Chakwera, Chilima on the road
President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima are this week out on the road mostly in the Southern Region, undertaking various official duties, official schedules show amid concerns of extravagance.
The President’s diary, as issued by the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), shows that Chakwera arrived in Blantyre on Friday where on Saturday he presided over the inaugural graduation ceremony of the University of Blantyre Synod before attending a church service at Charismatic Redeemed Church in Ndirande Township yesterday.
Today, according to the schedule, the President will travel to Thyolo for a crop inspection tour which will also take him to Zomba tomorrow and Mangochi on Wednesday before heading back to his base in Lilongwe for the official opening of the 2022 Tobacco Marketing Season at the Lilongwe Floors on Thursday.
On the other hand, First Lady Monica Chakwera will tomorrow handover medical equipment at Balaka District Hospital.
On his part, Chilima will today embark on a Southern Region leg of a tour of Public Sector Reforms Programme projects in Nsanje and Chikwawa district councils.
According to a statement issued by his press aide Pilirani Phiri, the Vice-President will tomorrow visit Phalombe and Chiradzulu while on Wednesday he will proceed to Luchenza Municipal Council as well as Thyolo and Mulanje district councils.
The Vice-President will then tour the projects in Neno and Mwanza district councils on Thursday and will wind up on Friday by touring projects under Blantyre District and City councils.
Commenting on the Executive leadership’s field trips, governance commentator Makhumbo Munthali yesterday said some of the tours by the presidency do not require the presence of either Chakwera or Chilima.
Speaking in a telephone interview, he said it would have been ideal and cost-effective to delegate some of the events to officials within relevant ministries to save taxpayers’ money amid the country’s current state of economy.
Munthali said by proceeding with some of the tours amid the prevailing economic woes, the President was being insensitive to the plight of Malawians who are still grappling with the rising cost of living.
He said: “It is apparently clear that both the President and Vice-President are using these tours to pursue narrow selfish political interests to consolidate their political support.
“Unfortunately, this is being done at the expense of taxpayers’ money.”
Munthali said the presidency must be seen to walk the talk and sympathise with the economic suffering Malawians are going through.
In a separate interview, Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives executive director Sylvester Namiwa also shared the same sentiments with Munthali stressing that some of the presidential trips ought to be delegated.
He said with the current state of the economy, it is important that the presidency should be strict on financial prudence.
