Africa-Press – Malawi. WE HAVE DELIVERED— Chakwera making his speech FridayBy Mercy Matonga
Major opposition parties have described the State of the Nation Address (Sona) which President Lazarus Chakwera delivered to Parliament last week as lacking in substance.
The parties were officially responding to the Sona amid claims that some of the development projects that were cited in it were far from completion.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), through Leader of the Opposition George Chaponda, said the Sona did not accurately reflect the hardships Malawians were facing.
“I felt like there was no need to respond to what President Chakwera presented in this house for the same fact [that] it falls short of a State of The Nation Address. My instincts were that I go for the legal path and consider the legal implications of the President’s actions,” Chaponda said.
On his part, United Democratic Front leader in the House, Nedson Poya, said the Sona failed to give Malawians solutions to challenges they were facing.
Ned Poya“In the previous Sona, the President talked about the ATM [Agriculture, Tourism and Mining] Strategy but in this Sona he did not mention this. We wanted to hear about progress of this strategy; we wanted to hear about the mining in Kasiya and what we, as a country, are benefitting,” Poya said.
Speaking to journalists after the adjournment, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda said he did not expect the opposition to glorify the President’s speech.
“If we go back to the history of the DPP response to the Sona, it is the same for the past four years. That is what the DPP has been doing. No matter what the government has been doing, no matter the transparency, the DPP response has been the same,” Chimwendo Banda said.
The House will continue to debate the Sona today.
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