By Linda Kwanjana

Malawi President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Thursday said unity is a stand alone pillar for the national development.

Speaking at Chilimampunga Ground in Lilongwe , Chakwera called on Malawians to unite and develop Malawi as a block.

The president said this is why the first of the four cornerstones on which Malawi was founded at Independence was Unity.

“In the vision and foresight of our founders, unity was the catalyst for development, the safety net of our culture, and the bastion of our spirit of umunthu. As a result, it not only earned us the admiration of other nations globally, but also facilitated speedy progress in our developmental goals,” he said.

The president said even though as a country we have always been a hardworking and entrepreneurial people, none of our hard work would amount to much unless we were all working together, working on the same vision, and working in the same direction.

Chakwera said none of the spirit of hard work would be sustainable unless it was regularly renewed and refreshed at the fountain of patriotism, which is a unified and shared love of the country and of compatriots above all other nations, a desire to serve her selflessly as the National Anthem declares.

The president said the second pillar of his Super Hi5 governance principle talks about uniting all Malawians and allowing them to contribute towards a common purpose of developing the country.

“The inaugural Umodzi Day held in Mtandire Township today is therefore a fulfilment of our desire to blur the divisive and dogmatic racial, cultural, sectarian, political, religious and tribal undertones,” he said.

Chakwera said Unity is the bedrock of development.

“Therefore, these socially-constructed demarcations must not be used to segregate others from fully enjoying the Malawian dream,” he said.

The president asked Malawians to use diversity as a launch pad to a self-reliant and inclusively wealthy Malawi.