UDC CONGRATULATE MALAWIAN PRESIDENT

FOLLOWING elections held last year in Malawi which were characterised by serious irregularities and rigging, that country’s constitutional court ordered a rerun.

The provisional results from the rerun suggest that the leader of opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Tonse Alliance, Lazarus Chakwera, has been elected as that country’s State President. We as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election. His combination with his running mate, Saulos

Chilima of UTM, has helped dethrone the incumbent President, Peter Mutharika.

Mutharika represented Democratic Progressive Party United Democratic Front (DPP-UDF) alliance and had former President, Bakili Muluzi’s son as his running mate. These results show the power and strength of coalitions. That country’s military and judiciary deserve to be applauded for, in the build up to elections, resisted pressure from the Executive. Their unshakable commitment to bringing public interest first has not gone unnoticed. The pressure on the Malawi Judiciary and the army included offers of USD 20 million for each judge and removal of the army head.

We believe our institutions have to borrow a leave from these institutions. As the main opposition, we urge all to appreciate the efficacy of coalition politics. Notwithstanding rigging and irregularities that have marred our elections, it is through coalitions, which the UDC is all about, that we can remove the moribund Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from power.

There is no doubt that the body of evidence that is there points to an election that was unfairly won by the ruling BDP. gate laws and policies that talk to new ways of producing energy and fuel, especially coal liquefaction. We need to formulate policies that will empower Batswana to produce sufficient food for themselves and for the nation so that in future we do not find ourselves in the same situation. This July, [expect to] specifically see parliament amending the Health Act with a view to strengthen it for future pandemics. We cannot afford to have a State of Emergency each time we are faced with a pandemic. I also believe that we are at a point where the State of Emergency can be lifted and I hope parliament will lift it and allow the public health director to use his powers to combat Covid-19.

DITHAPELO KEORAPETSE - MP FOR SELIBE PHIKWE WEST

I expect MPS to probe matters concerning Covid-19 related decisions particularly on procurement. MPS should ask questions relating to dubious and seemingly fraudulent Covid-19 tenders and dealings. They ought to hold the executive to account on health-related decisions. The Task Force is only accessible through the Executive, Parliament should make them accountable.

The biggest work for Parliament is development issues: the economy has declined, firms closed or undergoing problems, jobs have been lost, and government revenue has seriously plummeted. NDP11 cannot be fully implemented. Midterm review is due but will obviously change, Parliament therefore should scrutinise executive priorities. It must specifically guard against misplaced priorities that don’t add any meaningful value to the economy. Priority must be on jobs generating or wealth generating projects and programmes. Programmes aimed at buying votes but not necessarily adding value should stop. Spending on useless things must stop. Parliament must frankly evaluate the recovery strategy to see if indeed it’s just rhetoric or serious stimulation of the economy.

How the country moves forward after the Covid-19 scourge should be shaped by the July session. We are still under State of Public Emergency, so it is still unclear if Parliament will be convened soon. No communication has been made to MPS.

CARTER HIKUAMA - MP FOR NGAMI

We have been hearing a lot about the government on the transformation agenda with little or no evidence on the ground. My wish is to see ministers coming up with bills/ policies geared towards

What we have in mind is the community’s blueprint for the intentional actions it will take to influence the direction and pace of its development. We call this blue print a Local Economic Development (LED) strategy. If we get it right, it should guide capacity development for community development structures, coordinate stakeholder engagement on the development of the village, define our strategy map and the actions we will pursue to realise our vision and objectives. I know it sounds too conceptual but the bottom line is this is what you need to build a community that has the capacity to drive its own development. The government is rolling it out nationally and hopefully it will all get clearer when we meet and discuss it as we go on.

We should also perhaps adopt a two-track approach to the LED process. The first, of course, is LED strategy and the second would be picking the low-hanging fruit. As long as we understand the patterns of demand in the region (and beyond) and how we link to specific value chains, we should be able to package (at a rudimentary level) and sell a number of projects to investors. I like the fact that we are all looking at value chains our people are already part of.

BARATIWA MATHOOTHE - MP FOR SEROWE NORTH

We have been told that this financial year - 2020/2021 - there won’t be any funds allocated for community constituency projects. These funds are the ones that we use to create income-generating projects to create jobs for the constituents through: farming, tourism, creative arts and manufacturing. Ipelegeng has been suspended, too, and we have to request government to rescind their decision to suspend it because it was acting as a relief to the unemployed. On the Citizen Economic Empowerment Bill, we want the government to allow us to consult our constituents so that they can have an input

We are looking forward to the government coming out with economic reforms more so that we focus on agriculture and health issues.