When President Peter Mutharika handed over power to the MCP administration in 2020, Malawi had a relatively stable fuel supply and stronger foreign exchange reserves.
However, the country later experienced persistent fuel shortages and a worsening foreign exchange crisis under the MCP government.
The MCP leadership failed to resolve these challenges during its five years in power. It is therefore unreasonable to expect Mutharika to fix all the problems within just one year.
In 2020, Malawi had more foreign exchange available to support imports and economic activity.
President Mutharika once jokingly remarked that Malawians were buying cars like bananas, reflecting the economic conditions and purchasing power at the time.
Under Lazarus Chakwera, however, Malawi experienced a serious deterioration in foreign exchange availability, MCP spent all that forex on frequent domestic and international trips.
Mutharika has returned to a country facing severe economic challenges, including foreign exchange shortages, fuel supply problems and critically low import cover.
The MCP should therefore understand that rebuilding an economy takes time.
Five years of economic challenges cannot reasonably be expected to disappear within twelve months.
While Malawians are right to demand solutions to the problems they face today, political accountability must also consider how the country arrived at its current situation.MCP is no saint and has no moral ground to question the situation this country is in now .
Many of the economic challenges confronting the DPP administration are rooted in the difficulties that developed during the MCP’s five years in government.
The damage cannot simply be ignored, nor can the responsibility for addressing it be separated from the history that preceded it.
Mutharika must be given a fair opportunity to rebuild the economy, while remaining accountable for the progress his administration delivers.
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