Leader of the opposition (LoP) in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has said President Lazarus Chakwera is failing to take hard sacrifices to fix the economic crisis this country is going through.
He was speaking in Parliament at the end of the 2nd meeting in the 50th session.
Currently, Malawi is riddled with acute shortages of forex and fuel, with comodities prices rising sky high each passing day.
“Many Malawians will agree with me that our economy is currently in ICU. Malawi is currently in a pigeonhole of significant economic challenges including high unemployment rates, high inflation, and a widening wealth gap. Malawians are struggling just to put food on their table.
“A bag of maize is hovering at MK40, 000, and not affordable by a majority of families across the country. Prices of basic commodities such as soap, sugar, cooking oil and everything in between continue to rise. As I am talking, there are long queues at filling stations across the country due to the lack of fuel, as a result of forex scarcity. From the look of things, it appears the problem has come to stay.
“Global challenges have always been there. They will always be there. But as a country, we will not blame anyone for what we did or did not do. Every dark cloud, Madam Speaker, has a silver lining, and we will be overtaken if we do not take our opportunities.
“I am not sure if this is still the prevailing thinking in the former Leader of Opposition. I do not intend this to be a laughing matter but if all of us, Malawians, should rise to help, President Lazarus Chakwera and his government must take hard sacrifices to fix this crisis. At the moment, they are not.
“This is not an afternoon of long speeches, but I wish to firmly ask the President to take decisive measures to stop the bleeding. I am sure he can see it. The least he can do is to walk his own talk,” he said
He called on Chakwera to implement his own government’s austerity measures to prevent spending by reducing or even stopping local and international travelling.
