Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Kainga defends Chakwera’s attendance at SADC TFCA Summit in Harare

* It is important for Chakwera to be present at this very important meeting as Malawi is a senior member of the SADC

* And also it will enhance the bilateral cooperation and integration as the President will also hold several bilateral talks with fellow Heads of States

By Duncan Mlanjira

While some of the reasons behind the suspension of the extended credit facility (ECF) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was attributed to government over-expenditure and calling for austerity measures on the same, President Lazarus Chakwera has flown to Harare, Zimbabwe to attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCAs) Summit.

He has joined Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Kainga; Minister of Tourism, Vera Kamtukule and a whole host of other government officials, who are already at the summit, whose Council of Ministers Ministers’ meeting yesterday proceeded to today’s Heads of State Summit — marking 25 years of SADC TFCA of fostering regional integration and sustainable development.

A report by Malawi News Agency (MANA) in Harare, quotes Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Kainga at the end of the Council of the Ministers yesterday as saying Malawi stands a better chance of increasing its tourism base through the TFCA summit.

Kainga is quoted as saying: “It is important” for Chakwera “to be present at this very important meeting as Malawi is a senior member of the SADC and also it will enhance the bilateral cooperation and integration”.

“The President will also hold several bilateral talks with fellow Heads of States to strengthen their cooperation and also the President will hold meeting with development partners who are already in here to have further talks on financing and other important issues that will benefit Malawi.”

MANA earlier quoted Tourism Minister Kamtukule as underscoring the importance of tourism in Malawi, saying the country has seen tremendous growth in the industry with more tourists coming.

“This is one of the important meetings that Malawi as a country must attend,” she defended the government spending. “As you know, when we talk about wildlife, they cut across the borders, animals do not see any borders or any lines, it can move from Malawi to Zambia, or vice versa, so it is important for our country to attend this meeting.”

She added that “60% of the tourists that come to Malawi are from SADC region, so it is important that we come to this regional block meetings where we can discuss several issues concerning our country.

“For example, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Botswana are part of the Kavango Zambia (KAZA) Transfrontier arrangement which means, a visitor can come from Spain come into Zambia and pay US$50 and visit all the countries — this is the coordination that we are talking about.”

If the two can determine the benefits of the Summit, then President Chakwera is very well represented at the Summit taking into consideration of the reasons the IMF gave for the withdrawal of the ECF, while calling for austerity measures on government spending.

But Chakwera, at the official opening of the 35th Malawi International Trade Fair in Blantyre yesterday, seems to guide Malawians’ attention to shift away from the government side by vilifying the IMF.

Speaking in the vernacular, Chichewa, Chakwera reiterated that it was his administration that sought to “lapse” the ECF agreement, saying the IMF set some conditions for the continuation of the facility such as demanding for further devaluation of the Kwacha; reducing investment into National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF); and increasing fuel prices and electricity tariff.

He told the gathering at Chichiri Trade Fair grounds that when IMF indicated that if Chakwera’s administration would not meet those conditions, they would suspend the credit facility, he ordered that it should do so.

He described the IMF support as small change (“kandalama konama”, saying: “…ine ndinati thetsani. Chifukwa sitingalore wina abwere kuti ndikandalama konama nkumatiuza kuti ndalamayo cholinga chake nkuvulaza anthu abizinesi mMalawi muno chifukwa kukweza mtengo wa magetsi ndiye kuti mwatiphera ma bizinesi a ma saluni, mabizinesi a ometa tsitsi, mabizinesi onse omwe amadalira magetsi.

“Ofuna kubweretsa ndalama kuno athandize kutukula ma bizinesi, osati atiphere ma bizinesi. Kulibwino akhale nazo ndalamazo tipeze ena amene ali ndimakutu okumva zomwe tikufuna,” said Chakwera in vernacular.

But the IMF stand by their decision, emphasising that poor fiscal discipline cost Malawi the four-year US$175 million (about K306 billion) EFC, which automatically terminated due to lack of review, as reported in today’s The Nation newspaper.

The Nation has sought the views of IMF resident representative Nelnan Koumtingue if it is true that the two parties agreed for a “mutual lapse” because Malawi government insisted the conditions could hurt Malawian.

Koumtingue maintained that the IMF position remained that Malawi failed to meet benchmarks it was given, saying: Fiscal discipline has proven difficult to maintain in the current environment due to elevated spending pressures and insufficient revenue mobilisation efforts.”

Despite this, Chakwera still travelled to in Zimbabwe for the summit expected back this afternoon — accompanied by a huge entourage as usual, to join a whole lot of Malawi delegates in Harare led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kainga and Tourism Minister, Kamtukule.