Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) on Wednesday engaged different political parties in the country on issues of water and energy.
The event took place in Lilongwe and it was graced by the Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola.
Speaking after the opening of the workshop, Matola said the workshop is very crucial in as far as issues of water and energy are concerned because parties are the ones that form Government hence the need to engage them on these important issues.
“This workshop is very important because it is touching on two critical issues. When we are talking about water in sustainable goal number 6 it is stipulated that by 2030 all Malawians should have safe and portable clean water but also when you are looking at energy sector we are talking about the vision 2063 and the President made an emphasis in Parliament that Malawi should have 1000 megawatts come 2025, and indeed there should be other sources of energy. However, on issues of energy, energy is a driver of economy and we are going to try our best to save Malawians,” said Matola.
Matola added that the workshop of political parties is important because political parties are the ones which make manifestos which are required to be aligned with the vision 2063.
In his remarks, Augustine Magolowondo Regional Director at Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) said they thought it is wise to engage political parties on issues of water and energy because political parties are institutions that make policy decisions and these policy decisions concern delivery of services to people.
“If we look at the issues that concern the people, issues of water and energy are critical so in connecting political parties to issues of water and energy, what we are saying as Democracy Works Foundation is that, as a political party seeks power it should think about the people, think about energy, think about water but most importantly think about access to these resources and we are talking not just about water, we are talking about clean water. So, we are basically trying to connect political parties to the issues that they must deliver on,” he said.
He added that political parties in many aspects are not connected in policy making and policy formulation and this is part of their own making because parties are election driven and not so much policy driven.
Magolowondo noted that even where a part is policy driven, there is very little of policy discussion that happens in political parties.
“Often time the kind of politics we have had and witnessed has not really been what one call as issue based policy based and this is what we want to change, we want political parties that realize their role in society they can actually formulate their own policy as a political party, even as a party in opposition they can have a policy on energy, they can have a policy on agriculture. The point is if you are a party you are either governing or you are ready to govern and in both cases you must have clearly articulated the policies on issues you stand for,” said Magolowondo.
On his part, Secretary General for United Democratic Front (UDF) Kandi Padambo who is also Chairperson of the Malawi Reference Group Under Democracy Works Foundation noted that it is very crucial that political parties are capacitated to ensure that leaders have the necessary skills and they have the necessary knowledge and they are provided with updated information to make sure that they have policies which are inclusive and responsive to the needs of citizens.
“These political parties will form parties in Government and they are also going to form parties in opposition both of whom play a very critical role in making sure that the policies that they formed and that are being implemented by Government are subjected to scrutiny and ensuring transparency and accountability. So it is very important that political Parties should be involved in issues of water and energy,” said Padambo.
Six parties with representatives in Parliament took part in the workshop and they include DPP, UTM, MCP, PP, AFORD and UDF.
