Archbishop Ziyaye pleads for support to Malawi flood victims

Archbishop of Blantyre Archdiocese Tarcisius Ziyaye has urged government to seriously consider committing more resources to alleviate the suffering of victims. This follows flooding due to heavy rainfall continues to wreak havoc in many parts of Malawi.

He said this when he launched a Cadecom programme for Phalombe Floods Response at Tchereni Catholic Primary School on Wednesday.

Ziyaye explained that he was touched with reports that children are not attending school because of food shortage and the flooding of the affected areas.

“We need to come up with proper mechanisms to alleviate the suffering of the victims. Members of Parliament should deliberate on finding money to fund such activities,” said Ziyaye at the school, which is housing at least 285 families. James Chiusiwa, coordinator for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs said the country is overwhelmed with the growing number of flood victims. Phalombe alone has about 5 500 affected families [about 30 250 individuals].

So far, flooding has been reported in Salima, Mangochi, Phalombe, and Nsanje districts affecting about 19 000 households.