Tonse govt justifies Malawi fuel hike as DPP cautions

March 9, 2021 Owen Khamula - Nyasa Times 28 Comments

Government has taken a strong defensive line on its decision to hike fuel prices  by an average  28 percent when people are hit hard by Covid-19 pandemic which has negatively affected their economic lives.

Msaka: Tonse government is only taking advantage of the fuel prices on the global market to milk Malawians who are already poor

Minister of Energy Newton Kambala said the increase in fuel prices is a reflection of an increase in prices on the global market.

He said the government has been stabilizing fuel prices for some time and there is also a need to sustain the economy.

Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legal affairs spokesperson in Parliament,  Bright Msaka has called on the government to be responsible in the management of fuel prices and the stabilization fund.

Msaka said since the Tonse Alliance government came into power, all Malawians have experienced are increases in fuel prices.

The DPP legislator for Machinga Likwenu said government is only taking advantage of the fuel prices on the global market to milk Malawians who are already poor.

He said government should utilize the stabilization fund to cushion Malawians.

Msaka said during the DPP regime, fuel prices were being maintained or going down even when prices on the international market were going up.

He said government should think of a poor Malawian adding that an increase in fuel affects prices of other commodities.

In Parliament last week, DPP spokesperson on finance in Parliament Joseph Mwanamvekha   rejected  President Lazarus Chakwera’s biblical analogy of Israelites heading to Canaan from Egypt, saying  Chakwera has lost direction and instead of heading to Canaan, he is now “heading towards Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq!”

Mwanamvekha, who was the last minister of Finance in the DPP administration booted out through the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election held on June 23 2020, said Malawians should brace for tough times, accusinfg government is failing to generate enough forex reserves.

“Malawians should brace for tougher times ahead as they will scramble for the little foreign exchange reserves.

“If they are lucky to get these reserves, they will get them at a much higher price than it was under the DPP government,” he said.

The cost of fuel has a significant impact on the pricing of goods and services; hence, Malawians—already reeling from the pressure of reduced buying power and a depreciating kwacha—will likely be affected by the fuel prices hike, according to Chancellor College-based economist Ben Kaluwa.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Follow us in Twitter

28 replies on “Tonse govt justifies Malawi fuel hike as DPP cautions”

  2. Bright Msaka talks as if he never went to school. Can a statement that government wants to milk Malawians? Are the Malawians not government Mr. Msaka? Is the government a profit making organization. This show that dpp was milking Malawians by stealing our money for personal development. Malawi is just an importer of fuel and dpp too increased fuel prices after Joyce Banda.

  3. We have a very incompetent president. All talk zero action. So far Chakweras performance has even been eclipsed by Joyce Banda. Infact I might be insulting Joyce Banda. This guy is just pompous for nothing except bravado he can’t back up

  5. Ndiye ngati tonse ikulephela kuyendesa dziko nanga ndiye sopano tidzikozekela kufufuza woti adzatiyendeseleso bwino chifukwa tose walephela dpp ndiye manyaka enieni achipani amalawi mpaka pano sadayiwale zomwe amachita adpp

  7. Do Tonse Alliance and its supporters know that time for excuses is over? They cannot compare themselves to DPP and its yesteryear policies. Whether fuel was increasing in DPP or not is immaterial, they are now in the driving seat, they should show leadership. Time to obsess with DPP inatha the day Chakwera was inaugurated.

    1. Very well put @Anzelu ndi Anzelu. Several months into the government but they give excuse after excuse for their bad decisions and non-performing. One wonders what this country will be like in 5 years.

  9. Running Government is serious business. Tonse government is a failure. We ain’t seen nothing yet. Time is ticking. Malawians are too trusting. Trusting Zeze??? Abusa nawo angoti bola ndili ndi akulu a mpingo andiyendetsera mpingo. Za ziiiii!! Malawi ali pa moto. Weniweni. Abusa angoliza nkonono.

  10. Its like you are wearing a brand new pair of white shoes and then someone blindfolds you. Only to tell you that you are not stepping on mud and that you can trust the person but all along you have a feeling of what stepping on mud feels like and you can even feel that you are indeed stepping on it. ”The guy in charge is not in charge his face says it all”

  11. Dpp mwaiwala tinalitu mMalawi mommuno fuel ankakwera neipo ngati anatsikako ndinthawi ya covid last year osamanamiza want kuti munthawi yanu fuel samakwera

  14. Olo nthawi ya DPP mafuta amakwela pali chachilendo APA.ife tachoka apa.choti a DPP..mungatimize..ingokhalani chete.
    Olo mtengo ukwele bola kusiyana kuti inu anyekhwe..mupitilize kutibela.

  15. DPP nayo imakweza mitengo yamafuta asaname awa. Kodi mdzingoti anzanu akati atere inu mwati yayi. Ake mwaiwala kuti inu mumakongoza anthu anu ndalama za ku RBM?Mulibe manyazi kagwereni uko.

  16. These fools do not know what to do, they have no clue at all. I just hope they have not done to the price stabilisation fund what they have done to Covid19 fund. If a leader does not know many things, those surrounding him plunder….

  18. My advice to DPP leadership aspirants is to decist from opposing anything for the sake of opposing. The reasons for the upward fuel price adjustment have been ably clarified. Only a dumb and incompetent government would sit phwii when all indications are that something ought to be done for the good of the economy.

    1. Musadabwe pano in ur time mumatsutsa chilichonse lero musadabwe anzanu akutero. Kumeneko nde kuyendetsa bomako!!!! Paja akwela kachingati aimwene??? Failed state

  20. Why was the government paying money to those people who are lazy, then hiking the fuel so that those who work hard should suffer? Tsiku lina tonse tikhala pansi kudikira zothandindizidwa. By the way not all of us recieved you cheap fertilizer, we bought at 25,000.00 and now you are hiking prices of things.

  22. DPP kulangiza tsopano. Komadi ndizoona nthawi yanu munayesetsa ndithu. vuto lanu kunali kuba ndikuzikonda koma zinazi mumayesetsadi. Mutikhululukire Chilima ndi Chakwera anatinamiza

Comments are closed.