President Chakwera reaches out to Mutharika’s home village with relief food distribution

FULL ADDRESS SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. LAZARUS MCCARTHY CHAKWERA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI LILONGWE, MALAWI 11 TH DECEMBER 2024

Fellow Malawians,

Masabata awiri apitawo, ndinaima pamaso anu kuti ndikupatseni ripoti yokhudza mavuto atatu amene takhala tikugwira ntchito kuti tithane nawo mwamsangansanga. Ndiye lero mundilole ndikuuzeni zotsatira zake.

Ripoti yoyamba ikhale ya mmene ntchito yogawa chimanga ikuyendera pofuna kuthetsa njala yomwe yalowa mmakomo oposa 1 million ndikugwera anthu okwana 5.7 million amene simunakolole chakudya chokwanira malingana ndi vuto la ng’amba lomwe ndinalengeza miyezi nayini yapitayo. Poyamba ndinanena kuti chithandizo cha chakudya chayamba kale kufikira anthu 4.5 million, ndiponso ndinakutsimikizirani kuti 1.2 million ena otsalawo tiwafikiranso. Ndiye mmasabata awiri adutsawa anthuwa tawafikira motere:

1. Tatumiza 289.5 metric tonnes ya chimanga ku Chitipa, ndipo chiyamba kugawidwa unkuja;
2. Ku Mzuzu, chimanga chokwana 690.3 metric tonnes chakwezedwa mmatraki dzulo kuti chipite ku Karonga, komanso china chokwana 288.2 metric tonnes chakwezedwa kuti chipite ku Rumphi, ndipo konseko tiyamba kugawa mawa;
3. Ku Mzuzu kunonso lero tayamba kukweza chimanga china chokwana 524.7 metric tonnes kuti chipite ku Nkhatabay, komwe tiyamba kugawa unkuja lino;
4. Pa Kazomba, takweza chimanga chokwana 1148.3 metric tonnes mmatraki dzulo kuti chipite ku Mzimba, komwe tayamba kugawa lero;
5. Kukakhala ku Likoma ndiye chimanga chokwanira miyezi itatu chafika kale ndipo tayambanso kale kugawa.

Ku tereku palipano ndiri kale ku Mzuzu kuti ndilondole mmene ntchito yonseyi ikuyendera ku mpoto konse kuno. Kuchigawo chakummweranso taonjezerako chithandizo motere:

1. Tatula chimanga chokwana 3528 metric tonnes pa Khonjeni kuti chithandize anthu am’boma la Thyolo, ndipo lero tayambapo kugawa;
2. Chimanga chokwana 1320.7 metric tonnes chomwe timakweza ku Kanengo dzulo chanyamuka kupita ku Chiradzulu, komwe chiyamba kugawidwa mawa;
3. Ku Mangochi tatumizako chimanga chokwana 4000 metric tonnes pa stima, ndipo tinayamba kale kugawa sabata yathayi;
4. Koma komwe njala yamera mizu ndi ku Neno, Mwanza, ndi Blantyre, ndiye kumeneko tatumizako chimanga choonjezera kuti tizule mizu imeneyo.

Ndipo kummwerako ndatumizako a Vice President athu, Right Honourable Dr. Michael Usi, kuti alondole ntchito yakagawidwe cha chakudyachi masiku akubwerawa. Chomvetsa chisoni ndi choti maboma amchigawo chapakati akhala akumaiwalidwa pogawa chakudya chifukwa ambiri ogwira ntchitoyi amaona ngati alimi amchigawo chapakati sangakhuzidwe ndi njala, koma ndazungulirako konseko ndipo ng’amba yalowetsa njala mmanyumba ambiri. Ndiye kumeneko tagawa chimanga motere masabata awiri apitawa:

1. Ku Dedza, tagawa chimanga chokwana 1,020.3 metric tonnes kwa mabanja okwana 20,406;
2. Ku Dowa, tagawa chimanga chokwana 1,487.6 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 29,752;
3. Ku Kasungu, tagawa chimanga chokwana 243 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 4,860;
4. Ku Mchinji, tagawa chimanga chokwana 969 metric kwa mabanja 19,380;
5. Ku Nkhotakota, tagawa chimanga chokwana 945.95 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 18,919;
6. Ku Ntcheu, tagawa chimanga chokwana 1,588 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 31,760;
7. Ku Ntchisi, tagawa chimanga chokwana 93.8 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 1,876;
8. Ku Salima, tagawa chimanga chokwana 1,381 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 27,620;
9. Ku Lilongwe, tagawa mpunga okwana 1,440 metric tonnes kwa mabanja 28,800.

Ngakhale tagawa chakudya kwa mabanja ambiri, ntchito idakali yambiri chifukwa chiwerengero cha anthu osowa chakudya ndi chachikulu ndipo ndichofunika chipitilire mpaka mwezi wa March chaka chikubwerachi. Komanso, ngakhale tikugawa chakudya kuti tithane ndinjala yomwe yatigwera chifukwa cha ng’amba yamiyezi yapitayi, sikuti palipano sitikugweredwa mavuto ena okorezera moto wanjalawu. Kutereku masabata awiri apitawa takumananso ndi zina, chifukwa nyengo zoyipa mwezi uno zakhuza kale anthu oposa 48,000 mmabanja oposa 10,000, ndipo anthu amene aphedwa ndi mphezi kapena kugumuka kwanyumba akwana 11, pamene ovulala akwana 79. Pa chizungu tikhoza kunena kuti we are not out of the woods yet.

This is why I continue to lobby for international support to address the humanitarian crisis we are facing. In fact, just as I thanked various international partners last time for the support they had channeled through the Malawi Government, today I would like to acknowledge the generous donations that Malawians are receiving from our development partners through the World Food Program, and I trust and expect that the WFP will make public how and where it has so far distributed this support:

1. From the Governments of Sweden and Netherlands, the WFP received a donation of 11.8 million dollars, and I say thank you.
2. From the Government of the United States, the WFP received a donation of 7 million dollars, and I say thank you.
3. From the Government of the United Kingdom, the WFP received a donation of 3.8 million dollars, and I say thank you.
4. From the Government of Japan, the WFP received a donation of 1.9 million dollars, and I say thank you.
5. From the Government of France, the WFP received a donation of 1.6 million dollars, and I say thank you.
6. From the Government of South Korea, the WFP received a donation of 1.5 million dollars, and I say thank you.
7. From the Government of Germany, the WFP received a donation of 1,071,814 dollars, and I say thank you.
8. From the Governments of Iceland and Norway, the WFP received a donation of 950,000 dollars, and I say thank you.
9. From the Government of Denmark, the WFP received a donation of 750,000 dollars, and I say thank you.
10. From the Government of Ireland, the WFP received a donation of 556,000 dollars, and I say thank you.
11. From the Government of Switzerland, the WFP received a donation of 500,000 dollars, and I say thank you; and from the African Development Bank, the WFP received a donation of 1 million dollars, and I say thank you.

I must also thank the following organizations for making donations of various sizes through their partners: Good Neighbors Malawi, Nkhoma Synod, Emerging Donor Matching Fund, Save the Children, UNICEF, BHA, FAO, Mary’s Meals, USAID, JBJ Foundation, ISRAID, Caritas Partners. To all of you, thank you for standing with us in this food security crisis, and please don’t stop mobilizing support for Malawi from all over the world, because it is making a difference in saving lives. If you are out there standing with Malawians and giving them the help they need during this crisis, I can assure you that Malawians are honest and fair-minded people who will remember those who are bringing them food in this season of drought and hunger, and who know how to distinguish them from those who brought them nothing.

The same applies to those of you that are working with us to find long-term solutions for the forex and fuel crisis that our country has been facing for decades, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union. And the latest to join this effort is the Government of the United Arab Emirates, from where I returned yesterday after having successful meetings with the President, His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his officials about setting up a Government-to Government arrangement for a more sustainable supply of fuel, the legislation for which was already passed by Parliament last week. I am therefore happy to report that the UAE President will be sending a team here next month to finalize the technical aspects of the arrangement, which I will update you on during my State of the Nation Address in February.

What is most important now as we manage these four crises of food, fertilizer, fuel, and forex is to make sure that we exercise discipline in the usage of the limited resources we have. To achieve that, I directed the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs to present a revised budget to Parliament a week ago, which has a number of austerity measures for cutting non-essential expenditure and generating revenue. These austerity measures include the removal of VAT exemptions for importing vehicles from myself, the Vice President, all Ministers, all Members of Parliament, all senior members of the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Military, because we who are in Government are not my priority. My priority is you, the people who elected me to serve you.

My priority in all public spending is improving your welfare by procuring enough food and fertilizer to end hunger; providing supplies and personnel to our schools and hospitals; disbursing loans and cash transfers to young people and women to start their own business; completing the roads, railways, power plants, and constituency development projects that will make it easier and safer for you to do business; and investing in the ATM Strategy of increasing production and value addition in Agriculture, Tourism, and Mining for the creation of jobs through the ATM Strategy. And although we have created many jobs in four years, we need to sustain the momentum for years to come, including the export of labour to Israel, the UAE, and other markets, which is why I was reluctant to accept the letter of resignation from Hon. Agnes Nyalonje as our Minister of Labour. But in the end, I had to respect her decision, and I thank her for her service. To succeed her and continue the work, I have appointed Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba as the new Minister of Labour with immediate effect, and I wish him God’s best in his service to our country.

Pomaliza, lero linali tsiku lomaliza mu gawo lotsiriza la kalembera wavoti kuti mudzatenge nawo gawo pa zisankho za chaka cha mawa. Ndiye ine ndimati ndikuthokozeni nonse amene mwalembetsa, chifukwa inu ndi amene mwasankha kutenga nawo gawo pa ntchito yomanga Malawi watsopano. Ngati mukukumbukira, mukalembera wazisankho zaulendo wapitawo, olembetsa anakwana 6.8 million, ndipo tinali ndi zisankho zotamandika. Ulendo unonso ndiri ndichikhulupiliro kuti mukalembera wathayu nambala imeneyi tiyifikila kapenanso kuyiposa chifukwa chaumwini omwe mwauonetsa polembetsa, komanso kuti chaka chamawa tizakhalanso ndizisankho zotamandika. Ndiye ine kwanga nkukuthokozani nonse omwe mwalembetsa komanso kuthokoza a Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) popereka mpata kwa aliyense ofuna kuti athe kulembetsa mosapingika.

Ambuye akudalitseni nonse. Zikomo.