Msusa blames disaster on selfish leaders
Archbishop Thomas Msusa of the Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of Blantyre has attributed the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Freddy to selfishness among some leaders in the country.
In an interview on Wednesday when he visited survivors around Ntauchira Village , Traditional Authority Likoswe in Chiradzulu District where floods swept an entire village at dawn on Tuesday, he faulted politicians for making unfulfilled promises.
The archbishop said: “Let us always come together and share the vision of our country where we are going. Let us plan together, some of
these things can be really organised well to lessen the impact, but we are so divided.
“Politicians promise, but they don’t fulfil some of the promises they deliver to the people. Politicians, religious and traditional leaders should come together and share our plans together.”
Msusa said leaders should draw lessons from the impact of the cyclone and work on preparing the country for future disasters. He said Malawi was ill-prepared for Cyclone Freddy despite
several early warnings about its potential impactIn a separate interview during the visit, Episcopal Conference of Malawi secretary general Father Alfred Chaima appealed to Malawians to unite and mobilise resources.
He said: “We also have to be united in prayer because such incidences when they happen in our life, certainly survivors are so traumatised. We need to pray for them and also offer them any kind of support that we can.”
One of the survivors, Austin Maloya, could not hold his tears when narrating how he found his entire village, including his father, mother and five siblings, swept by floods.
He said: “I don’t know why God allowed this to happen to my family. What sin did I commit to lose six family members, including my parents at once? I have lost hope because we have been searching for them, but they are still missing.”
Before visiting the area, Msusa and his delegation cheered survivors admitted to St Joseph Mission Hospital at Nguludi.
The hospital’s principal nursing officer Taylor Kondowe said they received 76 survivors, but seven were pronounced dead on arrival. He further said 26 were admitted, 30 treated as outpatients and 12 were referred to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
The cyclone has affected Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mulanje, Thyolo, Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Mwanza, Blantyre, Neno and Zomba districts as well as some lakeshore districts since Friday
