Opposition hails Evangelical Association of Malawi on pastoral letter
Opposition political parties have hailed the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) for pointing at substantial issues in a pastoral letter issued on Saturday.
EAM has observed that the country is sliding back to bad governance citing, among other factors, rampant corruption, lack of decisive, ethical, selfless and transformative leadership and increased cases of political violence.
Commenting on EAM’s 2018 pastoral letter, titled ‘A Call for Decisive, Ethical and Selfless Leadership in Malawi’, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) publicity secretary, Reverend Maurice Munthali, said it is about time the government paid attention to the voice of the people.
“We take their concerns very seriously and it is our hope that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government is taking their concerns seriously. As to the issues they have raised, we want to concur with them; in fact, this has been the song, the cry, for as long as DPP has been in government.
“This government is synonymous with bad governance, including [cases of] violence and harassment. They are not nurturing the hard-earned democracy Malawians want to enjoy. That is why they shot down the Electoral Reforms (Amendment) Bills. Actually, there is more to what EAM has said [than meets the eye],” he said.
People’s Party (PP) publicity secretary, Noah Chimpeni, said, while EAM has raised pertinent issues, the government is likely to ignore the concerns.
“We don’t need a pastoral letter to know that there is rampant corruption and that tenets of democracy are not being respected. All those things they have pointed out clearly indicate that we are sliding back to bad governance days. You see, there was a clip of someone wearing MCP party colours [in Blantyre]. DPP Cadets assaulted the person. Clearly, Malawians are not enjoying the democracy they ought to,” he said.
But government spokesperson, Nicholas Dausi, declined to comment on matter.
The letter, which was read in EAM’s churches Sunday, claims that there is half-heartedness in the fight against corruption, further saying there is more rhetoric than real action.
“While we appreciate the above stated developments, we observe that political will is critical if corruption is to be dealt with completely in our society. The Executive arm of Government must therefore take the lead in spearheading the anti-corruption drive in the country leaving no sacred cows. Adequate resources must be deployed to institutions, which are in the forefront fighting corruption such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Financial Intelligence Agency,” reads part of the letter.
Among other issues, EAM faults the government for frustrating the Access to Information Bill and Electoral Reforms [Amendment] Bills which were shot down by legislators in Parliament.
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