Some of the country’s youths have resolved to petition Malawi President Joyce Banda to push for action over the K61 billion (about $152m) wealth said to have been accumulated by the former president late Bingu wa Mutharika.
This follows an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Lilongwe at the weekend where they raised several concerns, including that poverty and underdevelopment were due to weak systems that lead to abuse, misuse and underutilisation of resources.
Youth Consultative Forum (YFC) national coordinator Edward Chileka-Banda said in an interview following the communiqué that the youth are mainly concerned about high levels of corruption and continued lack of good governance.
“We want to petition government on emerging issues such as corruption and lack of good governance. We would want to present these issues to the President,” said Chileka-Banda.
He said participants felt that the country was not making any progress in the fight against corruption as well as on governance issues.
“Two of the major issues the youth were concerned about are the K61 billion that is said to have been accumulated by the former president and also the (K1.7 billion) corruption case involving Bakili Muluzi,” added Chileka-Banda.
He said the youth have drawn a plan of action on several matters and will be meeting various authorities on the issues raised.
Chileka-Banda said the youth will also be meeting the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to also present elections-related issues raised during the meeting.
“Delegates to the EGM recommended that no youth and youth groups shall be used to perpetrate elections-related violence and intimidation against rival contenders and those stakeholders shall play according to the ‘rules of the game’ guiding elections,” reads part of the resolutions from the EGM.
