Malawi lawmakers support Pres. Banda on Mudzi Transformation Trust
Most lawmakers contributing to the State of-the-national Address on the opening of the budget session of Parliament by President Joyce Banda have supported the Mudzi Transformation Trust, saying the initiative will support social and economic projects for the transformation of lives of Malawians.
The initiative was announced by President Banda in Parliament on Friday ahead of its registration of 20 000 village heads as the trust will work with these village heads to mobilise communities for implementation of the programme.
Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Cornelius Mwalwanda said President Banda has challenged political leaders to put aside their differences and think together on how they change lives of the rural communities.
“Many of the Presidential Initiative as well as Mudzi Transformation Trust suggested by the President all focus on this aspect,” said Mwalwanda , who is also MP for Karonga central.
Member of Parliament for Balaka South and president of Mafunde, George Nnesa , said he supported the initiative by President Banda.
“ I like the idea of the Mudzi Transformation Trust; it is a good initiative as long as it is going to be motivated by goodwill,” said Nnensa who is usually critical.
Prof. David Mphande an independent MP for Nkhata Bay South East said President Banda has demonstrated that she has the people of Malawi at heart because of her initiatives .
“The Mudzi Transformation Trust is a new vision where it really adds value to Green Belt Initiation. So, here is a President who wants to take Malawi to a future where it can be ideal for Malawians,” said Mphande a former minister in the DPP regime.
“Let us face the truth that the President has done something, she is doing something and she will continue doing so for this nation. I just expect that one of these villages will be in Nkhata Bay South East and we will see that great achievement,” said Mphande with some lawmakers shouting “ Go deeper!”
Mzimba East MP , Paul Shaba also welcomed the Mudzi Transformation Fund.
“The vision elaborated by the President is a clear testimony and that is the kind of leadership that we require in this country, where a leader considers the welfare of people in the villages because that’s where most of the Malawians are.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, what more do we want to see? What more do we want to have? What more Mr. Speaker, Sir, does Malawi needs apart from the leadership as expressed by Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda?” he added.
Minister of Justice, Ralph Kasambara in his contribution, noted that President Banda ‘s address was both reflective and programmatic.
Kasambara said President Banda’s administration is applying Section 15 of the Constitution on the principle of natural policy to “actively promote the welfare and development of the people of Malawi by progressively adopting and implementing policies and legislation.”
He said: “ As for the other aspect that is also in our constitutional dictates and that is on rural life, for the first time we hearing of Mudzi Transformation Fund. This is a programme which if implemented, will benefit not only people from this side but from the opposition side as well and all Malawians. This is where the hope of Malawi is, to see the rural society transformed. It is only through this programme initiated by Her Excellency the State President that indeed for the first time, Malawians can say we have also seen prosperity.”
In her address, the President said the 2010 Integrated Household Survey showed that the poverty head count in Malawi did not significantly decrease over the past 10 years, saying government is concerned about the slow pace of eradicating poverty.
The Mudzi Transformation Trust will be a private sector-led initiative to which both local and international private sector is invited to invest in.
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