By Joel Chirwa

 Mzuzu, August 31, Mana: Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of the Catholic Diocese of Karonga has urged Catholic youths in the country to be active in politics with the goal of attaining the common good of less privileged people.

Mtumbuka was speaking during a memorial mass service celebrated in honour of the former Vice President, Late Dr. Saulos Chilima, and eight others who died in plane crash in June this year.

He said young people need to borrow a leaf from Late Chilima who, during his life, was not only spiritually active but also played an active role in social life and promoted agenda of prosperous and development of the country.

"The church in its teachings espouses its adherents to contribute to national politics. You need to stand up to be counted in confronting wrong things.

“It is your God given right to take an active role in politics. However, you need to lean towards virtues of good governance that are for the common good of the less privileged people," said Mtumbuka.

He added that the country is going through a lot of social and economic challenges that warrant youth to take a bold step to advance principles of good governance.

“The church encourages its faithful to create a just society that has a common good for everyone. Therefore, church members especially young people need not to be spectators when they have what it takes to make a positive contribution to the national political agenda.

"It will be meaningless for you to complain and do nothing when politicians are mismanaging things yet your influence is better placed to improve lives of downtrodden and underprivileged people," he said.

He said Late Chilima inspired many people because of his vision which envisaged a developed and a prosperous Malawi.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Bishop the of Diocese of Mzuzu, John Ryan, said the event was organized for the family of Late Chilima to have closure.

"Considering the unexpected nature of the death of Late Chilima, we felt that it was essential to organize prayers so that Madam Mary Chilima and family should move on and have a closure to the loss of their beloved one," said Ryan.

Some of the people present during the ceremony included, wife to Late Chilima, Mary and family members, United Transformation Movement (UTM) Secretary General, Patricia Kaliati; former Vice President, Khumbo Kachali and President for Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), Enock Chihana.

The memorial which was mass was celebrated on the theme ‘Stay Awake,’ was jointly organized by Mzuzu and Karonga Catholic dioceses.