Mutharika Says Chilima Making Empty Promises  

BY MWAYI MKANDAWIRE
Malawi 24
AUG 17, 2018

…claims VP can’t create a million jobs

President Peter Mutharika has accused Vice President Saulos Chilima of lying to Malawians by making promises that cannot be fulfilled.

On Thursday, the president cast doubt on his veep’s promises during a whistle-stop rally in Nkhotakota on his way to Lilongwe.

Mutharika said Chilima and his United Transformation Movement (UTM) cannot create one million jobs because such a feat cannot be achieved in one year in Malawi.

He also cast doubt on Chilima’s promise to build a railway line and introduce a high speed train between Lilongwe and Blantyre.

Mutharika who claimed that Chilima wants to introduce a bullet train said Malawi cannot manage such a train because it is expensive.

“Do not let some people deceive you. I hear someone has promised to provide a bullet train for the country when elected into power, this is pity considering that America which is one of the richest countries in the world failed to do the project because it is expensive, can Malawi achieve that without sufficient electricity?” he asked.

During the rally, the president mentioned some infrastructure projects his government will implement if reelected.

One of them is the construction of a jetty on Lake Malawi at Nkhotakota Boma to ease water transportation.

At Chintheche in Nkhata Bay District during another rally, Mutharika promised to construct Chikangawa-Nkhata Bay Road.

The earmarked road starts from Thungwa on the Lilongwe-Mzuzu M1 Road and connects to the Nkhata Bay-Salima M5 Road at Chintheche.

Mutharika then urged people to vote for the Democratic Progressive Party in the 2019 elections saying many of the projects his government plans to carry out will be completed by 2024.