President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has said that the operationalisation of the Marka railway line is one of the measures that will ensure that prices of essential commodities are stable.
Addressing a press conference at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe Monday night, the President said government has already short-term measures including removal of taxes on cooking oil and other essential products but was looking at the Marka railway line and the Nacala Corridor as the main panacea in dealing with high prices of essential commodities.
“I and my counterpart Filipe Nyusi visited Nacala Corridor so that this project can quickly take shape once this project is done it means prices of our commodities will go down,” he said.
Chakwera said he has also ordered speedy implementation of Marka railway line.
The Malawi leader fired a warning shot to those civil servants who are derailing his agenda for own personal benefits especially on the finalisation of projects such as the Marka railway line.
Chakwera said it is sad that there are some dishonest civil servants who sit on important contacts and delay implementation of critical projects. He cited as an example of such dishonest acts the construction of the railway line which on the Malawi side has been delayed while the same railway line was already done in Mozambique side.
“Let me announce that the contract for the railway line has been signed and anyone trying to sit on the contract and its implementation will see what I will do,” he warned.
He also said Government has changed policies to ensure that other commodities such as fertiliser are bought straight from manufacturers. Currently government source its fertiliser from third parties thereby putting the prices unaffordable to most Malawians.
The president also repeated his appeal for the end of Ukraine-Russian War saying that this war is affecting the international markets and indeed Malawi as a country and leading to a rise in the prices of essential commodities.