Maravi

(NYASATIMES) Mutharika courts chiefs on Malawi Kwacha devaluation

COMMENT - Currency devaluation is part of a failed ideology. The country of Malawi must develop in a way that works for the people of Malawi, not transnational corporations. The economy needs MORE buying power, not less, and devaluing the currency is punishing savers and anyone who gets paid in the Malawi Kwacha. This is part of the IMF's standard policies to rob the people of the planet blind. Greece is not standing for it, neither should the people of Malawi. President Bingu wa Mutharika is doing the right thing.

Mutharika courts chiefs on Malawi Kwacha devaluation
By Maurice Nkawihe, Nyasa Times

President Bingu wa Mutharika over the weekend met some traditional chiefs in a bid to drum up support against International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s insistence to devalue the local currency, Kwacha.

Mutharika held a two-day caucus at Sanjika Palace between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon where among other things he persuaded the chiefs on how to dart the local masses on the IMF agenda of devaluating the currency again, Nyasa Times has learnt.

According to one top government official who attended the meeting, Mutharika urged the traditional chiefs who were drawn from several districts across the country including Thyolo, Zomba, Chikhwawa and Dedza to help his government win over the people trust over the poor performance of his administration.

Chiefs being used to back Mutharika against devaluation

“With opposition siding with the international donor community on the devaluation of Kwacha, it was wise for the President to have the local chiefs on his side. The President had a very successful meeting with them. They wined and dined while educating them on the dangers of further devaluating Kwacha,” disclosed the source.

According to the source, the chiefs will be used by government to advance Mutharika’s stance on devaluation of Kwacha through the country’s public media houses Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) radios and Television (TVM) among other avenues through public resources.

Mutharika has publically challenged the IMF on the decision to further devaluate Kwacha. During the opening of budget review meeting of Parliament, Mutharika vehemently stood his grounds arguing he will not bow down to IMF and international donor community’s pressure to devaluate the local currency.

“You can see that almost every sector of the society is backing the IMF. The President has no option but to ask the local chiefs rally behind him in order to overcome the pressure. As matter of fact they have been promised a lot if they manage to win the rural masses on the issue of devaluation,” added the source.

The grouping of the chiefs consisted Traditional Authorities (T/A)s, Group Village Headmen and Paramount Chiefs.

The chiefs have already started their campaign against the devaluation of the local currency through state television where they are vehemently rejecting the calls by IMF to devaluate Kwacha. Among other arguments, the chiefs are citing the rising cost of living once Kwacha is devaluated as one major factor to affect poor masses once IMF agendas are advanced.

Meanwhile, economists and representatives of the civic society groups are questioning the competence and credibility of traditional chiefs in commenting on devaluation.

Professor of economics at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi, Ben Kalua told a local radio: “They don’t know anything about economics. There are technocrats in this country who studied economics and they are the ones to be left to make decisions on these issue.”

Executive director of Justice Link Justine Dzonzi said the move by the chiefs is a staged move by government.

“They must have been told to rally support behind the president on this particular issue, and that’s why it’s difficult to attach any specific value to what they have said,” Dzonzi said on Daybreak Malawi programme on Capital FM.

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COMMENTS:

Moni Says:

Economists of the pocket are the ones we have here in Malawi, the yes bwana's because they think whatever the Mzungu says is right and that we as Africans can never be right. In 1994 on February 21 to be specific is when these IMF thieves managed to force Malawi government to float our Kwacha. By then, US$1 was = to K4. After multi party elections, our government was forced to shed off public companies which were supplementing our budget through its profits and made the country to rely on taxes only. Malawi government had Chipiku stores, MMM, Hardware stores, MDC, Mpico, Nico, Commercial Bank, MPTC, Shire Bus lines, Cold storage, Malawi railways, David Whitehead, Oilcom, Encor, Agrimal, Pew, Sucoma, MBS and many more in which it had shares or owned them. At the end of the year, the profits of those companies were going into treasury. Because IMF and WB saw that if we have those companies which are making our economy strong and that we may one day manage to stand on our own, they brought these two draconian so called structural adjustments.

1. Privatise companies that supported government and
2. Devalue the kwacha so that they buy and destroy those companies with few dollars.

Out of all the companies I highlighted above, which one is functioning as it used to when it was government owned? Most of those companies are now non existent, people who were working on those companies were rendered jobless and their families suffers up to now. For seventeen years, we have been devaluing our Kwacha from K4-$1 up to now when it is K165 – the same $1. In all these devaluations, what can we point as a gain to the country apart from goods getting expensive and the income stagnant? If we have failed to gain in this leap of K4 to K165 devaluation, how are we going to have any fruits after devaluing it from K165 to a mare K250 apart from making Malawians suffer even more? Is Malawians income going to be increased to much this devaluation now or is it going to be the same song of suffering and ridiculing us as lazy bunch of people who makes noise as chickens? Mr. president, please stand your ground, don't let Malawians suffer because of the policies of these thieves who eats through our sweat. This time around, tell them that we have had enough of their bad policies, they better continue them in their countries. We will manage with the little we have. We have suffered enough under their hands, maybe we try another way. We know we will suffer because they will try to close everything so that we fail, but we as Malawians, we are brave enough and sure that one day, we will come out victorious.

Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, CHIEFS, IMF, KWACHA (MALAWI), NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 8:16 PM