RESPONSE TO STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY LEADER OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT HONOURABLE KONDWANI NANKHUMWA, MP
TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2021
Madam Speaker, Honourable Members of the August House,
PREAMBLE
I feel honoured and privileged to stand before you, once again, to address this August House.
On the outset, allow me to convey my heartfelt congratulations to all new Members for making it to this August House following the recently held by-elections.
I would also like to congratulate all Honourable Colleagues for successfully making it to the 3rd Meeting of the 49th Session of Parliament and the 2021/2022 Budget Session.
Madam Speaker,
Let me also use this opportunity to pay tribute to our dedicated Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldier, Lance Corporal Chitenji Kamanga, who died on 10th May, 2021 whilst on peace-keeping mission in the DRC.
The late Lance Corporal Chitenji Kamanga served her country with utmost dedication and loyalty. She served the continent with bravery and strength. She is a true hero and we shall always remember her sacrifices. May she rest in peace.
Madam Speaker,
Since the dawn of multiparty politics in this country, State of the Nation Addresses or SONAs have provided an opportunity for presidents to lay down their vision for this country, and to report on how they are governing the country in various aspects.
In that tradition, His Excellency President Dr Lazarus Chakwera delivered his SONA on May 12, 2021, which I have the honour to respond to as Leader of the Opposition in this August House.
STATE OF THE NATION AND CITIZENRY
Madam Speaker,
While my intention is not to respond to every detail as contained in the President’s SONA, I wish to highlight a few areas that I believe are critical to the larger objectives of developing this country, socially and economically.
President Chakwera gave a profile of what his government intends to do in the next four years in order to walk on the path of development focusing on four thematic areas: Achieving permanent food security for all Malawians; creating jobs for the youths; and creating wealth for Malawians so that they are the primary beneficiaries of any economic activity.
I would like to applaud these efforts that President Chakwera is investing to take this country to that destiny. However, every government must be held accountable based on what it says, and the Tonse Alliance ought to be held accountable based on what it promised Malawians prior to its ascendancy to power.
My take is that the President’s SONA was practically void in terms of linking its promises to its current delivery and what it intends to do in the future. Instead, what we are seeing is a non-stop flip-flopping and an obvious re-casting of development priorities.
What the Tonse Alliance promised Malawians is an open secret and everything comes out in full colour. Malawians were, therefore, eagerly waiting to hear from their President how these promises are being implemented thus far.
Among a litany of the promises, the youths were promised 1 million jobs within the first 12 months, and Malawians are waiting to know how many jobs have been created so far as we near the end of that timeline.
Madam Speaker,
In the run-up to elections, the Tonse Alliance promised to pay the elderly monthly grants to sustain their livelihood as most of them can hardly earn a living on their own.
Our senior citizens deserve comfortable lives because they contributed in various ways to the growth and development of this country. Any financial support from the government to our seniors is a lifeline to them.
I call upon President Chakwera and the Honourable Minister of Finance to fulfil their promise to this very important group of people in the 2021/22 national budget.
Madam Speaker,
Our youths were promised loans from a 70 billion basket whose funds we were told had already been identified. These loans were to be distributed through the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF).
The President submitted that his government is currently rolling out these loans, but I can challenge anyone here to take a brief walk on the streets and ask how many people have accessed these loans. You would be shocked with the stories from the angry people as only those that support the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) are able to get the loans.
The youth, who make up 70 percent of the population, are interested to know if they would indeed get a fair share of these loans as promised. They want to know what is happening to this solemn promise almost a year down the road.
This is equally the case with other telling promises such as free electricity and water connections; cheap cement; affordable passports; and duty-free week for businesses, among others.
Would the President come out clear about which manifesto his government is implementing? Is it the MCP Super Hi-5 or an amalgamated manifesto from Tonse Alliance partners?
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members,
It is a fact that the past 10 months of this government have been characterised by cumbersome delivery of campaign promises. Instead of the ‘Malawi Okomela Tonse’ that was promised, what Malawians have been feeding on has been non-stop pain arising from loss of jobs and dwindling space for economic enterprise.
The chaotic loan disbursement at NEEF arising mainly from competing priorities among alliance partners coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic has dashed all hopes that the youths had that this Tonse Alliance government would bail them out of abject poverty.
Madam Speaker,
The slow pace at which decisions are made by this government has been legendary. The President promised to review and reshuffle cabinet within six (6) months but now that is taking ages. We hear there is a cabal of power from within the MCP Presidency, which is always in full control and apparently vets every decision made by the President.
We have seen the President publicly regretting immediately after making a critical cabinet decision, and blaming others for his mishap and yet not long ago he was quoted saying he is in full control and that all executive decisions are his.
ON COVID-19
Within the same period, we have also seen theft and corruption rearing its ugly head when funds amounting to 6.2 billion Kwacha meant to fight the Covid-19 were squandered with reckless abandon by public officers including politicians.
Again, we saw the President failing to take decisive actions on how to deal with the issue. Up to now, we still do not know who did what regarding this unfortunate public embezzlement like how much funds were put to good use or how much funds were recovered out of the embezzled funds.
Madam Speaker,
While we are on the issue of embezzlement of funds meant to fight Covid-19, it was extremely shocking to see the President public rallies and addressing multitudes of people without regard to basic Covid-19 preventive measures.
More disheartening is the fact that it is the President who has been in the forefront preaching about the dangers of this pandemic at the same time rallying Malawians to observe preventive measures like social distancing and the wearing of face masks amidst the threat of a much deadly third wave.
This is a sad reality for the country and we shall hold President Chakwera responsible in the event of any upsurge or a spike in the transmission of the coronavirus. He has shown recklessness and a lack of leadership in walking his own talk. He has demonstrated that he cannot rise above board and that he is a President who is vulnerable to the average pressures of partisan politics.
As I am talking, football games are being played with minimal or without fans as a Covid-19 preventive measure, so why should it be football alone when the President is allowed to be reckless? Our country is not an animal farm where other people are more equal than others. The President should have been exemplary.
Madam Speaker,
Amidst public pressure, the President had ordered an audit of all Covid-19 funds but it is surprising that he is not interested in auditing of the 17.5 billion Kwacha Covid-19 funds as was the case with the 6.2 billion Kwacha audit. We are being told that the government has no money to carry out the 17.5 billion Kwacha audit.
I wish to ask the Honourable Minister of Finance to immediately release funds to the National Audit Office (NAO) to carry out an audit of the 17.5 billion Kwacha Covid-19 funds because the nation is eager to know how these funds were utilized.
ON SECURITY
Madam Speaker,
The last time I stood here, during Budget Review Session, I raised a security issue concerning MCP youths receiving training at the Malawi Government Police Training School at Mtakataka in Dedza.
Our friends on the other side were uncomfortable with those allegations, calling them baseless and avoiding discussion. However, I am pleased to inform this August House and the entire nation that the information we are getting is that MCP is indeed training their youths at Mtakataka in Dedza.
The party’s Publicity Secretary confirmed in a radio interview that MCP is indeed training youths in military basics, and that some of the graduates of that programme are the ones we have seen in the streets providing security services to President Chakwera. I want to state that this is unconstitutional and illegal not only in the eyes of the law but also absurd at morality.
Why should a political party use national security apparatus to train its members? Is this not the creation of a paramilitary wing such as the Malawi Young Pioneers? Is the Inspector General of Police aware of this abuse of police training institutions by a political party?
I wish to encourage my fellow Members in this August House and all Malawians to guard against going back to the dark days of MCP’s Malawi Young Pioneers and its terror.
Madam Speaker,
I have also noted a general increase in crime rate in recent months. There have been reported brutal murders of people in various places, including, notably that of an Asian businessman in Limbe. Several banks and households have also been broken into. There is also an increase in land related disputes, crime and encroachments.
I wish to implore upon this government to provide adequate security to its citizens as well as businesses. Insecurity deters direct foreign investment, which is a prerequisite for rapid development. The country requires peace, law and order as pillars of genuine social and economic transformation.
ON EDUCATION
Madam Speaker,
In as much as making primary education compulsory would be a move in the right direction, it is important for the government to invest in attendant infrastructure development in order to make the environment more enabling for such a policy to bear fruits.
Currently, primary education is already free but it is a naked fact that the government primary education system is still struggling with the pressures that came about with the decision to make primary education free almost 20 years down the road.
Day in day out, we always hear of lack of classroom space for these young leaners such that under-the-tree classrooms have been the order of the day. We hear of the lack of adequate teachers to accommodate the rising enrolment that came with the decision. Oftentimes, the teachers are paid late; sometimes not getting their allowances for months on end.
As I am talking, there is the issue of outstanding subsistence allowances for teachers that has not been resolved. It is a fact that teachers have always been at the end of the queue among government employees in terms of consideration of their welfare.
On top of that, this government has also not been friendly or interested to resolve issues of teachers’ welfare. In fact, it has been working to uncoil some of the gains that this country has made in that regard since the dawn of multiparty democracy. A case in point is the decision for government to stop collecting teachers’ monthly contributions towards the Teachers Union of Malawi or TUM.
It was clear this decision was made to kill TUM because of disagreements over Covid-19 risk allowance. This is abhorrent on the part of the government considering the fact that well-meaning individuals, including Chakufwa Chihana who the President recently exalted, fought hard to establish trade unions in this country at the dawn of our multiparty democracy.
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members,
It is, therefore, odd for the President to start talking about making primary school education compulsory when there is a host of other issues that are crying to be fixed before we get to that stage. I, therefore, take these presidential exclamations with a pinch of salt because we suspect it is just another round of lip service.
ON THE ECONOMY
Madam Speaker,
It is indeed a fact that Covid-19 has had a profound negative effect on the overall growth of the economy. However, there is a famous saying that good economics is also good politics. I doubt if this government is making the right decisions to stop the economy from going further south in light of the pandemic.
It is also fact that our current economic variables do not make any good reading but it is not fair to attribute everything to Covid-19 when poor decision making was also at play.
In his earlier SONA before this one under review, the President said and I quote, “They (Malawians) are tired of paying highest taxes in the SADC region, only to see them wasted on pet projects that add no mileage to our pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals.
They are tired of Parliament sessions that produce budget after budget to pay for the status quo without changing it. They are tired of hospitals without care, schools without desks, families without food, roads without tar, homes without electricity, communities without water, courts without justice, crops without markets, markets without capital, skills without jobs, jobs without wages and wages without value” (END OF QUOTE).
Following this statement, Malawians thought President Chakwera will bring about radical improvements in their social and economic status. However, very little has changed on the ground and in some instances, it is a case of two steps forward and three steps backwards.
Madam Speaker,
Today, 10 months since the Tonse Alliance came to power, the cost of living has risen tenfold. Today, Malawians pay K12,000 for a bottle of cooking oil, up from K5,000 a few months ago; the prices of sugar, salt, matches and other essential commodities have also gone up. Rural farmers and ‘Kabaza’ operators now buy a bicycle tyre at K6,000 from K3,000.
Madam Speaker,
The government has increased the price of fuel twice within a short time. These fuel adjustments have had adverse effects on Malawians as prices of basic commodities and transport costs have sharply increased in response.
Madam Speaker,
The Minister of Finance announced last year that the first K100,000 on earnings will not be taxed, from the previous K45,000. This was exciting news especially to low-income earners. However, the K100,000 has been drastically eroded by the sharp increase in the cost of living. It is now a mere drop in the ocean.
Madam Speaker,
It is in this vein that I call upon the President and the Honourable Minister of Finance to consider the plight of low-income earners and increase further the PAYE threshold from K100, 000 to K150, 000 in the 2021/22 national budget.
Madam Speaker,
The last 10 months have seen government fiscal space dwindling at an alarming rate. We have seen public debt burgeoning to 8.8 percent of GDP, rising from 4.6 three years ago. In December 2020, public debt reached 4.8 trillion up from 4.1 trillion in June the same year. In February this year, the budget deficit was pegged at 810 billion rising from 755 billion during the initial design of the 2020/2021 budget for this government.
This is all because this government wanted to feed expenditures some of which very unnecessary external travels that could easily have been postponed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic
The President said GDP was projected to grow by 1.9% but as a country we have only just managed to grow by 0.5 %. At the same time, the President projected a GDP growth of 3.8 % down from 6.1% in 2021. I wonder if that is even realistic considering that we failed to achieve a 1.9% projected growth in 2020 under the same economic conditions.
It is also unrealistic to expect that the growth of this economy will rest on the shoulders of the so-called Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) success story, which the President said ought to be applauded.
The President said AIP is a success story because we have achieved an 8% yield above the national average. However, that yield is coming about after spending four times the amount that this country used to spend in previous FISP programmes. Are we serious as a country to claim the 8% as a huge success after spending so much? Is our food security situation safe to herald this as a national success?
Madam Speaker,
I would like to submit that AIP in its current form is not our answer to our inconsistent food security situation, because we are still vulnerable to weather and other extreme effects of climate change. The President should have said more about the steps that are being taken on commercial agriculture and irrigation as outlined in their party manifesto. Or have they been abandoned?
The latest market statistics have indicated that our gross official reserves currently stand at US$242 million, which is less than one month of imports of goods and services. This is dangerous considering that we are in a tobacco-selling season when our forex situation ought to have been improving. This scenario will most likely put more pressure on the Kwacha, which will inevitably depreciate.
While still on tobacco, I am concerned about the low prices that buyers are offering our tobacco farmers at the auction floors. The rejection rate of tobacco by buyers is also very high resulting in protests and suspension of sales.
Madam Speaker,
If I can take the President back to his campaign promises, he said he would ensure that no buyer exploits our tobacco farmers who toil hard to earn a better living. I wish to ask him to protect our farmers from exploitive buyers, especially considering also that tobacco is our main foreign exchange earner.
In the same vein, I have noted with concern that Admarc has not yet opened any satellite market to buy produce from our farmers despite a recent announce on the same. I wish to advise government to ensure that Admarc opens markets and start purchasing crop produce from our farmers at good prices to prevent them from selling produce vendors at low prices. The vendors later sell the same at exorbitant prices during lean food period.
Madam Speaker,
The Malawi economy has also stagnated because of sloppy decision-making that I have alluded to earlier. For example, other sectors of the economy that should have helped spur economic growth amidst the Covid-19 pandemic like the construction sector were allowed to remain idle for reasons that cannot be explained.
There were a few if not any contracts that were awarded for the past 10 months for the construction of various government projects.
The main reason for this was largely political as all bids by contractors for various government contracts are now going through the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) for vetting to ensure that contracts are not given to opposition sympathizers. This has been the case even on donor-funded projects.
A case in point is the construction of the 200-donor funded Secondary Schools that the President recently launched after it was already launched by the former President, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
Madam Speaker,
Over the past 10 months, the President has consistently missed an opportunity to demonstrate that he is the President of all Malawians and that he can manage a crisis. The song that he has often sang that he wants indigenous Malawians to have a fair share of government contracts is currently at the level of lip service, or an alias to give an opportunity to his party supporters access to government funds.
TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Madam Speaker,
Although the President highlighted transport infrastructure and public works as an accelerator of economic activities and key to this country’s social and economic development, it is sad that decisive actions have not been taken to build around the investment that the previous DPP government made in these sectors under the stewardship of President Professor Mutharika.
In my submission last year in response to the President Chakwera’s maiden SONA, I pointed out that it is prudent for the new government to set aside politics and continue the various infrastructural developments that were initiated by the DPP government, but as has always been the case the new government has only paid lip service.
In that speech, I said the DPP government managed to initiate and accomplish 869 projects in Agriculture, Water Development and Climate Change Management; 797 projects in Education and Skills Development; 119 projects in Energy, Industry and Tourism Development; 347 projects in Environmental Sustainability; 109 projects in Gender, Youth Development, Persons with Disability and Social Welfare; 327 projects in Health and Population Management; 162 projects in Human Settlement and Physical Planning; 51 projects in Peace and Security; 840 projects in Transport and ICT Infrastructure and many more.
Among some of these projects are Kasama Community Technical College, Kalenge Water Supply Project, Nthalire Rural Growth Centre and Rehabilitation of Chitipa-Karonga Road in Chitipa; Mzuzu-Nkhata-Bay Road, new Nkhata-Bay Hospital Nkhata-Bay Market in Nkhata-Bay, Mangochi Water Project, Mangochi Community Technical College, Mangochi Mlambe One Stop Centre, Liwonde-Mangochi Road, City Roads including Parliament-BNS Dual Carriageway Rehabilitation of Kamuzu International Airport; National Cancer Centre; New state of the art structures at Lilongwe University of Science and Natural Resources Lilongwe Business Park in Lilongwe; Chikwawa-Chapananga Road; Chapananga Rural Growth Centre; Chapananga Bridge; Chikwawa Teachers Training Centre; Chikwawa Green Belt Cotton Company in Chikwawa and many more across the country.
I would like to urge the Tonse Alliance government to drop its bi-partisan disposition towards infrastructure development and own some of these projects; not re-launching them like in the case of the 200 donor-funded Secondary Schools but to rehabilitate and sustain those that were completed whilst building around and completing those that were not completed. Government is a continuous process.
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
I wish to reiterate that as opposition members, we fully support President Chakwera’s fight against corruption and abuse of public resources. However, I must repeat that he must not pay lip service and that this fight must not only target perceived political enemies.
Madam Speaker,
Events of the past few weeks where people’s jobs have been nullified without regard to rules of natural justice are unfortunate and an abuse of people’s rights. I wish to encourage public officers who are mandated to investigate alleged wrongdoing in public institutions to follow the law and rules of natural justice. They must not accept to be used as political tools to settle political scores so government does not pay people a lot of taxpayers’ money in compensation.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, let me discuss the plight of our artists. Artists contribute immensely to the development of our country and well-being of our society.
Through their various artistic works, they reshape our country into a better place to live in. It is in this vein that I urge all of us, including government, to support our various artists in whatever way possible in creating a conducive environment for their work.
On a very special note, let me inform this August House that our own music legend, Sir Paul Banda, has been unwell for some time. Sir Paul Banda has, for decades, played a very significant role in the political, and social and economic development of this through music.
Through Alleluyah Band, Sir Paul Banda has inspired many people; trained and mentored many musicians, including his young brother ‘Soldier’ Lucius Banda, Billy Kaunda, Charles Msaku, Mlaka Maliro, among others. We continue to listen to and enjoy his great compilations such as ‘Mtendere’, ‘Nthawi Zina Timalephera’, and Malilime, among others.
Madam Speaker,
I, therefore, would like to request fellow Members of this August House to contribute funds towards Sir Paul Banda’s medical treatment abroad. I would suggest that the following members should manage the fundraising drive and ensure that we raise the funds in the shortest time possible:
1. Honourable Bertha Ndebele
2. Honourable Malume Bokosi
3. Honourable Owen Chomanika
4. Honourable Billy Kaunda
5. Honourable Monica Chayang’anamuno
Finally, I wish to urge all Malawians to love one another and to co-exist peacefully regardless of differences in political persuasions, race, tribe and religion.
In the Holy Bible, Ephesians 4 verses 31-32, it is written: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”,
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members,
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND MAY GOD BLESS MALAWI
