Economist Tobias for presidency

 With polls a distance away, socio and economic commentator Milward Tobias says will participate in the 2025 presidential elections under a political movement he calls Nzika Coalition. Tobias believes he will make a better leader than what Malawians have today. Our assistant bureau chief, SUZGO CHITETE engaged Tobias to shed more light on this matter. Excerpts:

Q Nzika Coalition. Tell us more about it? Is it a new political party or just some pressure group?

A Nzika Coalition means the coming together of Malawians to define the destiny of our country. We have seen coalitions or alliances of politicians and of political parties which have let us down. This time we are saying let us have a coalition of citizens. Every Malawian regardless of any background characteristic including political party they associate with, as long as they are Malawians who want a better country for current and future generations, let us come together and rescue our country from total collapse and after the rescue through 2025 vote, we develop the country.

Q With an ambition to compete in a presidential race, do you have political capital and base which is giving you this confidence?

A The whole Malawi is our base. There is no south Malawi, no central Malawi and no north Malawi. There is one Malawi, the Republic of Malawi. I will be president for all Malawians: children, the youth, adults and the elderly. I will be president for the poor and the rich. I will be president for men and women, boys and girls. Our policies cover all segments of society.

Q What gives you confidence if I may repeat?

A Malawians need a leader who will develop the economy, manage the public service so it can deliver public services in an efficient, effective and professional manner, and unify the country by treating every Malawian equally regardless of where they come from. Above all, a leader with unquestionable integrity. I wear the face of the leader Malawians want. So far, among the known politicians, none projects a real change. My colleagues and I have made ourselves available to Malawians to be the desired change- to be the real choice in 2025 election and I will ably be communicating what makes me and Nzika Coalition the real choice.

Q Do you have money for campaign?

A That is exactly one of the reasons I am joining frontline politics at presidential race. We are dismantling the mentality that politics is expensive which has fueled State capture and in the process facilitated corrupt people to be in politics while ethical people are scared away from politics. Going by campaign spending, none of the current politicians has money to finance political campaign and if the type of politics that is done is left unchallenged, this country will continue being plundered by corrupt business people who collude with greedy politicians. We have a duty as Malawians to stop the plunder. We have our campaign strategy which we believe will work and in the end will put us in office without being yoked to corrupt funders.

Q Are you sure without resources you can successfully compete in a presidential race–given that you will surely require to move from one place to another and indeed distribute campaign materials?

A I think that is a political illusion. It is not supported by evidence. If I may share some statistics; in 2004, the winner was sponsored by the then ruling party which supposedly had capacity to splash handouts. He won by 36 percent. You can see that 64 percent rejected him. In 2014, the winner got 36 percent and was from opposition. Apart from that again 64 percent rejected him, the then ruling party which supposedly had strong capacity to splash handouts lost. In the 2019 disputed election, the winner from the ruling party got 38 percent meaning 62 percent rejected him. I do not think handouts are a factor in influencing a voter’s voting choice. On the contrary, anecdotal evidence confirms that Malawians are rational voters. They negatively react to corruption and high cost of living and positively react to relevant policy message and trust worthiness of the candidate when voting.

Q Don’t you think it is too early for you to be a presidential candidate?

A Actually I am late. If I were president now, the economic situation would be better. Corruption would have been history and public service delivery would have improved. More Malawians who are looking for a job would have found it. University students would not be getting withdrawn on account of lack of money for fees and upkeep. Civil servants in middle and low levels would not be receiving salary that is a small fraction of one allowance entitlement of their superiors. Farmers would not be in dilemma as whether they will receive subsidised farm inputs or not in this farming season. Businesses would be thriving. We would have changed the narrative as Zambia has done. By the time we go to the polls in 2025, I will be 46 years old, probably the most prime age for such a task.

Q With 50 percent+1 rule, are you open for an alliance with other political parties?

A It is possible to win an election without an alliance. In 1999 former President, Dr. Bakili Muluzi won by 52 percent. In 2009, late Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika won by 66 percent. Additionally, the law provides for a second round of voting if no candidate wins first round. That said, we will be open to alliance but the degree of openness is restricted by the core values that Nzika Coalition stands for. Our pillars are integrity, competence and service.