The DPP government of Peter Mutharika has run out of ideas. When a government has nothing left to offer its people—no jobs, no growth, no hope—it turns to one last weapon: squeezing the poor.
The latest move, announced through the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), says it all. Government now wants to hunt down rental houses—from cities to townships, even villages—and tax anyone earning rent from a residential. Officers will move area by area, identifying homes, demanding registration, threatening penalties.
Let us be clear: this is not smart reform. This is desperation.
Many Malawians did not build rental houses out of luxury. They did so to survive. To pay school fees. To buy food. To cushion themselves against a collapsing economy. Now government wants a cut of that last lifeline—without offering anything in return.
This comes on top of rising taxes everywhere. VAT was pushed from 16% to 17.5%, inching closer to 18%. Prices went up. Salaries did not. Businesses are closing. Youth unemployment is choking the nation. Yet instead of growing the economy, government chooses the easy route: tax more, squeeze harder.
What development can Malawians point to?
Where are the jobs?
Where are the industries?
Where is the relief?
Government has frozen recruitment in the civil service—except, it seems, when it comes to hiring their own. Nepotism thrives while graduates rot at home. Public services are broken. Hospitals lack drugs. Schools lack teachers. Roads crumble.
And still, government wants more money.
For what?
To fund development—or to fund lavish lifestyles?
This rental tax drive is not about fairness. It is about a government that has lost its moral authority. A government that takes before it gives. A government that taxes before it grows. A government that polices the poor while protecting the powerful.
Going door to door to count people’s houses is not leadership. It is harassment.
Malawians are already suffocating. Food is expensive. Fuel is expensive. Life is expensive. What little people have left is now being targeted.
DPP, this country is not an ATM.
MRA should not be used as a weapon against survival.
Let Malawians breathe.
