Minister Mtambo ponders on his role of unifying Malawi

Dubbed a ‘terrorist’ by former regime of Democratic Progressive Movement (DPP), at the forefront of a wave of demonstrations that engulfed Malawi in the past  two  years, Timothy Mtambo has found himself entrusted with a role of unifying the country as  the Minister of Civic Education and National Unity.

Mtambo, who lead the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) before joing frontline politics  through his Citizens for Transformation movement,  was part of the ministers sworn in on Friday, after being drafted in by President Lazarus Chakwera to bepart of his first 31-member cabinet.

The Minister has welcomed the challenge of heading the new ministry and says he is more than ready to serve in his role and to serve Malawians.

Giving his first interview after taking oath of office, Mtambo took time to thank His President  Chakwera for putting faith in him and including him in his first cabinet.

Mtambo then went on to thank God for the opportunity while highlighting that this is not the end  but continuation of the struggle to make Malawi better.

“I dedicate this appointment to God Almighty, Comrades in the struggle and all Malawians of good. The struggle continues and we will take it to the next level, our nation is divided, we have a duty to unite it. A divided nation can never sustainably develop. Peace and Unity are crucial drivers of development,” he said

On the challenges of heading a newly created ministry, Mtambo believes he is the right person for the role as he has been part of delivering civic education in his years of human rights activism.

Giving a hint of what his new ministry will be like , he said: “We as a people will model this ministry into a high impact government ministry, which will help moving Malawians from being subjects to citizens. We will ensure that every citizen knows the basics of our constitution, the bill of rights, development and principles of good governance.”

The minister believes if Malawi has to prosper, then it is a must that its citizens should be well informed, united, active and empower them to be patriotic citizens.

Mtambo, a strong believer is public service aims to inspire every Malawian to be patriotic and work towards developing this country .

“I believe that there is no greater calling than public service. Giving a service to people is a heavenly call. I took an oath of service before God Almighty and the people of our great republic, that means a lot to me. I will never let my masters (the People) down. I believe in People Power and as a public servant I am going to promote a People Power agenda where every Malawian won’t feel let down, but feel they are part of it.”

Mtambo plans to develop a two-way communication where Malawians should be able to communicate with him without any problems.

As part of the Tonse alliance philosophy he wants to promote servant leadership by serving the people rather than bossing them.

He believes Malawi’s unity can be achieved if every Malawian work together disregarding different political affiliations, tribal differences or social standing.

Asked if he holds any grudges against the DPP regime, Mtambo said he does not hold personal grudges against anybody.

He said his fight was not personal but was fighting the ills of the regime, the human rights abuses, lack of respect for rule of law and many issues   that were making some people feel more Malawian that others.

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