0 | P a g e

REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

STATEMENT BY

HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. ARTHUR PETER

MUTHARIKA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF

MALAWI

AT THE

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY

CONFERENCE

GOLDEN PEACOCK HOTEL

15TH SEPTEMBER 2015

1 | P a g e

Your Excellency Madame Gertrude Mutharika, First

Lady of the Republic of Malawi

Right Honourable Dr Saulosi Chilima, Vice President

of the Republic of Malawi

Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament,

His Lordship the Chief Justice,

Honourable Cabinet Ministers,

The Moderator of ABLI - Rt. Hon Lord Paul Yaw

Boateng,

The CEO of the British & Foreign Bible Society - Mr

James Catford,

The Head of Ministry Resourcing of the United Bible

Societies-Mr Terje Hartberg

All protocol Observed

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen

2 | P a g e

I count it a very special privilege to be with you this

morning as we open the African Biblical Initiative (ABLI)

2015 Conference today. At the outset, let me, on behalf of

the Government and people of the Republic of Malawi,

welcome in a special way all our colleagues from across

Africa and also the United Kingdom. Please feel welcome to

Malawi. I trust you will take some time off after the

conference to visit our beautiful lake. We feel you have

never been to our country if you do not visit our lake and

sample the juicy fish called Chambo.

Ladies and gentlemen, when Lord Paul Boateng and the

Bible Society leadership visited me on 3rd February early this

year to inform me about this conference I was very pleased

and pledged that I would come and if I failed I would at

least record my message to be read here but God has made

it possible that I personally be with you today. I thank God

for this because I feel this is a very important gathering

when together we can seek to share the values that need to

inspire our conduct in the way we run the affairs of our

Nations as well as different institutions where each one of

us is a leader. I have learnt that ABLI has been hosted in

Addis Ababa in 2010 and 2011, in Kampala in 2012 and last

3 | P a g e

year 2014 in Ghana with very positive results. And that this

should now take place here in our country, I feel Malawi is

blessed because the challenges ABLI seeks to address are

very much at the root of my government’s agenda and I do

believe for Africa as a whole.

Distinguished delegates

Transforming the Culture of Leadership in our continent, I

believe, is long overdue. The issues of Integrity, Healthcare

systems, Conflict Resolution and the Next Generation

matters are at the core of any leadership focus because our

people are expecting so much and we promise so much but

unfortunately we have delivered very little. I need to

hasten, though, that these issues are not only a challenge for

Africa but the world as a whole. The whole issue of the

Arab Spring, Xenophobia attacks, the refugee crisis in

Europe, the high unemployment rates in the world, and

especially for the Youth, call for a change in the way we do

business. As a matter of fact, concerning the youth and

unemployment, my government has started building

technical colleges so that we can empower the unemployed

youth with skills to generate jobs and income for

4 | P a g e

themselves. But I know this is not enough as members will

also know that our Youth constitute more than 70% of

Africa’s population – in fact Africa is the world’s youngest

continent, as it is stated that the proportion of youth in

Africa’s population is higher than in any other continent.

Therefore that we can all come together and hear what the

word of God has to say on all these issues is a very

welcome development.

I trust as delegates will be interacting with one another,

under the guidance of our highly distinguished speakers and

facilitators, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel so

that we will have the light to show us the way as we

function in our different offices. My prayer is that this will

not just be another talking shop. Let us allow ourselves to

be changed by the messages we will receive. This

conference, I believe will help build the necessary networks

as we will hold one another accountable to make sure we

live by these values.

Ladies and gentlemen

I am pleased that some of my cabinet ministers, principal

secretaries and key leaders of my government will stay on

5 | P a g e

with you for the duration of this conference. I challenge all

of you to take heed of this conference so that when you

return to your desks, you will be the catalysts of the desired

change that should become the landmark of our existence.

The same is expected from the church leadership here

present. The issues of integrity, conflict resolution and

empowering young people are issues that the church should

also be addressing. Actually it should be the church that

should first live by example and challenge all of us to live

likewise. Most of us leaders come from your different

churches and so it is not an overstatement that the church

needs to nurture all of us with godly values so that we live

transformed lives that will inevitably reflect in the

transformed leadership being exemplified in the public and

private life.

As a nation, our recent “Cash gate Scandal” – where billions

of public resources were plundered - is a very close example

of what happens when we allow the greed and unpatriotic

behaviour of a few individuals plunder the resources of a

whole nation. The conflicts around Africa, even after 50

years of our independence, reflect the effects of greed for

power, and the desire to control the limited natural

6 | P a g e

resources by a few. We are also losing a lot of young men

and women, who are fleeing our countries, seeking a better

future elsewhere. There is so much that we can do in our

respective countries to avoid the exodus of our people. We

must offer them hope for their future here in Africa.

And the list of challenges goes on and on. My prayer is that

God would use this conference and bring a change in the

World, a change in Africa, a change in Malawi and more

importantly a change in my life and your life, so that

wherever each one of us is, there will be a mark of a

changed heart, a changed culture that now desires to serve

others first and in so doing becoming a blessing to the

people we lead and they too finding their place in the

nations the Lord God has placed them in.

Mr. Moderator, I wholeheartedly endorse the ideals of

ABLI and pray this Forum becomes the means for further

discussion and espousal of the Biblical values that ABLI

stands for.

On this note, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you fruitful

deliberations at this forum and hereby declare the African

Biblical Initiative 2015 Conference officially open.

7 | P a g e

May the God bless the Bible Society of Malawi, all National

Bible Societies in Africa and the United Bible Societies –

Worldwide.

May God bless Malawi and may He bless Africa.

I thank you for your attention!