President Lazarus Chakwera has promised to raise the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) from the current 220 million kwacha to a massive 500 million kwacha per constituency, a pledge set to change the face of development in every corner of Malawi.
Speaking during a whistle-stop tour at Nkhoma Mission in Lilongwe Rural today, Chakwera reminded the crowd that under his leadership the CDF already jumped from a mere 29 million to 100 million, and then to 220 million. Now, he says, he is ready to deliver half a billion per constituency, money that will go directly to every community regardless of political colour.
“This is not about party lines. This is about Malawians. Every constituency will benefit when we win on September 16,” Chakwera told the cheering supporters.
From Chiwamba to Matapila, Nkhoma to Chigodi and Kamphata, Malawians turned out in large numbers to hear the man they believe is not just making promises but actually delivering them. This is the same Chakwera who, when Peter Mutharika was snoring at PAGE House, went door to door urging Malawians to register. The result was 1.3 million new voters. That is what happens when a leader works. Now he has returned to those same people with a simple message: elections are won by votes, not by dreams, and the time to vote is September 16.
And the people are listening again. Meanwhile, Mutharika is still in his bed, still lost in sleep, still dreaming. His cadets, however, are busy dancing around, hallucinating that their tired, aging professor will somehow win without even stepping out to campaign. They comfort themselves with bedtime jokes that he is reading a book titled “How to Win Without Campaigning.” But elections are not won under blankets. Elections are not won in bedrooms. Elections are not won by reading books. Elections are won in villages, in trading centres, in the dust and sweat of campaign trails. Chakwera is there. Mutharika is not.
To believe Mutharika can win while sleeping is like believing in miracle money. Every Sunday, pastors shout about miracle money, but the same pastors are farming, selling goods, and hustling to survive. If miracle money was real, why would they need farms and shops? The same with Mutharika: if sleeping could win elections, Malawi would have no need for campaign rallies.
The truth is already written on the wall. Chakwera is working. Mutharika is sleeping. Chakwera will win. Mutharika will lose. Only those still dreaming cannot see it.
