Malawians in Botswana celebrate independence anniversary

Correspondent | Friday July 14, 2017 15:18

The dinner, which was organised by the Society of Malawians living in Botswana (SoMaBo) saw about 200 guests attending, these being Malawians and nationalities of other countries invited to join the celebrations.  

Among those invited was the secretary general of SADC, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, who was also the guest speaker at the event.  In her speech, the Tanzanian-born emphasised on the need for Malawians to unite in their quest to develop their country, and lobbied the support of host countries such as Botswana to do what they can to support this cause. 

“I would also encourage the Malawian government to consider opening a stand-alone embassy here in Gaborone, seeing how far back the two countries go,” added Dr Tax, who was coincidentally celebrating her birthday on the day. One of the founding patrons of the society, Hendrick Chinsinga spoke on the history of the society, making mention of how it was started with a sole quest to unite Malawians in Diaspora living in Botswana.

  “Following the death of one of our friends back in the 1990s in Molepolole, we all came together and contributed towards his burial.  It was thereafter that we agreed on a notion to found this society to help unite scattered Malawians living here,” Chinsinga said.

  The dinner was also a fundraising initiative by the society, with the money to be donated to a local cause. “We normally identify a need in Botswana after such celebrations, and donate money or items to meet such a need. Last year, we donated school uniforms to Maisane Primary School. This year, we are yet to identify an organisation to donate to,” explained Gabriel Guta, SoMaBo chairperson. 

He went on to thank the government of Botswana for its continued hospitality as well as the event’s sponsors, amongst them a local insurance company, Exclusive Insurance Solutions. Piksy and the Soul Raiders, musicians from Malawi, provided entertained at the event.