The Ethics, Peace and Justice Commission [EPJC]—a social governance arm of the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM)—an umbrella body of about 122 church denominations and Christian organisations says it has organised a countrywide march against gays and abortion calls.
But the planned march has attracted criticism from minority rights activists and advocates of abortion.
EAM’s plan to march comes a few days after President Peter Mutharika said the country is facing strange immoral behaviours and needs the church to help ending them.
Speaking at Kamuzu Palace when he met Malawi Assemblies of God newly-elected leadership Mutharika on Wednesday said the problems facing the country are signs of “moral degradation in our society” and that Malawians are “far away from God’s Commandments.”
The President said it was sad that strange and criminal behaviours were happening in the country like human trafficking, killing people with albinism, mob justice and jealous.
A statement signed by chairperson of the EPJC national coordinator Zaac Kawalala and the group’s interim national coordinating secretary Makhumbo Munthali Weekend Nation has seen says the organisation and all other concerned citizens of Malawi have organised a citizen’s march for life and family in all 28 districts in the country.
“The march will take place in all districts in the country with the objective of according Malawians irrespective of political, social and religious divide an opportunity to publicly affirm that sex and marriage is between man and woman and that life begins at conception,” said the statement.
Said Kawalala: “These are the truths, facts and values we collectively share as a Malawi society, which we must jealously guard against.”
But speaking in an interview on Thursday a senior lecturer in gynecology at the College of Medicine Dr Chisale Mhango said if the Christian bodies are saying “let both the mother and baby die then that is not being Christian”.
Statistics show that annually 46 million women in the world procure abortions while 70 000 women procure abortions yearly in Malawi.
