Dear, Mr President Dr Lazarus Chakwera

BY CHARLES ULAYA

Ulonda wa lero.

Dear Mr President Dr Lazarus Chakwera,

We still have faith in you. As you said during the Independence day celebrations day you gave us the power to ask our leaders whether what you are doing is helping to make a better Malawi.

You started very well with very reassuring speeches that we need to develop Malawi. Where you started missing the whole point was when you started filling State House with people from your Church. Then some people with questionable integrity being appointed at your office.

You left everyone from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) not to be with you at State House. At the moment, you need to quickly introspect on this. You have able people in MCP who assisted you in putting you where you are now. You need to continue working with them or continue side lining them at your on peril.

I doubt if the MCP National Executive has met since the last elections for some of the things we are seeing are a reflection of MCP central command failing to meet. On the Alliance you need to read again the agreement you made with UTM. What did you agree on appointments of Ministers, Ambassadors and Board members. Honour that agreement. Someone should not lie to you.

You and SKC when we combine you we get a synergy of +3, but when you both go solo you each get a -1 giving DPP the leverage. Think Again!

With due respect to all other Tonse partners, some of the partners do not add value to the Alliance. Remember that. After 1 year, stop flip flopping on decisions you make. As a leader you lose trust of the people.

First was the apology you made to Kandodo. If you wanted you would have done that in camera. Then today we hear Macra Board was not dissolved. Be assertive on the decision you make. You are running a Country not a Church. You cannot please everyone. A leader is measured by difficult decisions that he makes. Trust is very difficult to build. But it can be lost within a flip of a coin.

The most productive group of people is feeling the pain of what is happening.Take things that you promised seriously. Up to now you haven’t said anything on Cabinet assessment which you promised will be done in January 2021. We lost two Cabinet Ministers (MHSRIP) during the pandemic and 1 was fired. Up to now 7 months you haven’t replaced them. Minister of Transport is a very crucial Ministry. What message are you sending to Malawians?

We need the roads railway to be fixed. Do a Cabinet reshuffle. They are certain people who were appointed who worked hard for you not to be President. Up to now the nation keeps asking how they found themselves in your Cabinet. Who proposed them to you and what was the basis?

Term your temper. Attacking these fellas on Facebook is not necessary. All you do is listen to them. Recruit a Social Media Executive who can be filtering what is being said on FB and come up with a Brief to you which you can use to reflect on things that Malawians want and don’t like in your Presidency. This can be a family member we won’t care. Fighting Facebook is not a solution and you can’t win this battle. Re look at your advisers. What value are they adding to your office?

Last is the economy. We never knew that we have silently been affected by covid 19. The kwacha has lost value. It was fixed. But letting it float doesn’t help matters. Yes monetarist will advise you to keep it floating. But it will never fetch its real value of equilibrium price. The reason is simple our export base cannot match the import appetite we have. Because of this you will notice that prices of commodities have gone up.

We need to bang our heads on how we can meet the manifesto promises against the practicalities on the ground. The Minister of Finance has to be visible. He needs to be telling us what policies government is taking to revitalize the economy. How we will assist the hotel, restaurants and manufacturing sector which have adversely been affected by covid 19. Remember failure is not an option. 26 years in Opposition is something that we don’t want. Take all the criticism with an open mind. Ruling Malawians is not an easy task.

Don’t say Euthini Boy didn’t warn you.