18th FEBRUARY 2025
Fellow Malawians, the recent address by the President of Malawi Dr Lazarus Chakwera during his state of the Nation Address on Friday, 14th February 2025 represents total lack of leadership, and disrespect of the Malawian constitution, in upholding to the values of honesty and truth.
By its very nature, the speech’s content was in no way reflective of the state of the Malawi nation currently but rather a presentation of projects that do not even exist on the ground. AFORD, as a party with representation on the ground, has noted so many videos circulating on social media but also has its own Party representatives visiting some areas where projects are claimed to have been completed when the real facts are to the contrary.
As AFORD, we are also amazed by the reaction of the Malawi Congress Party Government, which circulated a statement through the Principal Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet Ms Colleen Zamba on the steps to be taken by Ministers to justify the President’s misinforming the nation. This demonstrates lack of Parliamentary procedure, as it is only the President himself that can correct his facts or explain his facts to the nation. This process is aimed at a cover up by the respective Minsters who could have presented wrong information to the President. This exposes a lack of leadership in the country.
My fellow compatriots,
Malawi cannot continue this path of dishonesty. Malawi is now a state of unanswered questions, for as it was presented by the President himself, he too has unanswered questions on the death of Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima, just like the widow, Mrs Mary Chilima has unanswered questions. It is indeed strange that even a state President has acknowledged on record that he has not trusted his own appointed Commission’s findings. Today, I would like to further remind my fellow Malawians that a State of The Nation is supposed to be a presentation of issues, to which progress on the promises and challenges are presented, from which solutions are articulated on how Malawi Government, under the leadership of the President of the country, in this case Dr Lazarus Chakwera will address them. However, the SONA of Dr Lazarus Chakwera did not live up to be a SONA, rather reflects a state of lies, if one goes by the revelations on projects in Phalombe and Rumphi Districts. As AFORD, we are totally shocked that a man with a background of taking up Christian sermons in Church can misrepresents the reality of the suffering of Malawians in Parliament. These are the unanswered questions Malawians face.
Fellow Malawians,
The real SONA of Malawi is the one that should have presented the state of the economy, the challenges of fuel, forex, food scarcity, fertilizer among other issues. As AFORD, we want to present the following as the real state of the nation of Malawi that the SONA of Dr Lazarus Chakwera deliberately missed.
On the Economy, the country is marked by low growth, high inflation, food insecurity, and significant foreign exchange shortages, primarily due to a series of external shocks like droughts and the global commodity price increases, leading to a struggling agricultural sector and limited economic recovery potential.
- The economy is projected to grow at a low rate, with estimates around 1.5% in 2024, meaning that as a country, we are not advancing enough, as our contribution to the global economy remains around 0.01%, with GDP per capita of around USA$560, which represents 4% of global average.
- Inflation levels are significantly high, reaching over 35% in early 2024, primarily driven by food price increases, with most basic items such as cooking oil, bread, soap, sugar, salt now being out of affordability list of ordinary Malawians. The cost of living in Malawi are currently fifth highest in Africa and eighth highest in the world.
- Due to poor harvests caused by droughts and extreme weather events, food insecurity remains a major concern, impacting a large portion of the population.
- Malawi is facing significant foreign exchange shortages, currently at Mk904 billion as reported by Reserve Bank of Malawi, thus representing only 15 days’ worth of import cover, which is leading to a depreciating Malawi Kwacha against major currencies and difficulties importing essential goods such as medicine, fuel, fertilizer and supplementary food.
- The prices of goods in Malawi reflect the dominance of a parallel market exchange rate, of over Mk3500 to the USA dollar, and over Mk180 to the South African Rand. Almost 91% of the country’s workforce is currently unemployed, as reported by the current MCP Government own Ministry.
- Malawi Government Debt to GDP has reached an estimated 80.15% in 2024, thus reflecting a rising trend since the year 2020 when it was 53.4%. The appetite to borrow for unproductive expenditure, to which the total expenditure in the past years since 2020, has been less than 20% on development projects on average. Latest data from Reserve Bank of Malawi show that in the eleven months from January 2024 to November 2024, only Mk1.2 trillion was spent towards development projects, thus representing 23.9 percent from a total expenditure of MK5.6 trillion, which is already surpassing the total of 2023, which was Mk3.3 trillion.
- The much talked about attraction of foreign investment into Malawi, after the country held the much-applauded investment conferences in Lilongwe and Johannesburg in May 2023, seem not to be bearing fruits on the ground, as levels of foreign direct investment into Malawi is relatively below par compared to developments in our neighbouring countries in the SADC region.
Foreign investment into Malawi is still below USA$20 million, reflecting unconducive investment environment, mainly dues several challenges of infrastructure an economic mismanagement by the current leadership. The above is the real state of the nation of the Malawi economy that Malawians still have unanswered questions, which President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has failed to uplift the hope of Malawians in his address that falls short of being called the SONA.
On the health system,
I would like to remind Malawians that the state of the country’s health sector is in disarray. Many people have no access to health services, weak management systems at all levels of the health delivery system, inadequate financing of health services, poor linkages, shortage of doctors, high HIV/AIDS epidemic, shortages of drugs, equipment and staff, poor quality services, absenteeism, corrupt practices, and poor performance because of low staff morale.
A snapshot of some District hospitals in Malawi, that I would encourage President Dr Lazarus Chakwera to do raid visits are as follows:
Mzimba District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including severe underfunding, a shortage of medical professionals, inadequate medical supplies, poor infrastructure, high patient volumes due to limited access to healthcare in the region, limited diagnostic capabilities, and the prevalence of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, which further strain the already limited resources; all contributing to a struggle to provide quality healthcare to the local population.
Ntchisi District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including inadequate water supply, poor sanitation and hygiene practices, a lack of medical supplies, limited healthcare staff, inadequate funding, and a high burden of preventable diseases, all contributing to difficulties in delivering quality healthcare to patients, particularly related to infection control due to insufficient access to clean water for handwashing.
Chikwawa District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including severe staff shortages, particularly among midwives, leading to inadequate maternal healthcare, frequent stock-outs of essential medical supplies, long waiting times for patients due to high demand, poor infrastructure, limited access to specialized care, and geographical barriers that hinder patient access to the facility, all exacerbated by the region’s high poverty levels and limited funding for healthcare services.
Zomba District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including severe staff shortages, inadequate medical supplies and equipment, poor infrastructure, limited access to specialized care, a high patient volume exceeding capacity, poor referral system, lack of transportation for patients, and communication barriers due to language differences, all compounded by limited government funding and a high burden of preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS.
Chiradzulu District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including a critical shortage of healthcare workers due to low salaries and migration, inadequate funding from the government leading to limited resources, language barriers between patients and medical staff, high prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases requiring specialized care, and a large catchment area with limited access to healthcare facilities in remote areas, all contributing to compromised quality of healthcare delivery.
Salima District Hospital:
The hospital faces significant challenges including inadequate medical equipment and resources, limited access to running water and sanitation, underutilization of surgical capacity, staff shortages, poor infrastructure, inadequate funding, high patient volume relative to available resources, and difficulties in data collection and reporting; all of which hinder the delivery of quality healthcare services to the local population.
Fellow Malawians, this is just a short representation of the state of the health system in Malawi and reflects the state of most hospitals in Malawi randomly. As Malawians we still have unanswered questions on these issues, which the SONA of President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has failed to address with concrete solutions.
On education sector, there is severe underfunding, a shortage of qualified teachers, particularly in rural areas, large class sizes, inadequate infrastructure, lack of learning materials, high pupil-teacher ratios, poor quality teaching, and socio-economic factors like poverty which often prevent children from attending school consistently; all contributing to low learning outcomes and limited access to quality education for many Malawian children. Such conditions above are a representation of the state of education sector in all Districts of Malawi.
On housing in Malawi, the research gather by AFORD, shows that approximately 21,000 new units are needed every year for the next 10 years to meet housing demand – this far exceeds supply. In the urban areas, many people live in slums characterized by poor water and sanitation facilities, no electricity and poor road networks. The pace of development and lack of prioritization of the current MCP Government under Dr Lazarus Chakwera has failed to deliver on this need, with misrepresentation of facts such as Phalombe District saga. These are further unanswered questions to the people of Malawi.
On roads, a large proportion of roads in Malawi are unpaved, seasonal roads, poor road quality, particularly in rural areas, inadequate funding for maintenance and construction, heavy reliance on the road network for transport despite its limitations, susceptibility to weather damage during rainy seasons. This has limited access to key economic centres due to poor infrastructure; all of which significantly hinder economic growth and development in the country. Despite this view, the address by Dr Lazarus Chakwera has not articulated the position of his government in dealing with this prolonged challenge facing the country, with a vision for the future. As AFORD, we will openly want to invite the President to travel by road to on the Chiweta road, connecting Rumphi to Karonga Districts in Malawi.
For those Malawians that have not been on this road, the road faces significant issues including poor road quality with potholes, frequent damage from heavy rains, limited maintenance, inadequate drainage systems, and a high volume of traffic, often leading to delays and safety concerns, particularly during the rainy season. This road is a key transport route linking Malawi to Tanzania, through the Songwe border, and a major route for transportation of fuel into Malawi from Tanzania, linking the Dar es Salaam Port, but lacks proper infrastructure upgrades to handle the traffic volume. Once again, Malawi faces unanswered questions on the state of such key roads from President Dr Lazarus Chakwera in his SONA.
On food scarcity Malawi is facing a food crisis due to drought caused by El Niño, which has destroyed harvests. This crisis is compounded by other factors, including poverty, high rates of malnutrition, and limited access to diverse foods. Despite this a major concern, the SONA of Dr Lazarus Chakwera has failed to articulate itself on solutions and how the nation can take him into their confidence that this will be addressed. Due to mismanagement of the economy, the country does not even have enough foreign exchange reserves to import supplementary food for the destitute communities. Dr Lazarus Chakwera has demonstrated a lack of answers, thus another unanswered question.
On fuel, the country is facing a severe shortage caused by a lack of foreign exchange, making it difficult to import enough fuel to meet demand, leading to long queues at gas stations, price hikes, and a thriving black market for illegally sold fuel; this situation is further complicated by the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products and poor fuel procurement systems, impacting the economy and essential services like transportation and healthcare. It is concerning that such a crucial matter was not even touched as an area of major concern by President Dr Lazarus Chakwera to offer leadership to the nation, in his SONA address. A lot has been said, supported with international trips, but the country was not even updated on the matter. This is worrisome and reflects unanswered questions to Malawians.
On fertilizer in the country, primary challenges of fertilizer in Malawi are high cost due to reliance on imports, price fluctuations based on global market conditions, poor infrastructure for distribution, limited access to credit for farmers, inadequate knowledge on proper fertilizer application, and the vulnerability to supply chain disruptions caused by geopolitical, making it difficult for many Malawian farmers to afford necessary fertilizer for their crops, particularly during times of global price spikes. These problems have been prolonged for years, with the current President Dr Lazarus Chakwera not having the ability and capacity to deal with the challenges. Malawians are looking for answers on how these challenges will be dealt with, as season after season, access to fertilizer is now becoming a luxury than a developmental need to expand Agriculture production in Malawi. Malawians still have unanswered questions from Dr Lazarus Chakwera on the matter, as this was never touched in his speech to reflect the state of the nation.
On forex, persistent shortage of foreign exchange reserves in Malawi to monthly averages of below Mk950 billion, with import cover now reaching 15 days, has led to difficulties in importing essential goods, impacting businesses, and contributing to a high cost of living due to limited access to foreign currency for essential imports, often caused by low export volumes and a large import demand compared to the country’s export earnings. This situation has forced the central bank to devalue the Malawian Kwacha to stabilize the market, creating economic hardship for ordinary Malawians. Such a major issue has left Malawians with unanswered questions, as President Dr Lazarus Chakwera left this matter hanging in his SONA.
Fellow Malawians, the current trend of high cost of living, de-industrialization, low investment levels, infrastructure degradation, high unemployment, high corruption levels, lack of fiscal prudence, non-aligned monetary policy and weak trade & industry policy environment among others, is putting Malawi on a wrong trajectory. The country is facing challenges of Forex, Food, Fertilizer and Fuel due to this economic trajectory as demonstrated above. This in AFORD we have termed the FOUR “Fs” challenges facing Malawi. THIS CAN NOT CONTINUE…
As AFORD, our position on the FOUR “Fs” is that these are symptoms of a mismanaged and dysfunctional administration. As we head towards the September 2025 General Elections, our call in AFORD is for You, the people of Malawi, of all walks of life, young, old, women, men, from different religious groups, and different cultural backgrounds, to divert from the path of economic hardship trajectory created by the current regime, and join the Alliance towards true democratic values that also fulfils your aspirations for a better life that is inclusive for all.
In the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), our soon-to-be launched Manifesto is set around six strategic policy interventions. These are the answers to the Malawians that are missing in Dr Lazarus Chakwera SONA, will be addressed by AFORD, through the following interventions:
- All AFORD policy interventions aim to deliver on Fertilizer, Fuel, Forex and Food challenges – (The Four “Fs” Principle)
- Policy interventions of AFORD to align to achieve macroeconomic and microeconomic stability
- Policy interventions of AFORD to align with a sector-based investment target for job creation
- Policy interventions of AFORD to align with Youth, Women, SMMEs and indigenous business
people empowerment - Policy interventions of AFORD to prioritize infrastructure development across all identified socio-economic sectors ie health, education, roads, schools, tourism. To defend our democratic values and principles, while building a society based on high moral civic values and inclusivity.
The soon to be launched AFORD Manifesto of 2025 has been developed on the principles to showcase the capabilities of The Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) in understanding the entire landscape of Malawi’s challenges and the right policy interventions. The Manifesto also presents an opportunity for renewed hope
for the people of Malawi, in which we are thinking ahead into the next 30 years, by laying the right foundation for economic growth and development for the people of Malawi, in an inclusive approach.
Yours truly
______________________________________Enoch K. Chihana
President: Alliance for Democracy (AFORD)- Malawi
