* If each of us do their part, the total sum is greater than individual benefits
* This is the kind of leadership people have been looking for as environmental degradation is real and should be fixed by us all
By Duncan Mlanjira
Resident of Blantyre City’s Sunnyside suburb residential area, Rachel Mijiga has received profound and resounding admiration for volunteering to be cleaning and clearing debris at the location’s street bridge.
This comes after she posted pictures of the state of the bridge and her clearing trees and shrubs that had been sprouting out of the concrete on the deck of the bridge this morning during her usual morning exercise run together with her husband, Wilkins Mijiga.
They noticed that the trees and shrubs sprouting out of the concrete would “eventually cause cracks as the roots enhance permeability of the concrete”.
“So we cleared the bridge deck of the trees and shrubs,” she reported, adding “don’t worry, we have replanted the young trees in nursery bags and we will donate them to the school nearby.
“I have thus adopted the bridge when it comes to cleaning and clearing debris as my personal social responsibility (PSR).”
Chifundo James Chimwaza immediately responded to say: “Very commendable, Sis — let me know whenever you need more hands on deck; that bridge has brought a lot of convenience to our neighborhood.”
Limbika Mtalimanja Chifundo reminisced of the system of self-help, which former President late Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda inculcated, dubbed Youth Week, through which the youths were called upon to clear debris on uninhabited areas, clean up hospital wards, build convenience amenities — including rehabilitation of bridges, schools and many other self-help initiatives.
George Macheka applauded Mijiga, saying: “That’s so sweet Chemwali, you make us all so proud. You keep on setting an example for others to follow. Great job.”
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The Mijigas are some of corporate world’s top executives and through the companies they worked for, they have contributed towards corporate social responsibilities (CSR), which Bubile Kayuni alluded to when she congratulated Rachel, saying: “You balance it so well, from Personal to Corporate! Sustainability begins with us!”
And in thanking Kayuni for her response, Rachel herself said: “So very true — if each of us do their part, the total sum is greater than individual benefits.”
Several others offered their profound admiration of the selfless gesture of the Mijigas, saying they always pull strings of inspiration and that “this is the kind of leadership people have been looking for as environmental degradation is real and should be fixed by us all”.
Lawyer John-Gift Mwakhwawa said: “Duties and responsibilities of a good citizen. CIVICS at play, we thank you from Ntchisi” while Frank Taulo said: “Fantastic, wish there were many of you in the country who appreciate beautiful things in life” — with journalist Aubrey Mchulu joining in to say “we benefit from the bridge, the least we can do is give it love”.
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A minority of Malawian citizens pay attention to their surroundings as the Mijigas have done. The eyesore debris of thin plastics that is littered all over the country is due to irresponsibility of careless ridding of trash.
Social media is awash of pictures posted by concerned citizens, who witness motorists throwing trash out of the cars such as empty plastic water or juice bottles; banana peels, takeaway containers — without any remorse.
Many of them are captured doing this despicable deeds in their poshy cars that shows signs of affluence, yet they never lead by example.
The continued moral decay of Malawians in not preserving national assets is also manifested by the worrying increase in cases of vandalism that is hitting Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM).
A bizarre new case has been reported in Lilongwe in which unknown people just cut down a powerline pole without stealing any item on the vandalised infrastructure.
ESCOM reported yesterday that at around 3:00am they discovered the cut down pole at Area 42 in Lilongwe City and while they managed to restore power supply to the affected areas by 1:20pm, the corporation was carrying out its investigations to trace the vandals.
ESCOM management continues to condemn such barbaric acts and despite its appeal that vandalism undermines service delivery to households, health establishhments, water treatment plants, business enterprises, the education sector, among others, irresponsible people still indulge in the vice.
ESCOM keeps warning citizens that vandalism is a serious offence that attracts a maximum jail term of 30 years with no option of paying a fine while encouraging the public to report vandalism on ESCOM infrastructure by calling toll-free number 847 both Airtel and TNM — to no avail.
ESCOM keeps bemoaning the tendency by emphasising that it is losing a lot of money from replacement costs of vandalised infrastructure with over K4 billion lost in revenue in the past two years.
The continued cases of vandalism on a daily basis across the country prompted the Ministry of Energy to amend the Electricity Act that imposes still jail term punishments without option of fine that saw many culprits been meted with stiff punishment in the amended Act — but still the malice continues.
Thus it is always rare to witness a good deed of a personal social responsibility of the style of Rachel and Wilkins Mijiga, and at Maravi Express, we also doff our hats to these honourable citizens.
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