Jul
14
2018

Malawi Independence Celebrations in Scotland

A fantastic day celebrating Malawi's 54th Independence Day.

A fantastic time was had by all at the 54th Malawi Independence Day celebrations in Glasgow. The Clyde Community Hall was packed to bursting with Malawians and Scots coming together in celebration and to enjoy Malawian food, music and dancing.

This particularly special occasion saw not one but two Ministers join for the celebrations. Malawian Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, the Hon. Joseph Mwanamvekha, has been visiting Scotland with a delegation from the ministry to share learning on policy in water management and development. Hon. Mwanamvekha oversaw the Malawian Government’s official independence celebrations in Mzuzu earlier this month so it was an extra special honour to have him in attendance. He thanked the many partners and organisations working together to support Malawi.

For Scotland’s new Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development, Ben Mcpherson, it was his first Malawi engagement. In his speech Mr Mcpherson referenced the strong friendship between our two countries and that it “will continue to flourish in years to come”. He spoke of the Scottish Government’s International Development Strategy and how it looks to “foster and encourage core values in fairness, equality and global solidarity…. through the support not just of Government, not just of NGOs, but through civil society as well.

We were delighted to hear Mr Mcpherson’s commitment to supporting this relationship and look forward to him visiting Malawi in the future. Luckily Mr Mcpherson had guidance from the Hon. Mwanamvekha when sampling nsima for the first time!

A huge thank you to the Association of Malawians in Scotland for organising such a fantastic day!

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