Bushiri pledges support to hungry Malawians

South Africa-based Malawian Prophet Shepherd Bushiri will from October to March 2020 distribute free maize to Malawians facing the threat of hunger.

Making the announcement in his Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Ministries church in Pretoria, South Africa on Sunday, Bushiri said he had been compelled by reports that over 1.1 million Malawians will likely face hunger during the six-month period.

Two weeks ago, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Programme (Rvaa) released a report which revealed over one million Malawians face hunger and that 676 000 are already affected by the food shortage.

Bushiri said he had been disturbed with the news and pledged to respond to the problem the same way he did to food shortages in Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Nicaragua.

“I am announcing that in December, I will be supporting every hungry person in Malawi with free maize distribution,” announced Bushiri, who is also chairperson of Shepherd Bushiri Foundation (SBF).

He also called on local political parties to put aside their political affiliations for a well-coordinated response to the needy people.

Bushiri also underlined the need for politicians and leaders of various strands to, urgently, come together and support every effort directed at ensuring that no Malawian goes without food.

But when contacted for reaction to Bushiri’s announcement, government spokesperson Mark Botomani said he had not heard anything “as such it will be difficult to comment on the matter”.

Bushiri is no stranger to the country’s disaster management programmes, having supported local communities through provision of free maize for the past five years.

He has, also, supported disaster preparedness through funding Salima District Council to construct dykes in most flood-prone areas.

Two weeks ago, the preacher handed a modern secondary school over to government. The school, Zolokere Community Day Secondary School- CDSS, in Rumphi which he constructed.