By Fostina Mkandawire
Salima, August 21, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera on Saturday called for innovative ideas among Malawians to ensure collaborative efforts in the development agenda of his administration.
The President made the call in Salima during a developmental rally at Kaphatenga Primary School in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Salima.
He described the tendency by Malawians of sitting back and waiting for government to bring all forms of development as a thing of the past.
Chakwera urged Malawians to stop complaining about issues and finding faults out of every small issue and making them into national topic of discussions with an aim of ridiculing efforts being made by the government.
Instead the President called for collaborative efforts among citizens in ensuring that tangible solutions to issues that the country is facing are resolved.
“Greed and selfishness is on the forefront in this country, I want to see the day that we start thinking about the future generation instead of being shortsighted,” he said.
Chakwera said this generation should be thinking of the future, and what it would be remembered for, adding that this was the time to make tough decisions that would benefit the country in the near future.
Malawi Leader said Malawi 2063 was possible if only everyone could rise up and be proactive, and challenged the nation that if they could change their mindset and be development centred the country could attain it by 2030.
He emphasized on the need for ownership of the country’s infrastructure and other developments and bemoaned the unpatriotic tendency by some Malawians of vandalizing and stealing public funds meant for development.
“In most areas where development projects were supposed to be obvious people are benchmarking for a long time by conducting workshops and traveling around the world in the name of consultations and feasibility studies, pocketing huge allowances along the way,” the President noted
Earlier in the day, the President in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), presided over the inaugural graduation of 20 senior officers, who were conferred with postgraduate diplomas in strategic studies at the newly established MDF Command and Staff College.
Making his remarks, Vice President of the Malawi Congress Party, Harry Mkandawire, commended the president’s efforts in ensuring that the country maintains good international relations with neighbouring countries, because this would fuel development.
“The President being a development conscious leader he has made sure that broken relations with neighbouring Mozambique and Tanzania are amended, we now have cordial relationship with the two neighbouring countries,” he said.
Member of Parliament for Salima Central Constituency, Gerald Kapiseni Phiri commended the Tonse government’s administration for increasing the Constituency Development Fund to K 100 million from K 4 mMillion, which has improved Salima district’s development projects.
He said through the fund notable developments such as renovating the district’s health center in the area of Traditional Authority Salima has been possible, construction of Ngodzi Teachers Development Centre among others.
Phiri urged the government to renovate the district’s central hospital, because it was in a bad state being an old facility.
During the rally, 20 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members joined the Malawi Congress Party and the rally was graced by Mafunde President, George Mnesa and Umodzi Party’s President Prof John Chisi, who are members of the Tonse alliance.
K100 million is a large amount of money if that amount is used in our constituencies for intended purposes. Our country can indeed become developed.