COUNSEL SILVESTER AYUBA JAMES | Soaring Prices: Let’s Be Honest, This Is Not Just Malawi’s Problem

When I ask critics to show me a single country where the cost of living has not skyrocketed since COVID-19, they go silent. Yet, when it comes to Malawi, many are quick to tear the MCP government apart as though we live in isolation from the global economy.

Let’s be clear: yes, prices have risen here. And no, MCP has not done everything perfectly. But let us also be fair: this government has faced a string of crises unmatched in our history. COVID shut down tourism, cyclones battered our food production systems, and disasters forced emergency spending that overstretched already-thin resources. Any government under such strain would struggle.

And still, Malawi has managed to keep fuel the cheapest in the region — cheaper than in Zambia and Mozambique, where motorists now cross into Malawi to fill up in bulk. Roads of world-class standard are being built across districts and regions, proving that development has not been abandoned despite economic shocks.

Globally, the story is the same. In Europe, households are squeezed. The cost of living has even humbled America’s Democrats and their Conservative rivals across the Atlantic. Zambia and Kenya are singing the same painful tune. Mozambique? Even worse. And these are countries blessed with vast natural resources. Malawi, by contrast, is a small, landlocked economy whose backbone is tobacco — a crop under relentless attack from global anti-smoking campaigns.

So what exactly do we expect? For government to magically erase global inflation? For Malawi, a tobacco-driven economy, to withstand what wealthier nations cannot? Let’s be serious.

The truth is, this government has tried. But many critics refuse to look beyond their Ka bundle internet outrage. People who have never crossed a border or followed global economic trends are quick to blame government for every price hike. If they were in China or America, they would still be poor — waiting for freebies, shouting at leaders, never lifting themselves up on merit.

So yes, boma layesetsa. And that’s why we say, Boma ndi Lomweli.

 

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