Chakwera says Mutharika has failed to govern Malawi: President ‘living in a fantasy’

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarous Chakwera, who is also leader of opposition in parliament, has summed up President Peter Mutharika;s leadership as  a failure, saying the country is in crisis .

Chakwera simply summed up Mutharika’s leadership as failure
Chakwera  addressing a news conference in his office at Parliament: Simply summed up Mutharika’s leadership as failure.-Photo by Mphatso Nkhoma, Nyasa Times

In a strongly worded statement,  Chakwera lashed out at President Mutharika for failing the country.

“Our nation is in crisis. And in times of national crisis, leadership is critical. But unfortunately for us, the crisis we face is one of leadership itself,” Chakwera told a news conference he convened at his office at the Parliament  building in Lilongwe on Thursday.

Chakwera said his address was  “to Malawians”  because the leadership of President Mutharika and his government is in a state of emergency, saying  it will take “all of us working together to disabuse ourselves from its destructive effects.”

The opposition leader  used the phrase “you have failed” to  solve the country’s current problems for about 40 times to labour his point that Mutharika’s government has been a “national disaster”  for nearly three years.

“Since June of 2014, what we have seen with our very own eyes and heard with our own ears is the death of the things all Malawians hold dear,” said Chakwera.

The MCP president said if Malawians allow  Mutharika to continue leading this nation beyond 2019,  they  will be “hammering the final nail in the coffin of our nation’s development.”

He said: “ Allowing Mutharika’s failed leadership to continue will mean the assassination of our children’s hopes, our young people’s aspirations, our elders’ responsibilities, our women’s potential, and our nation’s future.”

Chakwera described  President Mutharika’s leadership like a pair of scissors designed to cut the thread  by which the country is hanging and send Malawiasns spiraling into the abyss of deeper levels of poverty.

“When I say that Mutharika’s leadership is destroying this country, I am not stating a personal opinion. This is now an established fact that officials of Mutharika’s government are themselves now publicly admitting,” said Chakwera.

He  pointed out that the  Minister of Finance Goodall Gonwe  is on record as saying that the economy is no longer in the hands of the Mutharika government, but “in God’s hands”.  And that the Governor of the Reserve Bank Charles Chuka  is also on record as saying that the country’s economy is “in dire straits”, like a stranded ship with no captain.

“And in his own national address, the State President himself described the country under his leadership and government as moving in ‘reverse’. These statements are Government’s refusal to admit the obvious, that Mutharika has failed,” said Chakwera.

According to Chakwera,  President Mutharika  has failed to account for the hundreds of ways in which this country is falling apart on his watch.

“Contrary to his delusions, the country is not falling apart because of Cashgate in our recent history, or because of changes in the weather for which we had months to prepare, or because of withdrawal of donor aid, or because of civil servants in our institutions. He has refused to take responsibility for the way things are, and has believed the lie that the country is failing because of what he continues to describe as ‘challenges’. But every Malawian from Chitipa to Nsanje knows that the country is not failing because of challenges, but because of failures. And most of those failures are failures of leadership,” MCP president said in his scatching attack.

“Look at the economy for example. While many Malawians were already facing hunger, Government raised the price of maize at ADMARC by 127%, forcing millions more to face the future with fear. Instead of strategising to enter the market early enough after harvest when the poor farmers still have the crop they have sweated for—and therefore enable the poor farmers to benefit from a good price due to strong competition, ADMARC chooses to enter the market late when most of the maize is already in the hands of few big traders who take advantage of poor competition and offer very low prices to our helpless farmers.

“Instead of smallholder farmers benefiting from this highly priced maize which they worked hard to produce, the beneficiaries are rich traders with political connections. Now a poor villager eats mangoes for dinner, and a teacher buys gaga for a meal. This is insensitive, greedy, and a clear failure of leadership,” enthused Chakwera.

He said while fuel prices have gone up, which has caused the price of goods and services to go up, especially food, Government raised taxes on basics like ordinary milk and bread. He wondered  happened to the Consumer Protection law of 2003, saying this is a failure of leadership.

“While productivity levels had already been on the decline, Government has increased its consumption of tax-payers money on luxuries, like cars and private jets for the President that cost millions. When confronted about this penchant of useless spending, Government blames legislators, claiming that it was Parliament which approved the spending. The truth is that Parliament only approves the amount State House can spend, not what State House can spend it on. The choice to use that money on cars and jets is the President’s alone, and it reflects his failure of leadership,” added Chakwera.

While all industries were already struggling to sustain productivity due to lack of energy, the Mutharika Government has offered nothing but excuses for the fact that on their watch, large parts of the country are now having to operate without electricity for more than twelve hours of the day. Some parts are only getting electricity from 11pm to 4am, as if ESCOM exists to supply electricity only to power our ability to sleep, he continued.

Chakwea also expressed concern that the anti-graft body is refused the right to investigate corruption and government interference at ESCOM.

In what sounded like the genuine state of the nation address, Chakwera said hospitals and clinics have also been affected as most surgical operations and incubators, as well as mortuaries all require the kind of energy investment and innovation this government is incapable of making.

“This is a failure of leadership,” he declared.

He accused President Mutharika of shielding members  of his own government from being properly investigated for any part they may have played in the siphoning of state funds over the past ten years.

“He claims that he will only take action when there is clear evidence against them, yet he himself refuses to support legislation that will give the Anti Corruption Bureau full independence from his office so that such evidence can be gathered. Do we even have hope that the K236 billion cashgate will ever be investigated? Even investigators live in fear as Njaunju’s death remains unexplained to-date. And so corruption continues, and of those who have been convicted for their involvement in Cashgate, there is no report of how much of the stolen funds have been recovered. This is a failure of leadership.

“Similarly, even though it’s been months since Mutharika’s Government sold our treasured Malawi Savings Bank against our advice as Malawians, to this day there has been no report submitted to Parliament on the recovery of the bank’s toxic assets. This is very typical of this government, making big public claims and then going months with nothing to report on the progress thereof. Even when the President claims that there is plenty of maize for everyone, there is no public report on how much maize has been procured, from where, on what terms, and with what finances.

“ This Government is breaking new records with its lack of accountability, to the point that Malawians cannot even get a straight answer regarding the President’s health when he fails to return home from a foreign trip. One government official says he is in robust health, another says he is meeting investors one by one, another says he is having a minor procedure, and another says he has rheumatism. Mutharika’s love for keeping Malawians in the dark is precisely the reason why he continues to block the Access To Information bill by which Malawians will have any information they want on demand. This is a failure of leadership.”

Chakwera said an analysis of the social sector indicates  more failures of leadership.

“In education, for example, it is a national tragedy that after more than 50 years of independence, we still have students attending classes under a tree. And Government is even failing to keep the public university open for one whole academic year. And yet we say our President is a professor? This is a failure of leadership.

“Hospital infrastructure is left in a state of disrepair while Mutharika hires a private jet to Ethiopia to receive an honorary doctorate for accomplishing nothing. Just imagine that a patient at the central hospital is carried four floors because Mutharika’s Government does not think fixing the elevator is a worthy investment! This is a failure of leadership.

“I could spend all day going sector by sector, but the results will be the same, a gross display of the Mutharika Government’s failure to lead this nation out of poverty into the prosperous future we all dream for ourselves and our children.”

Chakwera stressed that Mutharika has “failed.”

He said: “You have failed the civil service because you have failed to lead. You have failed the taxpayers because you have failed to end the corruption of your own government. You have failed the poor because you have failed to live a modest lifestyle. You have failed the rich because you have failed to make Malawi a secure place for investment. You have failed the young people because you have failed to keep the doors of our universities open. You have failed the manufacturer because you have failed to supply electricity for production. You have failed the farmers because you have failed to insure their farms against climate change. You have failed the donors because you have failed to remove the dross from your own cabinet.

“ You have failed the northerners because you have failed to include them in development. You have failed the southerners because you have failed to end the stranglehold of tribalism. You have failed the central region because you have failed to prove yourself worthy of their trust. You have failed the electorate because you have failed to keep 99% of your campaign promises. You have failed the Democratic Progressive Party because you have failed to govern under its banner. You have failed the United Democratic Front because you have failed to keep it strong under your blue tent. You have failed the Vice President (Saulos Chilima) because you have failed to maximize the young man’s talents for progress. You have failed the country because you have failed to live in the same country that Malawians live in.”

Chakwera said  Mutharika is “living in a fantasy” , saying he is  “ Mutharika Republic, whose capital is the State House, where our taxes supply you with an endless supply of free water when Malawians have no water, free food when Malawians face hunger, free electricity when Malawians live in the dark ages, free travel when Malawians walk with no shoes, free fuel when Malawians cry at the pumps, free 100-million Kwacha cars with bullet-proof doors to protect you from imaginary enemies when Malawians have nothing to protect them from your disastrous leadership, free medical attention across the globe for your so-called rheumatism when Malawians are dying in hospitals with no medicines and no doctors. The Mutharika Republic you live in and of which you are President is a different country from the one the rest of us live in, because the rest of us still live in Malawi, still live for Malawi, still go to school in Malawi, still go to hospital in Malawi, still raise our children in Malawi, still work for Malawi, and still fight for Malawi.”

He warned Mutharika to keep his distance and hiding “ but you can’t hide forever, because your failures as President will not be forgotten. “

Chakwera called on Malawians to leave Mutharika to continue his “retirement in peace, for he is clearly past his prime.”

The opposition leader said  he hopes Mutharika does not expect Malawians  tax-payer to continue funding his” incompetence when we have 17 million Malawians that need more resources than his wasteful Government does. “

He appealed to Members of Parliament and all Councilors “to be brave to use your respective roles to serve your country, not your president, for the Malawians you represent are trusting you to show Mutharika that they have lost all confidence in him and his whole cabinet. “

Chakwera also urged the private and independent media to be probing into every inflated claim government  makes about its achievements to expose everything that is nothing more than empty talk.

Presidential spokesman Mgeme Kalilani has trashed Chakwera’s statement , saying it is driven by bitterness that Mutharika defeated him in presidential elections in 2014.

But MCP claims Mutharika’s victory was fraudlent.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
38 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
fabiano
fabiano
7 years ago

ine ndi wapiti basi, mufunse anthu a ku mwera mmene MCP inawazunzira, alibe nawo mau ndipo sangavotelenso MCP. Or peter atati wapenga tidzamvoterabe basi

Boma
7 years ago

Chakwera is a fool. You talk of crisis forgetting that we had major crisis during Mcp rule. To name a few Jehovah witnessing brutal torture and murder The killing of innocent Aaron Gadama and his crue Feeding innocent people to crocodiles And many more these were serious than what this idiot is talking about Read your Bible you fool You dont even know that we had cashgste drought etc You foolish and chicken minded Malawians Google the situation in Kenya and other countries you will see that Malawi is better of than others Chakwera don’t use pulpit or church speech.… Read more »

Odala
Odala
7 years ago
Reply to  Boma

Finye iwe

bob mzunga
bob mzunga
7 years ago

aMalawi ndi anthu oseketsa kwambiri. kumunyoza Chakwera chifukwa cha speech imeneyi. ku Malawi kuno kuli anthu osaganiza bwino ndithu.

masiku
7 years ago

munthalika ukuzuzayi ndi mizimu ya mulungu Mulungu sakusiya ndithu uwona zomwe anawona farao ku aigiputo.mulungu anangomtuma mose ku aigiputo kukawapulumutsa.Ndipo mose tikunenayi ndiye chakwera. nonse amene mwawerenga komonti yangayi mulungu akugawireni nzeru zapaderadera ndithu ndipo akupatseni maso auzimu kuti muonetsetse komwe kukupita dziko la malawi zikomo.

Odala
Odala
7 years ago

Who is a fool?- the one failing to see the tree falling just cause he or she is living in its shadows…

magogolia
magogolia
7 years ago

At least Chakwera has given us annual summary of events and Christmas gift. We are leaving in Munthalikan republic indeed and we need God’s intervention to bring us back to our home land Malawi.

Fuvung'ondo
Fuvung'ondo
7 years ago

The solution is with the Lomwes and Yaos. We can just wait and see. Dr. Chakwela, you say the nation is in crisis, which nation? The nation of the Lomwes and Yaos……..with the Chapondas, Kaliatis, Dausis and that young boy Muluzi, their nation is OK. When the President is saying no body in Malawi will die with hunger, he means the Malawi of his kinsmen where life is overflowing with milk and honey. So the solution remains with the Lomwes and the Yaos. We can only watch from a far. When APM and his big bellied gulus deplete all the… Read more »

Kabwila Mbolo
Kabwila Mbolo
7 years ago

Mtima suvala nsanza ndithu. Uyu Chakwera is failing to run the MCP. Currently, there are four factions in MCP. One led by Chakwera himself, the second one led by Richard Msowoya, the third run by Jessie Kabwira & Company and the fourth run by Joseph Njobvuyalema with support from Baba JZU. If Chakwera is failing to run Kongelesi, how on earth can he ran government, which is serious business? If Chakwera is failing to unite Kongelesi, how on earth can he unite the country. If Chakwera is failing to appoint a shadow cabinet for Kongelesi comprising of people from the… Read more »

kaka
kaka
7 years ago
Reply to  Kabwila Mbolo

mbuli iwe

Mgoloso
Mgoloso
7 years ago

Chakwera – ask JZU, he ended up retiring a frustrated man – DPP sidzalola kuti MCP ilamulire muno. The best is for us Malawians kugawanapo dzikoli (feudalism) otherwise Southerners will continue ruling this country forever (believe you me). Omwe anayambitsa nkhani ya Feudalism ankadziwa chilungamo chake kuti no-one from any other region will rule this country other than one from the SOUTH (fact).

Mgoloso
Mgoloso
7 years ago

MCP yomwe tikuidziwa chigawo chakumwera ndiyosiyana ndi yomwe Achewanu osamba matope mukuidziwa. 2019 Ife tidzapanga momwe tikuidziwira chigawo chakumwera. Chakwera – continue talking BUT we will do it against your wishes so that chingaphulike chotupacho. Be informed that wonyoza adzanyozeka nthawi ilinkudza – keep talking rubbish and we are listening to you attentively – do not cry in 2019, udzandikumbukira. Remember, you are not demeaning Peter BUT the whole DPP family and we are listening day and night.

kaka
kaka
7 years ago
Reply to  Mgoloso

mbuli iwe

Read previous post:
Nomads’ Madeira mocks KB ahead of FISD final: ‘League impressive form a fluke’

As tension continue to rise ahead of a historical FISD challenge Cup final between Kamuzu Barracks and Mighty Be Forward...

Close