Chakwera launches Malawi 2063 Vision with call to stop wasting time on trivia

President Lazarus Chakwera has launched the country’s second long-term national development plan, dubbed “Malawi 2063” with a call not to tolerate or  smile on anyone who engages in wasteful conduct.

The Vision 2063, which succeeds Vision 2020, was launched  virtually at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe and was among other attended on the internet live portal by the country’s former president Peter Mutharika, Joyce Banda and Bakili Muluzi.

The National Planning Commission (NPC), an independent institution established by an Act of Parliament in 2017, is mandated to formulate the medium and long-term development plans of the country and coordinate their implementation.

NPC  board chairperson Professor Richard Mkandawire in his remarks acknowledged the role immediate past president Mutharika contributed to  rolling up the successor blueprint of the Vision 2020 that was launched by Muluzi.

In his speech, President Chakwera called on Malawians to abolish the culture of waste that drains and  destroys the resources God has given the nation “ to build a new  Malawi enjoyed by all.”

He said: “Let us resolve to harness the individual and collective resolve to thrive against all odds  that is unique to us as Malawians. Then, and only then, will we indeed be the first generation of Malawians to  inherit a low-income economy and leave it a middle income economy.”

Chakwera said along with the country’s  focus on the future, there  must be some reflection on what assets Malawi can build on presently and what sins from the  past people must avoid.

“Admittedly, Malawi is blessed with a rich array of such  assets as fresh water, fertile land, fine minerals, and free  society. However, by my reckoning, our historic failure to  translate these resources into inclusive prosperity stems  from our failure to tap the full potential of the one  resource that has the power to catalyse and leverage all  the others. The catalyst I speak of is the ingenuity of the  Malawian people,” said Chakwera.

The President said he strongly believes that there is no nation on earth  with a people as entrepreneurial as Malawians, no nation  with a people as resilient, or as patient, or as  collaborative, or as hospitable as Malawians.

“Above all,  you will not find a people on earth who are as aspirational  and hopeful as Malawians. No matter how bleak or dark  the nights of winter get, you can always count on a  Malawian’s ability to afford a warm smile born of an  undying hope that tomorrow whispers the promise of a  bright summer day. This ability to have hopes and dreams  of a better future is what has always sustained our  courage in the darkest seasons of our history,” he said.

He continued: “It is what sustained the courage of our forebears to rise  against foreign occupation at the dawn of the First World  War. It is what sustained the courage of our grandparents  in the King’s African Rifles to march towards the killing  fields of the Second World War with songs on their lips. It  is what sustained the courage of our parents to lay their  freedom and lives on the line to secure an end to colonial  rule. It is what sustained our courage to march the streets  of a dictatorship with chants of freedom pushing us  through the labour pains of a one-party state until  democracy was reborn. It is what sustained the courage  of our sons and daughters to endure the stinging fumes  of teargas month after month until a fraudulent election  was overturned, and the will of Malawians was respected.”

Chakwera said the “hope of a better tomorrow”  is also what now sustains the courage of the grandchildren who face a future  without the relations that Covid-19 has taken.

He said Malawi 2063 is  not just a vision for Malawi, but “the vision of Malawians to be fulfilled by Malawians.”

Said Chakwera: “ In practice, this means that if we do not increase the socioeconomic capacity of  Malawians over the next decade, we are not going to reach  the 2063 shores we are setting our sails for here.”

The President said  for Malawi to be a “wealthy and self-reliant nation”, the pillars of Vision 2063 are  agricultural commercialization, smart urbanization, and  sustainable industrialization,.

He encouraged Malawians to “work hard, work  smart, and work together.”

Speaking earlier, Vice President Saulos Chilima, who is also Minister of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms,  said with the launch of Malawi 2063 blueprint,  all political parties in the country will be required to align their respective party aspirations to the country’s long-term blueprint.

Chilima lamented that it was regrettable that political parties never aligned their promises and priorities with the first long-term masterplan, Vision 2020 which expired last December and had a high failure rate in its implementation.

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