SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. LAZARUS McCARTHY CHAKWERA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI FOR HIS INTERFACE WITH THE REGION 5 ATHLETES   

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. LAZARUS McCARTHY CHAKWERA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI FOR HIS INTERFACE WITH THE REGION 5 ATHLETES   

MONDAY, 23^RD JUNE 2025

Good Morning,

Welcome to Kamuzu Palace, or as I like to call it, the People’s Palace. I count it a great honour to host you all here today to express to you how proud we are as a nation of your exploits and all the things you do in your various fields and disciplines to raise the flag of our nation high.

I am very excited to see that for the first time ever, Malawi has assembled the biggest team to participate in the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games that will be held in Namibia from 4^th to 13^th July 2025. And most impressively, I see that the team comprises of more female participants than male participants. That is a high standard that I want to see replicated at every level, so well done for setting the pace. The same applies to your impressive inclusion of physically and mentally challenged athletes and officials to participate in the games, as well as the diversity of disciplines represented, a total of 14. I think it’s safe to say that Team Malawi is a winning team. 

"And most impressively, I see that the team comprises of more female participants than male participants. That is a high standard that I want to see replicated at every level, so well done for setting the pace"

In the past twenty years, the performance of our national teams and athletes has been low, and I made it my mission that in the ten years of my presidency, we would ensure that this becomes a thing of the past. Whatever the factors were that may have led to the poor performance of our teams, the time has come for us to address them, and I assure you that you have my full support to see that this is done.  That is why my Government introduce the Malawi Youth Games from where this team has been derived. 

So going forward, my government will continue to support the development and promotion of all sports disciplines in the country. It is for this reason that my government included sports development as one of the priority areas in the Malawi 2023 under Human Capital Development, to ensure that sports is recognized and supported like any other development sectors in the country. My government will continue to invest in sports infrastructure development, capacity building of sports personnel, and implementation of national sports programmes for the youth across the country. I am determined to create more platforms for more youth to showcase their talent so that they may be selected for further development into national team or club players.

"So going forward, my government will continue to support the development and promotion of all sports disciplines in the country. It is for this reason that my government included sports development as one of the priority areas in the Malawi 2023 under Human Capital Development, to ensure that sports is recognized and supported like any other development sectors in the country"

But Government cannot develop sports alone, so you who are athletes have to do your part. I, therefore, encourage all of you in the country to apply yourself to your discipline and training in order to put Malawi on the map. Even for athletes of school going age, you who are professional should make sure reach out to them to inspire them to work hard in both sports and education because sports will provide them with a career while education will help them to make good decisions for the rest of their lives. But the best contribution you can make is by setting a good example, and I wish you the very best in doing so at the Region 5 Games in Namibia. Bring back the trophies for Malawi. 

 God bless you all!