Chakwera sees hope in 2024
In his New Year’s address to mark the start of 2024, President Lazarus Chakwera has admitted the prevailing high cost of living, mostly triggered by the infamous 44 percent devaluation of the Malawi kwacha.
During the address delivered to the nation from Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Sunday, he blamed the kwacha exchange imbalance with the dollar on what he called “policies that were not supported by investment”.
The President said his government has dealt with the challenge by winning back the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Credit Facility, which, according to him, has also been crucial to restocking the depleted foreign exchange reserves.
Said Chakwera: “In fact, the reforms we have implemented have also restored confidence among our development partners, resulting in the return of direct budgetary support from them for the first time in a decade.”
He also acknowledged the hunger situation in the country due to the impact of Cyclone Freddy, saying the government was responding to it by scaling up social cash transfers and increasing maize procurement to boost reserves.
“We are also overcoming this challenge by investing over K30 billion in the purchase of maize and stocking up Admarc warehouses with the same so that there is access to affordable maize to those of you who are anxious about your family’s food security,” said Chakwera.
The President, who has been through one of his harshest years since he assumed office, added on to the challenges the nation faced by admitting grappling with the delivery of materials under the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) to farmers due to forex shortage. However, he said despite all the challenges, such as the war in Ukraine, government distributed fertiliser to 75 percent of beneficiaries under AIP.
“And my message to the few of you who have not yet redeemed your inputs is don’t worry, your fertiliser is on the way,” he said.
The cholera outbreak, drought and Cyclone Freddy also made the list of the President’s hard-worn battles this year. He highlighted the government’s unity in serving the most vulnerable groups to the said disasters.
President Chakwera did not leave out the epic fight among the country’s law enforcement agencies namely, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Malawi Police Service.
The tussle that made headlines this year saw ACB director general Martha Chizuma and former director at the DPP Steven Kayuni getting down in the drain in a power struggle.
Said Chakwera: “We overcame this challenge by bringing the feuding parties together and reminding them of their oaths and insisting that their public offices must only be used to serve the interests of Malawians.”
In counting his blessings thus far, President Chakwera pointed out his government’s efforts in renegotiating the country’s debt, re-establishing sanity in the non-governmental organisation sector and the launch of the Agricultural Commercialisation Project which is expected to birth the Tonse administration’s much-touted mega-farms.
President Chakwera ended his address by pledging to capitalise on the austerity measures that he recently announced.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence on Sunday faulted Chakwera’s administration for the socio-economic failures in 2023.
He advised that as Malawi moves into 2024, government must prioritise helping poor families affected by hunger and the restoration of civil liberties, enhance access to basic social services, and address economic challenges with transparency and accountability.
