By Chisomo Phiri
Barely a week after presented the State of the Nation Address in the August House, President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday left all his busy office schedules and returned to the House to answer questions from Members of Parliament.
According to Chakwera, the return to the House is part fulfilling his constitutional and democratic mandate as Head of the Executive arm of government.
In his answers to questions presented before him by the members of the house, the president tackled various pertinent issues that when addressed properly – are key enablers of country’s development agenda.
On corruption, the Malawi leader restated the untiring efforts his government has invested to ensure that there is a creation of a corrupt-free Malawi by strengthening capacity of institutions that are mandated to lead the fight against corruption.
The Presidsnt also spoke on his administration’s commitment to transform the country’s Agriculture sector through mega farms and modern technologies such as large-scale irrigation and climate-smart agriculture.
In the same vein, Chakwera also reiterated his pledge to restructure the Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) so that it responds to the transformational agenda currently undertaking.
“We will step up social safety programs so that we target the right people while striking a balance between food security and commercial farming,” said Chakwera.
He added “Over and above, my time in the House is fruitful and has given us great insights on how best to build a new Malawi.”
During the query session, Mangochi Central MP Victoria Kingstone asked the President about the status of Mangochi International Airport.
The MP claimed that land for the project was already identified but people are still waiting.
In his response, the unshaken Malawi leader said his government is currently engaging donors and the private sector for possible financing of the Mangochi International Airport project.
Another question was from MP for Zomba Lisanjala William Susuwele Banda who asked Chakwera to elaborate more about the plans government has to ensure that the fight against corruption in Malawi is not lost,claiming that the country has performed badly in the fight against corruption asthe director general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau has spent most of her time fighting internal battles than doing what she was employed for.
But in his response, Chakwera said
government is strengthening the prevention of corruption by among others conducting lifestyle audits and reviewing school curriculum to include ethics.
He added that government is also strengthening the prosecution capacity of Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The President also mentioned the establishment of a court to handle corruption cases.
“We must curb the sensational idea that Malawi is doing nothing to fight corruption.
“You cannot measure the progress of the fight against corruption based on headlines and social media allegations,” said Chakwera.
