Leader of Opposition in the national assembly Kondwani Nankhumwa has threatened to lead nationwide demonstrations if President Lazarus Chakwera, within the next 14 days, fails to address social economic challenges the country is passing through.
Nankhumwa who is also the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice president for the South, was speaking this on Thursday afternoon at a media briefing in Blantyre which was under the theme; ‘Malawi’s Destiny Under Tonse Administration: Asking the Critical Questions’.
At the press briefing, Nankhumwa said Malawi is currently erupting under the weight of poor leadership and currently so many things are going south because the country is now on autopilot.
The leader of opposition asked President Chakwera to immediately address shortage of foreign currency which he said has led to fuel scarcity in the country leaving Malawians helpless.
Nankhumwa articulated that one of the reasons why this country is facing a fuel crisis is because of the lack of an efficient logistical and administration system of bringing fuel products in the country.
He further urged the Malawi President to resolve electricity blackouts which he said have caused a lot of assets and human capital to remain unproductive claiming the citizenry is now spending their time either waiting for electricity or looking for fuel.
Nankhumwa continued by blaming Chakwera for his love of traveling saying looking at the current economic situation, the first citizen was supposed to completely cut off some of his trips which he said is not the case.
The DPP vice president then threatened to mobilize various groups and Malawians at large to nationwide demonstrations if President Chakwera fails to address some of the concerns which he raised at the press briefing.
“I wish to conclude by asking President Lazarus Chakwera to comprehensively attend to the issues raised herein within the next 14 days. If he does not do that, I wish to warn the President and his administration that I will lead national demonstrations, and I am prepared to mobilize the faith community, traditional leaders, Civil Society Organizations and the general citizenry to participate in such protests,” said Nankhumwa.
On nepotism, Nankhumwa said it is a fact that this country is facing many of these challenges because the Tonse Alliance administration made it a silent policy to sideline some qualified and experienced people from public service simply because they come from the Southern Region where the alliance is not popular.
He further explained that government contracts are now predominantly given to businesses that are owned by people from one region, or those who are friends of the ruling elite which he said should not be condoned.
He also faulted President Chakwera for not being fully committed on the fight against corruption saying the president’s speeches put him on top of the fight against corruption while his actions always tell a different story.
“He supports Martha Chizuma in public and stabs her back behind the scenes. Chizuma’s recent public statement to the effect that she is being harassed by members of the Tonse Alliance administration attests to this, and underlines the fact that the corruption fight by President Chakwera and his administration is only just on paper,” he added.
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