Westminster Abbey Held Malawi Independence Prayers

On 8th July this year, Westminster Abbey joined Malawians across the world in comemorating this year’s independence which falls on 6th July.

Normally the United Kingdom host prayers for all commonwealth countries on their independence day which traditionally is a parten in the Book of Common prayers consists of choral music, psalms, canticles and anthems from the rich Anglican musical tradition, scripture and prayers.

But due to other emerging issues, Westminster Abbey set aside 8th July for the prayer service dedicated to Malawi, marking her 58th Independence Day.

Malawi High Commissioner to UK, His Exellency Dr Thomas Bisika attended the ceremony and took the second reading taken from the Bible book of Luke 16:19-31.

On July 6th, His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the President of the Republic of Malawi led the nation at the Malawi Square, Bingu International Conference Center for the National Service of Worship in commemorating this years’ 58th Independence Day.

Dr. Chakwera said in his speech: “We must choose what our conduct towards national development will be, whether we will sit in the stands as individual spectators to point out the problems in our midst or run on the field as one team to help Malawi reach its goal of self-reliance and prosperity”.

Similarly, on 6 July, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) also observed Malawi Independence Day by hoisting the national flag at the Mission Headquarters next to the UN flag.

In MINURSO, Malawian Military Observers carry out tasks at the Mission’s headquarters and Team Sites.

Malawi first contributed troops to the UN peacekeeping in 1994, and now contributes over 900 uniformed personnel across United Nations missions in Africa.

The Secretary-General Antonio Guterres awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal posthumously to three Peacekeepers from Malawi who sacrificed their lives helping to bring security and stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This years’ independence theme is ‘Rise, For a Resilient and Prosperous Malawi’ which challenges the citizens to rise and participate in all spectrums of development to sustainably and chart a national developmental path towards prosperity.