By Kondanani Chilimunthaka

President Lazarus Chakwera has led CCAP Nkhoma Synod in celebrating the life of the late Very Reverend Killion Gibson Jacob Mgawi who has gone to join the Lord at the age of 93.

The funeral service of the Very Reverend KJ Mgawi who died on Sunday, 23rd June 2024 was held at Nkhoma CCAP Mission in Lilongwe on Wednesday, 26th June 2024 before his body was laid to rest at Nkhoma cemetery.

Delivering the message from President Lazarus Chakwera and Malawi Congress Party, Chief Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs, Wickford Sulamoyo described the late Mgawi as an advisor and a role model.

“The President has lost his spiritual father who lived close to him in his early days of theological studies right here at Nkhoma, and when he heard that Very Reverend Killion Mgawi has gone to the kingdom of the Lord, he decided to come and join the Synod in mourning Gogo Busa Mgawi” said Sulamoyo representing President Chakwera.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba described the late Mgawi as an extraordinary very fine gentleman worthy of celebrating his life, saying he was humble, and positively impacted on the lives of many within Malawi and abroad.

On its part, CCAP Nkhoma Synod said it will remember the late Ngwazi for his leadership at the General Assembly.

“We will remember him for his leadership at the General Assembly as an architect who played a role in bringing unity amongst our synods” Said the Very Reverend Silas Ncozana.

Among others, the late Very Reverend Killion Mgawi served as Moderator of the General Assembly comprising Nkhoma, Livingstonia, Blantyre, Harare and Zambia. He also served as church Minister for Dzenza, Kongwe, Nkhoma, and  Kasungu CCAP among other churches, and was among the founders of Students Christian Organization of Malawi, Scripture Union, Evangelical Association of Malawi, and the Men’s Guild in Nkhoma Synod.

During his lifetime the late Mgawi who was among the church Ministers who presided over the swearing-in ceremony of late Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda as a Prime Minister of Malawi earned an honor from the Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda as an outstanding man. Mgawi went on to serve as a Commissioner during the time Malawi went to the Referendum in 1993, and then served as a Commissioner for the Electoral Commission.

Ordained in 1956, Late the Very Reverend Killion Mgawi, a church Minister, an author, and a singer, was the first African to become the CCAP,  Nkhoma Synod General Secretary in 1963, and got retire in 2008.