By Nthanda Mkandawire
He loves the skies, globe-trotting, just like an aviator. When he is not in the sky, he is on the road. No wonder, he has earned himself the title of being Siku Transport. And yet the outgoing President refuses to admit he is nothing but the father of lies– travelling on taxpayers’ bill, and lying to them his lust for travel, within and outside the country, bears them some fruits. Mostly, the outgoing MCP government stages conferences to announce deals that never come to materialise.
But come 17 September next year, Malawians will put a stop to the outgoing President’s obsession to opulence and executive tourism. Already, the outgoing president Chakwera has burned billions of Malawians’ hard earned money in travelling, here today and there tomorrow, yet he has brought nothing home other than bogus deals. Here is a list of sampled failed deals that never saw the light of the day.
- The Bridging Foundation $6.8 billion deal which was signed by Chakwera at State House in 2022. We are yet to see the twin towers, referral hospital and new universities that the deal stipulates.
- A deal in 2020 with Emirates for the United Arab Emirates Airline to have direct flights between Lilongwe and Dubai
- A $1 billion investment deal with Elsewedy electric of Egypt in November 2021 in South Africa
- A fuel deal involving NOCMA and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in Abu Dhabi in November 2022
- 7 trillion ($2.6 billion) deal towards the establishment of the Mega Farms among the other projects in Ghana in June 2023
- A 28 billion Kwacha solar energy pact signed with the Global Energy Alliance at COP27 in Egypt in November 2022
- A 32 billion solar power plant deal with a US firm in the US in September 2022
If we say that Chakwera is a liar, the above evidences confirm.
