The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has given the government up to June 2024 to address socio-economic challenges facing the citizenry.
In a statement published on its X (twitter handle) platform on Monday, the commission expressed dismay over persisting socio-economic ills such as high inflation, food shortages and the hunger situation, high cost of living, among others.
For example, MHRC has challenged the government to regulate the price of maize and other food items on the market to protect Malawians from private traders who are overcharging
“The Government of Malawi should progressively address the fuel scarcity [problem] in Malawi to guarantee the supply and distribution of essential services in the country including medication, medical supplies and food supplies, among others. The commission expects the government to implement this recommendation by the first quarter of the 2024 financial year.
“We expect the restructuring and operationalisation of Admarc [Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation] to guarantee the availability of maize to vulnerable Malawians at affordable prices starting immediately,” the statement, signed by MHRC Chairperson Chikondi Chijozi, reads.
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It adds that Malawians expect expedient implementation of recovery strategies for all the survivors of Cyclone Freddy, and that the government should enhance security at borders to deal with practices such as illegal exportation of maize to neighbouring countries.
In a WhatsApp response to a questionnaire, government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu said the statement speaks of challenges the country has been grappling with for a long time.
He said the government is bringing mega farms whose impact will be seen soon.
“After a trial with the Malawi Defence Force last year, we all saw that it’s possible to produce surplus and return to glory. It is a fact that if we do not have marketable commodities to substitute our over-dependence on imports and improve our forex reserves which, in turn, would have eased the importation of essential commodities like drugs, fuel and fertilisers [we may continue to have nowhere to sell the items].
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“We also have the mining law reviewed to provide for the establishment of a mining regulatory authority. This will result in us realising gains from the mining sector. In the energy sector, we have power all day and production is improving, jobs are being retained and created,” Kunkuyu said.
He added that on the fuel situation, rail transportation of fuel has now risen to over 13 percent from 1 percent, a development that is easing challenges faced, adding that reaching a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund would go a long way in easing the problem of forex shortage, which has rocked the fuel supply system.
