No health without mental health

So, on Tuesday President Peter Mutharika left the country for South Africa on what the Chief Secretary (CS) Justin Saidi shrouded, once more, as a private visit.

The President has every right to go anywhere he wants but these private visits are becoming quite trendy. Since he ascended to power on October 4 last year, Mutharika has gone, privately, to Egoli five times.

The President is the number one member of the Malawi public, but he is shunning national events happening even at the State House. You see, even when The Scorchers brought African glory and world home, Mutharika did not get out of the presidential suite to join the celebration.

He has controversially delegated some local and international engagements to Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana at the expense of First Vice-President Jane Ansah.

In fact, he even delegated Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda to the United Nations General Assembly. Chaponda may be an accomplished diplomat but the decorum of the Malawi presidency is getting lost. Imagine, the only news we heard from Lands Minister Chimwemwe Chipungu, who accompanied Chaponda, is that he took a photo with actor Dolph Lundgren.

You can say to satisfy Malawians, you can’t satisfy a Malawian. This emanates from the fact that Mutharika’s predecessor Lazarus Chakwera was an indischargeable globe-trotter.

What is worrying is that in the beginning, Malawians were being told the President would go to South Africa three days before. Then, the State broadcaster MBC retracted an announcement that Mutharika would travel the following day, only to see Saidi announcing the departure on the same day.

Now, the announcement is coming when the President has already left. Next time, they will say he left yesterday. Shall we be surprised when one day the CS will announce: ‘We are pleased to announce that the President arrives back home today from South Africa where he has been on a private visit for the past two months?’

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Today, October 10 is World Mental Health Day and, this year, the focus is on survivors to speak out.

Mental unwellness has been the major cause for suicide, especially among men. Since 2023, about 2 000 Malawians have committed suicide. Most disheartening is that between 10 and 20 suicide attempts, one is ‘successful’.

It is great hearing that initiatives like ‘Abambo Tibe Khonde’ organise events where men discuss issues that affect their lives. Survivor testimonies, including founder Jefferson Milanzie, carry the day.

A surviving police officer tells of attempting suicide five times following depression from betting addiction. We hear of a chief ingesting a pesticide to escape an arrest.

Now, the twist is that some women, like Pilira Ndaferankhande, have joined the cause. She nearly ingested pills one midnight over marital issues, but she heard God’s voice. In 2021, she founded the ‘In the Shoes of Men Grouping’ to work with men bearing suicidal thoughts.

We needed these initiatives yesterday. They should be home-grown, not donor-driven. There is no health where there is no mental health.

The dire economic straits, lack of basic necessities, growing animosity and impunity, perpetual hunger and disease, abuse of office, executive cirruption and colossal pilferage of national coffers pose deep mental health threats.

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