Minister suspects foul play in commodity prices

By Deogratias Mmana

Homeland Security Minister Jean Sendeza has cried foul over high prices of commodities in the country.

Addressing women from various denominations yesterday during the commemoration of International Women’s Day of Prayer at Msonkhamanja Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Lilongwe, Sendeza said the cost of living is now hard and urged the women not to lose their faith in God.

“We are going through hard economic times. Prices of commodities keep rising. Is it sabotage against the government? As a businessperson, member of Parliament and minister, I also feel it,” Sendeza said.

“The devil brought Covid-19 and then tropical cylones like Ana, Gombe which have further complicated our lives. But as women of prayer, let us not despair. Let us stick to God,” added Sendeza, who assured the women of government’s intervention on the high cost of living.

She said another devil that brings doom and gloom to women is social media which she said is full of negative issues that give no home to women.

“There is a lot of violence reported on social media. Recently, there was a woman who was forced to undress in full view of fellow villagers. As Ministry of Homeland Security, we have tried to locate where that took place but we have failed. It seems it was in Mozambique,” said Sendeza, while urging the women to use social media with spiritual sense.

Chairperson for the commemoration Ezilet Njikho said the prayers help women come together and share national and social and spiritual matters to nourish their lives.

According to Njikho, 15 different denominations under Lilongwe Falls Zone participated in the prayers.

Prices of essential commodities keep rising in the country, putting a two-litre bottle of cooking oil around K7,000 while five-litre bottle at around K17,000.

Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Executive Director John Kapito warned that high cost of living would continue as Malawi is not a producer or exporter of goods that would fetch lots of forex.

“I do not see Malawi, which is neither a producer nor an exporter, surviving this economic pressure. My simple advice is that whatever we wish to do in Malawi, nothing will work without a proper serious economic leadership, which unfortunately we do not have,” Kapito said.

He said Cama warned consumers early last year that the economic future of the country looked bleak and that the high cost of living would continue in the next two years because the kwacha is getting weaker as the global prices of petroleum products keep rising.

He said Covid-19 has also brought devastation to the country leading to retrenchments from some companies.