Sacrifice more, Chakwera dared

Fresh calls have emerged for President Lazarus Chakwera to introduce additional measures to stabilise the country’s ailing economy, including cutting on his domestic travels.

The calls expressed in interviews with The Nation yesterday come against a background of the President unveiling austerity measures in a national address on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board approved a $174 million (about K295 billion) four-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Malawi.

In the address, Chakwera announced a freeze on all international trips, including for himself, Cabinet and public officers to stabilise the economy after the 44 percent devaluation of the kwacha on November 9 2023.

He also declared a 50 percent reduction in fuel entitlements for Cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, directors and all members of senior management of public institutions.

However, the President made no mention of local travel, prompting governance advocate Boniface Chibwana to demand an extension of the austerity measures towards that area as well.

In an interview yesterday, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Bonface Chibwana said Chakwera can delegate some local trips to cut on costs.

“Cutting on international trips only is not enough and there is need to reduce appetite for domestic travels. The President needs to start delegating to line ministers on any functions related to that ministry. It is not necessary that he should travel to every function,” said Chibwana.

Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources economist Henry Kamkwamba, in a separate interview, said the government should also focus on creating an environment that will facilitate exports to boost generation of foreign exchange.

He said: “Cutting public expenditure is important, but it is one of the steps in the right direction. The second one is ensuring that we increase productivity and boost our exports. Not just exports but valuable exports.

“We also need to tighten up leakages from the economy. No porous borders for informal exports and imports.”

On Wednesday evening, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa said he was not impressed with the austerity measures, arguing that the international trips freeze period of four months was short.

“Why can’t he say he has cancelled all international trips between now and 2025? Surprisingly he hasn’t said anything about his local trips,” he said.

Presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said he would not comment on the proposals.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Transparency and Accountability (CFTA) has called on government to ensure openness in the implementation of the austerity measures.

In an interview yesterday, Csat executive director Willy Kambwandira said: “The implementation of austerity measures has been shrouded in secrecy as such it has been difficult for Malawians to appreciate the implementation.

“There is need for transparency in the implementation of the austerity measures, we would be happy to appreciate monitoring mechanisms that have been put in place to monitor the implementation.”

He also called for sanctions against public officers caught in violation of the measures.

As part of the measures to ease the impact of the devaluation, the President tasked Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda to make provisions for “a reasonable wage increase” for all civil servants in the Mid-Year Budget Review Statement expected to be tabled in Parliament today.

In the aftermath of a 25 percent kwacha devaluation in June last year, the President also unveiled a set of austerity measures aimed at stabilising the shaky economy.

That time, the measures included cutting by 20 percent fuel allowances for his Cabinet, restrictions on foreign travel and no movement of government vehicles after 6pm.

However, barely months later most of the measures had fallen by the wayside as public officers, including the President, continued to travel abroad, in some cases beyond the prescribed limit.