Politics creep into fuel price debate
From contributions to the debate in Parliament on the recommendation to increase fuel pump prices and enable importers recover full costs, it was evident that politics crept in.
On the one hand, opposition parties protested the move saying it had the potential to worsen Malawians’ plight while the government side justified the recommendation, saying it was from the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources made after weighing the situation.
Representatives of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) alongside Alliance for Democracy (Aford) and UTM Party said they did not agree with the proposal.
Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition in Parliament George Chaponda, leader of Aford in Parliament Yeremia Chihana and UTM Party spokesperson on natural resources in Parliament C h r i s s y K a l a m u l a Kanyasho said they will take to the streets should Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) increase prices.
Said Chaponda: “We don’t understand why government wants to burden the people further with fuel price hike when there are other options that can be utilised and be able to bring down fuel cost.”
But in Parliament, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda said that the recommendation to raise fuel came from the parliamentary committee whose membership comprises both opposition and government legislators. In this regard, he said it was hypocrisy for the opposition to change tune on the issue.
Pressure has been mounting on authorities to raise fuel pump prices to avert looming fuel stock-outs barely one week after The Nation exposed that Mera was suffocating to indebtedness from artificially low fuel prices and importers’ dwindling working capital.
Earlier this week, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama), an unlikely source, asked the energy regulator to adjust fuel pump prices to reflect the realities of landed costs. The Nation last week reported that fuel importers have incurred K785 billion losses which Mera must pay in compensation.
