Africa-Press – Malawi. Happy New Year to You All! I stand before you to respond to the State of the Nation Address (SONA), which was delivered here in Parliament on Thursday, 3rd February 2022 by His Excellency President Lazarus Chakwera. He entitled it “Fixing the Systems to Deliver Long-Term Priorities and Diffuse Short-Term Pressures.”
Madam Speaker,
Before I delve into my substantive response, allow me to recognize that our country is currently reeling from the devastating effects of Cyclone Ana. The heavy rains and winds that the country experienced, particularly in the Southern Region, caused massive devastation. Many people lost their lives; some are still missing; and property worth millions of Malawi Kwacha has been damaged. Hundreds of families have been rendered homeless.
It is in this vein that I wish to request the entire House to stand and join me in observing a minute of silence in honour of those that have lost their lives to Cyclone Ana.
(I THANK YOU).
Madam Speaker,
Let me commend the government, through DODMA, for responding in time to help those that have been affected by that cyclone. In the same vein, I would like to urge the government to consider investing more in resilient and adaptation efforts such as the construction of durable infrastructure as well as sensitizing communities living in flood-prone areas to seriously consider relocating to uplands.
Madam Speaker,
The last time I stood here to make a speech was in December last year. In the course of my speech, some members from the opposite side booed me. I was called all sorts of names because I may have said things they did not like. I know that today I will also be booed because I will say things that they will, again, not like.
To me, that is okay because I stand by what I say because I say the truth and that is the work that Malawians assigned me to do here. I will always stand on the side of Malawians in holding this government accountable on what it promised to deliver for Malawians.
As a Believer, I also go by what the Scriptures teach us in Proverbs chapter 12 verse19. It is written, “Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment”
(END QUOTE).
Madam Speaker.
Someone told me that politics is about telling the voters what you will do in one, two, three-, or four-years’ time, and being able to tell the voters, again, why you did not do what you promised when that time elapses.
The huge gap between what this government promised, and what it is actually delivering makes me believe that the statement is true. The only difference is that the excuses for failure from this government are not convincing.
Madam Speaker,
During the campaign period, President Lazarus Chakwera and his Tonse Alliance partners talked with sharp tongues about how they will take Malawians to the holy grail. They said Malawi will be a land of milk and honey where basic goods and services will be affordable to everyone.
Malawians were promised jobs and universally affordable farm inputs. We were told the price of fuel will not be high; that there will be free electricity and water connection; that there will be no favoritism in employment of public officers, and that people will be employed on merit regardless of their political, religious, or tribal affiliations.
In short, we were told that there will not be any corruption, nepotism, tribalism, and regionalism in that purported land of milk and honey. However, the President has not lived up to his promise of appointing people based on merit.
He is the first one who is abusing his position of authority by appointing his own daughter and other family members to diplomatic and government positions.
Madam Speaker.
Malawians were promised cheap passports and driving licenses that do not expire. Malawians were told that there will be monthly allowance for senior citizens. Malawians were told that the health care system will be robust, with adequate medicines and equipment. Malawians were told that there will be no students’ drop-out in public universities due to fees.
Malawians were told that they would be able to access loans from that National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) without regard to their political belonging. Indeed, Malawians were told that police officers shall never again line up along the road for hours on end awaiting the President’s motorcade to pass. Malawians were told that the presidential motorcade would be significantly trimmed, among other unfulfilled promises.
Madam Speaker,
At the height of it all, President Lazarus Chakwera said the first thing he would do after taking office would be to ensure that a Bill is sent to Parliament to ensure that presidential powers are reduced. President said it was his burning desire to see that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is independent by, among other things, ensuring that the ACB Director is not appointed by the President.
President Chakwera told us that his would be a listening government, which serves the interests of Malawians and not his or his cronies’ interests. He said the ‘Tonse’ philosophy meant “Malawi for all” regardless of one’s political, tribal, or religious affiliation. Malawians will agree with me now that President Chakwera sold us a dummy and that Tonse Alliance is merely a stifling air balloon.
Madam Speaker,
This was the third SONA by President Chakwera since he became President, and Malawians are no better than they were before this government came to power.
In fact, the economic situation now is worse than at any time in the history of multiparty democracy in this country. Inefficiency in the public sector is at its worst, with elevated levels of official corruption taking root.
The sharp promises about fighting corruption by, among other things making the ACB independent, have all but faded into the twilight. The much-touted Bills that were going to be sent to Parliament immediately after taking office to reduce presidential powers and ensure the independence of the ACB have suddenly dropped out of circulation.
Instead, the Bill that President Chakwera was quick to assent to is the one that curtails freedom of workers; the one that allows employers to fire their employees for demanding their rights in a democratic nation.
Madam Speaker,
It is not surprising that by now, the majority of Malawians who voted for President Chakwera into power have quickly begun to doubt the ability of the current leadership to deliver the promised Canaan. The corruption fight has turned out to be just a scatter gun with President Chakwera clearly paying lip service.
Saying wonderful things in nice English but doing the opposite behind the scenes; promising to support ACB whilst denying funding to the institution to the point where officers at the bureau are using their personal money to conduct operations is not servant leadership at all.
Within the same period, we have seen the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions clearly fighting the ACB. The Attorney General has attempted to publicly justify that he is boss of ACB, whist the Director of Public Prosecutions has been blocking the ACB from prosecuting key suspects in high-profile corruption cases, citing some muted reasons.
I am just hearing rumours that some corruption suspect has actually bolted and sneaked out of the country. Is this the commitment to fight corruption that President Chakwera talked about before he ascended to that hot seat?
Madam Speaker,
Malawians have welcomed 2022 with dashed hopes and increased skepticism. They have realized that the ‘Malawi okomela tonse’ that was so much hyped ahead of the June 2020 presidential election by President Chakwera and his Tonse Alliance partners was just a Trojan Horse meant to hoodwink them to the killing fields.
Prices of fuel and other basic commodities and services are still rising every day, and the government clearly does not have a clue on what to do about it. This government keeps producing one excuse after another for its failure to deliver.
They talk about the Covid-19 pandemic; rising global fuel prices; and I am sure that soon they will be talking about Cyclone Ana. This is very shameful.
Madam Speaker,
Much as some of these excuses may be legitimate, may I remind President Chakwera, once again, that he came to power amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Malawians voted for him because he said he had a better strategy to fight the pandemic. Mr. President, the buck stops at you to deliver on your promises; and deliver you must do.
Madam Speaker,
Just across the border in Zambia, President Hakainde Hichilema took office on 24th August 2021 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Barely a year in office and amidst the same Covid-19 pandemic, he has made telling decisions and one can see that Zambia is currently making serious social and economic progress.
For example, the Zambian government is able to keep the inflation down, ensuring stable and predictable prices of essential goods and services; medicines are found in the hospitals; the government there is able to employ additional doctors, nurses, teachers, and social workers, among others. Secondary education in Zambia is now free.
Zambia has erupted into a bustling construction site of roads and other infrastructure projects. Economists will tell you that in that scenario, what it means is that the economy is developing, and that money is circulating properly. FIXING BROKEN SYSTEMS
Madam Speaker,
It is true that we have broken systems permeating the public and private sectors. I commend the President for admitting that fact, and for spelling out that something needs to be done about it.
However, looking at how this government is going about doing its business, it is doubtful that President Chakwera is capable of fixing the broken system or systems. Fixing broken systems requires commitment and decisive leadership, something that Malawi currently does not have. Unfortunately, we have a President who hardly sits in his office.
We have a leader who takes ages to make simple decisions; a President whose only first love is travelling across the country, and the world, making beautiful speeches without any backing action. Malawians are tired of listening to colorful speeches and being told what the government plans to do.
Instead, they demand action. Malawians deserve action. Malawians want their lives to transform for the better. Malawians demand jobs. Malawians demand businesses. Malawians demand an end to corruption. Malawians demand an end to systematic inefficiency in the public service. Malawians demand accountability. Malawians demand competence.
Madam Speaker,
If delivering these promises is dependent upon fixing broken systems, then I can say with certainty that this government has miserably failed for the mere reason that President Chakwera himself is a danger to the process. He is actually the ‘broken system’ himself.
For example, in May 2021 President Chakwera received a report on Civil Service Reforms from his Vice, His Honour Saulos Chilima, which we were told recommended action plans to be taken to make the civil service more agile and efficient. As I stand here today, that report is still secret and has not been made public despite calls for its release.
We only saw the President launching what he is calling a ‘Presidential Delivery Unit,’ whose function is also not well clarified. Is this delivery unit part of the recommendations in the reform report from the Vice President? And Mr. President, why give the Vice President and his taskforce 90 days to produce a reform report if you knew you would just sit on it?
Madam Speaker,
We are informed that there are over fifteen bids for various construction works across the country that have already received no-objection nods from the PPDA, but the paperwork has been domiciled at OPC for months. The reason is that the Secretary to the President and Cabinet wants to verify as to whether the bidders are supporters of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) or not. Is this also part of the recommendations in the reform report?
Madam Speaker,
In his SONA, the President lamented about facing resistance in his quest to reform and fix the broken system. But looking at the fake manner with which this government is going about conducting reforms and fixing the so-called broken system, I have no choice but to conclude that President Chakwera and his panel of lieutenants are actually the ones that are resisting change. THE ECONOMY
Madam Speaker,
Regardless of the statistics about GDP, inflation, and so on that President Lazarus Chakwera presented in his SONA, the sum total of things is that our economy is not doing any better. It is a daily struggle for the common Malawian, and the outlook does not offer any hope. President Chakwera has brought Malawians to the edge of the cliff.
The President admitted in his SONA that GDP growth of 3 percent is less than projected; that donor support is waning; those Gross official reserves have subdued; that the Malawi Kwacha has depreciated in value against major currencies; that annual average inflation has gone up.
This is what the President himself has admitted, but I wish to remind him of one more thing that he has forgotten. Public debt is currently equal to the value of our GDP, and this is not healthy for our economy.
Madam Speaker,
This is the first budget that the Tonse administration is implementing since the launch of the Malawi 2063 Development Agenda. This is the agenda that promises our citizens an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant, and upper middle-income nation.
I expected this budget to set the pace and assure Malawians that we are indeed on a sure footing towards attaining that agenda. But have we set the pace? The answer is yes, but a bad one. Why am I saying a bad one? Because for the first time in our history one requires over MK1, 000 to acquire 1 US Dollar.
For the first time in our history, one requires over MK1, 000 to purchase a litre of petrol or diesel; for the first time in the history of our existence, a bottle of cooking oil has reached MK10,000.
Madam Speaker,
In the SONA, the President was short of being assertive on money policy as he could not specify the direction the money policy rate will take. That left us guessing that the interest rate is intended to go up, and President Chakwera was not comfortable to say it.
Our only warning is that when the policy goes up, the whole agenda of infrastructure development, private sector growth, including the development of SMEs, as well as the creation of jobs, will all go up in flames.
Madam Speaker,
Let me also mention that another enemy of development today is the way the IFMIS is operated to facilitate payments. It takes a minimum of one month from the day a payment voucher is prepared to the day the credit will hit one’s account.
This is devastating to businesses, especially SMEs as well as the economy at large, and it goes against the much-touted government’s agenda of developing indigenous businesses as a way of growing the economy.
Madam Speaker,
There is a general hostile investment climate where companies are scaling down due to shrinking demand and prohibitive cost of raw materials. That is not to mention the high taxes and, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. This government must revamp its tax regime and create an enabling environment for investment and enterprise. The government must focus on stimulating production rather than consumption.
However, our budget gearing is still over 80 percent recurrent with extraordinarily little for production and I do not expect things to change in the near future looking at how this government is spending. We need radical reforms in this aspect.
Madam Speaker,
In his address, the President also said his government had created 997,423 jobs in the 2021/22 Fiscal Year in both private and public sectors. I do not know where exactly those jobs are and who may have given the President these statistics. From my observation, I am glad that Malawians are able to discern that the President is lying on these employment statistics.
I was listening to a radio phone-in programme immediately after the President had addressed the nation last Thursday. Listeners were asked to give their feedback on the President’s SONA. All the listeners dwelt on these controversial job statistics, and over 90 percent of them said the President was lying because his government has hardly created any jobs. In fact, thousands of jobs were lost within the same period.
A recent Government Annual Economic Report has indicated that 300,000 people working in the tourism industry alone had lost their jobs last year, 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July 2021, President Lazarus Chakwera appeared on BBC Hard-talk TV programme where he admitted that his government had failed to create the one million jobs that he promised, and that 600,000 jobs had in fact been lost instead. Now to come back seven (7) months later and claim that his government has created over 900,000 jobs is very strange. This is presidential fibbing of the highest order.
Madam Speaker, Honourable Members,
The austerity measures that the President announced in his SONA are also too little and coming too late. For example, the President said there would be a review of the benefits and entitlements of senior government officials, including the presidency and all cabinet ministers. What form would this review take? For how long should Malawians wait for such a review to take effect?
In fact, I doubt if the President means what he is saying because if he was serious about cutting expenditure then he should have started by appointing a lean cabinet, but he missed that opportunity when he announced his 30-member cabinet a few days ago. In fact, he created an extra ministry.
Instead, Malawians have seen that the President is an invertebrate without spine to sack ministers who are giving him a bad name. This is the reason the recent cabinet reshuffle, which included late night last inclusions, was a missed opportunity for the President to show that he means what he says. Nevertheless, let me congratulate all those that have made it into the new cabinet.
THE HEALTH SYSTEM
Madam Speaker
In the last budget, the health sector was allocated K187.2 billion, which was 1.8 percent of GDP, and 9.4 percent of the total budget. Some of this money was meant to procure drugs and vaccines, maintenance costs for hospitals and medical equipment, as well as development projects. It is sad that the healthcare system is on death bed today.
Hospitals are going months on end without drugs and equipment. Patients are being sent home without treatment whilst many are dying from curable diseases. Some hospitals such as in Zomba and Mulanje do not even have running water, a scenario which is exposing patients and their guardians to other secondary diseases due to the lack of proper hygiene. The question is: where has all that money allocated to the health sector go?
ON AIP
Madam Speaker,
I know this government regards the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) as a successful project. But much as there have been some recorded successes, the programme, in its current form, is fraught with so many problems that are threatening to erode the successes and raising pertinent questions.
For example, despite the implementation of AIP last year, why should in a year of number yield ADMARC should be selling a 50 kg bag of maize at MK10,000? Again, why should we as a country, in a year of number harvest, be failing to support families that have been affected by hunger?
Madam Speaker,
You know just like I do that the number of AIP beneficiaries has been drastically reduced this year, and the programme has been hijacked by go-betweens who are threatening to cut away the targeted beneficiaries.
Yet again, in a year of bumper yield, inflation, which has all along oscillated within single digits has, as I speak now, shot to double digits. The situation on the ground is failing to speak to the huge amount of money we are spending on AIP, and it leaves us with more questions than answers. Are we being honest with Malawians when we report that we had a bumper yield last year? What has gone wrong then?
As I am talking now, there is no UREA fertilizer in the country and beneficiaries have been told to purchase two NPK bags of fertilizer instead of one NPK and one UREA bag. What this means is that we should expect low yield this season and hunger because UREA fertilizer helps the maize to produce high yield.
Madam Speaker,
In brief, the AIP this year is the worst ever due to the following reasons: 1. Suppliers were awarded contracts late in end October 2021 and most of them rejected to participate because of unfavorable prices.
2. There were inadequate stocks in the country and up to now there is no UREA.
3. Most of the suppliers who are participating are just scanning IDs without selling the actual fertilizer and the government should not be cheated by the number of beneficiaries appearing in their system as having bought fertilizer. The figure of beneficiaries is dominated by IDs that have just been scanned and farmers are being paid MK12,000 for both bags; and
4. Most farmers have been robbed of the bags from the IDs by vendors who are accessing ID numbers by crooked means.
Madam Speaker,
The government must also re-look into the cost of AIP against its benefits to the larger economy of the country. There are huge costs to AIP that the government is incurring through subsidizing fertilizers, whose prices are also rising globally. Is the AIP program making any economic sense having more than quadrupled the amount of money that used to be invested in FISP only to end up with less than double the output of the harvest?
Madam Speaker
Our major concern in this country, which is a major feeling among most well-meaning Malawian, is that we have left the country in the hands of wrong people. Our worry is whether the people we put in power two years ago have an idea of what they are supposed to be doing. The patience of our citizens is wearing thin, and they wish 2025 was here.
ON MINING
Madam Speaker
Let me agree with the President that mining is a potential replacement for our traditional exports and a major foreign exchange earner. Where I do not agree with him is on his celebration over the 58 kgs of gold purchased over a period of six months. We need to be serious, at least for once.
Madam Speaker,
Our findings have revealed that at every site where mining takes place, they produce at least a minimum of three hundred grams of gold per day. This means from the country’s five prominent sites; the production was over 300kgs in six months.
Now the question is: where has the other 240kgs gone? Who bought it when the Reserve Bank of Malawi is the sole buyer? The sad truth is that our precious minerals, including gold, are being smuggled out of the country.
Madam Speaker
I would like to once again urge the President to fulfil his campaign promises. If he does not know, let me tell him. He is currently presiding over a frustrated nation because of unfulfilled promises. Malawians have found his leadership to be wanting.
The President should remember that he is in that office by vote and trust of all Malawians, not his friends, party functionaries, or family. He is not in that office to please certain individuals but Malawians. He is there to drive the best interests of this country and its citizens.
Malawians have endured dizzying back-and-forth movements on the leadership’s own commitments, indecisiveness, and lack of consistency on many other issues. He must not fear risking his close friendships and relations if it is what it would take to deliver on his promises. CONCLUSION
Madam Speaker,
The Constitution states that the Malawi nation comprises three organs. Each of the organs has been given specific duties and responsibilities. The State of the Nation is, therefore, the collective achievement or failure of all or some of these organs in one or more respects.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address is a Constitutional duty with three basic components. The first duty is to give an assessment of the ‘health’ of the nation; second to highlight the future policies of the government; and third is to report on the previous year’s policies.
Madam Speaker,
I would have expected the SONA to give an outline of economic, social, governance and rule of law situation of the nation. The SONA, in giving an outline of the economic, social, governance and rule law situation is also alluding to the status, functioning of, and delivery by the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the State.
Policies for the future and policies reported on for the previous year must, therefore, include for the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Has the SONA delivered on its Constitutional mandate? The answer is NO!
This SONA only contained an outline of issues concerning the Executive organ. We, on this side, consider President Chakwera’s SONA as just another wish-list among the many wish-lists that we are sure we will endure over the tenure of his presidency. It is too much hyperbole and less action.
Madam Speaker,
At the very end, let me tell President Chakwera that there can never be any fixing of broken systems when he is clearly keeping corrupt ministers in his cabinet; when the cabinet is full of people from one region; when prices of basic commodities and services are rising on a daily basis; when government is using state machinery to arrest Bon Kalindo every day for simply exercising his freedom of speech and the right to assemble; when the intelligence apparatus is used to record phone conversations of the Head of Anti-Corruption Bureau in order to find reasons for her removal; when the government spends valuable public resources trying to create fictitious criminal charges against a former and retired President; when NEEF loans are given only to those affiliated to MCP; and when government business contracts are offered only to those connected to the ruling elite, among others.
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