By Dorica Mtenje
LILONGWE Maravipost: As the country draws closer to the 2025 general elections, analysts are bemoaning the Matyrs’ Day money distribution, which happened in Nkhatabay for the first time during Chakwera’s regime. They describe it as a political stage.
In an interview with Maravipost on Thursday, one of the economic experts, Milwald Tobias, said that it’s been 4 years since Chakwera came to power, but no money has been given to people on Matyrs Day.
Tobias said that heroes are everywhere in this country. In Ntcheu, some people were killed as well, not only in
Nkhatabay .
He said the compensation should be done by an institution with proper investigation of who is supposed to receive the money, and consistency should be maintained.
“All these four years you have been a president, you never gave out money. Just because you are facing elections, you decide to give it out. This is inhuman,”said Tobias.
He further said the move made in Nkhatabay is for the government to seem to care depending on the mood.
Concurring with Tobias, Historical Expert Denis Mwanyanja Mwiba said that giving cash of that magnitude to selected affected families is indeed good, but there is a need for various stakeholders to elect important structures or cultural heritage centers in remembrance of all martyrs heroes across the nation.
Mwiba said that although the route will set a precedent for other families whose relatives died in their struggle for this nation, some will raise up to demand basic consideration for the Nkhatabay incident.
“We need to strategically plan the building of historical monuments to memorialize our fallen heroines and heroes, rather than only focusing on their immediate family members. This can also attract tourists and improve our national heritage ,”stated Mwiba.
Chakwera distributed 15 million each to 16 members of the families of heroes and heroin in Nkhatabay as part of Martyrs Day celebrations on March 3rd, despite the country’s economic crisis prompting various responses.
