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(32 minutes later)
Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi
The Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) has barred the Norwegian cruise ship Norwegian Dawn from docking at its ports, fearing health risks after some passengers onboard the ship developed a stomach illness. The influential Catholic Church in Malawi has criticised President Lazarus Chakwera, saying the country has become worse in the four years of his
"The decision not to allow the cruise ship access to the quay was taken in order to avoid any health risks," the ports authority said in a statement on Sunday. leadership.
"The health and safety of passengers as well as that of the country as a whole are of the utmost importance to the authorities." In a scathing attack that appears to be directed at the president, the church, through its bishops, said “we have witnessed a glaring failure of leadership”.
The passengers developed mild symptoms of a stomach illness during a voyage to South Africa, a representative of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the company that operates the ship, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. "Most Malawians fail to see anybody in the current government who cares about them or who is able to improve their situation,” it added.
Mauritian health authorities have taken samples from 15 quarantined passengers and expect the test results in 48 hours. Until then, boarding and disembarking the ship is prohibited. In a 16-page pastoral letter titled “The sad story of Malawi”, read out in all Catholic churches across the country on Sunday, it accused the administration of multiple failures including unfulfilled campaign promises, nepotism and rampant corruption.
The ship has 2,184 passengers and 1,026 crew members on board, MPA said. The church accuses Mr Chakwera's government of favouring a
About 2,000 passengers were to disembark the ship in Mauritius's capital, Port Louis, and 2,279 new passengers were to board it. tribe or region when appointing people to top positions and victimising
journalists who expose corruption.
The letter also said the government had failed to raise people’s incomes even
after the purchasing power of the local currency the Malawian kwacha had
drastically reduced.
After detailing
government failures, the letter said: “It is essential to ask of
candidates, what their record of service has been, what they are capable of
doing, before voting for them – not who they are or where they come from or
what connections they have”.
Malawi holds elections in 18 months and the timing of the pastoral letter is significant.
The church said it had privately engaged Mr Chakwera several times but it had been largely unsuccessful, hence the decision to try a different approach through the letter.
The government has refused to respond to specific accusations contained in the
letter.
Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu acknowledged the issues raised by
the church but said the government would not engage in an item-by-item response to the letter.
“Instead we
will not get tired of utilising engagements we do have with the clergy from
time to time,” Mr Kunkuyu said.
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