Chakwera tells Mutharika to stop blaming God for hunger in Malawi

Leader of opposition in Parliament Lazarus Chakwera has told President Peter Mutharika to stop blaming God for the hunger, saying his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration needs to put sound agricultural policies.

Speaking in Lilongwe, Chakwera, who is also main opposition, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president said the whole agricultural system needs an overhaul and the DPP led government has failed to overhaul it.

“God is not to blame for the hunger, neither is nature. The DPP agricultural policies are to blame,” he said.

He said the government would have put sound irrigation policies long ago before the huger struck and asked where the Green Belt Initiative is which he said could have helped beat hunger.

“We cannot blame God, we cannot blame nature. Other countries have been hit by the disasters as well yet they able to feed themselves, we are just hopeless people,” said Chakwera.

But Information minister Patricia Kaliati said El Nino is to blame for the current unpredictable and severe weather phenomenon, arguing this is a trend world over.

“This is not man made. However we have put sound agricultural policies including the recent presidential decree to have water boards involved in large scale irrigation. This means in two years time, Malawi will be food secure,” she said.

Mutharika said on two occasions that him and his government are not to blame for the persistent food shortages in the country, saying its God and nature.