Govt to consult on North heroes’ acre

Exactly a year after first female Cabinet minister Rose Chibambo died, government is yet to fully develop her burialsite into a regional heroes acre.

The Chibambo family yesterday unveilled a tombstone at her grave in Mzuzu, but Capital Hill says it needs to consult on the proposed heroes acre.

During her burial in Mzuzu last year, CCAP Synod of Livingstonia general secretary Levi Nyondo threatened to exhume her remains and rebury them at her marital home in Ekwendeni if government abandoned the gravesite like that of multiparty hero Chakufwa Chihana.

Moses Mkandawire, the executive director of the synod’s Church and Society Programme, said government has deliberately chosen not to honour people who fought for the country.

But Minister of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development Patricia Kaliati said her Ministry appreciates the need to have a regional heroes acre, but there is need for consultations.

Chibambo died on January 12 2016 at the age of 86. She is considered the poster face of women involvement in the struggle for self-rule having rallied women to stand up and fight for the rights and release of detained men during colonial times.

Government put her portrait on the K200 banknote and named a street in Mzuzu after her in honour of her heroics. n