Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa has been left confused after President Lazarus Chakwera delivered his State Of the Nation Address on Friday, 17th February, 2023 at Parliament Building in the capital Lilongwe to mark the 1st meeting of the 50th session of of the budget meeting.
Nankhumwa who seems not to have understood what President Chakwera delivered through the SONA, has come in open to call the Address empty, adding that it has been a repeat of what Chakwera has been saying since 2020.
But going through the State Of the Nation Address, it is clear that President Chakwera was addressing the current situation of the country’s economy and its citizens.
In his SONA, President Chakwera has outlined a number of challenges the country is going through and remedies that his administration is undertaking to cushion Malawians from facing more economic and social challenges. For instance, the President admitted that the country’s economy is in bad state and that the Affordable Inputs Programme for this growing season had challenges, but has come out clearly to outline that reforms will be taken to make sure the AIP becomes success.
Further, in the SONA Chakwera outlined the measures his administration has taken to cushion millions of Malawian households who may not meet the food requirement during 2022/23 consumption period, saying since November his office through DoDMA and humanitarian partners rolled out a programme called Food Insecurity Response which is providing food assistance through Cash transfer and In-kind relief maize distribution.
President Chakwera has also outlined how his administration tends to make mining industry a priority area of economic success for Malawi, while also improving in other areas like trade, health, tourism, and education among others including country’s security.
It is not yet known what will Nankhumwa say in his response to the SONA on Monday, February 20,2023 having failed to take notes from the President Chakwera’ SONA titled “Delivering Economic Transformation and Governance Reform through Sacrificial Action and Service Excellence” which is continuing to attract praises and positive comments from commentators on various national issues.
