By Our Reporter
When the country’s bishops met President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera in November, they might have erroneously referred to Malawi’s journey towards sustainable development as a mirror to slave trade destination of Bagamoyo.
Continuing with their erroneous view on the same, the Bishops have once again resurfaced the Bagamoyo narrative, this time in a more wrong context than before.
Bagamoyo is an East African costal old settlement renowned for the hopelessness synonymous to slave trade.
The Bishops say Malawi’s journey to the promised land (Canaan) has lost track and is headed for a place with no hope like Bagamoyo.
However, the two destinations are worlds apart when one contextualizes the Malawi scenario into it.
Fact is, when President Chakwera and Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima preached about leading Malawi into Canaan they did so with the Biblical connotation in mind.
In Biblical days, Canaan was a land reached after a marathon of impediments faced by the Israelites on their way from Egypt to the promised land.
It is the existence of setbacks on the way to the promised land that may be true to the Malawi scenario.
On assuming power in 2020, the Tonse Alliance adopted a sick economy that had been heavily damaged by gross mismanagement by the erstwhile Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
That meant Chakwera’s five-year term was categorised into three aspects; Resolve the hangover problems from the previous regime, set foundations for his own agenda and transition the country to a desirable destination.
This is why in 2021 President Chakwera led the system in actualizing the Malawi2063 Agenda which seeks to make Malawi a self-reliant and inclusively wealthy nation.
Unlike the previous development blueprints, the Malawi2063 was fashioned in such a manner that it responds to the needs of Malawi in its quest of becoming a middle income economy. A 10-year implementation plan was drawn as a breakdown to the long-term ambition.
Based on this transitional framework put in place, the esteemed Catholic bishops should be in the forefront to educate Malawians on the role of vision Malawi2063 in turning the fortunes of Malawi.
It, therefore, is a misrepresentation of noble facts to compare the hopelessness of Bagamoyo and the sunshine that emanates from a solid national ambition that is Malawi2063.
Malawi, unlike Bagamoyo, has hope and will lead its citizens into a brighter future that was the case before Chakwera took office.