Former Minister of Finance in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Joseph Mwanamvekha says the 25 percent devaluation on the kwacha has been made without considering the welfare of the people, and that it will not solve anything in the economy because it has been announced in haste which forex holders will leverage on.
Mwanamvekha says when DPP assumed power after 2014 elections when the Peoples Party was embroiled in cashgate, they undertook serious austerity measures to feel the pain with the people.
He said the president at that time, Peter Mutharika, his vice president and cabinet ministers had their salaries reduced public spending.
Apart from that, Mwanamvekha says the DPP grounded government vehicles to tame unnecessary internal travel and foreign travel was limited to three times a year, and the president was not travelling for three years until the economy stabilized.
Mwanamvekha says the opposite is happening with the current administration, when the economy is shrinking, there is no austerity measures to save on public resources and the president and his officials are traveling without care.
“During the economic crisis after cashgate, we raised a minimum wage from K35 000 to K45 000 to cushion low- income earners. This amount may seem small today, but it was significant that time given the salaries that prevailed,” Mwanamvekha said.