By Jones Gadama
The Malawi Prayer and Action Network – MPAN has called on all Malawians to look forward with hope and to never return to what it described as the dark days of the MCP era under Lazarus Chakwera.
Speaking during the group’s Annual General Meeting held in Blantyre on Sunday, MPAN said Malawians must guard the peace and progress the country is currently enjoying under President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
MPAN Secretary General Sipho Gondwe said the time has come for Malawians to stand firm and protect the gains made in the last ten months.
He reminded the gathering of the pain many families went through in the previous administration.
“We must never, never go back to that MCP era where our people were being hacked mercilessly and where mothers were feeding children with itchy wild buffalo beans locally known as chitedze just to survive,” Gondwe said, adding that, “That was a time of fear, hunger and oppression. Malawians have suffered enough.”
Gondwe said MPAN, as a national movement of believers, will now mobilize Christians across all denominations to be praying continuously for President Mutharika and his DPP-led government.
“President Mutharika is a God-given president for this season,” he said. “Within ten months he has liberated Malawians from oppression. Within ten months we have seen fuel return, maize prices drop, and our children going to secondary school for free. Malawians are better under him.”
The Secretary General said MPAN’s mandate is two-fold as captured in its tagline _“Praying for Malawi. Acting for Malawi.”_
He said the network will combine intercession with community action to support nation-building and unity among churches.
“As MPAN, we are saying to Malawians: forge ahead, look beyond, and do not look back,” Gondwe said. “Let us reject politics of violence and hunger. Let us embrace leadership that brings food, fuel, fertilizer and forex. That leadership is under President Mutharika.”
MPAN leaders who attended the Blantyre meeting resolved to roll out prayer rallies and community service programs in all districts.
The group said it will work to promote peace, integrity and service as Malawi moves forward.
The meeting ended with prayers for the president, the nation, and for continued unity in Malawi.
