By Kondanani Chilimunthaka
President Lazarus Chakwera has said chiefs are vital agents for development and governance as they provide a link between government and the citizens in the country.
Speaking when he closed the First ever National Chiefs Forum on Natural Resources Management, President Chakwera described Traditional leadership as vital for forest governance and for ensuring the enforcement of the mechanisms, processes, institutions, rules and regulations for sustainable forest management.
“I am pleased that Malawian Chiefs, who are our parents, are committed to the restoration of order and the arrest of lawlessness in forest management.
Chiefs are agents of development because they are the link between government and the citizens. As such, my government recognizes the important role that you chiefs play in the management of forests and natural resources in this country. It is for this reason that my government has placed chiefs as key stakeholders at the centre of all technical and governance blue prints as highlighted in policy documents and strategies in the Ministry of Natural Resources and climate change” Said President Chakwera.
Writing on his official Facebook page after the event, President Chakwera told the nation that the choice of chiefs as frontline personnel in conservation of land, forests and natural resources is commendable because of the cultural and traditional leadership they provide in enforcing discipline and best practices among communities.
“I am convinced that with the support of chiefs, we will manage to reverse the sort of destruction that has seen the country lose 17 percent of forest cover in the past two decades” Added the President.
