Mutharika lauds MDF

• Receives hunting gun

President Peter Mutharika yesterday lauded the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) for the military and civil assistance it renders, including peace keeping missions.

The President said this when he visited Kamuzu Barracks in Lilongwe where he held a closed-door meeting with senior officers for about 40 minutes before touring the clinic and corporals’ mess.

Mutharika also commended the MDF for the role it plays in the country such as building bridges in times of disaster, distribution of national examinations papers nationwide and protection of forest reserves such as Dzalanyama and Thuma from people who illegally cut down trees.

MDF Commander General Ignacio Maulana,  in his statement, asked the President to help the Army address its many problems.

Maulana, however, did not mention the ‘many problems’ which he was referring to in his statement.

The MDF has been dogged by serious accommodation problems among others over the years.

After the meeting, Mutharika was given an eight millimetre shot gun, which the MDF said was strictly for hunting.

Accepting the gift, Mutharika joked that he would indeed use it for hunting unless someone annoyed him.

Said Mutharika:  “On a more serious note ,I thank you for this gun which I shall use with the hunting skills I acquired a long time ago when I used to go hunting with my uncle who also had a gun.”

Mutharika donated K5 million (US$11 111) to the soldiers’ wives towards building a nursery school within the barracks and also donated K10 million (US$22 222) towards a junior officers fund where officers access loans.