Friday, President Peter Mutharika went to Parliament to report to the people of Malawi about what their government is doing. He outlined achievements of the past four months, admitted the severity of the economic crisis and, alongside laying out recovery plan, challenged leaders in the three arms of government to make decisions in the interest of Malawians
President Peter Mutharika Friday delivered a tightly constructed State of the Nation Address (Sona).
It was 20 pages and he delivered it in 38 minutes.
But in it, he sought to inject hope in economically-hit Malawians and assure them they are cared for.
To achieve this goal, he underlined the importance of the stewardship of leaders in the government.
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He directed everyone serving in his government to follow the law and principles of good governance.
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He urged them to safeguard justice and ensure fiscal responsibility to protect life and public resources.
Or they would get punished.
He specifically had a word for those in the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature.
“In our respective line of duty, we must never make decisions that are against the interests of our country. We must be patriotic. This is the least we can do for the millions who look up to us, and for the generations yet to come,” he said at the conclusion of the statement.
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It was brisk, unsentimental speech, his seventh so far, having delivered six between 2014 and 2020.
Mutharika, who returned to power on October 4 last year, began by cataloguing what his administration had accomplished in four months to confront what he called a man-made crisis that had left Malawi’s economy in ruins and Malawians suffering.
“What we have managed to deliver in four months is far more than what some governments could not deliver in five years.
“It is for this reason that the theme of this address is: ‘The path to economic recovery: delivering a people-centred development’,” Mutharika said.
He acknowledged that Malawi continues to face a severe economic crisis.
But he assured that his administration would succeed in fixing it, building on the achievements of the four months he has been in power.
“I would like to assure Malawians that we will succeed in restoring our lost glory. I do what I promise and I do not promise what I cannot do,” he said.
He said the work of fixing the country started with restoring order in public sector management “because we found total chaos”.
Over the past four months, government has stopped fraudulent contracts, reduced reckless travelling and spending on non-essential activities, audited personnel and flashed out ghost workers in government and appointed officials on merit.
He said within that time, prices of some commodities have stabilised and others are going down.
Fuel supply is normalizing.
Government has rolled out a food distribution exercise to the millions affected by hunger crisis.
Yet, he admitted that foreign exchange reserves, a critical factor in an economy, remain below the desired three months’ import cover.
To bolster forex generation, he said the government is undertaking a review of foreign exchange regulations and increasing gold purchases and monetisation.
‘My government has also instituted austerity measures to save resources for improved service delivery.
“These include reducing fuel entitlements for cabinet ministers and government officials; and also restricting local and foreign travel,” he said.
Among the social welfare measures, he said his administration would implement his party’s manifesto – the K5 billion Constituency Development Fund, tuition-free secondary school education and K100 million per constituency for soft loans for youths and women.
As part of efforts on production, he said government would review and redesign the megafarms programme.
Currently, according to Mutharika, the initiative is in disarray despite billions of kwacha channeled into it.
He said his broader agenda is to transform Malawi from a consuming and importing nation into a producing and exporting one.
He therefore announced continued development of Special Economic Zones, strengthening of cooperatives and small and medium enterprises, ensuring reliable fuel supply, better negotiation of mining development agreements and increased and efficient electricity generation.
The measures would also include rehabilitating roads across the country from the “pathetic state” that they are in.
He told the nation that the previous administration stopped maintaining Malawi’s roads in 2022.
“My government is resuming maintenance of roads with immediate effect.
“In this regard, government has reinstated the fuel Automatic Pricing Mechanism to ensure predictable flow of resources for road maintenance,” he said.
But Mutharika indicated that for Malawi to achieve its development goals, there is need to safeguard its resources.
He said he has zero-tolerance for corruption and warned that there will be consequences for anyone involved in abuse of public resources.
“Let me make it clear that my government will arrest anyone involved in corrupt malpractices. When I say anyone, I mean anyone!
“It doesn’t matter whether you are a cabinet minister, party official, Member of Parliament or government official. I will shield no one. And there will be no sacred cows. Let us make Malawi a land of justice!” He said.
Among the high-profile officials that attended the address were Vice President Jane Ansah and Second Vice President Enock Chihana.
