By Cedric Nkungula
Higher Education Minister Dr. Jessie Kabwila says President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s presentation of K50 million each to the country’s 6 public universities is an indication that the president has a heart for needy students.
Kabwila made the remarks on Thursday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe where President Chakwera presented cheques to the beneficiaries of the Presidential Charity Golf Initiative at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe. Launched 3 years ago, the initiative’s primary objective is to improve the lives of university students and also survivors of natural disasters.
The public universities that received K50 million each are Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), University of Malawi (UNIMA), Mzuzu University (MZUNI), Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), and Kamuzu University of Health Science (KUHeS). A K300 million cheque was presented to Muona Primary School in Nsanje to fund the reconstruction of the school, which suffered damage from the impact of Cyclone Freedy in the year 2023. The money will be used in constructing the school and administration block.
Chakwera’s gesture, said the higher education minister, “is actually showing that he wants to drive higher education from a perspective of serving lives.”
In her remarks, Kabwila explained that when a needy student is funded, it makes them avoid failing to achieve their studies.
“When you are supporting needy students to the tune of K50 million per public university and going to put up a primary school Muona that was leveled during Cyclone Freedy, it shows a president who deeply cares about narrowing the bridge between the rich and the poor,” she emphasized.
Vizenge Kumwenda, Chairperson of the Presidential Charity Golf Initiative Organizing Committee thanked all those that participated in the tourney and for their monetary contributions.
“On the part of the committee, we are really very happy because this marks the end of a very successful fundraising. We are grateful to our sponsors and now go back to the drawing board to plan for the next event,” he said.
In his speech, President Chakwera advised the beneficiaries to prove themselves worthy of it by ensuring that they put it to good use by maximizing the opportunity to graduate from dependency to self-reliance.
“For that is the only graduation that will make your graduation from university an asset, and not a liability. The last thing we want to see in this country is young people who are educated for nothing, for our interest is to support young people who desire to be educated for action, and I believe that those of you receiving this investment will rise to that challenge,” he said.
