By Bishop Witmos
First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera has urged people in the country to support the elderly by taking responsibility of their daily needs.
Madam Chakwera made the call at Chikoko Bay State Lodge when she hosted a luncheon to 120 elderly women around Chikoko Bay in Mangochi on Saturday.
Chakwera said the elderly are important people in society, hence the need to support and respect them.
‘‘This is Christmas season, and we are also going for the new year. As such, I thought I should celebrate with the elderly, as I am part and parcel of them.
‘‘Therefore, my advice to the younger generation is that while government is supporting the elderly through a number of programmes such as the Social Cash Transfer (SCT), they should consider the elderly as our assets for wisdom,” she said.
Chakwera emphasized that it is wrong for the community to consider the elderly as witches.
‘‘Let us avoid viewing the elderly as witches. They are just older people that God has blessed with longer life, a thing that we need to celebrate,’’ she said.
In her remarks, Special Advisor to the President on Women and Child Development, Dorothy Chirambo commended the first lady for inviting the elderly to the State Lodge.
Chirambo said this shows that the first couple has a heart for the elderly.
