The Minister of Civic Education and National Unity Timothy Mtambo on Saturday graced the Mkula Mchere cultural celebrations in Rumphi. He was the guest of honour at the event that took place at Senior Chief Mwankhunikira headquarters.This is an yearly event that is celebrated as part  of appreciating cultural existence.

Mkulamchere celebrations this year was held under the theme Ending Child Marriages as the chiefs aim to civic educate the locals on the need to end the tradition of getting young girls into marriage an at early age. Mtambo  presence as Minister of National Unity  was warmly appreciated by the chiefs and the locals in the area. He becomes the first minister to grace the occasion since the founding of the Mkulamchere heritage.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the ceremony Hon Timothy Mtambo said  he was happy that the organisers of the cultural event had decided to theme it Ending Child Marriages “ Government is at the forefront of eradicating child marriages and it is good to see traditional chiefs taking this proactive role. We need to end child marriages as it evil“

On the the cultural event , the honourable minister  said cultural celebrations are good for Malawi as  they help to unify people .”These events helps to promote unity and diversity . Culture brings identity to the people . We have young people here who are learning cultural activities that the old generation were doing “ . He went on to say these events are learning experiences for the young generation and helps to preserve the culture as it is being passed from generation to generation .

On his part senior chief Mwankhunikira thanked the honourable minister for making himself available to attend the event “We thank Hon Mtambo for honouring us by attending this event ,this cultural event is important to us as its a way to remember our ancestors, our  kids need  to know where our grandfathers come from and how they lived”

Mtambo also took advantage of the event to encourage young people  to rise up to the occasion and not fall prey to politicians who only want them for votes or political violence. He highlighted that  time has come  for the youths to use their energy for positive things such as development , educations and Job creation. He also reminded the people on issues of mob justice where he encouraged  them to refrain from taking the law into their own hands but to involve the police or traditional leaders if they have any differences. The minister assured the people that Government under the leadership of Dr Lazarus Chakwera  is geared to help them , empower them and work towards developing the country.

 As a symbolic gesture of respect, the chief gave Mtambo a gift of a goat .

Deputy Minister of Lands, Abida Mia, has said government is set to  offer citizens decent housing, announcing plans to start constructing low-cost houses for needy Malawians.

Mia told reporters that government will provide loans for construction of urban houses that will cost K7.5 million each, meant to cater for low-income and vulnerable households.

“Government through Ministry of Lands will embark on slum upgrading project which will be implemented as a pilot project in Lilongwe once all logistics are in place,’’ she said.

The deputy minister said houses are meant to improve the living standards of needy Malawians.

“The houses are expected to cost K7.5 million each, and government shall provide loans for the people to build the houses,” Mia said.

She said the number of beneficiaries would rise in the subsequent years as government will be increasing funding to the programme.

Lilongwe City Mayor, Juliana Kaduya, said the council plans to find solutions for people living in the city, especially those staying in substandard houses and lacking access to basic public services, among other things.

Experts are certain that, with government’s commitment, it is possible for Malawi to achieve the ‘city without a slum’ status. They underline that by upgrading informal settlements and providing soft loans for locals to build low-cost houses, Malawi can make it.

In 1987 World Bank released money through the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) to develop 2 000 plots in Lilongwe in Area 47 Gulliver and Kameza and Manja in Blantyre aimed at providing low-cost housing to low-income urban dwellers in Malawi.

Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) was then tasked to implement the first phase of the project, giving mortgages to prospective home owners through the New Building Society (now NBS Bank) using the full-recovery principle.

Under this principle, those who bought the houses at $165, then, were expected to pay for them in instalments of up to 25 years. They were also required to extend the houses as part of the purchase agreement. The terms of the sale stipulated that those who did not fulfil the extension clause would lose them.