Malawi must buy a Presidential Plane
A photo of President Peter Mutharika apparently waiting for a plane has gone viral. I have no way of ascertaining whether this photo is genuine or not. But, genuine or not, the photo has helped to start a very important debate in the country. Should the President of Malawi be standing in a line waiting for a plane?
I think the President of Malawi should not be using public planes. I even go further than that: A Malawi president must have his own plane.
Ever since former President Bingu wa Mutharika bought a plane for his office, there has been a divisive debate as to whether the country needs a plane or not. As is often the case with these issues, most of the debating revolves around politics. The opposition does not want it and the government side wants it. When government changes, people change sides too. In this article, I will skip over the politics and try to refute what I think are more serious arguments against buying the plane.
The problem with Malawians is that we often associate planes with luxury. And so when we hear about presidential planes, we already think about the president living large. We talk about medicine missing in our hospitals, potholes on our roads and lack of textbooks in our schools. We believe somehow that the presidential plane must not be bought until every soul has been fed and every pothole has been filled.
A presidential plane is not a luxury; it is a necessity”. It enhances the president’s ability to work effectively. It is a tool without which no chief executive can effectively execute his duties in the 21st Century. Yes, Malawi is poor. But we are also in the 21st century. And fate has called even the poor Malawian nation to operate within the 21st century with appropriate tools.
The equivalency being drawn between the provision of public services and a presidential plane is false. Even if we were to source the money equivalent to the cost of a plane and use it to buy medicine, books and fill out potholes, less than a year down the line, we will again find ourselves with no hospital medicine, no books, no good roads, and a president who still cannot work effectively because of bad transportation.
Yes, the president should not be moving around with large delegations. But that does not mean that the president should not travel. The president needs to move around the world and make relationships. This is crucial for the development of our country. And, in order to accomplish this, he needs to have a plane under his disposal.
Here are some of the things that happen while the president is in a line waiting for a commercial flight:
First, the president works less for the country. He has to leave his office early so he can connect planes on time. That means more time travelling and less time working. Just to visit Lusaka, the president will need to set aside 2 days. Whereas, with his own plane, the journey would take a mere 45 minutes.
Second, the president cannot even work while on a commercial flight. Imagine what the same critics would say if somebody sitting next to the president on the plane took a photo of a government document containing government secrets or personal information of some civil servants.
Third, in layovers, the president and his entourage have to stay in hotels. And because he is travelling in public, he needs more security. Over time, all this means that government loses more money than it would if the presidency had its own plane.
Some Malawians may well be comfortable advertising poverty to the world. But that does nothing to help us develop. We need to learn to make smart decisions.
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Which airport is this? ziliko kunyasa
Anthu akusowa chakudya ndege yachan zopusa
Totally bullshit!!
zonpusa agalu inueti
ANTHU OPUSA INU MCHIMODZIMODZI KUNYOZA BAMBO AKO WINA ANKOMENTA AKUTI KUKHALA PRESIDENT KU MALAWI NKULIMBA MTIMA NDI ASASAMBA OMWE AMANGOKUTUKWANA ZOONA PRESIDENT ADZIYIMA PA NZERE KUDIKILA NDEGE MTSOGOLERI WATHU NDE ANTHU KUNJAKO AMATINYOZA BWANJI
If Britain, a donor nation to Malawi has it’s Prime Minister who takes commercial air transportation and still looks respectable in the eyes all other leaders and they have a health care where when Malawian government officials get sick they go to get medical attention simply because we can not maintain our hospitals to the liking of our government officials who are themselves the mis-managers of those donated funds meant to upgrade or equip our hospitals. Now this nation Malawi that miss manages such donor funds wants a presidential jet for its President???? Tell that in the eyes of the national authority chiefs whom we have not paid them their due salaries for 5 months. What is the thinking of us? Britain has no Prime Minister’s jet and nor should Malawi! Not until our budget does not depend on the World Bank!
President amakhala vvip & pilot akamanyamuka amalengeza kumulandira president aboard ulemu okhaokha, zachitetezo akulu zimenezo palibe angaphe nyapapi. Ndege running costs afumu sipano parking yokha pa airport not less than Us$ 500. Nzeru ndi imeneyi kukwera commercial flight zomwe apanga ngakhale azingotinamiza kuti apezako ma investor koma osawaona mpaka kutuluka m’boma.
Ameneyu adzikwera economy class kuti achepetse expenditure. He should work hard to deserve and earn a jet. Actually he says he is rich why cant he buy a personal jet because he has to sacrifice. Bushiri akugula yekha dzimenezo because he works hard, he deserves it and he earns it.
Poor Malawians, as usual obsessed with jelousy and trivia.
Apa osadziwa ntchito ndi ma ADC ndi protocol officers. There are special protocols used when a VVIP is traveling on a public flight, providing it’s business class.
I thought he said he was already rich when he was teaching in US. i have a suggestion, let him buy his own jet which Malawi can now be chartering at half the price.
You Malawians, aren’t you ashamed. Is you President safe ? May be this is what idiots like your Joyce Banda, Chakwera and a few stupid Malawians want. Think twice with a sober mind !!!!
This article suggests that the President does not go into VIP lounges at airports? If he does, there is no need to stand in a queue.
I declare this article a lie and worthless. DO NOT CHEAT MALAWIANS please!!
Muuzeni Bushiri akugulireni ndege koma ndalama zathu ife takana nazo because there is no need to buy a presidential jet. As a president he is accorded VIP status and I therefore do not agree with what I am seeing in the picture. This picture is a doctored picture and the story is just to buy sympathy. If he does not want to fly commercial flights then let him tell Malawian he is not ready to serve, he can just pack and go. Our economy is in shambles and there is nowhere to find money for that. If there is money to tap from that money should serve to buy drug and food for the hospitals for the betterment of the poor patients who cannot afford even a bus fare on discharge.
In all seriousness You are worried that the president does not have a private ndege??????
are you in Malawi or u are leaving somewhere else.
Stop praising and worshiping these politicians and help those who have no bread to put in their tummies.
I totally agree with those saying the president does not need a private jet. One factor that is destroying African countries is that we tend to copy the lifestyle of other countries whose economies are doing far much better than ours. Get the basics needs for the poor people of Malawi first and then think of a presidential jet. Right now we are far from that,, in fact very far. What kind of a father would be one that buys himself a nice Samsung Galaxy phone when his/her children do not have school uniforms? Malawians, this is very simple indeed that you do not have to be a genius to figure that one out.
He should travel economy class on commercial flights and not first class
this is shit!!! ndalama zake zili kuti????? ask tanzanian president zimene akufuna
Asagule tili pa umphawi ma dona alowererepo plz .
Kodi bambo ogula benz ana ake akugona ndi njala timamutcha chani?
Mfiti!
Kodi bambo ogula Hummer mwana wake akusowa mankhwala timamutcha chani?
Mfiti.
The problem of looking at the leaders as more important than the people that they serve is that people think the leadership should get all that they deserve!
Lets look at what Malawians deserve and they are not getting:
1. Food, for patients and prisoners too.
2. Health care including ambulance services
3. Good salaries, should be paid timely too.
4. Education
Now this is what our leaders are getting despite the economjc hardships
1. V8, Prados
2. 1000 liters of fuel a month
3. Travels external and internal with allowances
The leaders are getting what they deserve but the people are told their is no money for what the masses deserve! Kugula ndege panopa zionetselatu kuti boma does not care about the people!
whether tomorrow or today the country at all expense needs a presidential jet much as we need a complete airport. Ndale tipachike kudenga
Presidents are accorded VIP status whenever flying across continents. Musatinamizepo apa, pezani china chonena.
No comment!!!!!
I have approved. Please go ahead and buy the private jet my brother.
amalawi tiyeni tisunge ulemu umene adatiphunzitsa kamuzu banda,tisakonde kunyoza kapena kutengela chidani malingana ndi mmne zinthu zidakhalira padzana paja ndi malemu bingu uyunso ndiwinanso musiyeni apnge zimene akuganiza iye ngati mtsogoleri wa tjuku chitukuko cha dziko lino peace love and togetherness wil lead us to prosperity in this country, together we stand devided we fall,irest.
NO NEED! NO NEED! NO NEED FOR ONE!
peter is just like any chief executive. If a position does not entitle someone to a plane , just accept. Pple knew that this country is too poor to have a presidential plane hence, it was left out on prezdnt’s entitlements.
Lame excuse, hospitals are death traps ndiye u want presidential jet? Prove to me that the jet is more important than the lives we are losing now.
Malawi is poor and we cannot a jet for our president, he deliberately chose to ignore VIP treatment at the airport to draw public sympathy, political technique
its not fair bt recal everyone its v v i nw why cnt let them buy? Or agule or nt stil they wil do nothing to our nation
I would like to totally agree with John M, it is indeed true that at the moment we can not afford to buy and maintain a presidential jet bkoz of our economic environment. Much as we appreciate the need and importance of having one but then we have many pressing matters that equally need the government’s urgent attention more than buying a luxurious presidential jet. We are in an economic turmoil that is even making it hard for our health system to tick, the education sector is also suffering big time, the agriculture sector the same thing. In short things are at a standstill in such a way that we can’t do ourselves justice to buy a jet at an expense of our poverty. It’s like buying a suit while there’s no food at home. The first thing that APM has to do is to revamp the country’s economy and the rest will be history. There then his as employers, we will buy him a company jet. Minus that he has to endure the long wait at airports. That’s how things work, we have rate his performance first and see if he deserves a presidential jet or not.
Buying a jet for this idiot while hospitals are eating one meal a day and have no meds…that’s a joke
If he does not want to wait at airports let him resign and a president who can wait at an airport take over. Ukudandaula kudikila pamzere wa ndege ife timathinana kupakana thukuta folo folo mminibus chifukwa choti ulemu wa ma cityline bus munatichotsera. Uyambe wakonza transport system ya anthu wamba kaye nde uziganizA ZA JET. fOR NOW UZIDIKILABE PAMZERE CHONCHO. NGATI WAKALAMBA SUKWANISA ZITAYE
we always want many things. the questions boils down to 2 qzestions: do you need it or want it. 2 if you need do you have the capacity. the answer to the second question in my view discredits this article
So that sick, stupid propaganda is working or the creators of the propaganda have not rested? Koma ku DPP kulidi makruku eti?
david cameron doesnt have a plane assigned to him….dont let the poor villages fom nsanje to chotops buy his a plane..plane stupity..theyre alot of head’s of state who fly scheduled airlines. a business jet cost k2 000 000 kwa an hr to fly and k1 000 000 every time its parked in depreciation. …
Cedric Ngalande, the one I know is so intelligent than an average malawian. The guy has an american PhD in Astronautical engineering. I doubt he could have authored this. But if he did, I am sorry to say it is unconvincing to many, even fellow DPP sympathisers. Please do not embarrass the president like this.
It was a useless decision by that Madam to barter that plane. What about the helicopters Kamuzu bought? The state residences Kamuzu built is still using them or his family using them? Ignorance my fellow country men. Government property is for the government not that Madam who was saying that I will be hitch hiking. That’s why she lost dismally.
Mr Ngalande, please allow me to ask you a question?
Let’s imagine you earn $1,000 a month. The total cost for paying your rent/mortgage, utility bills, groceries, health insurance, children’s school fees, etc comes to $1,800 a month – resulting in a deficit of $800 a month.
Your friends used to lend you the deficit each month to help you get by. They have since stopped contributing to your household costs. You are now $800 short every month.
You have a motorbike for commuting to and from work each day. Once every month or two, you need to attend 2-day work meetings in various locations, ranging from 900 to 1,500km travel distance – too far for your motorbike.
Assuming that you personally must front the costs for the travel, would you:
a) take the $1,000 income and spend $500 on a car which will also incur $50 – $100 a month in maintenance, insurance, etc costs?
b) rent a car for each trip at a rate of $15/day?
c) try to catch a lift with a colleague who is attending the same meeting?
d) send your apologies and inform your colleagues that you can only join the meetings by phone?
The author of the article is very right, frequent fliers who have travelled a lot will especially globally will appreciate the need for the purchase of presidential jet but for those who have known a plane because of fast jet will say no need,
You need to understand all the points, I am one of the frequent fliers , when you are travelling from one continent to another , one is subjected to stress and on top of waiting for transfers at airport, its tiresome and give a lot of headache
Why should our president be a frequent flyer, anyway? Is he a pilot or a regional marketing manager?
Mbori yako
Mind you, presidents are accorded VIP treatment whenever they travel whether traveling on a commercial flight or a private jet. Besides, if he can work on a private jet, he can do so like many executives flying comfortably around the world, on a commercial flights. And they have their corporations stacked with supplies for their employees. They get fired if their corporations under perform.
Unless the hospitals are well supplied, the biased education system revamped, infrastructure restored, ambulances fixed, the economy resuscitated, corruption eliminated, Chanthunya extradited to face his murder charges, crime stumped out and the unaccounted for K577 billion resolved plus provide an explanation how his brother got so rich-while the rest of the country languished in abject poverty; he ought to travel like the people he represents. The author of the article exemplifies the depravity of those who love to worship appearances at the expense of substance. Malawi is under sanctions because of the so called inconvenienced leaders and a few of their worshiping surrogates.
Whether buying or not,its non of my familys concern
Ali pa ntchito ameneyo agule yekha
Tamva kuti chikwama chinasowa. How I wish akanasowa ndi mwini wake chikwamacho. Mwina tikanapumako. KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
As many have stated, Malawi is not the only country whose head of state uses commercial jets. I recall that the president of Kosovo came to Malawi using a commercial flight and I do not see why Malawi should be any different.
We can cry and make noise about this being disgraceful and that our head of state deserves better, however, we all realise that Peter is a head of state of a poor country and as a result he will have to make do with what we can afford, which at the moment are commercial flights for our head of state. Malawians make do with shabby health services, shabby education services, and none existent social services, little or no services from the city fathers because Malawians accept that the country is poor.
The argument that a jet is necessity is complete hogwash. Every nutritionist will tell you that meat and fish are necessities and a human being must have this every week or so, however there a lots Malawian that go without these necessities week in week out because they are beyond their reach. Similarly, the head of state should also go without this necessity because it is beyond our reach. Americans can afford Air Force one for their head of state because they can afford to do that, we cannot. It is as simple as that. The president must reflect the plight of the nation as whole and not lavish himself when the rest of the country is suffering. In my opinion, even the State House is a scar and an embarrassment. That is luxury in midst of poverty.
Finally, we must stop this nosense of buying a jet for the preside
The one who wrote this article is a fool!! This Pitala said he is a billionaire, let him buy his own plane
Cedric Ngalande mu lhomwe wopepera uyu. Amene awo ndi maganizo ako.
I have nothing against the DPP government nor do I believe, apart from some stupid moves, that they are completely leading the country astray, but what I cannot stand is a sophistic minded journalist, corrupt for all we know (no one unless paid could write such shameful bullshit) using his miserable eloquence for what it is worth to deceive people.
To say that a plane would reduce costs is odd Mathematics. Please check out how much it costs to buy and maintain a plane. I do not think the president would work on a plane even a private one. What about his drink and a nap? It is in the face of difficulties that we are stimulated to work hard to overcome them; relaxation brings torpor. Let the president use public transport. Perhaps he will think for once why he is unable to buy his own plane and perhaps, just perhaps, may begin to think of those problems with an eye on that plane, on personal comfort, on selfishness in the future.
I will not trouble myself with counter-arguing the president’s “dignity”. What nonsense? Is he not a public “servant”? Now what servant demands a self-contained house when his master does not even have what deserves the name house?
To say that plane or no plane nothing changes economically shows that you do not understand politics, is lack of common sense and selfish. Nothing seems to change even without a plane because public money is going into private pockets, whose, I do not even have to say. And do you think that if we had a plane public money would stop trekking to private pockets? The situation would only worsen.
Common sense, for there is no need to quote legendary philosophers whose ideas the wretched author of the above miserable article would surely not understand, teaches us that just because you cannot perceive any progress while doing any virtuous deed you have to stop. In fact that is when you work even harder. Jesus knew that not everyone would be saved even if he died for all, but that did not stop him from manifesting the truly heroic love; to die for those you love even if they do not love you back. In fact some progress can be observed. Go into the villages. You will find more iron-sheet roofed houses than a few years ago; you will find that less people are eating madeya than a few years ago. Progress is slow? Yes, because of shameless kusolora.
It is selfish and inhuman to say that if nothing is changing for you nothing is changing for everyone. Those who were in the terrible grip of extreme poverty have been wrested from it and are now living a little change. You were never among these otherwise you too could have tasted this change. You were always well off, and so to notice a change you should have been leading quite a luxurious life yourself. But you cannot. Public money is not being put to its use. And if we buy a plane know for sure that you will never proceed from where you are. But stop thinking about yourself a minute! Even the little progress I mentioned has not even reached all corners of Malawi. Let it do so! But this will never happen if we buy that accursed plane.
Please think before you write, or before you receive that money to come up with this sort of rubbish.
I rest my case.
Kkkkkkkkkkk mesa amkati ndi wolemera sangadye ndalama za amphawi so l think he can manage to buy aplane apo biii adzidikirira matola omweo basi
It is not luxury post to be the president.He is our servant.If he feel he needs a plane let him leave the job.We need someone to serve Malawians and sweat as he does.After all his speeches are not very audible he better deligates someone whole can use public transport as the president of Ireland.Unayifuna Wekha.Utopa naye yokwera matola.
buy the plane
Alibe nzeru ameneyuu ndipo sakudziwa zimenene akulankhula… All our presidents have used the public aircraft before. The jet takes longer with stopovers and less speed. The is 1st class which you don’t have to cue. VIP s are treated differently…. Actually ameneyu asandutaile nthawi sanganve…
The Davie Chikaonda’s argued that the DPP PR and propaganda teamcis at its best and ahead of the game. This is proof that it isnt. This article is just another negative propaganda for the party.
Left to me, I would not buy this useless man a toy plane.
Well, this goes down to ‘kuzindikila’. The problem of getting rid of people who are professionals in their job and have done so for years and replacing them with the cousins, nephews and nieces etc…ndiizi they don’t know what to do and when to do it.
He is supposed to have baggage chaperones as well as personal chaperones (aides) who are supposed to sort this out. Kukula mtima, as if they know it all. As a VVIP he is supposed to have priority..if the disabled people and parents with kids are given priority when boarding a plane what about a President? Airline personnel don’t care if you have bodyguards, they should have spoken to the check in desk etc kuti we have a President, they would accord him the the VVIP treatment etc. Kumangopelekeza? Stupid!!
This is cheap propaganda. A lot of world leaders use commercial flights, so what about Malawi, why is a Jet so important? If he doesn’t make useless trips he wont need a Jet. Delegate please, how sad is this? Bushiri is a millionaire so we here and apparently he has two jets now, you told the nation that you are a millionaire when u returned Sir, why not buy one for yourself? You will still have it after you leave office…its not like a jet comes with you being a president!! No! buy yourself..we need a lot of things as a nation, we need housing, roads buildings, hospitals, medicines, wage increments, health centers..etc… a lot of thing we need. We are still using Atsamunda infrastructures…after 51 years and boast of independence…Sad. If your government continues to go about this stupid idea of a plane..its your downfall believe that!!
I can’t see Ben Phiri, i think he is the photographer.
no buying of planes here , please lets focus on real issues soon or later as boat we are sinking
It doesn’t mean each and every penny should go to the hospitals ,Chief executive officers,Hospital Directors,Managers are using very expensive cars and they are priviledges to them according to their JD,so is the president.
This article is narrow-minded, baseless, unbalanced and an insult to Malawians. I would not be surprised if the author’s tummy was full of kalongonda and nandolo at the time of writing. For instance no argument has been made on the cost of the plane as well as its maintenance. Simple economics demands one to live within one’s means. If you cannot afford panados and asprins, if your cannot feed patients with three meals, if ambulance are grounded, where the hell do you get the money to buy a plane and let alone maintain its upkeep. Let us not move in cycles: one time we convince ourselves we don’t need the jet after noting the exorbitant costs of such foolishness, then a moment later we jump into a song “the president need dignity!” What a shame! The country is poor, period. It is not about advertising one’s poverty. Can the author tell me why the Irish President traveled to Malawi on a commercial flight?
The writer of this article is such a shameless butt kissing moron who thinks his arguments are so clever and yet they are so stupid. Which vip stands online waiting for a boarding pass? Which airline has a first class where the person is unable to work privately? What kind of idiots are we to believe that a president who complained against travelling on commercial flights coincidentally lost his luggage, had an hour delay on his flight and was made to stand in line for a boarding pass? Who ever buys into that story is an idiot like the writer of this column who is a reknowned DPP sympathiser. Give us a break and fire the incompetent officials who let the presidential baggage get lost, and allowed the president to stand in line for a boarding pass. Otherwise lts stick to commercial airlines because that’s what our pocket can afford at the moment. By the way, why would the president need to st aside two days to go to Lusaka? Bingu used Malawi army planes to lusaka and tz and he was fixing the economy, aphunzitsiwa mpaka tiwagulire ndege? ASA!!
Dear Ass Leaker,
Did you know that when the President of Ireland (a donor to Malawi) visited Malawi earlier this year he traveled on Ethiopian Airlines? Yes the so called mini bus – not SAA, BA, etc? Now did you see any pictures of him at Addis or indeed any other place? Did you see any stories in the Irish media describing his use of commercial flight as scandalous? Now who between the Irish president and our president deserves a presidential jet?
Now Ass leaker,
Do you know that:
1. there are no essential drags in all public hospitals
2. patients are being starved to death in all public hospitals
3. there is no running water in some hospitals e.g. Zomba CH following disconnection due to non payment of bills
4. there is staff shortage in the health sector and we cannot employ graduate doctors, nurses and other health workers due to lack of resources
5. there is shortage of teachers in all schools and yet thousands of qualified teachers cannot be recruited due to lack of resources
6. MRA is not meeting its monthly targets as it is under collecting as most business are collapsing
7. there are no adequate teaching and learning materials in public primary, secondary and colleges due to inadequate funding
8. The FISP is in a mess due to huge debts
9. many people are slowly starving to death due to food insecurity
10. the IMF programme is off track due to fiscal indiscipline
11. should I go on? the list is endless. I hope you know that the people that have become destitute because of the prevailing problems are being skinned alive every day by government through payment of various taxes, including the inescapable VAT.
Now, are you sure that with all these problems you would want to prioritise a presidential jet that will benefit one individual, who does not pay tax? how many times in a month does he travel anyway?
The problem in Malawi is that once elected, presidents and their hang-ons are too quick to fire everybody that worked with their predecessor. they then surround themselves with people who don’t know anything and have no experience in managing the presidency and its crucial undertakings. the president of this republic is a VVIP, who ever is responsible for this circus should be fired immediately and should be arrested and tried for treason!!!!!
Nonsense, to hell. mwana wa njoka iwe. akatenge 500billion yimene anaba ndi mkulu wake.
Mwasowa nkhani eti?Mukufuna akagula mupeze nkhani, bwanji osanena kuti JB abweretse ndege yomwe anabera a malawi.
He said he is a rich. He doesn’t want or need tax payers money. Let him buy jets for himself. For sure, the professor is smarter than Bushiri. So, why not spend some of his millions on a jet which he can enjoy while he still has some energy.
Bwana Cedrick Ngalande, incase you haven’t used a dictionary recently maybe you should go back and check the meaning of the word ‘buy’. Buy means “obtain in exchange for payment”. And I would think, the payment in this case is money? Right? Unless if you have other sorts of payment in mind: in kind perhaps??
With the state of the country’s economy, only someone out of their mind would come up with such a ridiculous idea. Maybe bwana Ngalande simukhala ku Malawi and you do not know the situation on the ground?
And a Davie Phiri, you must compare apples with apples. Bushiri is a businessman (I know this will irk the ire of Bushirians) while the government is not. Bushiri makes money (how he does it, is not the focus here), while the government does not – it begs for the last scraps out of the bowl.
Questions are: kodi bwana APM anafika kumene ankapitako? Pali china chake chawachitikira that would warrant using ndege ya private? Has he been able to conduct the business he went for?
If he feels embarrassed kuyima pa mzere, basi asayende’tu. I am sure some of these business deals can as well be finalised by a Minister or PS in government. They will just have to meet with an equally placed colleague of the other government! It is papers that get signed for crying out loud, and you cannot tell me that APM’s signature is like a magic wand!
APM is VIP and if our foreign mission does their job (where we have them), they should be able to arrange and expediate his boarding (straight from the VIP lounge) without even having to stand in line. Correct me if I am wrong.
I would like to quickly point out that the writer has raised weak arguments to justify the need for a plane:
1. With the high level of mediocrity, it does not matter whether the president loses 2 or more days on way to connect planes.
2. If this writer has once travelled on a plane, he would be in good position to know better the sitting arrangements in planes. The business class has its own setting where seats are not too close to each other. Secondly, the seating arrangement can be organized to president’s preference where he/she would seat next to his/her team members. There is no way the frontline desks can allow a president to seat closer to a stranger. That cannot happen! So someone peeping on secret information is just a useless argument.
3. The president can sleepover on the way. It will cost govt less than the costs which are incurred on using a private jet. On the other hand, Malawi does not engage in any activity or political insinuations that pose as a threat to any “radical” network or neighbouring countries. Furthermore, Malawi is a democratic regime and everyone aspiring to become president has to ascend through an election. On this note, Malawi has always exaggerated on security as if we are at war with anyone. Our presidential convoy is even too huge compared to Tanzania, Mozambique whose economies are much better than ours.
4. Where will get the funds to buy the jet and meet the costs of running it? All previous jets have been sold mysteriously by the succeeding president where the revenue cannot be traced. Why should we spend monies on a thing which will later be sold and its revenue does not benefit Malawians?
Its a shame ofcorse a country with no private jet for the president.
you have the guts to call the state president a stupid bafoon? ur mad
This is the most daft and dull article i have ever read on nyasatimes. I am a Lomwe by tribe and Malawi politics flow along tribal lines (if you know what i mean) but i can’t buy this jet bullshit. Can’t you borrow a leaf from New Tanzanian President John Magufuli? The guy is humble, down to earth and very prudent with resources, just go and see how many reforms he has practically enforced himself within these two weeks he has been in power???? Yet Tanzania is miles ahead of Malawi in terms of economic development and financial independence….If Peter Mutharika cannot fly commercial, let him resign and go back to the land of the rich, where he came from…period
just offer Bushiri a diplomatic post in SA then Mutharika will be using one the planes that he owns……….
This is childish nonsense…International protocol demands that a sitting president, gets accorded VVIP treatment in any country he passes through. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs should ordinarily have made appropriate arrangements with the country, informing them of the transiting President. He would have been afforded VVIP treatment, with him waiting in State Protocol Lounge waiting for his flight where officials of that country would have lavished him whisky (if he drinks), food, tea or coffee and excellent toilet facilities.
However, it that was not done, the Chaponda should be fired! He is simply undermining our president. Period!
You silly Malawians. You mean you are happy to see your president in a queue at an airport? just bcoz you say you are poor? Shame! Thats why you are always ranked as the worst in many areas, including how to degrade your own HEAD OF STATE!
I don’t comment often but the author of this article is clue less. In his/her assessment, “Malawi buys a plane and the costs end there” NO. A plane will cost as much in maintenance just as much as you paid for it. By the way, whether you fly it or not, you still have to maintain it. I see no problem with the picture (if its genuine). It is symbolic in its own way. I see a president who is assuring Malawians that he is willing to take the burden as well. Another point being missed by the author is the thinking that “if I could afford a business class plane ticket then I stand a chance to sit next to the Malawian president” NO. A president fly with his delegates and he sits with these. Even hiring +/- 20 seats in business class is not close to 1/10 the price of chattering and 1/100 the price of owning a plane. Malawi currently is in desperate situation and this calls for desperate measures. Bravo Mr President, don’t listen to these misguided dander heads, if you continue on this path, you have my vote in 2019!
He deserve to stand on line becouse since he is on posion we hav never see any change only big mouth about how he is rich with our money yet people r die in our hospital lucky of medication
This writer is very emotional,he is feeling sorry for the president,so I want to compete with him on sadness.
what is sad between a president on a VVIP waiting lounge and a hungry dying patient in hospital.
What is sad between a president delegating a government official to a foreign trip and orphaned children surviving on cooked unripe Mangoes in Mzimba.
What is sad between a president spending two days to go to Lusaka and our colleges disfuntioning due to lack of funding.
Now we know there is a systematic propaganda to arouse public sympathy for the president in order for you to be allowed to buy a presidential jet,first it was the picture of the president on Malawian airways and now we have this picture.
But let me tell you cedrick the writer and others with the same thinking that buying a presidential jet at this point in time is going to be costly both financially and in diplomatic relations with our development partners.
Sustaining a jet is not a child’s play,this thing consumes a lot of forex even when its just packed somewhere.
And again imagine if someone comes to your house begging for money to buy food and then the next day you see him driving a poshy car what can you think,thats how our development partners feel.
And what I have just realised is that most Malawians are living in denial,they don’t accept that we are poor but then this is problematic in itself because you need you accept a situation if you are to solve it.
The bottom line is that at this moment there’s no justification whatsoever in buying a presidential jet period.
Let me start with this butt kissing reporter I hope you get paid really good for this article from the presidency.
As you have said the president needs a jet will the money come from? Show us where you have reserves to buy a jet and then we can continue from there. As for lay overs and not being able to work while travelling on a commercial flight in first class only mbuzi zoti sizinakwerepo ndege can say that. The first class is designed for specifically that purpose you guys are shameless thieves who think Malawians are stupid . What has he done for Malawi so far to deserve a jet??? He cant even convince donors to give us money for medicine how will he explain a jet. Mitu yanu ndithu anthu otembeleredwa inu.
Bwanji asangobwereka ya Bushiri. Koma muthuyu ndi billionare, osangula yake bwanji ndikumaclaima fuel allowances – LOL.
He notoriously said he doesn’t want the tax payers money because he’s rich. So why sympathyze with him. If he is really rich let him buy the jet using his own money. Stupid bafoon.
This guy likes planes. You remember the saga during brothers era when he was using a plane? He got angry and went to US becoz bingu got angry of his attitude?
Cedrick Ngalande: You’ve given only three reasons (as examples).
You could have easily given twenty-four, double the number of paragraphs in your piece. Without much effort.
But, you know what? Even a hundred reasons would not convince any of the detractors, because their motivation is dogma, no less. Again, you know what? These people think they are “punishing” the President, as if these trips are personal. Once again, you know what? If MCP were to win any Presidential election (unlikely to happen soon), they would turn around the next day, not later, and buy or hire a private jet for their man.
It is shameful for the President to be standing in line like this; like he is a Village Headman. No offence to any chief.
Friends of mine, from the Caribbean, are just laughing and shaking their heads, and asking feverishly: “What’s wrong with Malawians? How does this enhance significant frugality in government spending?” Let’s get real.
Answers, anyone?
ps. Disclaimer: I am not a card carrying member of any political party in this country.
So you are not in Malawi! Come home and see for yourself what’s happening in Malawi. Everything is wrong, no direction, no hope. There is growing anger and angry and hungry people cannot support buying of a presidential jet. Maybe the president should start performing and improving the economy of the country.
No need, this is all stupid propaganda. He seems to have daft aides who don’t know what to do. Don’t overburden this country as we’re still waiting for MK577m whereabouts. Please save our time and resources.
Mmesa mumati Viola akunama? agula kale ndege imeneyi akufunafuna njira yobweretsera kuno. Cedrick paja ndiwe Ngalande? Modutsa madzi amvula? ndiwe chingalande chenicheni. Khwangwala wa Pitatala Mathanyula. Shit
Kikkkk ndiye kudikiladi, akuchita kusuzumila pa window hahahahahahaah kuyang’ana komwe itulukile koma magame a DPP yes yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Plane and not plain…..
You dont wait for a plain while (u and everyone u) are standing. Even the most stupid and ignorant person knws that there are resting places at airport. Pathetic write at the minimum…
Mum an both a mangoes zoti mankhwala Ku chipatala kulibe. Vuto sikugula ndege koma kusamva Kwathu until this day we do not practice healthy living. Health education chip gun I life much I koma ayi. Ma ARV for what a Malawi sitimamva ngati chiwelewele tikupanga ngati agalu why should we burden the government to spend more pa zi nthu zoti we can avoid.
Malawi,,,, hooo!!!!.tell me my fallow Malawians. Surely malawi has got a humble, obedience, undestanderble the situation that we have(APM). Coz no one can allow this all over the world. Plz gulani ka helicopter chabwino kaanthu 4 okha its okay he will be safe. Nonse mumanyoza nkhani ina irionse yansogoleri wadziko for the sake of politics, know that no that you’re,uselessness in our county.
The president and his team have to work really hard hard to generate the wealth of the country before talking of presidential plane. In the current scenario where the country seems not to have direction the president does not deserve sympathy as he seems as any other emoloyee n failing to instil any confidence in the economy. Even our cabinet ministers and others do not deserve flying first class. For your information Ethiopia has two jets, one for the president and the other for the prime minister. But none of these are used due to huge cost and instead the officers fly commercial planes. We are talking of a big economy which has managed to increase its GDP/capita to US$1600.
I for one would love to give the president some targets like we will only buy the presidential jet only when the president steers the economy when GDP/capita increases from around US$850 currently to US$2000 etc.
let’s be realistic here, times have changed we are in the 21st century that’s why a good number of people posting comments here are using smart phones, why? It’s our time guys come on. Does it mean we’re wasteful? Does it mean we should sale our phones and send the money kumudzi? There are small kids who beg in our towns, I don’t encourage this, but you’ll see people saying to these little boys, “go to school I can’t help you…..si ti ana mukumabera anthu nkumawacheka ndi malezala?” You may be right some of them engage in that practice but do they have a sign? So what do you do as a good citizen? You help anyway. And most people who say that amakhala anthu opanda chifundo ndi munthu ovutika, ndi anthu omana basi, kumangokhala kupeza pothawira. I look at issues objectively, the jet is not for APM, it’s for the office of the president. My fellow Malawians let’s start looking at issues with a sober mind regardless of our political affiliation. Trust me the politicians play with our minds, I don’t care whether the picture of APM waiting for a flight is staged but without it this would still be my opinion. Let’s buy a plane for our presidents, kaya adzakhala Chakwera kaya Katsonga, every President needs a jet, if you think they don’t it’s because you’re allowing politics to play a part on how you perceive things. Without the plane we’ll still be poor, we’ll not be much poor because of the plane, that’s what investment is all about, people should start to take us more serious, that’s why marketers should always be presentable. Malawi president needs a plane.
The author is a mad man. Simple!
Do you want to buy sympathy or what? You are a stupid reporter I suggest. Is there any cause for alarm here. Let him go back to where he came from. Shupiti zako iwe wamva. You are a misguided reporter wamva iwe. Mwanawachabechabe iwe
Zonsezi ndi amai, only 2years kusakaziratu zinthu, what more akanapasidwaso another 5yrs? Eee umeneuja unalidi ufumu okakamiza
My issue is not on whether the president should have a private jet or not. If we can afford it, there is no harm having one. We have always had one since the Kamuzu time. The problem arose with the manner we acquired and disposed off the last one.
That said, I thing there is a lot exaggeration or sympathy seeking or even politics in this matter, where the president is seen queuing at some airport. This just does not happen. If it happened, there someone in some government department was sleeping on the job and should have been sent home on interdiction by now for gross negligence. This is not the first time that the Malawi president has travelled on a commercial aircraft. But as a VVIP, proper arrangements are made for him, such that he enjoys those VVIP privileges at airports, wherever he goes.
What I see here is at attempt to give the impression that the president is subjected to humiliation as a result of not using a private jet. We already know that there is the intention (although this was officially denied) to purchase another presidential jet. Perhaps the intention is also to focus the public attention on how the JB administration disposed off the jet. Whatever the intention, I do not buy this propaganda. This does not just happen in protocol circles.
He just needs to stop travelling. When we r rich enough we will buy a plane. A plane is a necessity but we all can’t have our necessities. If you are revising a budget downwards, where would a plane fit in there. And if the president was standing in line then his protocol team needs to be fired and replaced. He is a VIP, even a simple minister if he were to travel VIP would not stand in line. Any Malawian who has travelled as a VIP will attest to that.
Akagulecmankhwala kaye aku zipatala . chifukwa choti akumwa ma Arv apamwamba he thinks wachira hence ndege.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the jet has already been bought….these lomwes don’t care what you think. Samakuopani……what can you do to them?!!!! The writer is a foolish kapilikoni who cannot even afford a decent place to sleep for him and his children but is busy writing about planes which he most likely will never ever board in his lifetime. Kumvetsa chisoni what poverty, illiteracy and nepotism can do. Gulani jet tiona ngati muitengenso popita kumanda….adzagulitsa ndi Chilima imeneyo
Wapanga chiyani president yo kuti timugulile ndege????? Mbuzi yachabe chabe
Cedrick as a DPP supporter yourself we don’t expect anything less than the support to your Lhomwe fellow. Your PR team is trying to make Malawians believe that Peter Mutharika is the only president using commercial plane. The social media is awash with pictures of other presidents some even from our main donors using commercial planes.
Kodi mmesa ndipompano wakwera pachulu ndikumatitukwana kuti ndimponda matiki? Bwanji osangogula ndege yake kuti aziyendera maulendo akewo? Zopusa basi
Its very painfull considering that the president spend much of his time waiting for a plane which cant come on time.Buy a plane to minimise expenses and time wasting
A working propaganda indeed and calculated move kkkkkk .
kkkkkkk adabwera olemera kale ameneyo umuze agule ndi ndalama zake.
No we should not buy a plane.
So the writer thinks buying a presidential plane is no luxury? Just visit Queen Elizabeth Central hospital or Central Hospital, you will be a changed man, ambuye akukhululukireni zikuoneka kuti sukudziwa chomwe ukunena
Ha ha ha that’s exactly what we wanted by posting APM photos . Yes,’sympathy’ from people like the writer of this article.
And I must say that this is just the begining, we will use any opportunity to tell Malawians how important the presidetial jet is. It will happen.
Yes! we need a presidential jet. But this needs proper timing and also let the nation know how the proceeds of the previous jet sale were handled.
Cadet iwe, this president wanted a plane from the first day in office. He doesn’t know wat to do with this country , that’s a problem
I can’t agree more . The presidency is a very important office that goes with dignity . We are degrading the office by allowing the president use public transport . Now that there is no presidential plane, do we have drugs in hospitals? Do we have text books in classrooms ? Do we have power 24/07?
APM must seriously think of buying a Presidential Jet. Don’t hive an ear to the noise of kabwira and company.
If Major Prophet Shepherd BUSHIRI ( I love you man of God) could see the need for a jet, to ease his movements, what more with a state president?
Ministry of Transport and Treasury, please work on this, identify a nice jet for the president. You have my vote!!
komatu amati ndi millionair why not buying his own plane if amalawi tidzigula mafuta basi chifukwa ife sitinakonzeke zogula ndegezo mubudget lathu, may God bless Malawi.(try & error govnmt)