President Lazarus Chakwera yesterday said he will ignore doubting Thomases faulting his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) election manifesto and concentrate on implementing the promises if re-elected in the September 16 General Election.
Speaking during the Northern Region launch of the same manifesto and campaign at the under-construction M’Mbelwa Stadium in Mzimba District, the President cited the promise to create three million jobs and Tsogolo Account project to allocate K500 000 to newborn babies as those getting criticism.
Critics have questioned the Tsogolo Account, citing financial challenges facing Treasury and also wondered how the three million jobs would be created when the government allegedly failed to create one million jobs promised in 2020.
But Chakwera said the same people doubted that his administration could implement several development projects as outlined in their 2020 manifesto.
He said: “Others have already started saying that we can’t create three million jobs. When I said I will construct a six-lane road, dualise the M1, raise the Constituency Development Fund [CDF] seven times, they said this can’t happen, they said it is madness.
“I urge you not to despair, just look at them. These people are enemies of development.”
Chakwera said the money will be invested in a trust or a bank and upon turning 18 years of age, beneficiaries will be accessing the money.
The President said the money will come from a yet to be created Sovereign Wealth Fund with resources from carbon credit, mining and mega farms exports.
Chakwera cited several roads in the Northern Region, including Rumphi-Nyika-Chitipa, Chitipa-Ilomba, Chiweta-Karonga, Livingstonia-Njakwa, Rumphi-Bolero-Nyika, Lakeshore Road from Nkhata Bay-Usisya-Chiweta and Mzuzu-Usisya as well as a traffic interchange in Mzuzu that he said his second administration will work on.
MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda said theirs was not a theoretical manifesto, but a practical and workable one.
Kinnerthan Phiri from Mzimba, who attended the rally, said he expects projects such as Inkosi ya Makhosi M’Mbelwa University, M’Mbelwa District Council office complex and M’Mbelwa Stadium.
On his part, Inkosi ya Makhosi M’Mbelwa V said those who will not vote should not complain that their candidate has lost the polls.
Earlier, political analyst George Chaima questioned the feasibility of the job creation target and described ongoing food insecurity and public sector inefficiencies as signs of systemic failure.
The new MCP manifesto, spanning 72 points, is built on five pillars of food security, job creation, wealth creation, governance reform and improved public service delivery.
