LILONGWE: The Malawi’s 6th President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, has today (Monday, 18 December 2023) commissioned a national peace and unity architecture dubbed Malawi Peace and National Unity Commission. The event took place at the Kamuzu Palace State House in the country’s capital.
The event was historic owing to the fact that this is the very first ever Commission of its kind. Demonstrating a unity-centered leadership, President Chakwera had, through the MCP 2019 manifesto (see page 8), aspired to institute a commission that would facilitate a nationwide process of addressing prevailing historical and contemporary wounds and charting a united way forward.
Thus he touted the launch of the commission as the apex of his Administration’s efforts to establish the National Peace Architecture. He further remarked that “since 2012, various efforts by other administrations to get this done have been frustrated by lack of political will”, stating that “but I am happy that we are finally getting it done”.
A calculated philosopher that he is reputed for, Chakwera forgave the previous administrations who never saw the importance of investing political will towards the establishment of an institution of this nature in a carefully-minded words:
“Mind you, I do not believe that the lack of political will to do this in the past was occasioned by malicious intent. Instead, I believe that it is just a reflection of the general lack of awareness in our midst of the importance of active engagement in peace-building processes”, he said adding that:
“In fact, to some extent, I believe that it is a reflection of the fact that we are a nation that has always been at peace and never known armed conflict, which has induced us to take our nation’s state of peace for granted, and to also grow complacent in our consideration of what our role is in being God’s answer to the prayer we make to him whenever we recite our National Anthem, petitioning him to bless this land of Malawi and keep it a land of peace”.
President Chakwera argues that establishment of peace and unity commission is key as it demonstrates that his administration is taking the country’s peace-building task seriously. In his statement, Chakwera further submitted that the Commission “will provide a strong institutional framework within which peace-building initiatives will be coordinated with consistency, thus nipping any threats to our nation’s peace and unity in the bud in collaboration with all stakeholders”.
His delivered statement made a compelling case for the initiative by remarking that “events in recent memory and at various points in our history should give us sufficient cause and pause to see the importance of having this safety net. We may not have had any armed conflict here, but as we all know, there have been many occasions on which our people’s religious, regional, tribal, political, and moral sensibilities have either been intentionally or inadvertently stoked and provoked to destabilize the country…
“So if we are going to safeguard our nation’s peace in long-term, not only to facilitate the enjoyment of our freedoms, but also to create the conditions necessary for sustaining development and attracting investments in pursuit of achieving the Malawi 2063 Vision, then we must become methodical and intentional in our active construction of the pillars of peace…
“As such, since the objective of building peace is to safeguard the enjoyment of civil liberties and economic rights of all Malawians, it is imperative that we have this Peace and Unity Commission to identify the structural factors in the socioeconomic fabric of our nation that need to be confronted to neutralize their capacity to perpetuate inequalities that often form the basis of violence, injustice, and a breakdown in the public’s observance and respect of the rule of law…,” he said.
For the full statement by the President, click the link below.
H.E. @ PEACE AND UNITY COMMISSION
Below is the pictorial preview of the Commissioners’ swearing-in event.
