Chilima asks Malawi policymakers to utilize statistical information in governance

Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima, has appealed to stakeholders to utilise statistical information in planning, policy formulation, programming and governance.

Chilima addresses the gathering at Sunbird Nkopola-(c) Abel Ikiloni, Mana (2)

Chilima, who is also Minister of Economic Planning and Development, made the appeal in his brief statement made today as Malawi joins the rest of the African countries in celebrating this year’s African Statistics Day, which falls on November 18 every year.

The day was set aside to reflect the importance of statistics in the national development.

This year, the day is being commemorated under the theme: ‘Modernizing statistical systems to provide data and statistics to support sustainable peace and development in Africa’.

The theme raises awareness among data users about the critical importance of governance and socioeconomic statistics in achieving sustainable development.

Chilima emphasized that in Malawi, the day is being commemorated at the right time when the government is geared to improving the welfare of Malawians through statistical and evidence based decision making processes to accurately respond to the needs of the populace.

“Therefore, on behalf of His Excellency, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, the President of the Republic, I would like to implore and encourage you to utilize statistical information in planning, policy formulation, programming and governance. And let me take this opportunity to invite you to join the National Statistical Office in celebrating the African Statistics Day,” said the Vice President.

In her separate statement, the Commissioner of Statistics, Mercy Kanyuka, added that this year’s theme raises awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers, researchers and the general public and socioeconomic statistics in achieving a conflict-free Africa.

Kanyuka stated that this year’s theme is in tandem with the theme of the African Union for the year 2020, ‘Silencing guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development’.

“Governance, peace and security statistics are fundamental to ensuring that the relationship between the State and its people is inclusive, transparent and accountable and contribute to the prevention and management of conflict and violence,” she said.

Kanyuka further disclosed that statistics are essential to understanding and using economic information for planning and policy design.

She said in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, national statistical services, in particular Statistics Offices, are overwhelmed by requests for data, statistical services and Covid-19-related information.

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Katema
Katema
4 years ago

Great job done by new government.This is the first time that high level political leadership has shown and committed to using sta statistics in policy and decision making. The National Statistics should be applauded for the good work it us who don’t appreciate what good data does.

Nalikuti
Nalikuti
4 years ago
Reply to  Katema

Much as one would agreed with the Vice President’s sentiment it is also imperative that this data must be legit. Often times we have seen alot of skewed economic and statistical data which is often times manipulated to fit some agendas by the responsible authorities. We have seen and heard from Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Economic Planning officials detailing quite damning developments in their premises where the PS or the Minister would query real economic stats and request that it be doctored to fit their political agenda. This usually ends as empty rhetoric when implementation is not inline with… Read more »

Director
Director
4 years ago
Reply to  Nalikuti

The cpi is not a reflection of status on ground. It’s heavily manipulated to fit some macroeconomic modelling by NSO and RBM.

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