Chakwera vows to fight against foreign pressure

President Lazarus Chakwera has challenged Malawians to  refuse to be intimidated by other nations or be cowered when making decisions that are in line with the country’s vision and interests.

He said although Malawi is one of the youngest nations with less than 60 years ago, and cannot compete with the giant nations in several aspects including resources, weapons, size and population, it should not be policed by other nations.

He made the remarks yesterday in Chikwawa when he launched the Katunga-Maseya (Kama) Cooperative Mega Farm.

The President said embarking on a mega farms project, opening an embassy in Israel and subsdising farm inputs were some of such bold steps the country has taken.

Said Chakwera: “The mistake we made for a long time is that we allowed our limitations to be used by others to police us, to intimidate us, and to make us afraid to take risks, afraid to stand up for ourselves, afraid to chase our dreams, afraid to take charge of our own destiny, and afraid to even be proud of ourselves, our country, and our compatriots.

“We have already seen these condescending attitudes whenever we have championed an idea that is our own, or advocated for a national vision for ourselves, or made a decision that we believe is in our nation’s best interests.”

According to Chakwera, the country has had political sovereignty, but no economic sovereignty due to policies and behaviours that put more of Malawi’s wealth in foreign hands than Malawian hands.

The Agricultural Commercialisation (Agcom) supported the project with a K5.3 billion grant, while the farmers themselves contributed about K700 million.

Kama chairperson Collings Mtalika said 90 percent of the 1 069 farm will be used to grow sugar with PressCane Limited as an off taker.

 “We hope that if this project is completed, we will have 200 permanent employees and we will be employing 600 seasonal employees every year,” he said.

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said Kama is one of the many farmer cooperatives that have benefited under the first phase of Agcom 2 pegged at K95 billion from the World Bank.

“If K95 billion has done this, what about K265 billion? Malawi will develop,” he said

On August 31, Chakwera launched the Private Sector Mega Farms One Stop Centre, which he described as a game changer because Malawi still relies on agriculture for its economy.