By Edwin Mauluka

Mzimba North East legislator Catherine Gotani Hara has urged President Peter Mutharika to preserve and build on successful development programs introduced under the former Malawi Congress Party (MCP) administration. She warned that discarding effective initiatives for political reasons would undermine national progress.

“He shouldn’t throw away the baby with the bathwater. The good things we did as the former government are worth keeping,” Hara said, calling for continuity on impactful MCP projects.

Hara also encouraged fellow legislators to make meaningful, solution-driven contributions in Parliament, noting that Malawians are “slowly losing patience” and expect answers from their leaders. She stressed that transformation must extend beyond politics to include reforms in the civil service.

Turning to economic issues, Hara underscored the need for Malawi to overhaul agricultural programs and align them with increased production to generate meaningful export-led growth. She cited the widening trade imbalance, where Malawi spends about US$3.3 billion on imports but earns only US$970 million from exports, as a root cause of persistent poverty.

“That is what we need to seriously discuss in this House and find solutions to cover that gap,” she said. “If we can’t cover it, no matter how many governments we bring, people will still cry and feel we are not performing.”

Hara said the reintroduced Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) can deliver real impact if farmers are trained in manure production and gypsum application to restore soil fertility, which has been degraded by heavy reliance on chemical fertiliser. She said both maize and tobacco farmers could significantly boost yields using organic inputs.

For example, she noted that tobacco farmers currently produce about 980 kilograms per hectare but could harvest up to 1,500 kilograms if manure and gypsum were applied.

While acknowledging the president’s efforts, Hara said the agricultural support system, particularly extension services, needs urgent reform to improve productivity.

She also proposed tax incentives for farmers who export their produce, saying this would encourage higher production and help the country earn more forex.

Hara applauded the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s pledge to allocate MWK5 billion annually to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and MWK200 million for youth and women’s loans. She described the revamped CDF as a “game changer,” noting that it can support construction of school blocks, road improvements, community fishponds, and borehole drilling.

“My hope is that the fund will also be used for production initiatives because 90% of our resources go to consumption,” she said. “We need a deliberate policy that channels a percentage of government expenditure to production. That’s the only way we’ll get out of these problems.”

Hara added that youth loans and skills-development programs will empower young people to create products for export, strengthening Malawi’s economic base.