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| National |
| Govt working on a policy for elderly people |
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by
Edward Nyirenda, 20 March 2007
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08:25:29
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Government is working on a policy that will see the Ministry of the Elderly and People with Disabilities recruiting officers to monitor the welfare of the elderly in every constituent of the country.
Minister of the Elderly Clement Khembo said this on Sunday when he presented assorted items to the elderly at Usisya in Nkhata Bay on behalf of the Bingu Silvergrey Foundation.
“As soon as the policy is finalised, we will employ at least two officers in each area to look at the welfare of the elderly....It did not please the President to learn that some youths ridicule and disrespect elderly people and call them all sorts of names,” he said.
The minister could not say when the policy would be finalised.
But Member of Parliament for Nkhata Bay South Pisho Nkhwazi said it was too early for Khembo to talk about the policy.
“As parliamentarians, we have to see the policy first and scrutinise its contents. We can only pass the policy if we are satisfied with it,” he said.
Nkhwazi however commended the Foundation for assisting the elderly people in his constituency and asked for more assistance.
“There are many elderly people who have been left out and I am hopeful that the foundation would come again to donate more of these items,” he said.
Executive director for the Foundation Frances Mkandawire said not many people think of helping the elderly, but the orphans and women.
“We have always talked of helping women and the youth in the process leaving the elderly people in the cold. The Foundation is here to fill that gap,” she said.
The items, which included blankets, clothes, flour, sugar, tea, cups and plates, have benefited 1051 people.
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