Princess Royal enhances Scot­land’s links with Malawi at mile­stone event in Edin­burgh

The Princess Royal cutting the 20th Anniversary cake watched by Malawi High Commissioner Dr. Thomas Bisika

* We, Malawians, appreciate the face-to-face contact and on this occasion of the visit of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal—High Commissioner His Excellency Dr. Thomas Bisika

* Nothing in Scotland’s First Minister’s political career has had some impact than what his trip to Malawi did in November last year

By Duncan Mlanjira

Great Britain’s Princess Royal has rein­forced Scot­land’s links with Malawi dur­ing a mile­stone event in Edin­burgh, Scotland, which was hos­ted by Lord Prov­ost Robert Ald­ridge at the City Cham­bers — marked the 20th anniversary of the Scot­land-Malawi Part­ner­ship (SMP).

A report by Edin­burgh Evening News reports that the SMP sup­ports and con­nects many schools, uni­versit­ies, churches and char­it­ies in Scot­land which have part­ner­ships with Malawi.

The Edin­burgh Evening News takes cognizance that the Malawi-Scotland bilateral ties date back more than 160 years to the time of medic, mis­sion­ary and slavery abol­i­tion­ist, Dr David Liv­ing­stone, who named the country Nyas­a­land.

The report further says Prin­cess Royal, who is SMP’s hon­or­ary pat­ron, applauded mem­bers who con­trib­uted pho­to­graphs to a tour­ing exhib­i­tion show­cas­ing projects in areas includ­ing health, edu­ca­tion, clean water, energy and sus­tain­able live­li­hoods.

“Called Anthu Pamodzi, mean­ing ‘people together’ in the Malawian lan­guage of Chi­chewa, the exhib­i­tion was held in Killearn in Septem­ber and will appear in ven­ues around Scot­land fol­low­ing the Edin­burgh event,” says the report.

“The Prin­cess Royal was presen­ted with a 20th anniversary book about the work of the part­ner­ship by the SMP’s senior vice-chair­wo­man, Susan Dal­gety, before cut­ting a 20th birth­day cake.

“She also received a posy of flowers from Iona, 17, from George Wat­son’s Col­lege, one of the schools with an act­ive Malawi part­ner­ship.”

SMP chair­person, Pro­f Jeremy Bagg is quoted in the reporting saying: “Her Royal High­ness has been involved with the Scot­land-Malawi Part­ner­ship since its incep­tion in 2005 and, as our hon­or­ary pat­ron, takes a great interest in these people-to-people part­ner­ships.

“Indi­vidu­als in all walks of life throughout Scot­land are involved in a broad spec­trum of projects and every­one present was most encour­aged by the Prin­cess’s sup­port.”

The ceremony was attended by a delegation from the Malawi High Commission to the UK led by the High Commissioner himself Dr. Thomas Bisika, who appreciated the photographic exhibition which is showcasing local and national effort in which Scots are engaged with Malawians through people-to-people and community-to-community.

He also highlighted the visit to Malawi by Scotland’s First Minister in November last year, who declared that nothing in his political career has had some impact than what his trip to Malawi did.

”In the First Minister’s speeches in Holyrood upon his return and in last week’s draft Scottish Government Budget, Mr Swinney has matched words with action and is honouring Scotland’s commitment to Malawi and its other partner countries — increasing the International Development budget and maintaining the Climate Justice Fund.

“This is to the credit of the First Minister, his Government and officials – but also to you vital civic society organisations. I offer you all my thanks.”

He acknowledged the office of the Malawi High Commission is consistently involved with the SMP by taking part in the its interactive forums which are “valuable in surfacing who is doing what and bringing people together to make new and impactful connections”.

“This is part of the great contribution that the SMP makes. During the CoVID-19 pandemic – if it weren’t for the SMP – Malawian medical engineers would not have been able to repair half a million US dollars’ worth of oxygen concentrators – already in Malawi, which was a sustainable intervention that was crucial in saving lives.

“The Princess Royal herself contributed to the SMP’s appeal. Were it not for the SMP – in a project led by a Malawian and a Scot in Edinburgh – satellite imagery would not have been made available which was vital for damage assessment to key infrastructure following Tropical Cyclone Freddy.”

Bisika, who is also Patron of the UK-Malawi Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Edgar Chibaka, added that the creation of the full Chamber “owes much to the efforts of its forerunner — the UK-Malawi Business Group to which the SMP provided excellent support”.

“I have spoken in the Commons at Westminster’s Malawi All-Party Parliamentary Group which has been chaired effectively by Patrick Grady (who is with us tonight) and ably supported by the SMP.

“We have taken part in joint gatherings with Holyrood’s Malawi Cross-Party Group for whom the SMP provide the secretariat and I have met with its committed co-conveners.

“I hope that Scotland appreciates that it has something special — perhaps unique in the myriad of people-to-people relationships,” said the High Commissioner, who was also joined by Justice Patemba to celebrate with the Princess Royal on the 20-year milestone.

He also made special mention of Iona and Amelia, students from George Watson’s College who “had such a life-affirming experience in Malawi”, while appreciating further “terrific”:SMP and MaSP projects that are “effectively supporting school links together”.

The Malawi-Scotland strong bilateral partnership was enhanced by former-president-bingu-wa-mutharika-in-2005/ signed at the Bute House in Edinburgh when he was hosted on a four-day visit at the invitation of former First Minister, Kack McConnell to the Scottish capital.

The agreement was further be strengthened in November when Scotland First Minister, John Swinney visited Malawi to see the impact of the Scottish Government’s international development and climate justice work over the past two decades.

Among the highlights of his visit included the historical-mandala-house-in-blantyre/ that was formerly a residence built in 1882 by the African Lakes Corporation for their managers — whose head office was in Glasgow and Mandala was their chief office in Africa.

It is a now museum built from sun-dried grass and mud and bricks and is the oldest European building in Malawi, which early European settlers used the fortified yard as a laager in times of armed conflict from the Angoni days to the Chilembwe Uprising.

The First Minister — who also visited Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) — reflected on two decades of cooperation between Scotland and Malawi, saying Scots were committed to supporting development initiatives across Malawi.

“Over the past 20 years, Scotland has engaged in numerous collaborative projects that have strengthened Malawi’s progress in key sectors such as agriculture, irrigation, and health research,” he said.

He cited successful programmes that include irrigation schemes and other agricultural support systems, as well as health research initiatives at institutions like KUHeS, saying Scotland had contributed to tangible improvements in the lives of Malawians.

“It’s encouraging to see how communities and partners are working hand in hand to make the most of the resources. Their commitment is driving real change in irrigation practices and healthcare delivery,” he said.