Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) Board Chairperson Bishop Martin Mtumbuka Wednesday challenged President Lazarus Chakwera to demonstrate that he is on control of State affairs by taking decisive measures to address the problem of huge public debt.
Mtumbuka, who is also Catholic Bishop for Karonga Diocese, said this at the end of a two-day conference on debt management which Mejn organised in collaboration with African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad).
He and other faith leaders present at the conference said they were ready to work with the government in managing the debt by, among other things, engaging multilateral donors and others— on condition that such resources benefit the rural masses.
“The Executive, the President, [has] a difficult job but he was elected to steer us towards a better life to get us out of this mess. He can’t wash his hands. We are not saying he should do it alone. But we hired a driver of this country and he is Dr Chakwera. He should continue making efforts to make sure that we know when we are getting out of this turbulence and we know when we are going to stabilise,” Mtumbuka said.
He said as driver, Chakwera should be in a position to know when a car has punctures and how to fix them.
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“He is at the State House not as a volunteer; we are paying him every month,” Mtumbuka said.
The bishop urged the President to decisively fight corruption and ensure that austerity measures are working for everyone and not just for the poor.
He said there is a limit to how far government technocrats can go in trying to bring sanity to the government system, hence the need for the Executive’s intervention.
The Mejn chairperson cited selective payment of taxes where, he said, poor Malawian women pay punitive taxes as they trade between Malawi and Tanzania but that others in big vehicles are left free.
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“Women who go by bus to Tanzania to buy zitenje [pieces of cloth] are troubled at road blocks but big people just pass. We cannot tolerate this. Why should it be the bottom of the ladder being bothered? This cannot be right. This goes to the Executive. There is too much corruption,” Mtumbuka said.
However, Presidential Adviser on Non-Governmental Organisations Martha Kwataine asked civil society organisations (CSOs) to know the language of engagement with the government.
Kwataine said it takes courage for senior governmental officials to attend some of the meetings organised by CSOs when they know that they would be dressed down.
“What would encourage a senior government official to come to a meeting where he or she knows will be torn apart? They would not come. These people [senior government officials] have to fast before coming to your meetings,” Kwataine said, adding, “It puts off duty bearers. There should be a cordial relationship between the government and NGOs. This is an appeal I am making to you,” she said.
“Do you know the language the government understands? If you do not know, find out,” she added.
In his closing remarks, Secretary to the Treasury MacDonald Mafuta Mwale assured people at the conference that the government would, working together with CSOs, take action on resolutions made at the conference so that solutions to the debt, which hovers around K7.9 trillion, are found.
Mwale said Malawi should, as a sovereign State, be able to finance its budget, adding that the country is rich.
“This country cannot fail to finance a K2 trillion budget,” Mwale said, urging the CSOs to help the government with lobbying for debt restructuring and relief, among other things.
