By Mercy Matonga
President Lazarus Chakwera has blamed predecessors for the economic challenges that the country is facing.
Chakwera said this in Lilongwe Thursday during the launch of Malawi Agriculture Mechanisation Initiative by Philip Morris International (PMI).
The initiative, which Pyxus Agriculture Limited is implementing in Malawi, is premised on promoting modern agriculture among farmers.
Turning to current affairs and politics, Chakwera cited immediate past predecessor Peter Mutharika’s led administration for leaving government in an economic mess which, he said, his administration is trying to clean up.
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The sixth president further accused previous administrations of wasting government money, a development that prompted development partners to withhold support from Malawi.
He argued that as a result, the current administration’s economic performance is being judged unfairly, citing economic shocks, including the war in Europe, and natural disasters such as Tropical Cyclone Freddy as contributing factors he could not control.
“How can they say they could have done better with the cyclones, pandemic? [They believe they could do so] just because they stole money? This kind of talk will make us say things we are not supposed to say,” Chakwera said.
Chakwera, whose recent speeches have carried more political tone than usual as the country gears up for the September 16 2025 presidential election, also took a swipe at sentiments raised at Mutharika’s recent political rally.
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“Some [people] are doing well because of the money that they stole when they were in government and, today, they are standing on the podium because no one has followed up on how they acquired what they have,” Chakwera said.
On the agriculture initiative, Chakwera said his administration is grateful to partners such as PMI, who he said are willing to help the country implement initiatives in sectors such as agriculture.
“Those who are going to benefit from the initiative, please pay back the loans so that more machines can be purchased and that other farmers should be able to benefit. The Ministry of Agriculture should make sure that the tractors save their purpose,” Chakwera said.
On his part, PMI Vice President [Global Technical Operations] Pedro Braga said the organisation is looking forward to investing more in farming so that farmers can make the best of their sweat.
“In Malawi, there are a lot of smallholder farmers who cannot afford these machines. That is why we are coming in so that these farmers can be in a position to own these machines using conditions that are more flexible than those offered by banks,” Braga said.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said the ministry would address concerns raised by stakeholders.
“We, as a ministry, will empower our farmers, from medium to large-scale farmers, as these farmers can use the same equipment to anchor small farmers who cannot afford to buy a tractor like this one.
“We will make sure that we have a follow-up mechanism so that our farmers can know what they are supposed to do. As for us, we will help them on issues such as maintenance of the machines,” Kawale said.
Earlier, Pyxus Agriculture Malawi Managing Director Ron Ngwira asked government to consider reducing tax on spare parts used for tractors.
He also asked the government to reduce licence fees for tractor operators
“We would love government to consider [reducing] some taxes on spare parts of the machines and also [consider] reducing the cost of acquiring a licence for operators of the machine. In some countries, they have agricultural diesel [in which case] some levies are removed,” Ngwira said.
One of the beneficiaries of the initiative, Temwanani Phiri, said they have managed to acquire machines at an affordable cost.
“The repayment period of five years is a flexible period for entrepreneurs who are into agricultural mechanisation,” Phiri said.
So far, 23 farmers have benefitted from the initiative.
