Tag Archives: DPP publicity secretary Nicholas Dausi

Politics, Top News

DPP-Mutharika falls short of 2014 campaign promises

Maravi Post Reporter

By Nenenji Mlangeni

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Barely two months to May 21 Tripartite Elections, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is yet to implement some of the campaign promises they made in their manifesto ahead of 2014 polls.

Among others, for the past four years, DPP has failed to implement the recommendations from the constitutional reviews.

“The DPP government will pass and implement the recommendations from the constitutional reviews, including facilitating implementation of revised Section 65 [Crossing the floor] and bring back the revised Section 64 [recall provision with proper safeguards to prevent abuse] of our Constitution,” reads part of the party’s 2014 manifesto titled ‘Towards people-centred government’.

However, DPP publicity secretary Nicholas Dausi on Friday told The Daily Times that a manifesto is not a two-day implementation plan saying it can take more than five years for some issues to be implemented.

“The advantage of Malawi’s Constitution is that they give a president the mandate to rule for 10 years and everyone’s vision is never for a day but the future, so a manifesto is a guideline for what someone intends to achieve. The way you are asking is as if when a manifesto is done, it will be achieved the next day.

“I can give you an example of one of America’s president Dwight Eisenhower, his plan to construct a middle road took over 50 years to be implemented. The problem here in Malawi is that you want things to be implemented there and then. As far as we are concerned, we have achieved most of what we promised to do and that is why Malawians have confidence in us,” he said.

In the manifesto launched in April 2014, DPP said it would enact and establish a Public Service Remuneration Board which shall be responsible for harmonisation of pay in the public service.

“The board will be responsible for the harmonisation of pay in the public service, and which will be mandated to remove the inequities, and iron out the incongruities, that exist in the system whereby employees doing similar work at similar grades are remunerated differently merely because they work for different departments of the government,” reads part of the manifesto.

However, this has not been the case as civil servants have been demanding that government should table the Public Service Remuneration Bill which, among others, would spearhead salary harmonisation in the civil service.

In its response, government said in July 2017, the piece of legislation which is in its draft form and has been on its shelves for close to five years is still undergoing scrutiny and may not be ready by the 2017/18 budget sitting of Parliament.

Through the manifesto, DPP said they shall restrict borrowing in line with the Public Finance Management Act.

However, recent reports revealed that Malawi’s central government debt stock rose by MK177.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, from MK3.1 trillion in the third quarter to MK3.3 trillion triggered by an upsurge in both domestic and foreign debt.

University of Malawi’s Chancellor College-based political analyst Mustapha Hussein dismissed a manifesto as a wish list which most party’s fail to implement once elected in power.

“Well, my impression is that they [manifestos] are meant to win votes, they are promises but they are not matched with action of the party when in power.

“We can, for example, take the previous manifesto for DPP on the issues to do with appointment of ACB director general and reduction of powers of the president. The formulation of manifesto there is disconnect with the electorate,” he said.

In 2014, DPP promised to introduce health insurance for all public servants with a possibility for health insurance for all.

Malawi Health Equity Network Executive Director George Jobe however said the insurance was not implemented arguing government struggled with identification.

“It was not, because there were concerns about how it can be implemented. We looked at what contributions citizens can make, what measures can be put in place to target the poor. Because we have people who have money, more money than those that need the help, it was not easy to do that identification, which meant, in the end, we would find the poor being injured,” he said.

Some of the campaign promises DPP government passed and implemented include Access to Information Act and construction of various roads across the country.

Other notable campaign promises in the 2014 DPP manifesto are:

  • The DPP shall promote our economic prosperity by establishing new processing industries to add value to our exports by transforming our cotton, tobacco, tea, coffee, groundnuts, fish, hides and skins into finished products. This will generate additional incomes as well as create jobs for our people.
  • From 2014, the DPP government will abolish the use of coupons and make the subsidized fertiliser available to every maize subsistence farmer who needs it.
  • The DPP will establish a National Security Council with statutory powers to guide long-term national decision-making and determination of government actions for national interests, the well-being of our people and institutions, and our sovereignty and territorial integrity.

DPP is yet to launch its manifesto for the forthcoming elections. So far, Malawi Congress Party (MCP), UTM and Umodzi Party have launched their manifestos ahead of the May 21 polls.

Politics, Top News

DPP, UDF marriage in disarray; Atupele demands Second Malawi VP post

Maravi Post Reporter

DPP, UDF union hits the rocks

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) are failing to reach a consensus on a possible political alliance ahead of May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections, Malawi News has established.

But the two parties have downplayed the problems, insisting it is too early to conclude alliances six months before elections.

Two sources from UDF and DPP, who corroborated each other but opted for anonymity because they do not speak for the parties, said some

According to Malawi News, senior members from the two parties had a meeting where, among others, they discussed a possible alliance on condition that UDF is given the second vice-presidency now.

“They had formed a team of three members from each side. UDF wants the second vice-presidency now and five ministers in the Cabinet as well as the running mate position sealed and that President Peter Mutharika must sign for it. They also asked that DPP must not feature any candidate in Machinga and Mangochi and two constituencies in Zomba,”the source said.

According to the source, DPP was, however, reluctant on the position of the second vice-presidency.

“They asked for about three constituencies which among them were Machinga Likwenu whose aspiring Member of Parliament is Minister of Education Bright Msaka and Mangochi Monkey Bay which belongs to Ralph Jooma.

DPP accepted the five ministerial positions but asked if the second vice- presidency would be given after the general elections and not now.

“The following day, President Peter Mutharika reshuffled his Cabinet and there was no any extra minister from UDF. This annoyed the UDF team and a senior member of the party ordered the team not to be part of the discussions anymore,” the source said.

The two sources said Atupele Muluzi, leader of UDF, will hint more about this issue during the two rallies he is expected to hold over the weekend in Balaka.

DPP publicity secretary Nicholas Dausi, while downplaying the talks on a possible alliance, said closer to an election people are bound to make a lot of suggestions.

“What you and I know is that DPP and UDF work together in Parliament and we have been doing this for some time. As regards political alliances, it’s neither here nor there but six months ahead of the elections, people will be subjected to giving a lot of opinions.

“It is something we appreciate, maybe people want us to have a long enduring relationship despite our adversaries wanting us to separate but we have been working together all this while,” he said.

Dausi could neither confirm nor deny if the two parties have been meeting.“I do not have the information of the meetings, just give me time to consult. As of now, what I can say is this is Greek to me,” he said.

UDF publicity secretary Ken Ndanga denied the alliance reports arguing, as at now, it is too early to conclusively talk about an alliance.

“We cannot talk about any alliance when we have not been approached by any political party and when we have also not approached any political party for an alliance. We have always heard about those reports but now its about four or five years people have talked about UDF being swallowed, all sorts of things, we just watch the truth of the matter that there is nothing like an alliance, if they’ll be an alliance, we will make it public.

“The problem with you people is that you are only talking about UDF and DPP like that is the only alliance, as if it is written in heaven that we will have an alliance with DPP. We can work alone or make an alliance with any party,” he said.

University of Malawi’s Chancellor College-based political analyst Mustapha Hussein described the situation as worrisome arguing the two parties have worked together for the past five years.

“It will be very unfortunate if the relationship continues to go sour because, in view of the political development, particularly the coming in of UTM and how Malawi Congress Party is conducting itself, there is need for some consolidation in the Southern Region.

‘The relationship between UDF and DPP was giving hope that, through their unity, they can consolidate the vote in the Southern Region. If there is fallout between the two, that will be a sad development because what it means is that the opposition can make gains from the fallout of the two,” he said.

Muluzi, who is currently Minister of Health, has held various ministerial positions since DPP assumed power in 2014.

In 1994 polls, UDF entered into a coalition with other political parties. In 1999 and 2004, the party contested without partnering any political grouping. In 2009, UDF partnered MCP while DPP contested alone in its maiden appearance on the ballot paper. In 2014, both DPP and UDF contested without partnership.