Uladi rubbishes Chakwera response to Sona: ‘Malawi is not a problem state’

Salima south MP Uladi Mussa on Tuesday shook up the 193 strong House when he tore apart the Leader of Opposition Lazarus Chakwera’s response to response to President PeterMutharika’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) themed We Have Delivered presented in Parliament on Friday.

Chakwera  said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has “miserably failed” to deliver on its socio-economic promises to Malawians contrary to President Peter Mutharika’s claims.

The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader said the President was delusional in declaring that his DPP  had delivered on its party manifesto.

Instead, he described the Mutharika administration as nothing but a cancer that is hindering economic transformation.

However, Mussa said it was surprising that in his response, Chakwera deliberately ignored great strides the economy had registered including in forex.

“This government-the DPP led government, has done a lot, those with FDAs ( Foreign Denominated Accounts)  can agree with me,” he said.

Mussa’s 10 minute response was marred by interjections from the angry MCP legislators who tried to punch holes and discredit the facts he was giving.

He argued that Malawi is not a problem state, saying the nation has its challenges, but it is not a broken state as exaggerated by Chakwera.

Mussa defected to the ruling DPP from the opposition Peoples Party, a party that works with the opposition MCP in parliament.

Delivering his Sona address  Mutharika cited inflation figures, forex reserves and a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Credit Facility as a sign that his administration has improved the economy.

“Mr. Speaker, Sir, our macro-economic outlook is very bright. Nobody says we have achieved economic perfection. Nobody should say we don’t have challenges. But we agree that there is now a clear sense of economic direction and that we can count our achievements as a nation.

“In general, we have achieved macro-economic stability, inflation reduction and a rebound in economic growth.

“The International Monetary Fund has just given us a vote of confidence. This week, the IMF has approved a new Extended Credit Facility for the next three years. This means the IMF is satisfied with our economic management,” he said.

Mutharika also said the administration has constructed roads across the country and its efforts continue to be undermined by the severe effects of the Cashgate scandal of 2013.

The President further defended his government’s inability to handle the electricity crisis, saying the administration continues to work on improving the energy situation was neglected for years by previous governments.

The Malawi leader argued that with increased funding to bodies fighting corruption, his administration had also delivered on its promise to tackle the problem and said with a growing economy, there will be more funds available for social spending.

He threw at the House impressive economic figures that four years ago inflation was at 24 percent but now it is in single digits and that interest rates have dropped from 25 percent to 16 percent.

“We have taken our foreign currency import cover from the lowest point to the highest point in our economic history. From an import cover of below two months, our import cover now stands at 6 months. Our local currency is now stable and predictable,” boasted Mutharika.

He hastened to add that in four years, the DPP-led government has taken gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate from 2.4 per cent to projected growth of 4 percent this year.

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