Amidst the social-economic challenges which Malawians are currently facing in the country, social activists have asked the government to open up for more dialogues with several of them, saying holding a dialogue with just one activist may not exhaust all the concerns Malawians have.
Speaking in an interview with the media, the executive director for Social Revolution Movement, Phunziro Mvula, said the recent dialogue which government held with Bon Kalindo, one of the organisers of the recent anti-government demos, was commendable, but such a dialogue needs to be opened to several voices so that government can have views from different sections of the society.
“Government has the responsibility to put in place austerity measures which will ease the social-economic challenges Malawians are currently facing. At the same time, the President has to consider reducing the size of the cabinet and his advisors to cut down expenditures.
” For instance, recently, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) embarked on constituency demarcating exercise, a government-funded activity, which indicates that government has adequate resources which need to be utilised efficiently for the sake of Malawians,” he explained.
Mvula, who withdrew as a presidential candidate and endorsed the Tonse alliance in 2020 court-sanctioned election further said “Malawians are reasonable people who are able to see and judge the direction their country is taking at the present.”
Recently, the government and the organisers of the ongoing national demonstrations held a dialogue to discuss how better the government can keep in check the rising cost of living by; among other things, reducing tollgate fees and prices of consumables.
Last week, organisers of the demonstrations, which took place in Lilongwe, gave the government fourteen days to respond to the issues highlighted in the petition. As a continuation of the demos, another demonstration is expected to take place in Mzuzu tomorrow.
