BY BASHIR AL BASHIR
We may have forgiven you on continuation of nepotism and corruption but surely we won’t forgive you for failing the economy. At your entry, the economic figures and scales were green. The inflation was single digit, we had 6 months forex cover and disposable income was compelling. But we thats the past, let us mend the fences in this discourse.
Let us first identify the current challenges:
1. We are importing more than we are exporting
2. We are trading more with foreign dealers than our own dealers
3. We are not observing austerity measures.
4. Grow the understanding of economic stability
What are the solutions?
The President went to Ghana where among others he was discussing debt restructure that we appeal to IMF for credit facility which we cancelled. Why we cancelled IMF facility? We cancelled from an ignorant point of view. The consequences of cancelling IMF credit facility were undermined only to realise later that the move had devastating impacts. In short, point number 4.
Secondly, as struggling as we are, we are a country that conducts conferences, travels etc where millions of taxes are splashed through allowances. Saving this money would have helped in easing on local borrowing and or serving of local debts, point number 3.
In Ghana, Dr. Chakwera attended the meeting with a fellow Malawian Leston Mulli. The Bank invited him as a business guru from Malawi. Back home, Dr. Chakwera has little trust on our traders. He would rather pay a butcher man in German to supply fertilizer than pay Mulli, Dzombe, Mpatsa, Mpinganjira or Simbi to work around the clock and supply fertilizer. Giving Malawians such contracts will ensure further job creation and revenue returns which we miss when we engage foreigners.
Lastly, Mr. President, we are not exporting. We are not investing in production and value addition. For instance, I learnt about a plant of K1 billion can produce organic fertilizer in thousands of tones, why don’t we invest K28 billion that each district should have one, select pilot farmers to grow maize through this fertilizer and under irrigation this wean period? Alimi angokhalatu kudikilira mvula. We need to boost our crop production for export, earn forex, do value addition, earn forex and grow revenue generation and job creation.
I believe Sir we have all it takes to turn around things if you follow this post with a sober mind. This devaluation trend will take us nowhere, neither yourself, be assured, this could be your last term.
