Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika has pledged to construct a Grand Mosque for the Muslims in Mangochi.
The President said this during his speech when he was presiding over Water Day celebrations that took place at Old Airport in the district.
He said he noted with a concern to see that Mangochi and Machinga, the areas which are predominantly Muslims have no a magnificent mosque.
“I want you Muslims to have a big mosque in this area,” he said amid chanting from other Muslims who were at the function.
“That mosque will reflect how the population of Muslims are here in Mangochi. There are a lot of Muslims here and it is a must that you should have a big one not those I have seen along the roads when I was coming here. You can now start to form a committee which will be in charge of the whole project,” appealed the Malawian President.
Mangochi district has many mosques but were built along the roads and there has no a ‘good’ masjid especially at the centre.
However, there are both negative and mixed reactions on the President’s pledge. Some people describe it as ‘political’ while some says are ‘fruits’ of the good relationship which exists between Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) and the current government.
The newly appointed National Chairman Sheikh Idrissa Muhammad has been pledging to work with the government of the day so as for Muslims also to benefit from their tax money that they pay to the government.
He says it is will be easy for them to ask any kind of assistance from government that will benefit the entire community if there is a good relationship between the two.
Obviously, the Grand Mosque in Mangochi would be one of the tangible things that the Muslims will benefit if the project will indeed be implemented.
Last year, MAM Secretary General Sheikh Dr Salmin Omar also told reporters in Blantyre that the ‘refurbished’ association does not belong to any political party but was there to work with any government that is “in line with Islamic teachings that are meant to serve all people at all climes and times.”
