By Kingsley Jassi:
President Lazarus Chakwera’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) fell short of indicating economic policy, with both private sector and civil society players claiming that it left them blank on policy direction amid turbulence.
The country experiences multiple woes with protracted forex shortages that frequently disrupted fuel supply, high inflation compounded by food insecurity, poor revenue performance that has affected implementation of development projects and government operations and mounting public debt.
As if this were not enough, the country faces another threat after the United States (US) review of United States Agency for International Development (USaid)’s work. Countries such as Malawi receive bilateral support through the organisation.
The US is also pulling out from United Nations organisations, a move that could affect operations of countries such as Malawi.
In the midst of all these economic woes and threats, Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama), Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) and Oxfam have said they expected announcements of policy measures that would promise stability and economic turnaround.
“It is a new approach (the Sona) that centred on the achievements the government has made, and we needed to be made aware of those developments and he did not tell us how the government intends to deal with the current challenges,” Ecama President Bertha Bangala Chikadza said.
Prior to the address, MCCCI Chief Executive Officer Daisy Kambalame and Oxfam Country Director Lingalireni Mihowa expressed hope that there would be a hint at the country’s policy direction, with specific measures on how to address underlying causes of economic turmoil outlined.
Mihowa mentioned the need to clearly announce interventions that would be used to prop up food security and modernise agricultural productivity to revamp the economy and address vulnerabilities.
However, in his address Chakwera, while acknowledging the pain Malawians had endured in the past four years of his reign, did not make a policy announcement.
Rather, he focused on development activities that are happening in districts, appealing to the electorate to ensure that momentum was sustained through the ballot.
Some of the big mentions in the Sona, especially on the development front, included the construction of a new airport in Lilongwe to increase aircraft handling capacity at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA).
Chakwera further promised to implement the long-standing plan of constructing twin towers at Capital Hill, where there would at least be 20-storey buildings, to increase office space for ministries, departments and public institutions.
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