By Cathy Maulidi:
In the three years that he has been in power, President Lazarus Chakwera’s has gone on more than 40 international trips.
In almost all these trips, Chakwera reportedly negotiates and government officials in his entourage also sign deals which they say are “beneficial to Malawians”.
Currently, the President is in the Middle East where government officials say Chakwera will sign a road construction deal.
This deal will be one of the several that the President has landed many of which are yet to the see the light of day.
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The deals the President has been involved in and whose progress government has not shared thus far include the following:
- A deal in 2020 with Emirates for the United Arab Emirates Airline to have direct flights between Lilongwe and Dubai.
- A $1 billion investment deal with Elsewedy electric of Egypt in November 2021 in South Africa
- A fuel deal involving Nocma and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in Abu Dhabi in November 2022
- 7 trillion ($2.6 billion) deals towards the establishment of the mega farms among other projects in Ghana in June 2023
- A K28 billion solar energy pact signed with the Global Energy Alliance at COP27 in Egypt in November 2022.
- A K32 billion solar power plant deal with a US firm in the US in September 2022
We asked government spokesperson and Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu where all these deals are at the moment.
He said he is checking with the government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as to what has worked out of the signed deals and when they are some commencing.
“I have sought updates from the responsible implementing MDAs on the gains you have highlighted,” Kunkuyu said.
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He however said the projects from the deals that the President grabs do not kick-off instantly.
“Projects that follow after the initial signing of the agreements do not always take effect instantly,” he said.
But governance commentators have said when it comes to these deals, Chakwera’s travels have not brought in much, which makes it difficult to appreciate the trips.
“If these trips were bearing fruits for Malawians in terms of development projects that people can see, then we would say that the President is justified to continue travelling around the world but we can’t see tangible development that has emanated from his numerous trips.
“So it is very difficult for Malawians to appreciate the President’s trips. If you look at some of the deals that the President says he has travelled to sign, they are deals that can be signed by a minister because most of them are loans,” said Michael Kaiyatsa, Executive Director for Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR).
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) national coordinator Bonface Chibwana said on account of the deals said to have been signed on previous presidential trips but not yet on the ground, there is now need for a cost benefit analysis of the travels.
During his trip in Saudi Arabia, Chakwera is expected to sign a $20 million deal for the Mangochi-Makanjira road.
