By Burnett Munthali
The economy is not working for Malawi. Many families are struggling to make ends meet. Businesses are falling and closing down indefinitely as customers are also failing to buy sufficient basic needs. Food is becoming even more expensive for millions of people to afford and add a result, many citizens will soon be malnourished. This is serious.
Almost everyone is on the edge of a failing cliff. However, the government says they are still removing the rubble and fixing the broken systems.
Tonse Alliance Government keeps telling people to wait patiently but time seems to be running out on the side of the voter. Another election is just around the corner when another campaign list will be given out.
Poor farmers are also struggling to get farm inputs for their crop production. The supply chain of staple food, in particular, has been broken tremendously in 2023 and as such, there are fears of how the common man will survive.
Fuel Shortage Is Back
There is a shortage of petrol in some parts of the country. The fuel shortage has been reported in the capital Lilongwe and the commercial city of Blantyre.
Solutions
Below are suggestions and possible solutions for government to borrow a leaf.
1) Make foreign exchange available so that we walk away from the challenges of fuel shortage.
2) Cut down unnecessary expenditures and travels by the President and his team.
Improving Civil Service
1) Government must consider revising salaries for civil servants to meet the high cost of living.
2) Make the civil service attractive with a good pension package
The Economy
Solutions
1) We need high economic growth leading to increased profitability for firms, enabling more spending on research and development. This can lead to technological breakthroughs, such as improved medicine and greener technology. Also, sustained economic growth increases confidence and encourages firms to take risks and innovate.
2) Opportunities and challenges for each archetypal approach
invest locally. We must identify and support industries that will drive economic recovery as a nation.
3) Malawi must promote domestic spending through cash-transfer programs.
4) The nation should protect local businesses from foreign competitors.
5) The warm heart of Africa must safeguard industries that are vital to national security.
6) The nation must promote exports.
7) Apart from improving external debt relief initiatives, designing state-contingent debt instruments (SCDIs) can help Malawi improve liquidity and debt sustainability in times of crisis and better share risks between borrowers and lenders.
The President Must Stop Begging!
Begging someone means to ask for it as a gift, as a charity, or as a favor.
Solutions
1) The President must stop begging for foreign aid. He must sit down with technocrats and find lasting solutions for Malawi. He must not depend on aid because foreign aid will take us nowhere and we won’t develop using Katapila.
Government has a role to play in the economy. The government
2) must provide the legal and social framework within which the economy operates,
3) must maintain competition in the marketplace,
4) must provide public goods and services,
5) must redistribute income,
6) must correct for externalities, and
7) must take certain actions to stabilize the economy.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude. Further, a government is a system of order for a nation, state, or another political unit. A government is responsible for creating and enforcing the rules of society, defense, foreign affairs, the economy, and public services.
Governance is important for development. In summary of my argument, good governance relates to the political and institutional processes and outcomes that are necessary to achieve the goals of development.
The true test of ‘good’ governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights.
Malawians were promised many things, they did not beg and are not begging for anything from the government but services and development must be provided because it is their right.
