Africa-Press – Malawi. UTM president Dalitso Kabambe has challenged the government to move beyond policy pledges and start delivering tangible economic results, arguing that Malawians are no longer inspired by promises but by outcomes they can actually feel in their daily lives.
Kabambe was responding to the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered on Friday by President Peter Mutharika, in which the Head of State outlined his administration’s assessment of the country’s economic recovery and governance reforms.
While acknowledging that the President’s address accurately captured the depth of Malawi’s economic crisis, Kabambe said the real test of leadership lies not in diagnosing problems, but in fixing them.
“Recovery is not measured in speeches. It is measured in lower inflation, a stable kwacha, reliable fuel and electricity, functioning hospitals, productive farms, and decent jobs,” Kabambe said. “These are the benchmarks by which any government must be judged.”
Kabambe, a former Reserve Bank governor, argued that despite repeated announcements of reforms, most government interventions remained focused on managing symptoms rather than confronting the structural weaknesses of the economy. He said Malawi continues to operate in a cycle of emergency responses, short-term fixes, and crisis management, without a coherent long-term strategy for growth.
Speaking from the perspective of the UTM Party, Kabambe said the country urgently needs a stabilization programme anchored in production-led growth, industrial expansion, and export competitiveness, rather than reliance on aid, borrowing, and policy improvisation.
He questioned whether the government’s claims of reform are backed by verifiable data, particularly on high-profile issues such as the removal of ghost workers, cancellation of dubious contracts, and reported savings in public spending.
“If reforms are real, the data must be public. How many ghost workers were removed? Which contracts were cancelled? How much money was saved, and where has it gone?” he asked.
Kabambe said without transparent figures, government reform narratives remain political statements rather than economic evidence, making it impossible for citizens to assess whether public finances have genuinely improved.
In his SONA, President Mutharika emphasized governance reforms, fiscal discipline, and economic recovery efforts, presenting his administration as restoring order after years of instability. However, Kabambe warned that credibility cannot be built through declarations alone.
“People are not living in policy documents. They are living with high prices, joblessness, power cuts, and empty pharmacies,” he said. “The economy is not recovering on paper. It must recover in households.”
Kabambe’s remarks reflect growing public frustration over the gap between official optimism and everyday economic hardship, as Malawi continues to struggle with inflation, foreign exchange shortages, fuel disruptions, and declining real incomes.
His challenge adds pressure on the government to move from narrative-driven governance to results-driven leadership, where success is judged not by what is announced in Parliament, but by what changes on the ground.
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