by Bright Sonani
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly John Tembo has accused President Bingu wa Mutharika of using threats and intimidation to have the opposition pass this year’s budget but he said the opposition will not be cowed but look at the budget critically before giving it a nod.
Responding to Mutharika’s State of the Nation address on Friday Tembo said although the theme of the speech was about unity the president transgressed and concluded his speech by intimidating the opposition that if they do not approve the budget development will grind to a halt.
He said the President’s remarks were aimed at exciting the people of the country to rise against the MPs and inciting violence.
“The President wants MPs to approve the budget in fear and without examination of the budget in line with their Constitutional duty of exercising oversight over the executive. We are not afraid to do our duty and we will not work under duress in this Honorable House,” said Tembo.
He said from the tone of Mutharika’s opening remarks in his address, which he said were reconciliatory and aimed at bringing unity, it was clear that the 14 cautionary statements and threats to the MPs, which he said came towards the end of the speech were not authored by him.
“At the opening the speech was perfect but he later went back to what somebody has written. We know who had written that,” he added.
Tembo said it is not the intention of the opposition to reject the 2007/2008 budget but that as an opposition they have a duty to scrutinize it and pass a budget that would respond to the aspirations of the people of the country.
He also said it would be wrong to imply that the rejection of the request for supplementary allocation of resources during the Mid-Year review was a rejection of the budget since he said the 2006/2007 budget was already approved in July last year.
“For government a budget is a tool to win the next elections while for the opposition the budget is a tool for development,” said Tembo.
He said apart from intimidating the MPs the President also intimidated the Judiciary by saying that some of them are corrupt.
“This was uncalled for,” he added.
Tembo also accused Mutharika of appointing a Cabinet based on regions rather than merit.
He said although Mutharika’s speech talked about unity his Cabinet does not reflect any traits of uniting the country but rather is was dividing the country further.
“It shows that there is no desire to ensure unity in the country. Yes the President has the prerogative to appoint however it is necessary for the president to think about all people from all the regions if we are to live in peace and harmony,” said Tembo.
Tembo also accused Mutharika’s administration of failing to fulfill its promises including what the President said were his six top priorities.
“Although we have approved resources in the budget aimed at the implementation of activities in the top priorities we need to see evidence on the ground on the implementation of the activities and programmes,” he said.
He cited the continued blackout of electricity as one of the signs that one of the top priority which is energy was not developing.
He also said it was sad that two years after the talk on the Shire-Zambezi Waterway project nothing much has been done on the ground and the country was still waiting for the feasibility study.
Tembo therefore requested that government should appraise the House on the development of the project and also the contribution from the public sector.
Tembo however hailed Mutharika for his food security programme including the fertiliser subsidy saying that any economic growth is dependent on availability of food.
But, he said it would be wrong for Mutharika to take all the credit since he said even the opposition contributed to the introduction of the fertiliser subsidy although he said there were some areas such as the use of coupons which the opposition were not happy with.
Tembo also praised Mutharika for the debt cancellation and the strides that the country’s economy has taken but he said all these achievements would be of no use if they will not translate to the wellbeing of the people.
“The reduction of inflation to about 8.2 per cent now and interest rates from 30 per cent in 2005 to 22 per cent now is a welcome development. It is also pleasing to note that indications as at now are that Malawi will achieve a growth rate of 6 per cent as ar end 2007.
“However, when commodity prices are still high, unemployment is still high and untilisation capacity of donor funds is low, it does not make sense to keep talking about these achievements and then relax. Action is required to deal with the problems is s similar manner as we have dealt with food and maize production,” said Tembo.
The Leader of the Opposition also said in giving credit to all these achievements the opposition should not be left out since he said the MPs have done a recommendable job in ensuring that government is seen to be accountable.
Also commenting on the State of the Nation address Leader of the UDF George nga Ntafu said during the recent Cabinet reshuffle he was expecting the north to be a major beneficiary due to its unflinching support for Mutharika but he said instead the region has been reduced to a “few individuals employed to clap hands.”
He also expressed concerns on the President’s attacks on the judiciary. He said such attacks were unfortunate because the judiciary in the country has always been level headed and assisting the same Mutharika administration.
“We would have loved if government mentioned which Judges are corrupt. The Judiciary has tried to uphold the tenents of our democracy,” he said.
Ntafu also said credit for the much touted debt relief should not only go to the current government but also to the UDF since the whole process started in 2000.
He however called on the government to make sure that the benefits from the debt cancellation, just like several other countries which have also been granted debt relief, should go down to benefit the common man.
Ntafu said it was sad that despite the debt cancellation and talk of improved economy the country was drifting further into deep poverty while the “common man is poorer than he has been ever before.”
He accused government of artificially holding the Kwacha to its current value while he said in fact it was weak than it is being portrayed.
On corruption drive Ntafu, who accused Mutharika’s government of having no manifesto and instead using the UDF one, said with the absence of the Anti Corruption Bureau Director government has usurped powers of the bureau and start examining corrupt suspects on its own.
“Now the quest to get corrupt people is super selective. But what we are saying whoever is corrupt this side or there should face the law,” he said, adding that the anticorruption drive was not new since it was already reflected in the UDF manifesto.
Ntafu also warned government to cautiously handle the bumper maize the country has. He said although the figures show that there is so much surplus maize there were other areas such as Karonga which would be facing severe food shortages and would need government assistance.
Commenting on the comments from the two opposition party leaders government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati said in the president’s speech there was no intimidation but that Mutharika was just pointing out the truth that without the budget certain programmes will not be done.
On the accusation of having a Cabinet which is regionalistic Kaliati said: “How many minister were there in the MCP or UDF government from the north. Ask them who chased teachers from the other districts to go to the north. Is it today that they have started recognizing the northern region?”
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