APM garlanded Scout Patron
President Peter Mutharika, garlanded today as Patron of the Scout Association of Malawi (SAM), has urged the Scout movement to reach out to most youths in the country and transform them into disciplined, hard working and useful citizens.
He was speaking when a ten-member delegation of young and elderly officials of the executive body of the Scout movement in Malawi met him at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.
“I am very happy that the Scout Association is complementing government efforts in equipping the youths with the skills they need to become useful citizens of this country.
“It is my hope that the association will continue to spread itself as widely as possible and reach as many youths as possible,” Mutharika stated.
He pleasantly surprised his guests when he disclosed that he was a patrol leader of the Scout movement when he was a student at Dedza Secondary School, adding that the discipline and hard work he learnt from the movement can be evidenced in his life and leadership to date.
The President said many of his government’s development programmes are focused on the youth, who form about 60 percent of the country’s population and deserve special attention, as exemplified by his recent elevation of the Ministry of Labour, Youth and Manpower Development to one of the key ministries in the country.
He urged the Scout movement to embrace his national development pillars of Patriotism, Integrity and Hard Work and use the pillar virtues to transform Malawian youths into a national development spearhead.
Speaking before garlanding the President with a Patron’s Scout Scarf, SAM executive director Steve Kanene saluted Mutharika for his evident passion for the youths, including the introduction of his national programme of spreading technical colleges across the country. He pointed out that the colleges will empower the youths to learn technical skills which will make them self-reliant in their lifetime.
He vowed to heed to the President’s appeal for the movement to spread out and transform most youths in the country.
Kanene expressed joy that the President’s background as a Scout is yet another testimony proving that the leadership skills the movement teaches bear lasting fruits which Malawi needs.
