Bishop says leadership vacuum source of problems

Mangochi Catholic Diocese Bishop Montfort Stima says most of the economic and other problems facing Malawians are due to lack of leadership.

Speaking during the 22nd congregation of the Catholic University of Malawi (Cunima) in Chiradzulu on Saturday, he said Malawi is endowed with resources and experts in water, land and entrepreneurship who produce brilliant ideas for the economic development of the country, but the implementation of the ideas remain a challenge.

Representing the chancellor of the university, Stima observed that Malawi has been holding various conferences on how to turnaround the country’s economy, but noted that the situation continues to worsen.

He said: “Malawi indeed becomes a conferencing nation, a nation where ideas have no performative power, a nation that never graduates. Where have all these great ideas gone? This scenario points to a fundamental disease affecting our nation which is lack of leadership.”

Stima said it was worrisome that almost every year millions of Malawians face hunger yet the country has thousands of agriculturalists and acres of idle land.

He said: “Where have these [agriculture] graduates gone? Leadership is not simply about occupying a position. It is about taking in motion processes that trigger social economic transformation. Leadership is about translating knowledge into concrete actions that generate wealth and the wellbeing of the society.”

He also urged the graduating students to be creative and make use of the skills they have obtained in their various programmes at the university.

Cumina acting vice-chancellor Dr. Wilfred Sumani urged the graduates to demonstrate discipline and professional standards in their endeavours, saying without discipline they can achieve nothing. He said Cunima is one of the best universities in the country and its goal is to be among the top universities in the world.

“We have a strong accountability mechanism that makes our university and our students succeed. We want to grow impact to the poor and marginalised as our tuition fees is affordable and less than some private primary and secondary schools,” he said.

Centenary Bank of Malawi managing director Zandile Shaba, who was the guest of honour, urged the graduating students to be honest and God-fearing if they are to succeed in their respective careers.

During the congregation, Chikwawa Diocese Bishop Peter Musikuwa, who represented the Cunima Council, said the university has embarked on a project to construct a constituent college at Nanjiri in Lilongwe.

The graduation, held under the theme ‘Go and bear fruit, fruit that will last’ inspired by John 15:16, saw 962 students awarded with bachelor’s degrees while another 413 were awarded with diplomas.

Cunima was established on October 16 2004, but started admitting students in 2006 and was officially opened on October 28 2006 by former president Bingu wa Mutharika. It has seven faculties, namely Commerce, Education, Law, Nursing and Midwifery, Science, Social Sciences and Theology