Mutharika: Give me five years, not one

President Peter Mutharika has asked the country to suspend judgement. One year, he insists, is too short a time in which to measure a five-year project.

In a pre-recorded interview with the state broadcaster MBC on the anniversary of his return to State House, the President was clear, composed and in full command of his brief. At 86, he spoke with a precision and fluency that left little room for misunderstanding. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, and he said it well.

Of the four priorities he set for himself; food, fuel, fertiliser and forex he claimed progress on three.

Maize, the national staple, has fallen from more than K100,000 for a 50kg bag to around K35,000. The Farm Input Subsidy Programme for this year, he noted, was launched early.

On fuel, Mutharika was particularly upbeat. Over the past twelve months, he said, fuel “has been flowing nicely” although he agreed that there is a problem internationally.  The interviewer did not press him on the current shortages being reported across the country. Instead, he nodded along, as if accepting the claim at face value. The gap between the President’s words and the long queues at filling stations went unexamined.

Forex, however, remains the stubborn exception. Mutharika described it as the most complicated of the four challenges, shaped by forces beyond any single government’s control. Teams from the IMF and World Bank are in the country, he revealed, discussing the possible revival of the Extended Credit Facility. He expressed cautious hope that an agreement could bring in the resources needed to steady the economy.

The President did not pretend the path would be painless. Austerity, he warned, is coming. Taxes will rise. Some services and activities will be cut. Malawi, he said, is heavily indebted and does not generate enough revenue to fund everything it wants to do. Borrowing will continue, but it must be directed at development rather than consumption.

He also claimed a quiet shift in the private sector. Local banks, he said, are beginning to finance projects in mining and road construction. The country cannot rely on external goodwill alone.

Looking back on his first year, Mutharika offered a measured self-assessment. He had, he said, achieved about half of what he set out to do. His two original objectives had been to restore a sense of freedom and to begin rebuilding the economy. On food security, he was particularly firm.

“I know some people said that achieving food security is not an achievement,” he remarked. “I was very surprised because ask those people in Machinga eating Chitedze, or Nyika in Chikwawa and Nsanje; they will tell you that it was an achievement.”

It was a rare moment of personal insistence from a man who usually prefers understatement.

The interview closed with a familiar appeal for national unity. Malawi, he said, must stand together if the country is to be rebuilt

What the conversation carefully avoided was the most obvious question of unity at the top. Persistent reports of tension between the President and his First Vice-President, Dr Jane Ansah and the removal of key portfolios from her office, speculation about succession, and an atmosphere of quiet estrangement which went entirely unexamined. The questions did not probe it. The answers did not volunteer

The exchange had the polished feel of a managed exercise. For a state broadcaster interview on such a significant day, the absence of any serious inquiry into either the current fuel shortages or the relationship between the two highest offices in the land was conspicuous.

Yet even within that controlled setting, Mutharika’s command of the material was unmistakable. He was articulate, well-prepared and intellectually sharp. Whether that clarity will be matched by results on the ground is another matter. He has asked for five years. The silences around the pumps and his own house remain part of the story.