The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has lamented the growing population in the country, saying it is exerting pressure on resources and contributing to numerous environmental and social challenges.

ECM chairperson Archbishop George Tambala said this during a meeting between ECM, the local network of Catholic bishops, and members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the church.

The meeting sought to court MPs to support Bills that seek to manage population growth and protect the environment as well as the elderly.

Tambala, who heads the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, said the country is suffering from climate change-related problems such as floods, land degradation and diseases such as cholera due to the people’s lack of morality to protect nature.

“We cannot separate nature and people because they depend on each other. This is why when we destroy nature, disasters fall on us. We can only address these problems when we change our behaviour on the way we interact with nature,” he said.

Tambala called on the need for the country to control its rapid population growth by promoting natural birth control methods and investing more in education to successfully manage the ecological crisis.

He said: “The population is growing at a very fast rate compared to the resources we have for consumption; hence, we are putting more pressure on our vegetation for fuelwood, farming and other human activities.

“We have engaged you so that you can champion the change in Parliament by pushing for policies that would control birth rate and protection of our nature.”

In his contribution, Mzimba South legislator Raymond Nkhata pushed the blame on politicians for tolerating people who kill the elderly based on perceptions of practising witchcraft.

But Mwanza Central MP Nicholas Dausi said poverty was one of the main factors fuelling bad beliefs among people and their actions against witchcraft suspects.

“All these would be resolved if government took its responsibility to care and provide basic needs for its citizens,” he said.

Responding to ECM’s call for the MPs to take action, Catholic MPs in Parliament chairperson Deus Gumba said the MPs will use every opportunity to champion laws on the human interest issues raised by the church.

He said: “We are equally concerned with the three burning issues raised which affect the country’s development. We are all witnesses to this.

“Let me assure you that we have heard your concerns and calls and we will fight tirelessly to ensure that we have laws that respond to the preservation of nature, control of population growth and protection of the elderly.”

The meeting was attending by Catholic legislators from Malawi Congress Party, Democratic Progressive Party, United Democratic Front, UTM Party and independents.

The post Catholic bishops decry population boom first appeared on The Nation Online.