Chakwera has been subjected to unnecessary insults since the loss of Chilima—Paramount Chief Kyungu

Chilima and Chakwera were always together in various events

* These insults on different platforms indicate moral decay among our people

* He commended the President for maintaining his composure and not retaliating to the insults

By Linda Moyo, MANA

Paramount Chief Kyungu has said President Lazarus Chakwera has been subjected to unnecessary insults since the loss of the Vice-President, Saulos Klaus Chilima in the tragic plane crash, which claimed the lives of eight others.

The Paramount Chief acknowledging that numerous challenges Chakwera’s administration is facing was caused by CoVID-19 pandemic, Cyclone Freddy and the tragic plane crash.

He said this at Mzuzu State Lodge today when he led a delegation of traditional leaders from Karonga, Chitipa, Rumphi and Nkhata Bay, who visited him to offer special condolences for the loss of the Vice-President.

“These insults on different platforms indicate moral decay among our people,” said Paramount Kyungu, while commending the President for maintaining his composure and not retaliating to the insults.

Kyungu added that chiefs were pleased with the President’s openness to dialogue and emphasised the importance of unity amongst Malawians during the challenging times for the nation.

On his part, President Chakwera described the late Chilima as a visionary man dedicated to seeing Malawi prosper, adding that his untimely death and and those of the eight others, have left the nation in mourning and in devastation.

“We look up to the Lord, the Creator, who knows everything, and may He continue to heal our hearts,” Chakwera said.

Minister of Defence, Harry Mkandawire highlighted the significance of the chiefs’ gesture to console the president, emphasising that the gesture reflects cultural and moral values of Malawians.

He thanked Chakwera for availing himself to meet with the traditional leaders which he said is a demonstration of his respect and value for cultural traditions.

Chakwera and the First Lady, Madame Monica arrived in Mzuzu yesterday where the President is scheduled to preside over various engagements and he was met by a crowd of cheering city residents and Tonse Alliance supporters who gathered at the Shoprite Roundabout.

Speaking during the stop over, President Chakwera expressed his gratitude to the people of Mzuzu for their warm welcome, while bemoaning biases in disbursement of National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) loans and social cash transfer funds.

He said the NEEF loan facility and the social cash transfer program are for the benefit of every Malawian: “When we are rebuilding our economy, we need to intensify our efforts to ensure that everyone benefits from loans government is disbursing and social cash transfer funds. They are meant for every Malawian.”

Speaking earlier, Minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire expressed his gratitude to the President for initiating various development programmes currently underway in the region.

He highlighted the President’s significant contributions, noting that the President will not be forgotten in the North, especially for ending the controversial quota system which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) imposed in the education sector.

He also praised Chakwera for ensuring that tobacco farmers are not getting a raw deal at the auction floors, saying currently, a bale of tobacco is fetching K900,000 unlike in the past when the bale was at K90,000.—Additional reporting by Joel Chirwa & Uchindami Msowoya, MANA; editing by Maravi Express