By Patricia Kapulula
Lilongwe, Mana: Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima has called upon all Malawians to domesticate mindset change messages in order to achieve total mindset change and attain the country’s aspirations as enshrined in the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) agenda.
He made the remarks at Capital Hill in Lilongwe on Wednesday when received an MW2063 Mindset Change Champion Certificate from the National Planning (NPC).
Chilima, who described the recognition as a great honour, has dedicated the award to the people of Malawi whom he said are going to be the actual champions in running the pillars and enablers of the MW2063.
He appealed to Malawians to rally behind the MW2063 for a brighter future generation and transform Malawi into an inclusively and industrialised self-reliant, upper middle income country by 2063.
“We need a positive mindset as well as for us to embrace a sense of urgency as we aspire to develop this country. With a positive mindset, obviously, we are going to see development in record time,” Chilima said.
NPC is in the process of opening up nominations to identify local level MW2063 champions.
The Vice President appealed to the Commission that in its quest to identifying the local champions it should watch the environmental sector.
He emphasised on the need to look at accelerator programs of what the country may achieve better and faster and instil sense of hope in people so that they continue to rally behind the MW2063 in order for the blueprint to become a success.
“While 2063 sounds very far, it is important that we still have to plan for tomorrow because what we enjoy today is because someone planned. There may not be here today to see the fruits of what they planned, but we are the beneficiaries and it is in that spirit that we need to be planning ahead for the future generation to cherish the fruits of our plans,” Chilima said.
NPC Chairperson, Prof. Richard Mkandawire said the country was on a journey to 2063 which needs a lot champions and a unified voice from all segments of society from top leadership to the grassroots level.
“We need change champions, those individuals that will encourage others to drive a specific defined development agenda. Mindset change is one of them because we truly believe that as a nation we need to have mindset change where we do not continue to rely on hand outs at all levels,” he said.
Mkandawire said that Malawi, as a country, was not going to develop through hand outs but rather it has to be driven by Malawians from the top level to the grassroots.
NPC has awarded certificates of recognition to President, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, who is the overall champion, former Presidents Peter Mutharika and Joyce Banda among other wardees.
