Call for an all-inclusive meeting, government told

Calls are growing louder for the Tonse administration to engage various stakeholders in seeking solutions to the prevailing socio-economic problems.

There is a proposal for the authorities to call for an all-inclusive meeting to address the rising cost of living, forex and fuel shortages.

This proposal follows a pastoral statement by the Catholic Bishops, which raises concern over the lack of political will to address the prevalent challenges.

The Bishops through the Episcopal Conference of Malawi-ECM issued the statement yesterday titled, a call to hearken to the cry of poor Malawians.

They criticize the Chakwera leadership for allegedly ignoring governance and socio-economic issues raised in their previous pastoral letter.

But the Government Spokesperson Gospel Kazako claims the government has already started addressing the concerns.

These include inconsistency in the austerity measures, political bickering and rampant corruption against their campaign promises.

A Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences-MUBAS media and social commentator Chimwemwe Tsitsi believes sharing ideas would help to find solutions.

“There are a number of things that need to be considered in this case, the first step is that the government, should bring together various stakeholders including the leadership from the opposition, captains of industry, faith leaders as well as the civil society organization and the media to a conference where delegates can discuss how government can bail out the majority Malawians who are in deep poverty,” Tsitsi said.

He argues that such as consultative process can also comprehensively discuss how to fix the economy, by evaluating some policies which are hindering the country’s growth.

Tsitsi further tipped those in government to be more organized for improved service delivery within the public sector.

“The government needs to be more efficient and well organized internally by among others avoiding bickering, which should be immediately resolved and should be taken as a matter of serious concern.

He went on to say; “Because this is a prerequisite for success when it comes to government’s performance, otherwise you might end up accusing each other of sabotage and other issues” Tsitsi added.

Pastoral letters which the Catholic Bishops have been releasing have had a huge impact on the country’s political landscape, since Malawi adopted multi-party democracy.