Malawi should remain on course with reforms

It is pleasing to learn that one of the country’s major bilateral donor, Britain, has resuming aid to Malawi almost 18 months since it suspended the same over concerns of bad governance.

This is the first disbursement of budgetary support since the suspension in July 2011 following a bad track of bad economic

governance and human rights abuses which culminated in the death of 19 people during demonstrations.

Britain says the unfreezing of the support is in recognition of tough decisions that President Joyce Banda has taken to improve the economy.

It is common knowledge that Malawians felt cheated by the bilateral partners. Among other conditions, they asked Banda to take some drastic fiscal measures. The delay by donors to release the funding resulted into a lot of miseries among Malawians as there was no cushioning to mitigate the suffering.

It is therefore, very uplifting to see that the partners have started coming back.

We agree with the caution issued by the Secretary for International Development Justine

Greening that we need to stay on course with the reform that are taking place.

Malawians have always asked the President to cut down on government expenditure by checking her trips among others. The defiant tone from the President that she will not stop gallivanting is a cause for concern to most Malawians.

We should not take for granted the gesture by our partners because they will continue to monitor our behavior and performance.

We need to show that we are committed to end our poverty with the help of our partners. The biggest thank you that we can give to our partners is to remain on course.