By Pemphero Malimba:
President Lazarus Chakwera has urged political party leaders to conduct a peaceful campaign.
He said there was no need for political party leaders to embrace hatred during the campaign period, which the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) is scheduled to officially launch today.
Chakwera said this Sunday during the consecration of Reverend Daniel Kalonga as Bishop of the Diocese of Lake Malawi.
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The event was held at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe.
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“The period for campaigning is such a short period of time. We should not be hostile to each other because all of us are Malawians,” Chakwera said.
He observed that people in the country had faced numerous challenges in their day-to-day lives.
“The sheep of this country have been misled; they are told so many messages. The sheep have faced various natural disasters but we should not be weakened,” Chakwera said.
He further pledged to support Kalonga’s leadership.
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“I assure you that, together with the members of the church, I will be praying and supporting you. I thank Archbishop Albert Chama for your encouraging message where you emphasised that people who love God serve their sheep well,” Chakwera said.
On his part, Kalonga said his vision was to see the church growing in the next five years.
“I want to see the church’s infrastructure development visible in the country. I want to see the church [becoming] self reliant,” he said.
At the event, the Anglican Church in Malawi challenged political party leaders to embrace issue-based campaign as the campaign.
The council’s chairperson, Reverend William Mchombo, said political party leaders are supposed to stick to points raised in their manifestos during the campaign period.
He also urged leaders to accept the outcome of the elections.
“After elections, there are results that come up and some people feel like there was fraud and the elections were not credible. As such, we are saying, ‘can people man up and say the results that come up are the right results’. But this cannot be done if Mec itself cannot make sure that the results that they conduct are credible,” he said.
Taking his turn, Archbishop Albert Chama, who is the head of the Anglican Church in Central Africa, called for unity in the church and the country at large.
Kalonga, who was elected Bishop of the Diocese in April this year, succeeds Bishop Francis Kaulanda, who retired in December last year.
Kalonga, who was born on May 7, 1980 in Chimbwanda Village, Traditional Authority Malenga in Ntchisi District, was ordained Reverend Deacon on December 27, 2005.
He then priested at St Mary’s Church on December 30, 2006.
He has since served as a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Malawi for 19 years.
