By Cedric Nkungula
President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera says he is aware of the pain that Malawians have been subjected to, following the tough economic decisions that his administration has implemented recently.
About a week ago, the Chakwera led administration adjusted the buying and selling of the local currency Kwacha against the United States (US) Dollar by a 44 percent margin.
In his address to the nation on Wednesday 15th November 2023, Chakwera said the road to economic recovery may be tough but assured Malawians that a joyful harvest will soon come.
Chakwera explained that the principles and practices on which the Malawi economy had been built on previously were so unsound like a dislocated bone hence the tough decisions to create economic liberation.
“I know that all of you are feeling the agony of the painful corrections we have had to make in order to give our economy a fresh start and I want you to know that I have not made these painful corrections lightly. At my inauguration on Independence Day three years ago, I carried in my heart the heavy burden of knowing that you had trusted me to correct the mistakes in economic management I had inherited. In that moment, I knew that I had the choice of either telling you the truth about how bad things were or continuing the lies of the past that claimed that our economy was built on sound principles and practices,” said the Malawi leader.
“But I chose to tell you the truth that day, which is why I told you that the principles and practices our economy had been built on previously were so unsound like a dislocated bone that even correcting them to create economic liberation would cause enormous pain for all of you. That pain I spoke of is the pain we are all feeling now and that pain is going to continue for the next few months as we complete the process of putting the dislocated bones back into place. But once this short painful season of sowing ends, I assure you that a season of joyful harvest will come.”
However, President Chakwera cautioned Malawians that the joyful harvest will only come if the country puts the fresh opportunity for international support to good use.
“The choice is ours. And this is not the first time we are having to make this choice. In September 2006, after two years in office and struggling to make progress economically because of high levels of debt, the late President Bingu and Malawi were given a fresh start when the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced the cancellation of our international debt and in the two years that followed, that fresh start was put to good use and Malawi’s economy began to rebound,” he added.
“However, after the elections of 2009, the gains started being squandered as people developed insatiable appetites for spending on consumption and neglecting to invest in production, including a presidential order to the banks to allow people to cash government checks at commercial banks without any controls. The result was cashgate and the loss of the international budget support we had received in 2006 which we have never gotten back until now.”
