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Africa Live this week: 19-25 February 2024 - BBC News Africa Live this week: 19-25 February 2024 - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi
The influential Catholic Church in Malawi has criticised President Lazarus Chakwera, saying the country has become worse in the four years of his Kenya’s athletics governing body says it is in touch with
leadership. Cameroon’s government and the athletics' authority after a Kenyan athlete died in
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 West African country.
"Most Malawians fail to see anybody in the current government who cares about them or who is able to improve their situation,” it added. Charles Kipkorir Kipsang collapsed and died on Saturday
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. after crossing the finishing line in the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, which was held in the city of Buea, the capital of Cameroon's South West region.
The church accuses Mr Chakwera's government of favouring members of an ethnic group or region when appointing people to top positions and victimising Kipsang, 33, was leading the race but briefly stopped near the finishing line, Bernard Okalai Bilia, the region's governor, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
journalists who expose corruption. He ultimately crossed the finishing line, but collapsed and died shortly afterwards.
The letter also said the government had failed to raise people’s incomes even "We cannot say exactly what happened. He was fine. He was good after the race. We might believe that it is something like heart attack," Mr Bilia was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
after the purchasing power of the local currency the Malawian kwacha had “We will keep you posted on the next steps,” Kenyan athletics governing body Athletics Kenya shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
drastically fallen. The Mount Cameroon Race of Hope is an annual endurance marathon race held on the slopes of Mount Cameroon.
After detailing It is known to be gruelling because of the mountain's steep terrain.
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.
Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu has acknowledged the issues raised by
the church but says the government will 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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