Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Owen Chomanika, has called on people in the country to be peaceful and united amidst a difficult time as the country prepares for the 16 September General Elections.
Chomanika, who is also a legislator for Chikwawa North Constituency, presented the appeal on Saturday in Chikwawa district during the handover ceremony of a K48 million teacher’s house to Mdulansanje Primary School in his area.
The building, which has been constructed with funding from the Governance Enable Service Delivery (GESD), a component of the World Bank, will help to reduce the housing challenges which teachers at the school are facing.
Speaking to multitudes of people who gathered to witness the event, Chomanika used the forum to challenge his voters that he has managed to transform the constituency to better developmentally and civically educate them to be peaceful and united, as these are pillars of development in our country.
He further disclosed that a country where its citizens always fight each other has the potential to negatively impact the growth of socio-economic development, hence to refrain from such malpractices.
According to the Minister, he will not accept his political followers in his constituency to be used by some failed politicians to incite violence amidst the upcoming General Elections on 16 September 2025.
Let me emphasise to young people. You are always a victim of violence during the time of the General Elections.
Report any politician to the police who approached you with violent messages, Dr Chomanika has said.
To this end, the Minister has then asked the Malawi Police Service to be at the forefront to protect the lives of innocent people, saying every General Elections period, a lot of acts of violence are highly reported across the country.
Chomanika’s sentiments come amidst unconfirmed reports of some Civil Society Organisations protests in the country’s street of demanding their right on governance issues as behind funded by some opposition parties with an intent to bring about anarchy in the country as the government has remained with its only two months to go to the awaited General Elections.
But on his part, the District Commissioner for Chikwawa, Nardin Kamba, commended the Minister for taking his time to preach to the communities of Chikwawa on the need to be peaceful and united.
Kamba lamented that the quality infrastructure developments the Minister has embarked on in his constituency can only be meaningful if people in the area are always peaceful and united.
“I want to advise all communities in the district that not even a single district in the country can develop with inciting violence. If you are one of those who want to take advantage of the coming General Elections to pocket some money from politicians to cause havoc on innocent people, the Police will not spare you; they will arrest and charge you on the spot,” he said.
Chikwawa is one of the districts in the southern region whose young people, during the time of the General Elections, are always used by some failed politicians to incite violence as a so-called strategy to defeat their heavy opponents, especially in the Parliamentary Elections.
By: Macmillan Mozeyo
