HRDC goes after DPP

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has taken a swipe at the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for its failure to provide checks and balances on the Tonse Alliance government in 2023.

The DPP, since losing power in 2020, has been a frequenter of the courts over leadership issues, with the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa heavily tussling with his boss Peter Mutharika instead of holding government to account and offering alternative solutions to problems facing the country.

In their end of year statement HRDC said internal conflicts within the DPP have diverted leaders’ focus from overseeing government actions.

Reads in part the statement: “The opposition’s role as a check and balance on the government has been severely compromised by internal conflicts within the DPP.

“Instead of focusing on their critical oversight role, leaders in the opposition have been entangled in internal disputes, wasting valuable time on court battles and press briefings that castigate one another.”

Signed by its chairperson Gift Trapence, HRDC the infighting in DPP led to a noticeable decline in the opposition’s performance, hindering its effectiveness in holding the Tonse Alliance government accountable.

“Malawians entrusted the DPP with the main opposition position through the 2020 elections, expecting it to fulfil its role of providing effective checks and balances. Unfortunately, this expectation remains largely unmet.

“HRDC calls on the opposition parties, particularly the DPP, to rise above personal egos inorder to resolve internal disputes. Malawians deserve an effective opposition that can fulfil its mandated oversight role and contribute constructively to the governance of the nation,” the statement further reads.

HRDC also blamed the Tonse administration over its socio-economic failures and it feels the opposition’s poor performance in providing checks and balances has let down Malawians.

The group said as we move into 2024, the Tonse government must prioritise helping poor families affected by hunger, restore civil liberties, enhance access to basic social services, and address economic challenges with transparency and accountability.

“Swift action is needed to rectify the mismanagement of the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), alleviate food insecurity, and ensure the humane treatment of refugees. Malawians deserve a government that listens, acts, and upholds the principles of good governance,” Trapence said.

But the Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa, through his spokesperson Ralph Jooma said the government was all to blame because the opposition has been providing the needed guidance.

“Nobody has specified the gaps that they are noticing on the opposition, they just make general statements. When we comment and criticise issues, nobody comes to appreciate us. We have too many problems in this country.

“The challenges we have are a result of the Tonse Alliance’s failure to run this country. We have been producing critical statements in Parliament, mentioning all areas of the economy, finances, and providing solutions, but they are doing nothing, so do not blame the opposition,” he said.

Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu yesterday defended the Tonse Alliance’s three-year stay in power, stating that it has done much to improve the citizenry’s well-being.

He said: “The year 2023 has ended on a promising note after going through a painful process that was necessary if we were to take a positive turn in our quest for speedy economic recovery.

“The nation experienced the most devastating natural calamities ever but we have come out strong and 2024 looks promising. That tragedy partly derailed the government’s economic recovery efforts with serious damages on infrastructure, including roads and bridges.”

Kunkuyu said both losses further squeezed the already tight government’s budgets in a desperate quest to mitigate the diverse impacts.

“This, undoubtedly, had a direct bearing on the government’s planned programmes and resource envelope. Despite this traumatizing and resource draining tragedy, President Lazarus Chakwera and his administration managed to win back donor confidence as we witnessed resumption of direct budgetary support to Malawi after seven years’ absence.”

Kunkuyu cited AIP, social cash transfers, youth loans, development of transport infrastructure and ending electricity blackouts as some of the successes in the year.

He further said government was also successful in its responses to triple health crises of Covid-19, cholera and polio as well as natural disasters.

Governance expert George Chaima yesterday described the opposition as a bicycle with a broken chain, stressing the continued fights will not help matters, especially within the DPP. 

“The year is coming to the end but on a bad note. The opposition has miserably failed. This failure contributes to the overall failure of the government because it cannot perform well if the opposition is a failure.

“The opposition that we have is more of DPP rather than the entire opposition of all parties. The DPP has been a big time failure right from the beginning, we have not seen that aggression and agility that the opposition requires.  It is the weakest opposition, so far,” he said.

The Tonse Alliance, ushered into power through the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election held on June 23 2020, clocked three years yesterday and pundits decried its poor leadership “which seemed not to care about Malawi’s direction” and the worsening living standards due to rising cost of living.

The rift in DPP became evident in August 2020 when Jeffrey declared that Mutharika, after losing the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election on June 23 2020, had fulfilled his role and called for an early convention to appoint a new leader.