Standard Bank moves Malawi Sports Writers forward: Donates return airticket to France

Standard Bank Limited has offered Sports Writers Association of Malawi (Swam) a last minute bail out by sponsoring air ticket to the tune of K688,990.00 to enable Swam’s vice president Leonard Sharra fly out to Paris, France to attend International Sports Press Association (AIPS) 78th Congress and 90th Anniversary Celebrations.

The bank announced the sponsorship during a presentation ceremony held on Friday, February 27, 2015 at Standard Bank head office in Lilongwe.

Youth and Sports Minister Grace ‘Obama’ Chiumia received the cheque on behalf of Swam.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony, Chiumia hailed Standard Bank for coming to the rescue of the sports writers body at a short notice.

“As government, we are very grateful to Standard Bank for bailing out the Sports Writers Association of Malawi at a very short notice. The AIPS Congress is a very important gathering for sports writers around the world and Malawi stands to gain a lot from Swam’s participation at the congress”.

“Standard Bank has been playing a major role in the development of sports in the country by Sponsoring the Standard Bank Knock-out Cup and other sporting disciplines. What the bank has been doing augurs well with the bank’s motto- Moving Forward. Sports Writers play a crucial role in the development of sports and we are happy that our sports writers will be represented at the congress,” said Chiumia.

Standard Bank’s head of risk Kondwani Mlilima, who handed over the cheque on the bank’s behalf said the bank did not hesitate to heed Swam’s request after seeing the importance of the French gathering.

“As principal sponsor of sports in Malawi, we did not hesitate to heed the association’s call for assistance having noted the importance of the congress. This will be a historic gathering for sports journalists from around the world as it also coincides with 90th anniversary celebrations for the international sports writers body,” said Mlilima.

Both Swam president Peter Kanjere and his vice Leonard Sharra were all thankful to Standard Bank for the sponsorship.

“We are so grateful to Standard Bank for coming to our rescue at a very short notice. We contacted the bank at the eleventh hour after failing to get positive feedback from various companies and organisations that we had contacted and within twenty four hours the bank made a decision to sponsor us,” said Kanjere.

On his part Sharra hailed Swam, particularly its president for offering him the opportunity to represent the body in France. He also hailed the Ministry of Youth and Sports particularly Principal Secretary Justin Saidi for facilitating discussions between the Bank and Swam.

The Swam vice president also paid tribute to his employers Montfort Media Limited for allowing him to go and attend the congress and providing him with all the necessary support.

“I am going to Paris as a representative of the local sports media fraternity and whatever I’m going to gather from the Congress and celebrations, I will share to the rest of my colleagues and the country as a whole,” said Sharra.

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