Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has described President Lazarus Chakwera’s address to the nation as an empty talk-shop where he comes guns blazing, “projecting the image that he is the lion when he is, in fact, a cat”.
According to a statement made available to this publication, Nankhumwa said the President missed an opportunity to bring Malawians up to speed on issues that are currently critical to the nation and affecting their daily lives.
“Once again, President Chakwera chose to speak with a forked tongue on issues where he needed to be explicit for Malawians to know what the government they voted for is doing on critical issues involving public resources.
“I had expected the President Chakwera to tackle issues roundly and in depth. It is very unfortunate that the President, once again, missed that opportunity.
“I wish to reiterate that firing Lobin Lowe alone is not going to make food and water adequately available in prisons. Malawians are struggling to buy a bag of maize at K22, 000, more so a bag of fertilizer at K70, 000. Malawians are struggling to pay school fees for their children and dependents; they are buying a packet of brown sugar at K1, 500; power blackouts are the order of the day; and generally, the cost of living has become unbearable. The President may have considered addressing matters directly affecting peoples livelihood,” reads part of the statement.
He urged Chakwera to immediately and as a matter of urgency, call for an all inclusive national consultative conference where all stakeholders such as religious leaders, the academia, the business community, university student representative, traditional leaders, civil service representative, human rights defenders, and political party leaders, among others, should be invited.
The main objective of such a conference, he said, would be to create a common platform for common solutions to our common national challenges.
