As President Lazarus Chakwera preached peace at Umodzi Day commemoration in Mzuzu and urged Malawians to desist from divisions, opposition political parties watched from the comfort of their homes.
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) and the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture invited secretaries general of five opposition parties to attend the event at Katoto Freedom Park yesterday but none showed up.
However, the President still urged political leaders of the importance of peace, unity and co-existence as pillars of development.
Said Chakwera: “Where there is no unity, there can’t be development, you can’t find people constructing a bridge because they will be busy fighting for land.
“Without peace, you can’t find people constructing a hospital, because they will be busy pointing fingers at each other that whatever ailments occur, is because of witchcraft.”
The President’s message comes at a time the country is experiencing continued cases of political violence ahead of the September 16 2025 General Election; hence, one would have thought that Umodzi Day, whose goal is to foster unity, would see political leaders united to promote peace.
However, that was not the case yesterday as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People’s Party (PP), UTM Party, Alliance for Democracy (Aford) and United Democratic Front (UDF) opted to stay away from the event.
Except three women donning a UTM Party wrapper (chitenje) and a few National Democratic Party supporters spotted in the crowd, the event was dominated by Malawi Congress Party officials and supporters.
CMD chairperson Elias Chakwera, who also belongs to the ruling MCP, but leads the centre which works with all political parties, could not hide his disappointment, saying dialogue should always be the main tool in ensuring unity prevails in the country.
He acknowledged that youths have sometimes been used for political violence; hence, the need for political leaders to unite and preach tolerance among youths during national events such as Umodzi Day.
Said Chakwera: “Peace means much more than the absence of war. We are aware that recently, there has been a politically connected death in Ndirande, Blantyre, harassment of political members of one party by another party in Lilongwe and other places.
“Some peaceful demonstrations were stopped by others who threatened Lilongwe. All of us will recall that the worst intolerance to demonstrations happened in July 2011 when 11 people were killed by police here in Mzuzu.”
He said CMD condemned lack of tolerance for each other and even asked the police to take immediate action, whenever people’s lives and property are under threat.
“How I wish all political leaders, especially parties represented in CMD, were here. Together, we could have demonstrated that we can be united without being uniform,” said Chakwera.
On his part, Public Affairs Committee (PAC) board secretary the Reverend Father Mark Mkandawire said the recent pattern of violence shows that cultivating a culture of peace remains an uphill battle.
“Political violence in Malawi is rearing an ugly head to the extent that questions have been raised as to what will become of our beautiful country as we get closer to the 2025 General Election. In all these attacks, in many cases our young people are drafted in.
Speaking in a separate interview, peace and security expert Master Dicks Mfune, who also attended the event, described the failure by opposition parties to attend the event as regrettable.
The theme for Umodzi Day this year was ‘Cultivating a culture of peace in Malawi through active youth engagement’.
