Press statement THE GOVERNMENT MUST WALK THE TALK INTRODUCTION The Forum for National Development (FND) has noted that barely two months after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) got to power and His Excellency, Prof. Peter Mutharika was sworn in as the 5th President of the republic of Malawi, there has already been a shift in terms of promises that the DPP and indeed the President made during the campaign and immediately after assuming office. BOLD PROMISES MADE BY THE DPP The DPP in a bid to gain trust of Malawians made exciting promises to the nation which led to them being voted into power. Some of the promises included; a 50% salary increment to Civil Servants; the much touted 50% subsidy for Cement and iron sheets; the pledge to open Nsanje Inland port immediately on assuming office; and immediately opening of Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST). To our surprises, these bold promises are either shifting or have not been fulfilled as promised. For instance, the 50% salary increment to Civil Servants has been drastically reduced to 8% and yet to be implemented without a proper timeframe. Nsanje inland port continues to be a sorry sight and MUST is still not opened. The cement and iron sheet 50% reduction has started to be called targeted for the poor yet even the President in his State of Nation Address, he never alluded to the fact that this subsidy to iron sheets and cement was to be targeted and we quote “Mr. Speaker, Sir, every Malawian citizen has the right to decent housing. In this regard, my Administration will subsidize prices of iron sheets and cement so that people can afford to build their own houses” WALKING THE TALK The FND notes that the government and indeed the President has talked a lot of national building and moving forward with unity of purpose which unfortunately is not matched with the actions. The president promised to free the civil service and we quote “We will make sure that the Civil Service is non-partisan and serves the Government of the day…….We will also ensure that no civil servant is victimized because of change of Government’ It is therefore worrisome that the actions taken so far are in direct contrast to what was said. In the past few weeks, we have already noted civil servants and indeed other senior government officials being victimized as a result of change of government. Already there has been mass dismissals in the government and other public offices of people and we have in mind such institutions like the Police, the Malawi Defense Force, Office of the President and Cabinet, Foreign Missions, the Ministry of Information, the State Residences and many more institutions. The DPP-led Government pledge to reduce the concentration of power in the presidency, especially as it relates to the appointment and removal of heads of Governance Institutions and Parastatals, whilst the evidence on the ground has proved otherwise as the president continues to exert much power in the appointment and firing of individuals in the same institutions. We have also noted that the DPP-led government has already started abusing public resources by not separating party and government business. In the past two years, we could not see government vehicles carrying party supporters let alone party vehicles using government fuel. Just these two months, the trend has been reversed where government and parastatal vehicles are already being used by party zealots and, party vehicles fueling using government resources, this has to stop immediately While appreciating the good pledges that the President has outlined in the managing the affairs of the country, we are not pleased by the pledge to continue with the policies of the previous DPP-led government as stated in the state of national address and we quote “We will continue from where we left in 2012…. No sane Malawian would want the DPP or any government to begin from where the previous DPP left in 2012. Because, truth be told, 2009 – 2012 rule of the DPP was characterized with poor economic policies, draconian laws, autocratic governance, murder and arbitrary arrest of opposing views and imposition of unpopular policies on Malawians. Now that the current government wants to start from where it left, sends shivers to our spine and ask what is it they want to promote? Lack of forex? Scarce fuel? Erratic electricity? NEPOTISM IN PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS MUST STOP In the few firings and appointments already made, we have noted element of nepotism which if not checked can breed hatred among the people. The government ought to understand that no tribe let a region in Malawi is more equal than others. The southern region and indeed the Lhomwe belt is dominating in the appointments as compared to the Centre and Northern region; The following are some of the key appointments done so far in the regions; Southern Region: Cabinet Ministers; Mwanamveka (Chiradzulu), Msaka (Machinga), Gowelo (Blantyre), Chibingu (Mwanza), Chaponda (Mulanje), Fabiano (Chiradzulu), Chiyembekeza (Thyolo), Nakhumwa (Mulanje), Mussa (Chiradzulu), Kasaila (Nsanje), Muluzi (Machinga), Tembenu (Thyolo), Kaphale (Chiradzulu), and Kaliyati (Mulanje). Head of NIB; Nicholas Dausi (Mwanza), MDF Commander; General Maulana (Zomba), Deputy Commander; General Sipuni (Mulanje), Chief of Staff for MDF; Major General Chimowa (Balaka), Deputy Inspector General (Operations); Kanyama (Balaka) Director of Information; Gerlad Viola (Nsanje), Guard Commander; Duncan Mwapasa (Chiradzulu) Press Secretary; Fredrick Mdala (Thyolo) Press Officers; Justice Mponda (Thyolo) Sylvester Namiwa (Mulanje) Chikundi Juma (Mulanje) Gloria Masanza (Mulanje) Chief Secretary, Willie Samute (Zomba) Director of State Residence, Peter Mukhitho (Chiradzulu) Chief of Staff, State Residences, Ben Phiri (Thyolo) Executive Director, Safe Motherhood, Chimwemwe Chipungu (Thyolo) Commissioner General – MRA, Raphael Kamoto (Chiradzulu) Deputy Commissioner General -MRA, Roza Mbililidzi (Nsanje), Director of Events, Scholastic Chidyaonga (Thyolo) Chief of Protocol, Mr. Chris Kandulu (Mulanje) Chief Economic Advisor, Dr. Collins Magalasi (Mulanje) Central & Norther Region: Cabinet; Kalilani (Dowa), Gondwe (Mzimba,) Chiume (Nkhatabay), Mhango (Chitipa, Deputy Press Secretary; Timpunza Mwansambo (Kasungu), Deputy Inspector General (Admin); Kachama (Lilongwe), Guard Commander – VP; Gulo (Dedza) FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION The FND would want to sincere congratulate the Government’s current commitment to fighting corruption and of course cashgate as outlined in the inaugural and state of national address. This gives hope to Malawi in the fight against theft, fraud and mismanagement of public resources. It is therefore very prudent for the government to ensure that corruption, fraud and theft of public resources is dealt with decisively and without fear or favour. Any person or institutions involved in the malpractices both in the past and present have to be brought to justice. The government will be taken seriously if they start dealing with all outstanding issues including putting to bed issues like the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) Housing Scam, the Lilongwe City Council housing scam, the 2010 K410million kwacha case, the cashgate cases including the K92billion kwacha and the K13billion Baker Tilly report. It is imperative that in dealing with cashgate, the government MUST deal with all cases related to the same and just as the past parliament adopted all reports related to the same, the government must do its part and ensure that the K92billion kwacha mismanaged in the previous DPP rule, the K13billion kwacha in the Peoples Party (PP) and any other fraud in the past governments is dealt with PROMOTION OF WOMEN Just as the government has made a commitment to the promotion of women as we quote from the state of the national address “Mr. Speaker, Sir, my Administration is, therefore, determined to promote the status of women through affirmative action, empowerment initiatives and skills development” We implore the government to seriously walk the talk. Presently the government has replaced women in critical positions (Head of Civil service, Safe motherhood, Police, Public events etc) with men and also has only appointed 3 women in the cabinet of 20 people. This does not auger well with the commitment made towards women empowerment. COMPESATE 20 JULY VICTIM, PURSUE JUSTICE FOR CHASOWA, AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS The FND would like to call upon the current DPP government to exonerate itself from the past human rights issues which put a dent on its human rights record. To this effect we call upon the government to compensate the 20 July victims who died during peaceful demonstrations. Further the government should take a bold step to investigate and bring to justice the murders of Robert Chasowa which is also synonymous with the past DPP rule. May it also take a stand to pursue justice for the perpetrators of arson attacks on human rights defenders during the previous DPP rule. Only when the current DPP - led government will address these human rights issues, then Malawians and indeed the entire world will accept them as a changed party. CONCLUSION It is imperative that the president should act more than talk and to borrow from the words of Late President Bingu wa Mutharika, let the works of his hands speak for him not his unfulfilled promises or words. The FND would like to inform the government that there is no honeymoon in dealing with issues affecting Malawians. As a civil society, we are going to provide alternative voice and will continue to remind the government to deliver on its promises. Signed Fryson Chodzi NATIONAL COORDINATOR
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:39:45 +0000
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