National Planning Commission(NPC) has said faith leaders are vital in promoting mindset change which is one of the drivers towards attaining Malawi 2063.
The remarks were made Thursday by NPC Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Manager, Jennifer Mjuweni during the commissions engagement meeting with religious leaders drawn from the northern region on Malawi2063 which is the countrys development blueprint.
She said mindset change is the first enabler amongst seven enablers towards achieving Malawi 2063 which envisages Malawi as an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation.
“So, there is a need for concerted efforts to achieve this enabler and we believe that the faith community is very critical in influencing mindset change, hence engaging religious leaders on Malawi2063,” said Mjuweni.
Mjuweni added that mindset change is very complex and is usually based on individual feelings and that the commission trusts that religious leaders have a great influence on peoples mindset change as they are believed to be of high morals and trustworthiness.
“Therefore, religious leaders have a great role in influencing behaviours of individual members of their congregations and their society as a whole,” she said.
Commenting on reliance on handouts and corruption, Mjuweni said people should refrain from such vices, instead people should create worth using available resources and believe in their own abilities so that Malawi becomes a self-reliant nation.
“We believe that faith community is the least corrupt sector in any society, hence we place a lot of trust in them in shaping the future and mentality of communities.
“And with their help, we can instil integrity, ethical behaviours and morality which are some of the values necessary for combatting such vices,” added Mjuweni.
General Secretary for CCAP Synod of Livingstonia, Rev. William Tembo said that NPC engaged and took the message to the right people whom he added are in most cases forgotten in planning for national development.
“We are the right people because we spend most of our time with people and preach to people time and again and the message which we have taken here will down to the grassroots in popularizing Malawi2063 and what people can do to contribute towards its attainment,” said Tembo.
Earlier, Presidential Advisor on Religious Affairs, Rev. Brian Kamwendo commended NPC for engaging the faith leaders in Malawi 2063.
He said the meeting was very crucial considering that the faith community in Malawi covers 98 percent of the country’s citizenry and that with such an understanding, there is no way NPC can ignore the contributions of faith leaders to national development.
“The preachers of the gospel are transformative through the message which they give out to the populace and I therefore challenge them to encourage their congregants to be innovative and hardworking as Malawi2063 cannot be achieved if people are not proactive.
“Faith leaders should ensure that their congregants are empowered to deal with issues of reliance on handouts and corruption. We need to be proactive for the countrys development,” said Kamwendo.
