Human rights a challenge—APM
President Peter Mutharika has admitted that Malawi still has significant human rights challenges to surmount, including treating vulnerable people more humanely and tackling socio-economic and cultural problems.
In a speech commemorating the International Human Rights Day in Lilongwe yesterday, Mutharika urged experts, who later participated in a National Conference on Human Rights and Accountability, to come up with recommendations that government is eager to take up to ensure more rights and greater national development.
But there was a glaring dampener to the otherwise flowing commemoration ceremony at Bingu International Conference Centre when a power black-out, towards the end of the event, saw the thousands of guests singing the National Anthem in darkness, except for a few emergency ceiling lights.
Deeper blushes and frowns were unnecessary because the power outage–a common feature these days on the national power grid in the Capital–happened just after the President had spoken.
He urged the delegates to tackle the national challenges through earnest deliberations, in view of the fact that the problems which have clogged the nation’s governance systems are long-term.
Said the President: “These challenges have accumulated gradually, the result of continuing weaknesses in various governance mechanisms. I, for one, would like to assure you that government is focused on a collective restoration of confidence in our systems of governance, be it economic or democratic.”
Digressing from his written speech, the President said he has lately received correspondence from some leaders abroad who say they have been approached by some Malawians who claim to fear persecution by the State.
He dismissed the claims as unfounded, saying that he personally suffered as a result of 40 years of political exile soon after Malawi became independent 50 years ago.
“Nobody in this country is being persecuted. There is complete freedom in Malawi. As long as I am President, nobody will go to jail for political reasons,” he declared.
He also launched a three-year “Malawi Unite2Act Campaign” joint initiative for everyone in ensuring that girls and children are free from sexual violence. He tore off a portion of a banner, bearing the words: “No To Sexual Violence,” to launch the campaign.
