MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-Political commentators in the country have warned President Lazarus Chakwera against making vain promises to Malawians, saying such a tendency has a potential to jeopardize his political campaigns in the future.
While responding to a questionnaire by Maravi Post, as to what political consequences there might be to simply promise Malawians in July last year, that he would reshuffle his cabinet and not keep the promise, the political experts; George Allan Phiri of University of Livingstonia and Victor Chipofya, said as much as the constitution grants the President the prerogative to hire and fire cabinet ministers at his own will, he has to honour what he promises Malawians.
“Many people will lose trust in leadership when the leadership does not come up with the actual dates and time when it is supposed to give to us, as people, because Malawians have been waiting. So, it make no sense to simply promise and fail to honour the promises. Unfortunately, many people are going to lose trust in the leadership and when people lose trust in the leadership, it is very dangerous politically because people will always believe that a leader must be objective; a leader must be strategic.
“Whenever a leader makes a statement, it is important to tell people exactly what you are going to do at what time and that time you must do it because if you don’t do, they believe that you are just a talker. And that is what many Malawians are in now; they just believe that their President is jus a good talker, but not action taker.
And it is very sad that this government can’t see that other political parties can take advantage of what they are doing by not doing what they say to be an opportunity to their opponent that during the campaign, it’s very easy to change the minds of the people, saying this government said this but when then the time for them to implement comes, they don’t do ,” emphasised Phiri.
While sharing similar views with Phiri, Chipofya, said the current leadership is better known for promising Malawians what it cannot deliver.
Chipofya remarked: “If you promise people to say that this is how I am going to handle this government and you don’t deliver, that’s a big problem. What I have seen with the current leadership is that there are so many promises that are being given to people wanting to look like they are doing something when, in fact, there is little that is being done on the ground. Because there was no need for Brian Banda to come to the public and tell the public that in few days to come, the President is going to reshuffle the cabinet. It is not constitutional, but the problem that is there is that the current leadership wants to promise so much to Malawians and yet the delivery is so little.”
On the absence of the three ministers: late Sidik Mia and late Lingson Berekanyama; who passed on in January this year due to Covid-19 and Ken Kandodo, whom the President fired in March, when he was implicated in the mismanagement of part of the K6.2 billion Covid-19 funds, Chipofya said there is need for the Chakwera to immediately replace the three because their absence in their respective ministries is affecting service delivery of the same.
In July last 2020, when he was swearing in his cabinet ministers, President Chakwera promised Malawians that he would review and reshuffle it in December the same year. But since then he has just been bringing the much awaited activity forward up to this month when he is now clocking a year in power.