President Lazarus Chakwera has pleaded with Malawians to appreciate that his first term focused on fixing broken systems, but should look forward to enjoying the fruits if given fresh mandate.
But political and governance analysts have faulted the President, saying the plea is a call too late as Malawians want action and not excuses or explanations.
In his address during the swearing-in of newly appointed Cabinet ministers and deputies at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, Chakwera said the pain Malawians are feeling on the economic front was a result of bold decisions his administration has taken to fix the economy.
He said he already cautioned the nation in 2020 that they would face hardships in his first five years because the focus would be fixing problems and broken systems neglected by previous administrations.
Said the President: “I said this because I knew that if I am to fix the broken systems, Malawians must be prepared to endure the pain in the first five years of my reign.
“You should know that I am really fixing the fractures. You will notice that in many areas where we are clearing the rubble, Malawians are feeling so much pain.”
Among others, Chakwera said his administration inherited an overvalued kwacha and embarked on its realignment through two separate devaluations to reflect the true value.
He also mentioned rampant corruption and abuse of public resources as other ills that needed address through tightening of the public finance management systems to clear the rubble.
“There was also falsifying of figures and dubious deals… We saw a State bank being sold, utility companies were used to fund parties. There was so much mess that donors pulled out support and the International Monetary Fund [IMF] suspended the Extended Credit Faci lity [ECF],” said Chakwera.
However, for the record, it was Chakwera’s Tonse Alliance administration which in September 2020 cancelled the ECF with IMF and forfeited $70 million under the three-year deal.
Then Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu announced the cancel lation of the programme in Parliament and the IMF Malawi country office said the cancellation of the ECF arrangement implied that future disbursements under the remaining programme’s reviews would be cancelled.
The cancelled $145 million ECF was agreed between IMF and the prev ious Democratic Progressive Party administration with the initial resource envelope of about $112.3 million approved in April 2018. Thereafter, Malawi started fresh negotiations for a new ECF and got it in November 2023 worth $174 million to be disbursed over four years.
In yesterday’s address, the President also lamented that the agriculture sector was heavily abused during previous administrations with dubious deals rocking the farm inputs subsidy programme while tobacco farmers faced exploitation through low prices.
Chakwera said Malawians should not be hoodwinked by those promising change, since they will enjoy the next five years after swallowing the bitter pills.
He also cautioned the ministers and deputy ministers against unnecessary travels, saying there is need to exercise prudence in managing public resources.
But reacting to the President’s sentiments in an interview, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said although there have been some efforts to fix the purported broken systems, very little has been done to address issues of corruption and public procurement. He said Malawians are still yet to see tangible results.
He said: “We strongly believe that the President is running away from accountability or being held accountable on his campaign promises. Malawians may feel being treated unfairly because they expected him to deliver on his promises.”
Kambwandira also faulted the President for being slow in taking critical decisions even in key areas under his control.
“He [the President] continues to struggle to make timely decisions and action, and on the other hand, corruption continues to thrive right in his eyes. We seriously doubt what he is saying in terms of fixing the broken systems, we have not seen much,” he said.
Political analyst George Chaima said the President was trying to run away from his administration’s shortfalls.
In an interview yesterday, he reminded the President that during the campaign in the last elections, he promised to fix the broken systems within two years and that if he failed he would step down.
Chaima said people voted for Chakwera because they believed he could turnaround the country in the shortest period possible; hence, needed to turn his words into action and not excuses.
In his inaugural address on July 6 2020, the President called on Malawians to have the courage to face and endure the pain of a surgery if they wanted to enjoy wholeness as a nation.
He said for Malawi to rebuild, there was need to clear the rubble of corruption, laziness, passivism, donor dependency, regionalism, negativity, impunity and unprofessionalism.
Malawians go to the polls on September 16 to elect a President, members of Parliament and ward councillors.
President Chakwera triumphed in the court-sanctioned June 23 2020 Fresh Presidential Election in which he partnered with the country’s then Vice-President Saulos Chilima of UTM Party as his running mate under the banner of Tonse Alliance. Chilima died alongside eight others in a military plane crash on June 10 2024.
