The Public Affairs Commitete (PAC) has commended President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for his development strides.
Speaking on Tuesday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during a meeting with the President, the religious grouping said they have noted with satisfacton some of the unprecedented developmental milestones that have taken place in the country in the last three years of his reign.
Some of the notable projects that have been undertaken by the Chakwera government includes the 301 km M1 road rehabilitation stretching from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to Chiweta up north, the six-lane Kenyatta drive connectinng Old town to City Centre in Lilongwe, the four- lane Mzimba street, the Cross Roads to Kanengo four way lane.
President Chakwera
President Chakwera’s developent drive has seen a lion share of developmental project being destributed equally across the country. In the northern region for example there is NOCMA to Dunduzu Bypass road, the Rumphi-Nyika road, Mzimba-Mzalangwe road, the Ilomba road in Chitipa and the Chakazi bridge currently being constructed.
Some of the flagship projects in the southern region include the Zomba dual carriageway, 100 kilometre Mangochi-Makanjira road to (commence soon), the Ndirande Kachere road, the Mahatma Ghandi-Kapeni road among others.
PAC also hailed President Chakwera’s government for restoring donor confidence in the wake of his decision to devalue the Kwacha which led to the approval of the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and consequently opened floodgate of donor support and a prospect of resumption of direct budgetary support from multirateral institutions.
PAC is an interdenominational grouping born in the early stages of pluralism whose mandate is to safeguard rule of law and good governance.
As Malawi grappled with the aftermath of careless economic posturing by previous regimes, President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has taken bold steps to rectify the economic malais inherited from the previous government.
Soon after coming into office, President Chakwera terminated the Extended Credit Facility with IMF, a hard but necessary decision, considering the circumstances surrounding the program signed in 2018 but was later embroiled in lies and misrepresentation of the country’s economic figures to portray a rosy economic position.
All this was happening in the backdrop of other development partners and traditional donors suspending their support especially towards balance of payment or budgetary aid. Dr Chakwera’s subsequent efforts to regain IMF support and donor confidence underline his commitment to steering the nation towards financial stability.
The devaluation of the local currency on November 8, albeit met with public outcry, was a crucial component of securing IMF approval for another Extended Credit Facility on November 15. President Chakwera’s willingness to make tough decisions demonstrates his dedication to addressing economic challenges head-on. However, these measures need time to take root and yield positive results.
A mere two weeks after the IMF approval, the President announced a series of austerity measures, including a personal commitment to curtail his foreign travels and a 50% cut on fuel allowances for the senior government.
These actions are not only symbolic but also substantial, signaling his personal sacrifice for the greater good of the nation.
Even, the country´s donors and development partners seem to agree-if their recent actions are anything to go by. So far, the World Bank has announced a US$60 million Trade Finance Facility, US$217 million package to support fiscal reforms and US$250 million support for the Agricultural Commercialisation Project.
The European Union has also thrown in €70 million (US$76 million), African Development Bank (ADB) US$30 million, both towards budget support while there is another US$6 million support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The Ministry of Finance announced that the austerity measures as announced by Dr Chakwera are expected to save the current budget a total of MK4.2 billion. Announcing this during the presentation of the mid-term budget review, Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda said the saved money will go towards productive areas such as the mega farms.
The mega farms initiative is one of the growth areas at the heart of President Chakwera as he has set his sights towards changing the narrative of Malawi being a predominantly consuming country to an exporting one.
Now against these exciting developments, the Public Affairs Committee comes in to call for additional measures, including a reduction in the number of Cabinet Ministers. This call seems to be misplaced or coming too soon. The November 15 austerity measures are still in their infancy, and expecting further sacrifices before their impact is fully appreciated is asking for too much, too quickly.
President Chakwera’s decision to cut his foreign travel alone is anticipated to save 4.2 billion Malawi kwacha in the current budget—an immediate impact. However, expecting additional measures before the nation has had a chance to witness the full extent of these initial reforms and the financial donor injections risks undermining the positive momentum gained.
While the Public Affairs Committee rightly serves as a governance body with the responsibility to advocate for prudent policies, it is essential to acknowledge what President Chakwera has done this far to address the economic challenges, especially in the wake of the devalued kwacha. Rushing into more austerity measures before the effectiveness of the current ones can be evaluated, may hinder the nation’s ability to fully appreciate their impact.
In these trying times, patience is a virtue. President Chakwera deserves the opportunity to showcase the benefits of the November 15 austerity measures before being pressured into further actions.
Malawi’s journey to economic recovery requires a measured and phased approach, allowing for the sustainable implementation of reforms that will ensure long-term stability and prosperity.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) says will soon introduce a new technological system called Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) which is aimed at combating the rampant theft of mobile devices in the country as well as ending money fraud through mobile phones.
The system is also expected to help in reducing the proliferation of fake mobile devices on the Malawian market.
Currently, the authority is conducting a campaign dubbed “Ntchingila” which is aimed at senstizing the general public on this new technological system.
Mphatso Chaluluka, campaign coordinator addressing the gathering during the road show tour on the need of the campaign
Speaking during a road show tour in Lilongwe, campaign coordinator Mphatso Chaluluka described the sensation about CEIR as important for people to know more about it.
“Today we are here sensitizing people on the importance of this new system as we know that there are others who always benefit from such malpractices and after hearing about this they can not take it with a positive mind that is why we are here for us to tell people on the need of this new system,” he said.
He added that through the technology, people will be able to trace, block their stolen mobile devices as well as protect themselves from money fraud which is on rise here in Malawi.
He further highlighted that they are aware of some resistance from the masses as it is a new thing but they are making it to be visible as they are enganging people in every corner of the country starting from the southern up to the northern region.
CEIR is a database that stores unique identifiers of mobile devices such as International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers and it helps to track mobile devices to prevent unauthorized or illegal activities.
The system has not been launched yet as it is in the implementation stage and it is expected to be rolled out at the end of this year.
Children’s parliament that sat in Mponela- Dowa from Sunday to Monday this week has appealed to the government and other stakeholders to help end children’s rights violations.
Some of the concerns raised during the two day session include effects of climate change on children, inadequate drugs in hospitals, sexual harassment, lack of teaching and learning materials in schools, increased child marriages, increased child labour and poor quality education in the district.
The children said the issues raised were impinging on their rights and there was a need to reverse the trend.
One of the parliamentarians from Dzaleka Refugee camp Merveille Katulanya who was also the speaker said it was high time authorities intervened on issues raised to help create a conducive environment for children in the district.
She said children’s parliament was important as it gave them a platform to articulate issues affecting children.
Another parliamentary, 10- year old Diana Mwaya from When the Saints Girls Academy observed that education standards are going down such that there is need for authorities to pump more resources such as books and good classroom blocks.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, the District Commissioner for Dowa, Stallich Mwambiwa said government will create an enabling environment for enjoyment of children’s rights in the district.
“We know issues of child abuse are rampant in the district, and as a district we have intensified construction of police units in the district to help reverse the trend,” said Mwambiwa.
Plan Malawi Projects Manager Lawrence Maulidi said the organisation will continue remaining a link by helping take issues from children to government and vice versa.
“We want to see children having the confidence to report issues affecting them to relevant authorities for action,” he said.
The sitting of Children’s parliament in Dowa was funded by Plan International, World Vision International, United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)and When the Saints among others.
In a quest to strengthen the working relationship, Malawi Defense Force (MDF) in conjunction with Lilongwe city council held a freedom march in Lilongwe.
Speaking during the event the mayor of the city Richard Banda, says this was organized as one way of addressing security lapses in the city as they are coordinating with MDF to protect citizens in the city.
“This march will help to bring sanity in the city as you know that in most of our cities we have got challenges pertaining to security even as well as sanitation, so with us coordinating with MDF we are very sure that things will be improved in our city.
“In this case we have given the military a way to do while they are working in the city, they also have a freedom on how they can make some enforcement pertaining to other areas which needs security in our city, we also edge them to take control of unnecessary vandalism as well as congestions in the city as some of them are well trained traffic police designated to do that work,” Banda highlighted.
On his part Second Lieutenant Mphatso Gudu, said, as a security agency they are optimistic that such efforts will help to complement government efforts achieving development targets.
“From this march we wanted to showcase the force which the mayor has while working with us, and the other thing we wanted to achieve was the issue of working relationship between us and the general public as we discovered tha there is a huge gap, and we hope with the assistance from the mayor we are going to achieve that,” he said.
City freedom march was conducted some years back in the Kamuzu era and it has been almost 20 years since it was abandoned.
The march started at town hall via crossroads hotel then gateway mall up to civic offices in the city of Lilongwe.
