Mutharika hits at ‘misguided and crazy’ critics: Donors are fed up, get over it

President Peter Mutharika has hit at his critics who say Malawi traditional donors who pulled out their budgetary support as misguided and mentally disturbed.

At a political rally on Saturday in Mangochi, Mutharika insisted the donors have gone for good to attend to their problems in their own countries.

“I hear someone in parliament say he would bring back the donors within a month. He must be joking…The donors are gone, they are fed up having helped us for 51 years,” said Mutharika.

Mutharika faced severe criticism from leader of opposition Lazarus Chakwera and People’s Party leader Uladi Mussa who accused the President of doing nothing to calla roundtable discussion to get the donors back.

They told Mutharika that his predecessors faced similar situation and successfully managed to woo the donors back as negotiations on IMF facility progressed well.

However, Mutharika said his focus is not on foreign investors.

He said his administration has already got K950b investment from a Chinese company apart from other international investors from Europe.

The Malawi leader said in addition his government has development programmes capable of turning around the economy such as a US $600m Liwonde dry port, a US $400m 30000 seat stadium in Mangochi and an international hotel and world class golf course in lakeshore district of Mangochi as some of the major projects in the eastern region apart from a dozen road projects.

Mutharika also said funds have been identified to make Mangochi airport an international airport with planes flying in directly from world destinations and the airport will have an international immigration office and other facilities.

“The opposition is saying the country is going in a wrong direction, they are not telling us which is the right direction,” he said.

Mutharika stressed that cashgate, the wanton looting of treasury by greedy politicians, public officers and business people hit the country so hard that it will take so many years for Malawi to recover from the disaster.

He said it is time Malawians forge ahead in unity and in shaping their country’s own destiny and ensuring that cashgate does not repeat.

“I am not trying to blame anyone but it is a fact that what happened with cashgate affected this country really hard that it will take many years for us to recover,” Mutharika said.

Up to K20 billion mostly Malawians’ tax payers money, was looted from treasury under former president Joyce Banda’s watch between 2012 and early 2014. It is reported the looting started in 2005.

Almost all Malawi’s traditional donors including Britain and the United State of America who were contributing up to 40 percent of the national budget withdrew their budgetary support at the peak of cashgate in 2013 that saw an attempt on the life of the then Ministry of Finance Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo.

Mphwiyo who was profoundly touted by Joyce Banda as a victim of a fight against corruption is now one of the key suspects in the ongoing cashgate cases along people who are suspected to have an attempt on his life.