United Democratic Front (UDF) president Atupele Muluzi yesterday launched his ‘Business First Plan’ (BFP), a blue print he says is an urgent economic rescue mission to steer Malawi away from collapse.
He told journalists during a press briefing in Lilongwe that should he win the presidency, his focus will be on reducing the cost of living by liberalising the exchange rate and abolishing the dual forex system, which he observed fuels corruption, drives away investment and distorts the real cost of doing business.
“Right now, we have one kwacha for those who are connected, and another for the rest of us. This is not sustainable. The plan is to prioritise forex allocation towards productive sectors such as agriculture, machinery, and technology, while restricting luxury imports,” he said.
strangle opportunity. I Steven Pembamoyo
Muluzi is poised to represent UDF for the third time in the forthcoming general election. He drew the attention of many especially the youth in the run- up to the 2014 elections with his Agenda for Change.
He further announced that his BFP intends to cushion the poor by introducing transparent food and fertiliser programmes, lifting export bans to allow farmers fetch better prices, and promote cooperatives to boost rural economies.
On trade and tourism transformation, Muluzi promised to eliminate entry barriers, scrape off airline landing fees and enforce a “30-Day Rule” for business licences.
“ If your licence is not approved in 30 days, it will be automatically granted. We will not allow bureaucracy to strangle opportunity,” he said.
The plan also tackles strategies for fighting corruption, reduction of luxurious government systems and streamline mining, agriculture, tourism, energy and digital innovation as key sectors for growth.
Among other measures to save public resources, Muluzi said he will introduce policies such as no new government vehicles for two years, no excessive convoys and that all officials will fly economy.
In an interview, political analyst George Chaima said the electorate should take such statements as an opportunity to analyse their prospective leaders’ visions and judge if they are achievable.
He explained that Malawian politicians are categorized in three groups: those that have the vision and mean well for the country, those who are interested in buying fame and those who capitalise on Malawians to enrich themselves.
“When you look at t h e statements which politicians release this time, you see a lot of sense in them, it shows that we have politicians who can take us somewhere given a chance but they are challenged by competition,” he said.
Apart from Muluzi, another presidential candidate who has outlined his vision on how he intends to turnaround Malawi’s economy if elected president, is Milward Tobias, an independent presidential candidate
