By Iommie Chiwalo
With the current trends that pointing towards failure in leadership by the Tonse alliance Administration, the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), has challenged President Chakwera to match words with actions.
In a statement signed by CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa and made available to this publication, the organisation draws Chakwera’s attention to
Section 12 of the Republican Constitution, which he vowed to uphold and protect saying abiding to such statutes will not only be realistic but will help to gain public trust.
The said section 12 (c) stipulates that the authority to exercise power of State is conditional upon the sustained trust of the people of Malawi and that trust can only be maintained through open, accountable, and transparent Government.”
“Needless to remind you that prior to the court sanctioned June 23, 2020 Fresh Presidential Elections, you made campaign promises that attracted Malawians to vote the Tonse Alliance into government.
“Now, Sir, almost a year and a half in government, you have either changed tune, backtracked, or remained mute on some of the campaign promises you
made to Malawians as a condition to usher you into the high office of the
presidency,” reads the letter.
According to Namiwa, bearing in mind that President Chakwera is fully aware of the implications of lying, CDEDI is demanding that presidential powers must be trimmed.
“This is one of the flagship promises you made to Malawians which we believe if you were honest and sincere enough you should have instructed the Malawi Law Commission to kick start the process and let Malawians know when the bill will be tabled in parliament,” Namiwa says.
He has also pointed out that by now Chakwera should have demonstrated
willingness to walk the talk on the promise by among many others be
seen to be moving towards co-presidency promise made at Kamuzu Institute for Sports.
“It has been said time without number that the concentration of powers in one office is the root cause of most of the challenges Malawi is facing hence your campaign promise to trim presidential powers meant a lot to Malawians as well as for this country. We would therefore, like to assure you that CDEDI will never shy or get tired in reminding you about this promise,” he says.
Adding that with the deepening plight of Malawians, especially the rural masses owing to increasing cost of living, aggravated by the recent increase in fuel prices and water tariff whereby the rising cost of living is being mirrored through skyrocketing prices of basic essential goods such as cooking oil, water and electricity, and cost of mobile phone airtime charges, transport and Internet bundles.
Chakwera recently made a public admission that he is overwhelmed with calls for alms a thing which is evident enough that pa ground sipali bwino.
“Therefore you should immediately spell out a comprehensive
economic recovery plan to save the economy and at the same time cushion the marginalized with clear cut time frame,” he says.
On transparency and accountability, Namiwa gave an example of a video clip from one of Chakwera’s media
interviews with Times Television where was quoted pledging that every tambala of
public funds will be accounted for and that the long arm of the law
will catch up with every public officer who may dare to abuse public
funds.
However, Namiwa observes that nothing is happening on the ground in advancing transparency and accountability.
He says going by the free for all plunder of public funds under Chakwera’s watch, it is worthwhile
rating the current leadership as the worst of all the previous leaders Malawi has
had.
Namiwa has since advised President Chakwera to come to his senses by reflecting on calls for Malawians to
bear the economic hardships.
The CDEDI Executive Director has given example of unnecessarily daily travels both locally and internationally without even considering to delegate the Vice
President, or cabinet ministers.
He further highlighted Chakwera’s acceptance of the MK6.2 billion Covid-19 matter to die a natural death as well as failure to spearhead an audit of the MK17.5 billon Covid-19 funds as a sign of weak leadership.
“Your Excellency, the aforementioned cases and examples cast doubts over the
accountability and transparency of your government in general, and you personally, in particular, as an individual. It is therefore safe to say that Malawians can no longer trust you, since it is clear that your leadership style
thrives of lies and half-baked truths, contrary to the principle and spirit of section 12 of the constitution,” he says.
Malawians are still in the dark concerning the 2020 Independence Day celebrations as well as the SADC summit which Malawi hosted.
An issue of public concern is the recent situation where Chakwera was seen globe-trotting, but he did not seen the wisdom to let the people know how much their government has spent on such unwarranted travel considering that majority are burdened with the introduction of more taxes to skin the people alive in order to continue quenching Chakwera’s
appetite for travel thereby amassing obscene wealth in the form of allowances.
Namiwa also said that recently Malawians were shocked to hear their
leader who doubles as minister of Energy, telling the whole world that he is not aware of what is happening at the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), a
public entity that handles a strategic commodity to the economy.
“How safe then are the citizens and the public funds, when we have a leader who is not in
control? If you Sir, as the first citizen is in the dark on such crucial issues,
then who else is well informed about the goings on in this country?,” queries Namiwa…
