By Linda Likomwa
Chiradzulu, Mana: Chairperson of Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) Council, Rt Reverend Martin Mtumbuka has asked President Lazarus Chakwera and South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa to bring back peace and security in Mozambique.
Speaking Saturday during the graduation ceremony of the 19th congregation of the university in Chiradzulu, Mtumbuka said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Chairperson and his counterpart responsible for security should make sure that peace and stability are restored in Mozambique.
“I speak from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the weak and vulnerable Malawians who cannot protect themselves from instability. You don’t have to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Mozambique,” he said.
Mtumbuka, who is also Bishop of Karonga Diocese, said SADC has to learn from what happened in West Africa and how the region is struggling to contain peace and stability as well as how the vulnerable and the weak are suffering in the region.
He said Malawi is a peaceful country which must be protected so that people should continue to live peacefully.
Bishop Mtumbuka then advised the graduands to be people of integrity and to associate with the poor, those with disability and the vulnerable.
He then disclosed that CUNIMA plans to establish a teaching hospital in Mzuzu which will focus on kidneys because of the rise in kidney complications which he said are currently referred to India for treatent.
In his remarks, President Lazarus Chakwera said people in the country should refrain from posting things on social media that can fuel violence in the country so that peace and stability should be preserved.
To the graduands, the country’s Head of State said they need to be innovative and bring out new skills they have acquired from the university to develop the country.
“The country is looking for such skills to be filled in different ministries, departments and other sectors. We need graduates who are hungry to develop the country from scratch and doers, not those that just talk,” he said.
Chakwera also said government is committed to supporting students and universities both financially and academically so that all children can reach their potentials according to God-given talents.
Reverend Fr. Dr George Buleya, Vice-Chancellor of Catholic University said the university started with 121 students in 2007 and with 95 students graduating in 2010. In 2020, 578 students graduated and this year, 897 students have graduated.
“The growing number of students shows that we are delivering competent and marketable courses and that the demand for higher education is growing,” he said.
The university’s vice-chancellor then said with the growing demand, they turn away some students who want to enroll at the university because of inadequate infrastructure to accommodate them.
He added that if they do not also manage the growth, they can drain the gain they have achieved over the years.
897 students have graduated in the faculties of Science, Theology, Commerce, Social Sciences and Education of which 56 per cent are male and 44 per cent are female.
The 19th congregation started with Holy mass and the award of Diplomas and Degrees was presided over by the University’s Chancellor, His Grace, Thomas Luke Msusa.
This guy is very amazing and is a hypocrite. By the way, when did he learn that social media are responsible for instability? Its disturbing to have these words uttered from the ones who benefitted from the very same social media’s organized violent demos.