President Chakwera as a master of 100 lies, anomalies and controversies

By Rick Dzida.

1. Chakwera lied that he would resign within 2 years if he doesn’t bring solutions to Malawi’s problems. Amid economic turmoil and worsening skyrocketing of essential goods and services under his watch, Chakwera is not ashamed to seek his second term.
2. Recently in his state of nation address, Chakwera lied that his government has constructed a mortuary in Bolero.
3. According to member of parliament for Rumphi west constituency, Jonas Mkandawire, no new Kamphenda health centre has been constructed, contrary to Chakwera’s claims.
4. Chakwera also claimed that 24 police houses were constructed in Likoma. This is a blue lie.
5. It has been established that the construction of 28 police houses was not completed contradicting Chakwera’s lies.
6. Pathetic that there are no claimed 29 houses for security staff in Phalombe. Chakwera lied to the nation.
7. Construction of Malomo Community Day Secondary School in Ntchisi is not yet complete. Chakwera chose to lie to Malawians again.
8. Reports on the ground reveal that the construction of Namiyasi and Misolo health care in Mangochi has not been completed. Chakwera lied too.
9. President lies between his teeth that the construction of Finiyasi and Liston health post in Chakwera is also finished.
10. Upon ascending to power, Chakwera promised Malawians that he would reshuffle his cabinet. Despite the death of his cabinet ministers including Sidik Mia, he reshuffled a mini cabinet after over a year.
11. Chakwera promised Malawians that he would not be the Chancellor of public university. Currently, he is.
12. Chakwera still appoints board of directors contrary to his campaign promises.
13. Chakwera personally promised Malawians that the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) would be headed by a foreign expatriate to enhance its independence. Since he took power, ACB has been led by an indigenous Malawian.
14. President Chakwera promised Malawians that they would be accessing cheap fertilizer. On the contrary, high prices of fertilizer have frustrated Malawians into economic abyss.
15. Chakwera lied that he would fight and eradicate nepotism. Currently, Chakwera’s daughter, Veronica is at British embassy despite having questionable credentials.
16. Chakwera preached against regionalism. On the contrary, most Chakwera’s appointments are from Central region from where Chakwera comes.
17. In his recent address, Chakwera lied to Malawians that the construction of Chizani and Chamalala health centres in Mzimba have reached its final phase.
18. President Chakwera claimed that 18 kilometres of Nyika road has been completed when in actual fact, only one kilometre has been constructed.
19. The President also lied that MK600 million had been disbursed to the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) loans. In reality, only MK 150 million has been made available.
20. Chakwera lied in his recent Sona that Lake Malawi belongs entirely belongs to Malawi when his minister, Moses Kunkuyu was publicly seen receiving a new map depicting Lake Malawi being part of Tanzania .
21. Chakwera lied to Malawians that the military plane carrying Chilima had reached Mzuzu before it crashed contradicting the report of commission of inquiry on the same.
22. Last year, President Chakwera lied to the nation that he had suspended all domestic and foreign trips till March 2024 as part of following economic austerity measures. A few days later, he announced that he would attend an inaugural ceremony of the President of Democratic Republic of Congo.
23. President Chakwera promised a lean cabinet. Unfortunately his first cabinet composed of 30 members with husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and other appeased persons.
24. Hypocrisy is the order of the day for Chakwera’s government. Soon after taking over power, President Chakwera and Saulos Chilima sent his daughter and his mother-in-law for diplomatic missions respectively. This smacks of day-light and open practice of nepotism.
25. It is unfortunate that Chakwera’s government is replete with unprecedented corruption when they promised to crackdown on the same vice. Currently, some former cabinet ministers such as Newton Kambala and Kezzie Msukwa are answering corruption charges.
26. During the campaign period, Malawians were promised cheap and affordable fertiliser. Much as we don’t expect prices of goods and services to remain constant but the prices of fertiliser and other farm inputs have exponentially gone high.
27. Instead of creating one million jobs within one year of Tonse Alliance administration as promised, over 600,000 Malawians lost their jobs during the said period.
28. Most Malawians are struggling to make ends meet under the tutelage of President Chakwera. This is contrary to the promises that Malawi would be food secure to the extent that every Malawian would afford to have three meals a day.
29. With the continuous Kwacha devaluation, education in Malawi has become a privilege only to the elite. Many students are dropping out of school due to non-payment of fees.
30. President Chakwera promised Malawians that he would improve the healthcare system once in power. It is pathetic to note that there are no essential drugs in our public health facilities. Many Malawians have lost their lives and relatives due to treatable illnesses.
31. During the campaign period, Chakwera and his team were propagating lies that there was no Covid 19 in Malawi. As a result, many Malawians died from Covid 19 since they interacted freely during campaign rallies. The demise of Joyce Banda’s son and Chilima’s official secretary are notable examples.
32. It is pathetic that some elderly Malawians have died without accessing the promised government monthly stipend. These are the people who voted for Chakwera in anticipation of this promise.
33. Malawians were promised bullet trains that would be plying from Mzuzu through Lilongwe to Blantyre. Much as we do not expect that all promises to be accomplished within a few years, the Tonse Alliance government is clueless on how this project will be implemented.
34. The highly touted cheap passports have not seen the light of the day. Instead, the price of passports has exponentially gone up. In addition, one needs to corrupt an officer for expeditious passport processing.
35. Malawians were duped that they would access driver licences that don’t expire. On the contrary, the price of getting a driver licence is exorbitantly high.
36. Many Malawians are still paying for new water connection contrary to what was promised. Unfortunately, water tariffs have gone up too.
37. New electricity connection is not yet free. Instead, the Electricity Supply of Malawi (ESCOM) raised electricity tariffs making the life of Malawians further harder.
38. Primary school education is not yet compulsory. Although it is free, there are some additional expenses which pupils are obliged to pay. In other words, primary school education is not entirely free.
39. The much-touted duty-free week is not accessible to all Malawians. It seems that it is staged to benefit a few individuals.
40. The Tonse Alliance promise of universal fertilizer subsidy meant that all farmers were supposed to be the end beneficiaries. Reports on ground zero indicate that a few farmers received subsidised fertiliser amid controversies that most suppliers or transport contractors are MCP diehards.
41. President Chakwera has not demonstrated servant leadership at all contrary to the campaign promises. If Chakwera is a servant leader, why was he forced to stop over a funeral procession in Blantyre last year? Why didn’t Chakwera consider the plight of poor Malawians before devaluing the Kwacha?
42. Prospering together as part of MCP Hi 5 slogan has proved to be a scam. Frankly speaking, Malawians are not prospering together. Chakwera and his Tonse Alliance gurus are accumulating a lot of wealth at the expense of poor Malawians whose means of living are getting harder and harder at the end of each day.
43. With rampant nepotism, appeasement policy, tribalism and regionalism practised by the Tonse Alliance regime in accessing opportunities, Malawians are not united contrary to MCP Hi 5 slogan.
44. It is true that regionalism has taken the centre stage under the tutelage of Reverend Dr Lazarus Chakwera. Most cabinet ministers, Principal Secretaries, Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of Statutory Corporations come from the Central region.
45. Megafarms have not been launched in most of the districts. Not even bare ground for megafarms has not been identified in all districts.
46. Chakwera government has been faulted for not being open and transparent. It is replete with secrets. Why wasn’t Chakwera government transparent in exporting labour to a war-torn country, Israel?
47. There are times when President Chakwera flouted laid down procedures. This is contrary to following rule of law as was promised in MCP Hi 5 slogan.
48. Upon ascendancy to power, President Chakwera appointed John Biziwiki as the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Marawi Revenue Authority (MRA). The normal procedure was for President Chakwera to appoint the new acting Chief Executive Officer from within MRA organogram.
49. During the presidential swearing ceremony of President Chakwera in 2020, there were two venues planned for the function. When Malawians queried Chakwera that two venues for same function wasted government resources, he promised them a financial report would be prepared and all Malawians would be availed with the same. Up to now, such a report has not seen the light of the day.
50. The Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA), Mr. Henry Kachaje is still clinging to his job despite the fact that the Office of the Ombudsman found that he has a masters degree from a diploma mill.
51. Poor fiscal and monetary policies followed by Chakwera regime have plunged Malawi into an economic abyss.
52. It smacked of total insanity when Chakwera government cancelled the International monetary fund (IMF) credit facility clinched by the DPP regime only to apply for another one. The Chakwera regime could have used the existing IMF facilities with a view of applying for another one after its expiry.
53. It is pathetic that President Chakwera changed the name of Phalombe district hospital to John Chilembwe Hospital. If President Chakwera wanted to honour John Chilembwe, he could have built a national hospital in Chilembwe’s name.
54. It is only during Chakwera’s regime when corruption in the judiciary has reached unprecedented levels. Judges and Justices who are suspected of being involved in corruption are left scot free to preside over corruption cases.
55. It is therefore not surprising that corruption suspects such as Kezzie Msukwa have been granted court orders to restrain the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) from prosecuting them.
56. The Speaker of the National Assembly is another thorn in the flesh as she is biased and political. How could the Speaker Mrs. Catherine Gotani Hara take part in choosing the leader of opposition in parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa.
57. The bad appeasement policy followed by President has diluted the quality of public delivery services. The business-as-usual mentality has crippled Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
58. Poor public service delivery has been exacerbated by high incidents of corrupt practices in Immigration, Road Traffic and Health government departments.
59. Selective justice is the order of the day for Chakwera’s government. Late Vice President Saulos Chilima who was answering corruption charges was not the only culprit of bribery and corruption. Some MCP diehards such as Eisenhower Mkaka, the erstwhile Secretary General of the ruling MCP was shielded from being prosecuted by ACB. Till now, Hon. Mkaka is being suspected of receiving a bribery in the form of Mercedes-Benz from a British business tycoon, Zuneth Sattar.
60. Chakwera government continues to waste government resources to compensate victims of unfair dismissals and arrests. For instance, according to an industrial court ruling, the former State House Press Officer, Brian Banda was compensated with MK103 Million Kwacha for unfair dismissal.
61. It is very pathetic that President Chakwera has exuded no visionary and transformative leadership. President Chakwera’s laissez faire style of leadership leaves a lot to be desired. No wonder most MDAs casually operate with the business-as-usual mentality because President Chakwera thinks that he is more like a traffic officer rather than the driver of the nation.
62. Chakwera government is well known for squandering government resources without sticking to the budget. This is also the reason why our domestic and foreign debts have insanely and exponentially gone high.
63. The six-year tenure of office for Members of Parliament is unconstitutional. It is supposed to be a five- year term in accordance with the Malawi Constitution. Didn’t President Chakwera vow to defend the Malawi Constitution?
64. It is funny that it is during Chakwera regime that the same term ‘majority’ is being applied differently to determine the winner of parliamentary and presidential elections which are conducted concurrently.
65. Hunger has stricken Malawians again and they are going to bed on empty stomach while we have large water bodies of Lake Malawi which could have been effectively used for the irrigation scheme much touted by Chakwera regime.
66. Chakwera lied that his government would establish a new police academy as a strategy to equip police personnel with crime detection, investigation and prosecution advanced skills
67. Chakwera lied that his government would strengthen the capacity of Malawi’s military so that they can competently defend this country. On the contrary, Lake Malawi is on the verge of being overtaken by Tanzania.
68. Chakwera promised Malawians that his government would ensure equitable and meritorious distribution of appointments to diplomatic missions. On the contrary, Chakwera government has filled such positions largely from the ruling Malawi Congress Party .
69. There is no state of the art national netball complex contrary to Chakwera’s promises.
70. Many Malawians are dying in hospitals due to negligence or unhygienic practices or lack of basic health care facilities.
71. Many foreigners still own land contrary to Chakwera’s promises.
72. No modern bus terminals in every district across the country have been established yet.
73. No bank to give credit to the youth and women has been set up yet.
74. President Chakwera has been criss-crossing the country instead of working from the Capital Hill Office in a regular basis as promised.
75. ADMARC is not fully functional contrary to the promises that its operations would be revitalised.
76. President Chakwera chose to keep public sector reform report private which entails that he showed no political will to transform the public sector.
77. There is still political interference in the operations of Public service Commission.
78. No graduate recruitment scheme for the public service has been established yet contrary to Chakwera’s promises.
79. At the end of the Chakwera’s first term, Government services have not been fully automated yet.
80. Twenty percent of the national budget has not been devolved to local councils yet.
81. Politics still take the centre stage in the operations of chiefs.
82. Prosecution of corruption cases is still selective, biased and partial.
83. Some government senior officers and cabinet ministers have not yet declared their assets contrary to Chakwera’s promise.
84. It is clear that the MCP-led government has tolerated and entertained corruption in spite of its promise of zero tolerance towards this vice. It is widely believed that President Chakwera has become one of the richest persons in Malawi all of a sudden.
85. There is still political interference in the operations of Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation (MBC) with its Chief Executive Officer, George Kasakula, publicly displaying his MCP colours
86. The judiciary is still not fully automated contrary to Chakwera’s promises.
87. Intelligence agencies still operate under mediocre conditions as President Chakwera can easily be told lies without being discovered.
88. The size of the presidential convoy has not been reduced to less than 10 contrary to what Chakwera promised.
89. Traffic continues to be disrupted when the president is passing by on our road networks.
90. There is no performance based contract as was promised regarding cabinet ministers and they continue working even of they are incompetent.
91. There is no tangible debt management initiatives contrary to what was promised. Instead of reducing domestic and external debt from MK3.6 trillion to MK1 trillion, the current total debt is pegged at over MK15 trillion.
92. There is not effective monetary policy that can sustain low rates of inflation contrary to what was promised.
93. There is still political interference in the operations of the Reserve Bank of Malawi thereby contradicting Chakwera’s promises.
94. No irrigatable hectarage has been raised from 29% to over 50% at the end of Chakwera’s first term contrary to what was promised.
95. There is no political will to promote agricultural mechanisation contrary to Chakwera’s promises.
96. Tourist industry still remains unexplored and underdeveloped contradicting Chakwera’s promises.
97. No new tourist cities have been developed along Lake Malawi in Karonga, Salima and Mangochi contrary to what Chakwera promised.
98. Some primary learners are still learning under the tree contrary to the assurance that every child would have access to good learning environment
99. No laws to criminalise harmful cultural practices have been enacted yet contrary to Chakwera’s claims.
100. The construction of Mombera University still remains a white elephant.