Africa-Press – Malawi. Opposition political parties have, in an unusually rare display of unity, launched a fierce and coordinated attack on President Peter Mutharika’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), dismissing it as a speech full of lofty claims but empty of facts, evidence and practical solutions for the suffering majority of Malawians.
The UTM Party, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) say the address is essentially hanging in the air because it makes sweeping reform claims without presenting any concrete figures, timelines or measurable outcomes that would allow Malawians to assess whether anything is actually changing in their lives.
UTM president Dalitso Kabambe has argued that references to removing ghost workers, cancelling wasteful contracts and reducing government expenditure are meaningless in the absence of hard data showing how many ghost workers were removed, how much money was saved, and how those savings have translated into real improvements in the country’s fiscal position.
Kabambe said that in modern economic management, credibility is built on evidence rather than political rhetoric, and that citizens, investors and development partners need verifiable data to determine whether government reforms are producing tangible and sustainable results.
He stressed that Malawians are no longer impressed by promises and announcements, but are instead judging leadership by outcomes they can feel in their daily lives, such as lower inflation, a stable currency, reliable fuel and electricity supply, functioning hospitals, productive farms and the availability of decent jobs for young people.
According to Kabambe, most of the interventions outlined in the SONA remain focused on managing symptoms of economic collapse rather than addressing the deep structural weaknesses that continue to cripple production, investment and growth.
He said Malawi urgently needs a coherent and credible stabilisation programme anchored in production-led growth, industrial expansion and export competitiveness, rather than a cycle of repeated emergency responses and short-term fixes that merely delay the inevitable.
Kabambe also criticised the government for maintaining silence on fresh investigations into the plane crash that claimed the life of Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others, describing the omission as both painful and unacceptable in a nation still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
He said the crash remains a national wound that has not healed, and that Malawians deserve truth, clarity, accountability and closure, especially after government had previously committed, through the Minister of Justice, to expedite its position on the matter.
Kabambe said that commitment has not been honoured, and that continued silence from authorities risks deepening public mistrust and prolonging national grief.
United Democratic Front president Atupele Muluzi has equally dismissed the SONA as disconnected from the harsh economic realities facing ordinary Malawians, arguing that the speech failed to reflect the depth of suffering being experienced by families, workers, businesses and young people across the country.
Muluzi said the address did not offer the clear, urgent and practical economic plan required to tackle rising living costs, collapsing purchasing power, struggling enterprises and record levels of youth unemployment.
He argued that leadership should be measured by results rather than the length or elegance of speeches, and that at this critical moment Malawi requires disciplined public spending, decisive economic management and bold policy action to restore growth, confidence and stability.
The UDF leader said his party remains ready to present alternative solutions focused on stabilising the economy, protecting vulnerable households and rebuilding productive sectors.
The opposition Malawi Congress Party has also branded the SONA a dummy document that fails to respond meaningfully to the country’s most pressing challenges, with MCP publicist Jessie Kabwila saying the address lacked both substance and urgency.
Leader of Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda went further by describing the SONA as a grand performance staged inside Parliament but completely detached from the pain, anxiety and frustration felt by millions of Malawians outside its walls.
Chithyola Banda said Malawians would struggle to recognise the country described by the President, particularly his claim that prices are stabilising, which he said collapses the moment one steps into a shop or boards a minibus.
He pointed out that fuel has risen from around K2,500 to K5,000, sugar has jumped from about K2,500 to nearly K7,000, transport costs have surged, and the prices of basic goods such as cooking oil, drinks and groceries continue to climb relentlessly.
He said everything in Malawi has gone up except maize, and questioned whether this reality can honestly be described as price stabilisation or whether it is simply political storytelling.
Across the opposition, the verdict is that Mutharika’s SONA reads more like a carefully scripted narrative than a credible roadmap for recovery, with critics arguing that the President is mistaking emptier pockets for economic success and substituting data, accountability and results with speeches that no longer reflect the lived reality of the people.
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