lot of damage and will bring many negative socio-economic effects to the economy.

He said preliminary assessment shows that the damage caused by flood disaster to the economy is estimated at K23.9 billion, which excludes the cost of the relief programmes currently underway.

“The growth for the country is largely driven by agriculture, manufacturing, electricity, water and mining sectors, among others. These have also been adversely affected by the floods, to the extent that the country is likely to achieve economic growth lower than 5.8 percent projected earlier for 2015,” he said.