Paramount Chief Kyungu of Karonga and Chitipa has urged Malawians to mourn the late Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and the eight others who perished in a plane crash with peace and respect.
Kyungu, who also serves as Commissioner for the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission, made this appeal on Tuesday in Karonga. His remarks came at the conclusion of a two-day training session on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, organized by the Ministry of Local Government Unity and Culture.
“Late Chilima was a leader who loved peace and the best way to honour him and the others who died in that plane crash is to preach peace. I would like to advise Malawians especially youths to desist from violent acts which may lead to unnecessary loss of lives,” said Kyungu.
“Youths should not be used as perpetrators of violence in our communities, instead, let us use them as building blocks for peace in our country,” he added.
In his remarks, chairperson for Mbande Youth Network, Walusungu Kabaye called on youths to be making decisions based on facts.
“There are people who want to deliberately mislead the public especially the youths with false information concerning the death of Chilima but I would like to advise my fellow youths to use information that is coming from government officials who have this responsibility,” Kabaye said.
“As youths, we really need to be very careful especially this period as we are going towards the next general election to avoid being used by politicians to advance their own selfish agenda,” he added.
The training brought together chiefs, religious leaders, civil society organisations, youth and political party representatives.
Malawians are still in a 21 day period of mourning the late Chilima and eight others which was declared by President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
The mourning period ends on Monday July 1,2024.
