Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa has urged President Lazarus Chakwera to deliver on his promises, saying Malawians are tired of colourful speeches and being told about what the government plans to do.
He made the remarks in Parliament today as he delivered his response President Lazarus Chakwera’s speech titled “Fixing the Systems to Deliver Long-Term Priorities and Diffuse Short-Term Pressures”.
Nankhumwa said it is true that there are broken systems permeating the public and private sectors. He, however, added that looking at how the government is going about doing its business, it is doubtful that President Chakwera is capable of fixing the broken system or systems.
According to Nankhumwa, fixing broken systems requires commitment and decisive leadership, something which Malawi currently does not have.
“Unfortunately, we have a President who hardly sits in his office.
We have a leader who takes ages to make simple decisions; a President whose only first love is travelling across the country, and the world, making beautiful speeches without any backing action,” said Nankhumwa.
He added that Malawians are tired of speeches and now want action from the Chakwera administration.
“Malawians demand jobs. Malawians demand businesses. Malawians demand an end to corruption. Malawians demand an end to systematic inefficiency in the public service. Malawians demand accountability. Malawians demand competence,” said Nankhumwa.
He then described Chakwera as a danger to the process of fixing broken systems, saying the president is a ‘broken system’ himself.
He gave an example of the public reforms report aimed at making the civil service more agile and efficient.
He noted that Chakwera gave Vice President Saulos Chilima 90 days to produce the report and the president received the report in May last year but it is still under wraps and has not been made public despite calls for its release.
Nankhumwa also claimed that he has been informed that there are over 15 bids for various construction works across the country that have already received no-objection nods from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority.
According to Nankhumwa, the paperwork has been domiciled at the Office of President and Cabinet for months where officials want to verify as to whether the bidders are supporters of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) or not.
Nankhumwa said: “In his SONA, the President lamented about facing resistance in his quest to reform and fix the broken system. But looking at the fake manner with which this government is going about carrying out reforms and fixing the so-called broken system, I have no choice but to conclude that President Chakwera and his panel of lieutenants are actually the ones that are resisting change.”
On the economy, Nankhumwa called for radical reforms as prices of basic commodities keep going up and there is a general hostile investment climate where companies are scaling down due to shrinking demand and high cost of raw materials.
The Leader of Opposition advised the Government to revamp its tax regime and create an enabling environment for investment and enterprise.
“The government must focus on stimulating production rather than consumption,” he said.
