In November last year, at the height of Malawi’s crippling fuel shortage, President Lazarus Chakwera announced a bold solution—a government-to-government (G2G) fuel procurement arrangement. The President claimed that this new strategy would cut out corrupt middlemen, eliminate inefficiencies in the supply chain, and ease the pressure on foreign currency through extended payment terms. Citizens were assured that by February 2025, fuel woes would be a relic of the past. With those high hopes, Chakwera promptly travelled to the UAE to seal the deal.
Yet here we are in February, and the situation is far from resolved. Fuel shortages persist, with long queues at petrol stations becoming the norm rather than the exception. The promised G2G fuel remains conspicuously absent, leaving many to ask: What happened to the deal signed in the UAE?
Despite the dire circumstances, accountability has been elusive. Both the president and Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola have stood by their claims, even as the reality on the ground tells a different story. Instead of addressing the mounting crisis, their reassurances have only deepened public disillusionment.
This prolonged fuel crisis has had a domino effect on the entire economy. With the cost of basic goods skyrocketing, fuel shortages coupled with a foreign exchange dilemma are crippling everyday life.
Leaders at Mera seem to have become experts in delivering empty promises, feeding the nation one lie after another. In moments like these, any sane Minister of Energy would have already taken responsibility and stepped aside. Instead, Matola continues to defend his position, ignoring the mounting evidence of his failure to secure the much-needed fuel.
For Malawi, the fuel shortage and the uncertainty of the G2G fuel arrangement are stark reminders of government inefficiencies that force ordinary citizens to bear the brunt of political mismanagement. Until concrete steps are taken to resolve the fuel crisis, Malawians will continue to suffer from the fallout of leadership that fails to deliver on its commitments.
The question remains, and it is a pressing one: Where is the G2G fuel? Only time will tell if the promised solution will ever materialize, or if it will join a long list of political pledges that faded into nothing more than another missed opportunity.
