Gender Mr Speaker, Sir, His Excellency’s speech does not have much on gender apart from commitment that His government would try its best to achieve the 50-50 SADC Declaration Campaign. We welcome the government’s desire to promote the status of women through affirmative action, empowerment initiatives and skills development. However, we also note the lack of detailed policy actions necessary to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. The State of the Nation Address needs to demonstrate that the DPP government will build on the achievements of the PP government. Under the PP government Malawi has had the first ever female Chief Justice, first ever female Chief Secretary, first ever female Solicitor General, first ever female Law Commissioner, first ever female Chair of Human Rights Commission; 9 female Judges; 8 female District Commissioners and several female Principal Secretaries. Persons with Disabilities Mr Speaker, Sir, we welcome the strong policy direction defined in the speech; this will go a long way in supporting improvements in the lives of persons with disabilities. However, we believe that what now needs to be done to promote the welfare of persons with disabilities is to allocate resources to the dissemination of the Disability Act passed in 2012. We acknowledge the fact that it is a solid Act, but its real impact depends on effective dissemination, monitoring application of the Act by stakeholders and ensuring that the people it stands for are also fully aware of the rights and services the Act provides so they are able to claim them from a position of understanding, Mr Speaker, Sir, we further request the Government to empower the courts, the police and other regulatory institutions that deal with issues of discrimination against persons with disabilities to start policing the Act. Persons with disabilities must be given full voice to report rights violation and be sure that a mechanism is in use to address any claims. Public safety and security Mr. Speaker, Sir, we in PP are aware that recent political trends have posed a wide range of security threats to the development and wellbeing of our people. We are talking here about the recent Elections and the voting pattern, which if not properly looked into, will pose a very big security challenge for public safety. The way we voted poses a very big security challenge. Tribalism and regionalism is a security risk we as a country must be very careful about. Tribalism and regionalism have posed a wide range of security threats to the government and the people of Malawi. The country can borrow a political leaf from the people of Rwanda who experienced untold political miseries during the civil strife and tribal butchering of its people in 1994. Mr. Speaker Sir, Tribalism and regionalism can affect not only economic development but also reverse the democratic gains and spirit of 1993 National Referendum which ushered in multiparty democracy. Mr. Speaker Sir transforming community policing into citizens police as the DPP government says, does not in itself answer our security needs especially when issues of regionalism, tribalism and unemployment of our youth continue to persist. In fact there is a danger that such a Citizen’ Police might create a parallel structure to the existing Malawi Police Service. Agriculture Mr Speaker, Sir, aagriculture is indeed the driver of the economy of Malawi as pointed out by H.E. Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and the president should applauded for prioritizing the sector. While the farm input subsidy program should indeed continue, the program lacks an exit strategy. Although emphasis was placed on the most deserving citizen it should be realised that more than 80% of the rural people could be deemed deserving citizens. Therefore it is imperative that an exit strategy that aims at graduating these citizens to self reliance should be established. One such strategy is the loan scheme that allows able bodied people to get loans and be able to produce food and surplus for sale. Relying on the subsidy alone will not ensure food security in the country. In 2012 when PP came into power, 2 million Malawians were facing hunger. This year Malawi is harvesting 3.9 metric tonnes of maize against the annual requirement of 2.9 metric tonnes. Furthermore the savings made as a result of an exit strategy would be invested in agricultural extension, research and livestock development. Fish farming is indeed an important activity, but investment in construction of fishponds and dams should be matched with the protection of our catchment area. It is common knowledge, Mr. Speaker Sir that most rivers that used to flow through the year are now drying due to the destruction of the catchment areas and silting that is caused by poor agricultural practices. Mr Speaker, Sir, for both crops and livestock there is hardly any mention of commercializing agriculture. There is need to strike a balance between subsistence farming and commercial agriculture if Malawi is to be food secure but also for agriculture to generate foreign exchange and continue to be the engine of Malawi’s development. Finance and economic issues Mr Speaker, Sir, foundations for sound macro-economic position of our country have already been laid by the PP government. We expect the DPP government to build on these existing foundations. For instance, Mr Speaker, Sir, we have registered a 6% economic growth this past year as compared to the 1.8% growth we inherited from the DPP government in 2012. We further note the downward trend of inflation in recent months which the IMF projects will fall further to 9.7% by end of December 2014. We expect the DPP government policies to allow this trend to continue. It would be helpful for the government to provide a strong commitment to a free exchange rate so that Malawians do not revert to the situation of black markets and fuel queues experienced 2 years ago. Industry, Trade and Public Sector Development Mr Speaker, Sir, we applaud government on their idea to reintroduce the Best-Buy-Malawian campaign which was also introduced by the Kamuzu led MCP government in the 1980s. We believe that if this initiative is implemented successfully, it will have the effect of easing pressure on our hard earned foreign exchange reserves. We do however foresee two problems that government will have to overcome: 1. There is a deeply rooted perception among a good number of Malawians that products that are imported are of better quality than those that are produced in Malawi. Because we appreciate that this is the main reason for the proposed campaign, we would like to urge government to allocate enough human and monetary resources and civic education institutions like the National Initiative for Civic Education to ensure the success of this campaign. 2. People will not just buy Malawian products because they are Malawian products. Effort must be made to ensure that Malawian products are of equal or even superior quality to those products that are imported into the Malawian market. This would require deliberate effort from government to strengthen organizations like the Malawi Bureau of Standards to intensify their quality control and assurance operations to ensure that products that are being put into the market meet international standards. Further, capital needs of Malawian manufacturers will also need to be addressed so that they are able to acquire machinery that is required to enable them to produce the products of exceptional quality. We were hopeful that government would put into its plans measures to control the smuggling out of our agricultural and mining products. Mr Speaker, Sir, everyday crops such as groundnuts, pigeon peas, soya beans, most of which are included in the proposed “basket of commodities” are being bought from our hardworking farmers by unscrupulous businessmen masquerading as refugees. These so-called refugees acquire trading and export licenses, yes, even Malawian citizenship in their effort to deprive Malawi of resources that would otherwise have brought much needed foreign exchange. We would like to urge government to consider introducing tough measures to eliminate this practice. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Statement makes commitment to continue with the implementation of the National Export Strategy launched by the PP government in December 2012. However, on the establishment of a One-Stop Investment Centre we wish to remind government that the Centre already exists in the name of Malawi Investment, Trade Centre. We also wish to remind this government that the Council for long-term planning that they intend to establish already exists, instituted by the PP government in the name of the High Level Development Council. All this House needs to do is give this Council a legislative framework. Mr Speaker, Sir, another area of importance is the acquisition of capital. In order for the private sector to develop, there is need for the establishment of a source of affordable and easily accessible capital. At the moment, the only available place to access loans with which to finance capital is in the commercial bank. Loans in commercial banks are neither affordable nor accessible to the typical Malawian business especially Small and Medium Enterprises. In order for one to acquire capital loans, one has to undergo stringent scrutiny as well as provide collateral such as immovable property. In the rare event that one passes this scrutiny, the interest rates charged on these loans are completely unrealistic. At the prohibitive rates charged, businesses fail because they are unable to acquire capital financing or fail because they are unable to repay the loans because their businesses are unable to cope with the installments. So, Mr Speaker Sir, as we applaud government for their effort to strengthen and develop financial institutions that will provide trade financing, we would like to encourage government to look into ways that will provide for the accessibility and affordability of capital in this country. Without capital there will be no production. Without production there will be no trade, especially export trade. Without trade there will no need for trade finance. Conclusion Mr Speaker, Sir, having analysed the State of the Nation Address, we only get solace in the budget we have not seen. The budget that will come in three months time will have to talk to this Statement. Otherwise this Statement as it stands does not get to the point. Mr Speaker, Sir, we from the PP side cannot wait to see a budget that will address the issues of: 1. Cement and iron sheets subsidy. 2. Construction of four International Airports. 3. Completion of Nsanje Inland Port. 4. Implementation of the Greenbelt Initiative stretching from Karonga all the way to Nsanje and covering land of up to 20 Km from the water bodies. 5. Construction of all the major roads indicated in the State of the Nation Address. Until then, Mr Speaker, Sir, this Statement remains a mere dream in blue.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:14:00 +0000
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