By Sylvester Kumwenda
Lilongwe, July 5, Mana: State President, Dr Lazarus Chakwera will on Tuesday lead Malawians in observing the countries’ 57th Independence Anniversary celebrations to be held at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.
This year’s celebrations will only be marked by prayers at BICC, and will only accommodate the presence of 200 people due to the rising figures of Covid-19 in the country. Initially, the celebrations were planned to be observed in Mzuzu and Blantyre.
Executive Assistant to the President and Communications Director for State House, Sean Kampondeni disclosed this Monday during State House Press Briefing in Lilongwe that the President would physically attend the prayers.
“The President has since wished Malawians happy celebrations,” he said.
Press Secretary to the President, Brian Banda said the cancellation of the activities in the northern and southern region only signifies that government was keenly observing the trend of Covid-19 in the country and making necessary adjustments for the benefit of the people.
“The preparations started a long time ago, maybe five to six weeks ago. When we made plans to hold the cerebrations in all the three regions, there was a glimpse of hope because the positivity rate of Covid-19 was at that time on the lower side. But as we are approaching the day, we have seen the number of infections significantly rising.
“We cannot just go by the decision we made when things were better and go ahead to invite large numbers of Malawians to the cerebrations while the situation is not the same now. That is why we decided to limit the cerebrations for only 200 people and to one venue only” he said.
Banda added saying despite the challenge, the country still needs to observe the day because it was a very important day in the history of the country.
He urged Malawians to join the President Chakwera from wherever they may be in observing this year’s Independence Day prayers.
