Malawi Watch advises APM to be President in office not an explorer
Malawi Watch executive director Billy Banda has said the new President should be an office man not an explorer, saying it is high time the country has a president who dedicate much of his time deliberating on issues which can develop the nation unlike spending time travelling around the world.
“The president should at least be in the office twice or thrice a week and focus on implementing relevant ideologies which can take this country to another level, that is what a poor Malawian in the outskirts of Malawi is expecting,” Banda said in an interview.
Banda outlined that it is only through dedicating time to office work that the president can know what is really happening underground saying it is through this that the president can plan efficiently and put forward wealth outputs that can see this country developing beyond where it is.
“The president’s dedication to being in the office will also work as an inspiration to the Civil Service which for so long has not been competitive in terms of service delivery compared to the private sector, so if the civil service is motivated and back in the mainstream job you are assured of progress in the development of this country,” he said.
He added that the president should emulate an example of Kamuzu Banda who during his era was rarely seen in public because he was most of the times in the office working tirelessly towards the development we are enjoying today.
Apart from being a role model to the civil service, Banda advised president Mutharika to give room to the media to do their job freely, saying that is another tool for development.
Concurring with Banda, Chancellor College political analyst Dr Blessings Chinsinga said that there is really need for the new president to show his potential by saving time to deal with the problems the country is facing.
“The country is facing a lot of challenges currently and the president must really work hard towards the betterment of this situation thus sacrificing much time in the office and not on the roads of Malawi or in air travelling from one place to another like others were doing in the past,” Chinsinga said.
Chinsinga also advised that where possible the president should draw good lessons in the previous regimes saying he should adopt some of the policies which worked in the previous governments and he should abolish policies which did not work previously.
President Mutharika has been president of Malawi since 31 May 2014 after winning with 36.4 percent against Dr Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party who came second in the first ever tripartite elections which took place on May 20 this year.