By Vincent Gunde
President and Commander in Chief of Muvi wa Chilungamo Revolutionary Party (MRP) Bantu Saunders Jumah, says President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera is running Malawi as an absent landlord who cannot be on the ground to face consequences or feel the heat.
Jumah said Chakwera is a clueless leader who has run out of ideas about the welfare of the country and the people observing that Malawi economic woes needs and requires patriotic leaders that are prepared to swallow a bitter pill and be ready to sacrifice their honeymoon.
In his response to Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola’s Mid- Year Budget Review delivered in Parliament, Jumah said the entire budget continued to depend IMF and World Bank saying the MCP government cannot read the writing on the wall that the institutions are playing chess with Malawi Government and all its people.
Jumah said President Chakwera is visibly showing that he has no clue on how the economy can be turned around when he instructed Chithyola Bnda to put up modalities over how his government can resuscitate the country’s economy that has been nosediving ever since he ascended into power.
He said President Chakwera was supposed to lead by example by directing his Minister of Finance and the entire Cabinet that the first step towards economic recovery is hard-core austerity measures must start with State House and Cabinet at Capital Hill.
The MRP President said Chakwera was supposed to rise up to the occasion and impose self-punishment policies that must reduce each and every expense starting with Cabinet trimming from 28 to 14, reduce the number of Principal Secretaries saying most of them are just reading newspapers in offices.
“An economy that is failing cannot afford 65 Principal Secretaries, bloated presidential advisors, bloated entourages accompanying the president to foreign trips and a convoy of over 30 vehicles per trip,” reads Jumah’s response in part.
He said this is the time when President Chakwera could announce salary cuts, freezing of all allowances, fuel or airtime allowances to political officers, the President cutting his salary to 50 percent, all international and local trips suspended with the same appeal to Parliament and to the Judiciary.
Jumah has finally said Malawi’s economy is in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), it is dying, Malawians need to send it to the theatre and operated on but unfortunately, Malawi has a president who care less and has no clue about governance and state affairs.
