The Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) has given seven presidential candidates until 30th August to explain how their party manifestos will bail out Malawians from the socio-economic challenges, when voted into power, saying they are tired of empty promises.

These are candidates from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), UTM, Peoples Party (PP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Peoples Development Party (PDP), United Democratic Party (UDF) and Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu (OZAM).

In the letter CAMA executive director John Kapito says having read and appreciated various party manifestos ahead of the 16 September polls, they have discovered that they fail short of answering critical questions, bordering on how the development agendas will protect interests of consumers and spur economic growth among others.

“The Consumers Association of Malawi is urging all political parties and their aspirants to provide comprehensive socio-economic recovery plans for the struggling economy. These plans should have; short, intermediate, and long-term interventions that will catalyze economic growth,” said Kapito.

Kapito says the expectation that political promises will suffice to sway votes in the upcoming election continues to dwindle for potential voters. He said “Malawians are seeking more than mere strategies. Malawians want tangible, impactful and measurable interventions in order to continue believing that the leaders of today can initiate the process towards the nation achieving the Malawi 2063 goals.”

The consumer rights body says its interest is to get more clarifications on how the resources will be generated to support the candidates’ ambitious plans indicated in various manifestos, citing 20 key areas of development, saying Malawians are tired of mere rhetoric, and want action.

Deputy publicity secretary for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Ken Msonda is surprised that CAMA officials have not grasped fully the contents of their manifesto despite the party crisscrossing the country with campaign messages on the development agenda.

“May be the CAMA executive was out of the country at the time we launched the manifesto. I can’t believe what they are saying because as you are aware our president is on the campaign trail, trying to sell our manifesto, a policy that has Malawians at heart in terms of development. We will help them understand.”

Msonda was however quick to express concern on the ultimatum given by the consumer body saying it is not necessary.

On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba says their party manifesto is self-explanatory, but what remains is for them to civic-educate the masses on implementation.

Namalonda also expressed concern over the ultimatum issued by CAMA, saying what the concerned stakeholders need to do is to discuss the issues on a round-table and map the way-forward together for the betterment of the country.

“Let’s give dialogue a chance for us to make progress. Our manifesto is very comprehensive and we are ready to engage at any level for people to understand how we will implement it,” said Namalomba.