The Public Affairs Committee (PAC), a quasi-religious umbrella institute of faith gurus was once again, for the sixth time since President Chakwera’s ascent to power, welcomed at the State House for a meeting with the President on Tuesday (28 November 2023).
The fifth meeting between PAC and President Chakwera took place in July 2022, the discussions of which, PAC says, forms the reason for the latest meeting which was said to be ‘more of a follow-up on previous settlements of ideas’ that accumulate from similar meetings that took place on 25th August 2021 and 18th January, 2022 and July 2022 among others.
The nine-member delegation of PAC wasted no time before commending President Chakwera for a series of infrastructure development projects completed and underway throughout the country. Speaking during the meeting which took place at Kamuzu Palace, PAC said they have noted with satisfaction some of the unprecedented developmental milestones that have taken place in the country in the last three years of Chakwera’s reign.
These notable projects include the 301 km M1 road rehabilitation stretching from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to Chiweta up north, the six-lane Kenyatta drive connecting Old town to City Centre in Lilongwe, the four- lane Mzimba street, the Cross Roads to Kanengo four-way lane, NOCMA to Dunduzu Bypass road in Mzuzu, Rumphi-Nyika road, Mzimba-Mzalangwe road, Ilomba road in Chitipa and the Chakazi bridge which is currently nearing completion, Zomba dual carriageway, 100 kilometre Mangochi-Makanjira road scheduled for commencement soon, Ndirande-Kachere road, the Mahatma Ghandi-Kapeni road, rehabilitation of railway and resumption of rail transportation of cargo, solar infrastructure in Salima that have improved the ESCOM grid capacity among others.
PAC stated that the development pace taken by the government is inspiring hope for a meaningful change that the country has been looking forward to. PAC also commended President Chakwera for restoring donor confidence after making tough yet necessary decision to devalue the Kwacha which led to the approval of the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and consequently opened floodgate of donor support which has brought prospects of resumption of direct budgetary support from multilateral institutions.
The grouping, which was critical of the administration during the July meeting, is taking good advantage of President Chakwera’s open-door and embracing policy that promotes participatory democracy to occupy its participatory space in the governance affairs of the country. President Chakwera remains an outstanding democrat in the history of Malawi presidents who embrace participation and graciously permit critical voices to express their sentiments before his full attention.
