Chikwawa – Mkombezi legislator Abida Mia has urged people to stop discriminating against people with physical impairments.

Mia who is also Water and Sanitation Minister was speaking in Msomo village in the area of Traditional Authority Ngabu in Chikwawa when she presented a donation of wheelchairs to people with physical disabilities.

The wheelchairs have been sourced from the Church of Christ through an NGO called Changing the Life of the Disabled – CHALOD.

Presenting the donation along with assorted food items, Mia said needy people with physical impairments must be duly assisted.

“We are aware that sometimes people with disabilities are locked up in homes without proper care, this is unfortunate”, said Mia.

“There are many people with disabilities in Chikwawa who have mobility challenges. That is why we thought of intervening, ” added CHALOD Spokesperson Misheck Bakali.

One of the 12 beneficiaries, Memory Maseche, said the chairs will ease their mobility challenges.

The 2018 Population and Housing Census indicates that there are nearly 2 million persons with disabilities in Malawi, representing about 11.6 percent of the country’s population.