United Democratic Front MP, Sadala Yahard Ibrahim, has said although being an opposition MP he was personally impressed with President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s performance this far.
“Mr President, I won as a Member of Parliament on a UDF ticket but let me say here I am impressed with your leadership style and by the different development projects that your government is undertaking in my constituency. In fact, you are the first seating president to visit this constituency your Excellency,” said Sadala.
Sadala, a legislator for Nkhotakota South East, has since pledged support to the President and his Tonse Administration. The MP was speaking during a developmental rally at Mkaika Ground organised after the President toured some crops in Nkhotakota as part of this year’s nationwide crop inspection tour.
Commenting on the rising cost of living, Sadala urged people in the country to be calm and understanding since the problems Malawi is currently facing are being faced across the continent and globally.
“This is the holy month of Ramadan; I can’t stand here and start telling lies. Your Excellency your administration is trying the best. Just some few days ago I was in Zambia and things aren’t better that side either. Some things are even more expensive than here,” said Sadala.
Meanwhile, Sadala has commended Chakwera for changing the financial year pattern saying this will help to facilitate easy purchase of farm inputs under the Affordable Input Programme.
Sadala’s UDF Party is in a working relationship with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a party the Tonse Alliance ousted from office during the fresh 2020 presidential polls and as the main opposition the DPP is on record to have accused Chakwera and his administration of having failed to run the country, an assertion which other commentators have disputed.
During the crop inspection tour, President Chakwera urged farmers in the country to embrace crop diversification if the country is to be food secure. Chakwera said following the effects of climate change, there is need for farmers to adopt crop diversification and stop over-relying on just one crop.
“After interaction with the farmers here I must say I am impressed. The interaction has given me hope that all is not lost yet, we can still salvage something if we take advantage of the weather here,” said Chakwera.
He added: “Some of these things we can implement do not necessarily need technical expertise. We just need to make full use of the available resources,” said the Malawi leader.
President Lazarus Chakwera is on a nationwide crop inspection tour which started from the Southern Region and this week he is in the northern region.
Most commentators have observed that these crop inspection tours were critical for the country since an agricultural-based economy, the tours not only help the President to assess the crop situation but also encourage and motivate farmers.
“The good thing, the farmers are able to openly interact with the president and freely express their views. To some misguided people, this could be seen as a waste of time and resources but to some of us, these initiatives have long term positive impact on agriculture, overall,” said one social media activist on Facebook.