When the Reserve Bank of Malawi announced that the Kwacha would marginally depreciate by 2.68 percent, from K1,036 to the United States (US) dollar to K1,063.86 on Wednesday, June 21 2023, chills ran down the spine of some of the people whose earnings are low and any Kwacha unfavourable movement deals them a heavy blow. As ISAAC SALIMA writes, life is not easy for low-income earners.
It is lunch time at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre.
As people with fat pockets are flocking to nice eatery places, it is a world apart for some employees in the commercial city.
They have opted for low cost foods not by choice but because that is what their pockets can afford.
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Here a meal costs a maximum of K1,000.
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However, it is still on the higher side for many.
Most people are opting for cooking cassava and sweet potatoes, which are selling at a minimum of K100 per piece.
“This is what we can afford. Those [people] you are seeing there have nothing. They are just passing time as they wait for time to go back to work,” Lovemore Mkwichi said, pointing at colleagues who were leaning on a wall.
Another worker, Alex Manyozo, said that the majority of people who opt for this low cost food do so just to keep themselves going, and not necessarily to enjoy the food.
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“Life is very tough. We thank these women, who have been assisting us to eat with as low as K100. This is not something we enjoy. We eat to have energy to work but what else can we do if that is what we can afford?” Manyozo said.
Most of them told us that they cannot remember when they last used minibuses when going to work.
“We have to walk to work, sometimes on an empty stomach. When you do not have money for lunch, it means you will have to eat at home. Sometimes when we reach home, we find that there is nothing and people are also waiting for us to bring something to them,” Yusuf Mwemwedi said.
This, sadly, is the reality of life for most lowly paid workers in the country, as they continue to struggle to make ends meet amid the rising cost of living.
The majority of people we talked to said they receive about K35,000 per fortnight, meaning that the amount has to take them to the next payday.
It also means that they get K70,000 monthly.
“I pay K20,000 as rental fee for my house. I also have to buy a bag of maize, currently going at around K25,000, every month. I have two children I have to send to school. Life is really tough because the money we receive is not enough to take us throughout the month and that is why we take measures like skipping lunch,” Misheck Amin said.
The country has lately been through economic instability and Malawians are feeling the pinch.
The rate of inflation hit 29.2 percent in May 2023, meaning that Malawians should brace for a sustained rise of prices of commodities.
Consumers Association of Malawi Executive Director John Kapito warned of a continued rise in headline inflation as there seems to be no strategies to contain the pressure.
“There seems to be no room or strategy to assist consumers. Unfortunately, our economy does not have any coping mechanisms for consumers, especially the poor,” he said.
In its cost of living report for May 2023, Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) indicated that the cost of living increased as, for instance, a family of six needed to part ways with about K446,000 per month to afford basic needs.
CfSC Programmes Coordinator responsible for Economic Governance Bernard Mphepo decried consumers’ buying power which, he said, has been eroding in the past 12 months.
“This is a sad development because income levels for the majority of Malawians remained static in the past 12 months,” Mphepo said.
Currently the minimum wage remains at K50,000 for salaried workers and K35,000 for domestic ones.
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions General Secretary Madalitso Njolomole is of the view that the country should adjust the minimum wage.
“Looking at the inflation rate, the minimum wage is just a peanut. You take, for instance, the price of a bag of maize, which is at around K30,000. What will a K50,000 salary do to someone? However, we are still engaging authorities on the need to increase the minimum wage,” Njolomole said.
