It is now one year since President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika returned to State House. One year is enough to judge a President. One year is enough to judge an opposition.
Let me start with the opposition because that is where the biggest disappointment is.
The hard truth is that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has completely failed its role as an opposition party in this one year.
An opposition is supposed to be a government in waiting.
An opposition is supposed to provide alternative policies, to check government, to give Malawians hope that if this government fails, there is another credible option. MCP has done none of that.
For one year, what has MCP done? Nothing except fighting for its own survival, fighting internal battles, and issuing empty press statements that even its own members do not believe.
The hard truth is that MCP is a non repentant party and its recent apology to its alliance partners is proof that it has not changed.
A few days ago MCP came out to ask for forgiveness from its partners it formed an alliance with, admitting that it failed them. Malawians are not fools.
This is not repentance. This is political pretence. A truly repentant party does not apologize with arrogance.
A truly repentant party shows change in actions. MCP is apologizing today but its behaviour is still the same – arrogant, violent, and full of entitlement.
If in one year of being in opposition you are already begging your former partners for forgiveness, how will you lead Malawians again? You failed when you had power, you are failing when you are in opposition.
That apology is actually an admission that MCP is not a changed party. Malawians have moved on.
The hard truth is that UTM under Dalitso Kabambe has also lost direction and is now surviving on lies and wrong figures.
Last week, UTM President Dalitso Kabambe held a press conference claiming that DPP has failed in one year and he presented figures that were completely wrong and misleading. He claimed the economy is worse than 2024. That is a lie.
Every Malawian knows that when MCP left government, the country had no forex, no fuel, no medicine in hospitals, and blackouts for 16 hours.
Today, one year under Mutharika, forex is stabilizing, fuel is available, medicines are back in hospitals, and the economy is being disciplined.
Kabambe knows this truth but he chose to lie to Malawians with cooked figures.
The hard truth is that Kabambe is not ready to be a leader because leadership requires honesty. If you can lie with figures on a national platform, you can lie about everything.
Instead of building UTM, Kabambe is wasting his time campaigning for 2030 elections when Malawians are focused on 2025 to 2030 development. He is talking about 2030 because he knows he has already lost the plot for now.
No wonder many UTM members have resigned from the party. They have seen that Kabambe has disappointed them.
He has turned a vibrant movement that late Dr. Saulos Chilima built into a briefcase party of one man and his spreadsheets. UTM members are leaving because there is no leadership, only lectures.
Now let me come to the man who matters, President Arthur Peter Mutharika.
The hard truth is that in one year, President Mutharika has achieved what MCP failed to achieve in five years.
He found a broken economy and he is fixing it with discipline. He found a government that was spending like a drunkard and he has brought austerity.
He found a country mocked for wastefulness and he is restoring its dignity.
Two decisions this week have proved that Malawi is in safe hands.
First, the suspension of all workshops outside government premises. For years, billions of Kwachas were wasted in Sunbird Hotels and lodges for workshops that could be done in government boardrooms. MCP made workshops a business for looting. President Mutharika has stopped that nonsense.
He has said if you want a workshop, use government boardrooms. This is how you save money. This is how you put the economy back on track.
Second, his decisive move not to go to UNGA and to delegate Honourable Dr. George Chaponda with only a five member delegation.
The hard truth is that this is the greatest act of statesmanship Malawi has seen in recent years.
When Malawi is bleeding economically, you do not need a President to go and take selfies in New York with 147 people like Chakwera did in 2024 with his entire family and party zealots on taxpayers money.
You need a focused, small, professional team. Only the Minister’s travel is being financed by government. Four officers are sponsored by the United Nations. That is saving millions of Kwachas.
President Mutharika has put Malawi first. He has shown that he is not hungry for travel and fame. He is hungry for economic recovery.
He is leading by example. He is telling all Ministers, all Principal Secretaries, all CEOs – if I can stay and work for Malawi, you can also stay and work.
In one year, President Mutharika has restored discipline, restored respect, and restored hope.
While MCP is busy writing apology letters and UTM is busy cooking fake figures, Mutharika is busy rebuilding Malawi.
The hard truth is that Malawians have seen the difference between a leader and dealers, between a statesman and pretenders.
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Email: jonesgadama@gmail.com
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