Nkhoma CCAP Synod’s first local general secretary and former Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioner the Reverend Killion Mgawi has died at the age of 93.
The deceased’s daughter Professor Address Malata said the cleric died at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe yesterday morning.
She said besides serving as MEC commissioner, her father also served in various positions in the church, including being the first Malawian to serve as Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Nkhoma Synod general secretary.
Malata, who is Malawi University of Science and Technology Vice-Chancellor, said: “He loved to worship God through singing. He has left a true legacy of the love and service in God’s ministry. He served as a full-time minister for decades and has died as the longest serving and lived minister in the synod.
“The Very Reverend Dr Killion Mgawi was born on 21 January 1931. We celebrate his well lived life as his children. Last year, he blessed each one of us and he talked about his readiness to go back home to heaven,” said Malata who is also Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) vice-chancellor.
Mgawi was also among the founding members of Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), then Evangelical Association of Nyasaland as well as the Students Christian Organisation of Malawi (Scom).
93 yesterday: Mgawi
In a separate interview yesterday, EAM general secretary Francis Mkandawire described Mgawi as “one of the Christian leaders who really impacted the nation.” He said the deceased was instrumental in the establishment of EAM and he set up good working standards that most Christians leaders are emulating.
“He has done a lot, and we the young ones who are coming up now, we owe a lot to him. His death should be a reminder to all of us that we need to make sure that leave a legacy behind, that will transform people. So we will miss Reverend Mgawi,” said Mkandawire.
On his part, CCAP Blantyre Synod deputy general secretary the Reverend Baxton Maulidi described Mgawi as a dedicated man of God who also loved his country.
“Heaven has won. So, as Blantyre Synod, we will greatly miss him because he was very crucial for the church as well as the nation. We will emulate his examples,” he said.
Mgawi was nominated as MEC commissioner in June 2016 by then governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) along with other former commissioners, namely Jean Mathanga, Moffat Banda and the Reverend Clifford Baloyi.
He was among the commissioners that managed the disputed 2019 presidential election, led by former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah. Mgawi whose contract expired in 2020 before the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election, is survived by five children and is expected to be buried on Wednesday.
