Vuwa attacks Malawi federalism calls

President Peter Mutharika’s adviser on national unity and parliamentary affairs Symon Vuwa-Kaunda, who is also leading the presidential campaign against federalism  calls, has asked people in the North Malawi to promote unity and reject division.

Vuwa Kaunda, who recently  engaged chiefs in the Northern Region to give their stand on calls to have a federal system of government, said the north should lead in promoting positive change rather than what he called  needless separation.

He was  speaking on behalf of the President  in Rumphi on Saturday when the Tumbuka ethnic group celebrated the  Gonapamuhanya .

“We need to be united as one country,” said the presidential adviser.

“ If one says ‘let’s unite, forgive each other and be one person,’ is such a person bad? But if one says ‘let’s fight,’ is such a person good? Let’s all move in unity because that’s when we can develop,” he said.

During   Gonapamuhanya, the Tumbuka commemorate the first Chikulamayembe named Gonapamuhanya who settled at Bolero in Rumphi where the Chikulamayembe chieftaincy is today.

The Public Affairs Committee (PAC)  has since  encouraged debate on federalism, saying the “destiny of this country is in the hands of Malawians themselves. What can be done is to constructively promote debate on issues of national importance.”

The CCAP Synod of Livingstonia has said the push for federalism should be national.

But President Mutharika has been dismissing such calls as unnecessary and he is  through his aide Kaunda, persuading chefs in campaigning against federal government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units such as states or provinces,.

In Europe, most countries run federal system of government  while in Africa, federal system of government is practised in some countries including South Africa and Nigeria.