Before Parliament rose sine die on Friday December 5 2025, Leader of Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda reminded government that Malawians are anxiously waiting for clear signals of economic recovery, improved governance and tangible development initiatives.
He asked government why it had not yet come up with a comprehensive economic recovery plan, arguing that such a roadmap critical as Malawians continue to grapple with high costs of living and weakening buying power.
2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Statement in the House. | Nation
With rains already falling across the country, Chithyola Banda lamented that many farmers lacked access to subsidised fertilisers and farm inputs under the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme. He warned that delayed distribution could result in poor harvests and hunger.
He, therefore, urged government to accelerate farm inputs distribution and invest in agricultural productivity, arguing that Malawi could become a regional food basket if local farmers are well-supported.
During his address, the Leader of Opposition also questioned the continued dismissal of public officers without respecting due processes, the freezing of recruitment and the cancellation of cheaper farm inputs contracts in favour of more expensive ones.
He further warned that corporate tax increases, such as the 40 percent tax imposed on profits might stifle business growth and undermine investment.
Said Chithyola Banda: “We do not expect that in three months government would have done everything but at least a signal that things will start working soon is what Malawians are looking for out there.
“As a responsible opposition, we are giving you space to prove to Malawians that you will make a good government in the next five years. We are adjourning the House sine die today with the hope that government will implement a clear economic recovery plan to help in addressing the myriad economic challenges Malawians are facing.”
But Leader of the House Jappie Mhango argued that time for politics is over and Malawians need to work and get the country back to a path to recovery.
Mhango, while acknowledging that Malawi is facing serious economic challenges, said President Peter Mutharika is offering solutions to those challenges through the implementation of campaign promises. He said everything the Democratic Progressive Party promised during campaign will be delivered.
He said: “We will not waste time with finger-pointing. We are here to deliver what we promised. Be assured that this administration will serve the interest of Malawians and not individuals.”
On October 31, Mutharika opened the 52nd Session of Parliament which ran up to December 5 2025.
Among others, the lawmakers passed the revised K8.589 trillion Mid-Term Budget without amendments to the allocation estimates.
In addition, the lawmakers passed the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Constitutional Amendment Bill which defines the role of members of Parliament in the oversight of the fund.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa in an interview said Chithyola is justified to raise those concerns because Malawians are facing a lot of economic challenges. As such, he said it would be irresponsible to outrightly dismiss the Leader of Opposition.
He said: “I think that the concerns expressed by Honourable Chithyola reflect frustrations that many Malawians are genuinely experiencing and it would be irresponsible for anyone in government to dismiss those sentiments outright.”
On his part, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said he shared similar sentiments with the Leader of Opposition because so far government has spoken more about intention and austerity instead of presenting a clear, coherent and measurable turnaround strategy.
According to him, Malawians are yet to see a concrete plan that links policy choices to job creation, inflation control, debt reduction and service delivery with timelines and accountability.
He said: “Government must clearly articulate and visibly implement a coherent turnaround strategy. But instead what Malawians have seen so far is piecemeal firefighting rather than bold, time bound recovery plan. Public confidence is built not on rhetoric but measurable actions and time bound reforms.”
Meanwhile, Malawians have already started appreciating the need for speedy implementation of a clear recovery plan to bail them out of socio-economic woes.
A trader at Bwalolanjovu in Lilongwe, Toney Phiri, said while prices of commodities did not go up following the change of government, generally, doing business is getting tougher by the day. For example, he said it is becoming increasingly hard to secure some basic commodities such as sugar which is slowing down business.
He said: “There are other commodities which are taking longer to dispose of than it used to be in the past, which means that people’s buying power is getting eroded by the day. People no longer have the money with which they can buy the commodities and business is increasingly becoming difficult for me.”
Lenje Samuel, from Mitundu, wondered whether education standards are going to improve following the introduction of free secondary education.
“The implementation of free secondary education better be good because the free primary education has not been good at all, especially considering that there were other costs left which diluted the concept of free education.”
