Former Blantyre City Council (BCC) mayor, John Chikwakwiya, has died.
According to his family, he will laid to rest on Monday at HHI cemetery in Blantyre.
Chikakwiya who served as mayor from 2001 to 2004 died on Thursday night at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre after battling stroke for some time.
His relation, Chitani Chigumula, described the death as a heavy blow to the family.
“He was pillar to the family and we will miss his advice. He has been unwell. He was suffering from stroke,” Chigumula said.
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Minister of Local Government Richard Chimwendo Banda said the government is saddened with the loss of the former mayor.
He described him as a man who was dedicated in his work and gave his best to develop the city of Blantyre.
Chikakwiya served as United Democratic Front regional governor for the South between 2003 and 2005.
He was teacher-in-charge at Nyambadwe MCDE centre (now CDSS) between 1980 and 1981.
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When his former students visited him at his home in Ndirande Township in August 2021, he recounted his experience as a teacher.
“I was arrested in 1981 because about half of the students passed the national examination with good grades.
“So, the examination body thought we were cheating and I was interdicted. But in 1984 government recalled me after failing to prove their claims and I was sent to Lumbila in Chilomoni,” The Nation quoted him as saying.
Born in 1949, Chikakwiya is survived by a wife and four children.
