MCP promises to give laptop to each university student

… to reduce cost of data, raise minimum wage to MK 50,000

The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has today launched its manifesto for May 21 elections with a promise to give a laptop to every new student in Malawi’s public universities.

MCP has launched the manifesto with the motto “Build a New Malawi on the foundation of a Democratic Developmental State powered by the Chakwera Super Hi 5”.

It covers areas such as governance and public administration, economic growth and development, social development, infrastructure development, homeland security and foreign policy.

In the manifesto, the party promises to furnish every new qualifying university student with a personal laptop to and provide public universities and other public spaces with access to free broadband Internet Service.

MCP says it will remove all tariff and non-tariff barriers on internet facilities including laptops in order to reduce the price of broadband internet and remove the relevant taxes to reduce the cost of data by over 70 percent.

The party also plans to reintroduce the Junior Certificate of Education as a strategy to monitor and improve students’ academic progress and performance during their secondary school education and to introduce a National Youth Service (NYS) and Jobs4Youth Program that offers vocational skills training to all out-of-school youth.

According to MCP, it will also deal with electricity blackouts within the first year of taking government as the party is targeting to generate at least 2000 megawatts of electricity within the next five years.

On economic growth and development, the party says it will raise the minimum wage from MK 25,000 to MK 50,000 and the zero-rated Pay as You Earn (PAYE) tax from K 35,000 to MK 100,000 to ensure working Malawians have a dignified living.

“[MCP will] set up a bank to concentrate on giving credit to the youth and women to increase their access to and full participation in the country’s mainstream economic processes.

“Introduce universal Farm Input Subsidy Program to spur agricultural productivity as a key contributing factor to a minimum annual economic growth rate of 6% for the next 10 years.

“Introduce the production, value addition and marking of industrial and medicinal hemp in Malawi.

“Revitalize the operations of the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) through a comprehensive review of its mandate, governance, management, and recapitalization to re-establish its market network across the country.

“Change the fiscal year to run from 1st April to 31st March in order to align it with the country’s agricultural season.

“Review all existing tax and interest rate policies and legislation to ensure the net effect of spurring productivity, investment, and job creation is prioritized and fast-tracked,” the manifesto document says.

MCP also plans to end the abduction and killing of people with albinism by treating these crimes as capital offences punishable by death without the option for clemency and to implement the National Action Plan for protecting persons with albinism and introduce social cash transfers for them to have a dignified way of life.

On sports, the party says it will construct a state-of-the-art national netball complex capable of hosting international competitions to fast-track Malawi’s 10-year goal to become the number one netballing country in the world.

In the manifesto, MCP President Lazarus Chakwera says the MCP stands ready to deliver national transformation on the foundation of a capable democratic developmental state.

“Only by overhauling the prevailing and failing governance model with its inherent contradictions and vulnerabilities and replacing it with a capable democratic developmental state can the structural transformation and inclusive development you demand be delivered. Only on this strong institutional foundation can we radically reduce the incidence of poverty and inequality within the next five years and set our feet firmly on the path to eliminating it altogether,” he says.

He then calls on all voters to vote for an MCP government.