16 circumstances proving President Chakwera is hypocrite, blatant liar

One of Maravi Post’ contributors Rick Dzida is unpacking sixteen circumstances that prove that Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera is a hypocrite and blatant liar.

Here are signs and points to prove that:

1. Recently, President Chakwera has lied in his state of nation address that his Government has created over 900,000 jobs. This is a total lie. He has no sense of empathy and sympathy to the jobless people. President Chakwera himself admitted during the BBC interview that people lost over 600,000 jobs. What equation is being manipulated here? Did his Government fire 600,000 jobs for the sake of creating jobs? Does this government take it as a pertinent employment when you get a job for one week , for example, assisting to load and off-load bags of fertilizer during the the distribution of farm inputs and later you stay jobless for the whole year? For sure, this is an insult.
2. President Chakwera lied to Malawians that he would produce a financial report on the expenses of his presidential inauguration ceremony. Malawians were agitated that there were two venues for the same function which ultimately incurred unnecessary expenses.
3. President lied to the nation that he would institute a cabinet reshuffle by the end of December 2020. It has taken him over a year to honour this promise.
4. President also lied to Malawians that the official business hours in Goverment would start from 8.00 am. Close to two years in power, Chakwera Government hasn’t honoured this.
5. President explicitly promised Malawians that his Government would hire an expatriate to head the Anti-corruption Bureau so as to make it fully independent. Instead President Chakwera threatened to fire his own appointee on the basis that his Government machinery breached privacy ethics by intercepting the ACB Director’s private conversation.
6. President Chakwera was heard on camera lying to innocent Malawians that he would introduce universal input subsidy programme. This is was a blatant lie. The current subsidy programme is not universal. He even went further at Mzuzu stadium to promise the most underprivileged subsistence farmers access to a bag of fertilizer at even much lower than MK 4,495.00. Instead, beneficiaries of farm input subsidy programme have bought a bag of fertilizer this year at a whooping price of MK7,500.00. Some farmers who could not afford this price opted for money from unscrupulous suppliers.
7. President Chakwera is a hypocrite in as far nepotism is concerned. He is on record condemning DPP regime of practicing nepotism. On the contrary, President Chakwera employed his own daughter for a diplomatic post in the United Kingdom. His own son in law is the Director of communications at the State House. The mother in law of the Vice President, Saulos Chilima, was sent to Zambia for a diplomatic assignment. Does President Chakwera think nepotism practised now is better than that of DPP regime?
8. President Chakwera lied to Malawians that he would implement a zero tolerance policy against corruption. Currently, those who are benefitting from corruption have just been reshuffled in the recently announced cabinet. He even took ages to fire Kezzie Msukwa from his cabinet position even after the ACB had zeroed in to slap corruption charges on this suspect.
9. Hypocrisy is the order of the day for President Chakwera. Much as he used to condemn DPP regime for hiring people from Lhomwe belt and southern region, Chakwera’s public appointments are dominated by Chewas, and people from Lilongwe and central region. His condemnation of regionalism was not in good faith but out of envy.
10. President Chakwera lied that he would reduce presidential power. The office of the Vice President is still a delegated one. Recently, he is allegedly to have appointed his cabinet without consulting his vice. He still appoints board of directors of various statutory corporations. The ACB director directly reports to him. He is the Chancellor of various public universities. And there are currently no bills to reduce his presidential powers.
11. President Chakwera lied to innocent Malawians that his Government would end the requirement of the Police to line up along the road for his convoy. On a sad note, one police officer was transferred and demoted for reminding the president to fulfill this promise.
12. President Chakwera is not ashamed that he lied to Malawians that he would reduce the number of vehicles in his convoy. Up to now, motorists are forced to stop for a long time to pave way for the presidential convoy to pass. Malawians still remember the case of Ms. Linda Kunje, former Malawi Electoral Commissioner, who protested against this archaic and retrogrossive requirement.
13. President Chakwera swims in the glory of lies. One of the five pillars of MCP slogan is ‘Prospering together’. Are we really prospering together when the gap between the rich and the poor is exponentially widening? Goverment officials are amassing unexplained wealth over a short time while the poor and nonentities are getting poorer. For sure, this lie will continuously haunt the president.
14. President Chakwera lied to the nation that he would follow the rulesof law. Barely days into power, President Chakwera appointed Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA). This was ultra vires. The jurisdiction of appointing the Acting or the Chief Executive Officer of MRA lies on the board of directors. In the absence of the board, the most senior person within MRA becomes the Acting CEO. However, President Chakwera appointed the Acting Chief Executive Officer outside of MRA. President Chakwera advised the Malawi Defence Force Appointment Committee to appoint the Deputy Commander General. However, facts on the ground are that it is the President who must appoint the Deputy Commander General.
15. President Chakwera lied that he would not assent to the bill that impinges on the employees’ right to go on industrial strike. Now the law gives powers to the employer to sack or deduct any employee’s salary who goes on industrial strike for over three days.
16. President Chakwera lied again that he would be a servant leader. Malawians believed him because he is a pastor by profession. They were wrong. How can a servant leader introduce surtax on a basic good such as cooking oil? How can a servant leader cook figures that they created over 900,000 jobs when many Malawians are jobless? How can a servant leader raise his salaries and the salaries for his vice, cabinet ministers and legislators without first honouring the pledge of giving monthly stipend to the elderly? It boggle my mind.

Feedback to: Rick Dzida, rdzida@gmx.com

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of The author not necessarily of The Maravi Post or Editor.