Leadership of the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) has hailed His Excellency, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, for his outstanding leadership amidst misrepresentation, allegations, and mistrust from some individuals following the loss of the late Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others, who died in a tragic plane crash in Chikangawa Forest, Mzimba, on June 10, 2024.
Speaking when a delegation from EAM consoled President Chakwera at Kamuzu Palace on Tuesday, EAM Vice Chairperson Dr. Maggie Madimbo commended the President for his resilience and patience in handling the crisis.
Madimbo noted that EAM has taken note of President Chakwera's personal support towards all program activities pertaining to the late vice president and the others who died in the crash.
"You have demonstrated fatherly attributes that the nation desperately needed at this trying and emotional time. This is highly commendable and has left a huge testimony of your Christian witness," Madimbo added. "We applaud you, Your Excellency, for being proactive in calling for an independent inquiry into this plane crash. The report will go a long way in clearing the misconceptions and mistrust currently prevailing."
The Vice Chairperson also thanked Malawians for maintaining peace and calm during the period, despite social media being awash with rhetoric glorifying anarchy by some disgruntled individuals.
She explained that the disaster has revealed how polarized our nation is along tribal and party lines and that her organization will actively and aggressively sensitize people across the nation, in churches and communities, to live in harmony and peacefully as one people.
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"There is a need to continuously remind ourselves as Malawians to love our nation and be proud of our Malawianness. Sometimes, the comments by some of us tend to be negative and uninspiring," she said.
Madimbo assured the president that EAM will continue to provide an advisory role wherever necessary to him as a leader in all matters of governance and conduct.
In his remarks, President Chakwera told the delegation that the death of the late Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others is painful to him and the Malawi nation.
Chakwera assured them that the government has given consent to German experts to conduct a thorough investigation so that the public may know the truth about the accident.
