Former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday unveiled its manifesto for the September 16 General Election, promising free secondary education and strategy to turnaround the country’s dwindling economic fortunes.
The party unpacked its manifesto during an indoor ceremony in the Soche International Convention Centre at Sunbird Mount Soche before giving snippets of the same at a rally at Njamba Freedom Park in Blantyre later in the afternoon.
Former president Peter Mutharika, 85, who is the DPP torchbearer, did not attend the manifesto launch at Sunbird Mount Soche. His running mate Jane Ansah, a retired Justice of Appeal and former Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson who presided over the irregularities-riddled court-annulled 2019 presidential election presided over the event.
However, Mutharika attended the rally at Njamba, albeit from the comfort of an open vehicle as he did not alight to join party gurus at the podium.
DPP secretary general Peter Mukhito, a former inspector general of police, told the rally that Mutharika could not disembark from the vehicle as a security strategy allegedly after intelligence pointed to a plot to attack him.
In his address, Mutharika, who lost the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election in June 2020, said Malawians have struggled to access basic needs due to economic challenges in the past five years.
He assured Malawians that the DPP manifesto is realistic and that his administration will turnaround the country’s economy.
Said Mutharika: “We instituted an economic recovery committee which has been on the ground, conducting a research and find answers to the current economic hardships. The committee’s report is ready, but we cannot disclose our findings now.
“But be assured that in the next five years, the economy of the country will be stable. But for this to happen, we will need your votes. If some people are giving you K50 000s, just receive, but don’t vote for them.”
Unpacking the promises, DPP Manifesto committee chairperson Collins Magalasi said the party’s administration will introduce free secondary education and abolish any fees attached to primary education, including Malawi National Examination sBoard fees for all national exams.
The party also promised to allocate K5 billion to each of the 229 constituencies, K100 million for women business loans, another K100 million for youth loans and K50milion for youth programmes per constituency.
On the source of funds to fulfil the promises, Magalasi said the money will be generated locally.
“This money will come from revenue collection from MRA [Malawi Revenue Authority]. This is a realistic budget. On top of that, the DPP government will work hard on productivity to ensure that we export more commodities to generate forex,” he said.
DPP says it will implement fiscal consolidation measures that will see the country saving about K500 billion in 2026, K700 billion in 2027 and K1.5 trillion per year from 2028 to 2030.
The party also promises “a lean and inclusive” Cabinet, reduction of State Residences budget and freeze of public officials’ new vehicles purchase.
In agriculture, DPP promises to reform the Affordable Inputs Programme to cut wastage, and increase efficiency and effectiveness for sustainable food security in Malawi.
The manifesto also includes promises in health, security, energy and other sectors as well as anti-corruption drive.
In separate interviews, Political Science Association spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi observed that the DPP manifesto emphasised on the domestic resource mobilisation as well as assurances on trade and reducing on aid.
On the other hand, political analyst Nandin Patel said that the DPP manifesto identifies all the critical areas that need to be addressed while speaking to Malawi 2063 development strategy.
She said: “People want realistic promises. So what I have liked in this manifesto launch is how they have presented. We could see who were behind the technical team of this manifesto from different sectors. So all in all the DPP manifesto is good.”
A recent pre-election survey by Institute of Public Opinion and Research said 43 percent of registered voters said they would vote for Mutharika if elections wre held in the first two weeks of July. Incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera trailed second with 26 percent.
Malawi adopted a 50-percent-plus-one vote system in determining presidential elections in 2020 after the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court interpreted that “majority” in the Constitution meant 50-percent-plus-one vote. The interpretation was upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal and passed by Parliament.
