Minister of Industry Roy Kachale says Cooperative Society in Malawi has a key role in assisting the Tonse Alliance administration fulfill its promise of creating one million jobs during its first year in government.
Kachale made the remarks on Tuesday in Thyolo district after touring three cooperatives namely Zakudimba Cooperative, Bvumbwe Dairy Farmers Cooperative and Lomola Cooperative in Luchenza.
He said Cooperatives have potential to offer more job opportunities to young Malawians whom he said form larger part of population in the country.
“Mostly Cooperative is group of people who come together with one common goal and by doing that they employ themselves. Once their production is satisfactory they can also employ other people to help them doing other jobs.
“When we said about one million jobs we did not mean that all people will be employed by government. It is also the duty of the private sector like cooperatives and all Malawians to create jobs so that together can realize our dreams,” he said.
Kachale said government is ready to support Cooperatives as one way of creating one million jobs promised by Tonse Alliance government during the last elections campaign period.
The Minister then advised the three cooperatives officials to change their mindset and how they run their businesses saying gone is the time when people were doing their businesses without considering the time they are in.
Taking his turn, District Commissioner for Thyolo Douglas Moffat said he will utilize the opportunities existing in cooperative to ensure that Thyolo is on the map in as far as provision of social and economic development is concerned.
He said: “One of the reform areas that we submitted to the Office of Vice President is that we want to maximize the potential of dairy industry so that they can expand to another level like value addition.
“In Thyolo the dairy industry is a game changer if utilized to the maximum. This is the reason why Thyolo Council would like to support the industry by buying cattle that will be used as a pass on strategy so that many should be in this business,” said Moffat.
Veronica Jeremiya who is Director of Production at Zakudimba Cooperatives commended the minister for the visit saying it is a sign that the Tonse government also values small scale businesses in the country.
