Government, opposition trade barbs
Leaders of the opposition and government sides of Parliament descended on each other Friday over the economic challenges the country is facing.
It all started with the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa who, through his adjournment speech, blamed the current leadership for the rising cost of living.
Nankhumwa said he could not make his final remarks without referring to “the bumpy road” that the country has sailed through under the Tonse Alliance administration.
He claimed that the Tonse Alliance administration is failing to fulfill its campaign promises such as introducing the system of free connection of electricity and water.
“Malawians have missed Canaan by a million miles,” Nankhumwa said, pointing at the rising cost of basic commodities as a sign.
The leader of opposition further said President Lazarus Chakwera is doing the same things he spoke against when he was in opposition.
Nankhumwa further claimed that Malawians’ cries are falling on deaf ears.
Taking his turn, Leader of the House, Richard Chimwendo Banda, said the government acknowledges that Malawians were facing challenges, most of which are due to global Covid-19 effects.
He says Malawians should not despair because the current challenges are global and that the government is doing everything possible to address challenges affecting Malawians.
The Leader of the House also blamed Democratic Progressive Party for having caused some of the challenges the country is facing.
Chimwendo Banda warned that in a few days to come, anyone who was involved in “cooking” of figures to produce fake reports will face the law.
The government side went on to say that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank complained of the fake figures that were produced under the previous regime.
Parliament, which has been meeting since November 8, 2021, has since been adjourned till next year.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
