By Malawi Exclusive
President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has fired a warning shot to those civil servants who are derailing his agenda for own personal benefits. He specifically said he will sternly deal with those officers whose inactions are delaying the finalisation of a connecting railway line between Malawi and Mozambique.
Chakwera said it is sad that there are some dishonest civil servants who sit on important contacts and delay implementation of critical projects. He cited as an example of such dishonest acts the construction of the Marka railway line which on the Malawi side has been delayed while the same railway line was already done in Mozambique side.
“Let me announce that contract for the railway line has been signed and anyone trying to sit on the contract and its implementation will see what I will do,” he warned.
Addressing a press conference at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, the President also announced both immediate and long-term measures that would ensure that prices of essential commodities are stable even in the face of the current global issues such as COVID 19 and the Ukraine-Russian war.
The President said among the short terms include removal of taxes on cooking oil and other essential products, measures which have already been implemented.
He also said Government has changed policies to ensure that other commodities such as fertiliser are bought straight from manufacturers. Currently government source its fertiliser from third parties thereby putting the prices unaffordable to most Malawians.
President Chakwera also said the Marka railway lien and Nacala Corridor fall within the measures that will ensure that prices of commodities continue to be stable.
“I and my counterpart Filipe Nyusi visited Nacala Corridor so that this project can quickly take shape once this project is done it means prices of our commodities will go down,” he said.
Chakwera said he has ordered speedy implementation of Marka railway which he said once it is operationalised there is a definite expectation that prices of goods will go down.
The president, however, repeated his appeal for the end of Ukraine-Russian War saying that this war is affecting the international markets and indeed Malawi as a country and puishing the prices of essential commodities up.