SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY DR. JOYCE BANDA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, and THE PEOPLE’S PARTY ON THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE PEOPLE’S PARTY 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ON SATURDAY, 29TH MARCH, 2014 CIVO STADIUM, LILONGWE

SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY DR. JOYCE BANDA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, and THE PEOPLE’S PARTY ON THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE PEOPLE’S PARTY 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ON SATURDAY, 29TH MARCH, 2014 CIVO STADIUM, LILONGWE

.Your Excellency Chief Justice Richard Banda, SC, (Retired);

. Rt. Hon. Sosten Gwengwe, Peoples Party Presidential Running mate and Minister of Industry and Trade;

. The Rt Honourable Khumbo Hastings Kachali, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi, and Vice President of the People’s Party, North;

.Hon. Uladi Mussa, Vice President of the People’s Party, Centre and Minister of Home Affairs;


. Hon. Brown Mpinganjira, Vice President of the People’s Party, South AND Minister of Information and Civic Education;

. Hon. Paul Maulidi, Acting Secretary General;


. Hon.Irene Chikuni, Chairperson of the Campaign Launch Organising Committee;

. Members of the National Executive Committee of the People’s Party;


. Members of the Diplomatic Corps here present;


. Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and Gentlemen.




Today is a great day for me as I stand before you all to preside over the official launch of the People’s Party Campaign for
the May 2014 Tripartite Elections.


Two years ago, we began a journey to eradicate poverty through economic growth and wealth creation. We sought to see Malawians enjoy their freedom, dignity and sense of pride; and maximise their capacity to realise their social, political and economic empowerment.


Over the past two years, the Peoples Party Government has worked together with all Malawians to fight poverty and unemployment and reduce inequality.


Despite the negative global economic situation and emerging challenges that we faced, we have been able to heal our country from pain and despair. Today we have a population driven by hope.


We inherited an economy that was in crisis. Today we have turned around that economy. Indeed, in the short time I have been President, we have taken decisive action to heal the country, recover the economy, and build a strong foundation for growth.


With confidence, we can say with joy that:

It has been two years since our people spent hours on queues looking for fuel;

It has been two years since our people and businesses struggled to access foreign exchange;

It has been two years since bad laws were repealed and since then our people started enjoying their freedoms and civil liberties;

It has been two years since the media started operating freely without Government harassment; and since our people started exercising their rights and enjoy their freedoms including demonstrations without Government killing them;


It has been two years since punitive tax measures on private sector were removed and businesses started increasing their
production capacity from 30 per cent to over 75 percent;

It has been two years since tobacco buyers returned to the Auction Floors and our tobacco farmers started enjoying good production and prices;


It has been two years since we are witnessing the increase from 281 megawatts to 352 megawatts of electricity generated and the rolling out of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP 7) to 81 Trading Centres across the country;


It has been two years since we have seen availability of maize in ADMARC (Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation) markets across the country at reasonable prices and our people no longer fight for madeya (maize husks);


It has been two years after devaluation of the Kwacha and now we are witnessing inflation rates coming down; and the Kwacha regaining strength;


Indeed it has been two years since God placed me in the transit lounge to prepare Malawi to receive the blessings of the
next 50 years. To God be the glory.



My fellow Malawians
Our country has once again become a better place to live and do business in.

We have made tremendous progress in the past 2 years.


The journey to recover our economy has been difficulty but rewarding. All of us have sacrificed and endured for this progress.

And today what is it that we see?


Today, we see the economy is looking good.


Today, the crops in the field are looking good.


Today, our currency is stabilising.


Today, our foreign exchange reserves are looking good at 3 months import cover.


Today, inflation and interest rates are going down.


Today, efforts to stop corruption have been like never before. We have taken very far reaching measures in dealing with fraud and corruption in Government including engaging foreign forensic auditors. This audit will cover the period from 2005 up to 2013.
These successes we have registered represent the foundation of a transformation agenda that the People’s Party is proposing to implement in the next five years.


We cannot have a better time to take off than now. Today, we seek to mobilise and unite all Malawians around this common vision of a Transformation Agenda. The agenda that seeks to improve the lives of all Malawians through economic growth,
wealth creation and political empowerment.


It is unacceptable to me as the President of Malawi, as it should be to all Malawians, that we have children continuing to suffer from malnutrition.


Or that they yearn to learn, but have to sit under trees rather than proper classrooms. It is unacceptable that a mother should die while giving birth because the nearest health center is far away. Or that thousands die of diseases that we have answers for.


It is unacceptable that the youth who represent the future of our world have few opportunities to realize their potential. Or that they are not guaranteed a society where they can mobilise themselves into financial citizens. It is unacceptable that farmers and other workers continue to toil to make the best of what they have but do not get the fruits of their labour due to lack of modernization, a supportive policy environment and access to markets; and that they are buried under global tariffs
and taxes.


For decades, I have fought these issues in Malawi and in the world as an activist and through my work at the grassroots.
I have experienced the struggles of the poor and the suffering of our people. I have championed the advancement of
the oppressed and marginalized, fought for the rights of women, youth and children, campaigned for the betterment of the rural and urban poor.


My fellow Malawians The Peoples Party Manifesto contains our plans for addressing the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.


We have, therefore, put Integrated Rural Transformation as the central focus of our plans for the next five years.
Our priorities during this term remain rural development, agriculture and food security, education, health, infrastructure
development, women empowerment,youth and vocational training, the creation of more jobs, decent work and sustainable livelihoods, reforming public service and the fight against crime and corruption.


We are also continuing to expand access to housing and basic services and building integrated human settlements.


The Peoples Party is decided to continue deepening a democratic governance and building a capable state and create conditions for
the promotion of patriotism, social solidarity and social mobilisation.


The Integrated Rural Transformation will be anchored by Mudzi Transformation Initiative as the flagship programme to
modernize rural areas and fight poverty.


We recognize that unless the majority of our citizens become active economic citizens, as a nation we will not easily
overcome poverty. In this regard, the main focus of the Peoples Party Government is to transform Malawi’s rural communities into vibrant hubs of agri-business and industrial activities and translate the country’s youth into a demographic dividend. In this regard, we seek to:


.Continue building decent houses for our people particularly those in rural areas and the urban poor.

. Distribute more cows to more than one million families in five years;

. Provide more fertilizer and seeds to our people through the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme

. Provide more fertilizer to our people through the Farm input Loan Programme;

. Provide potable clean water across the country;


. Build assets of households;

. Support rural farmers, farming clubs and cooperatives to access loans, grow cash crops, and access to markets;

. Support roads, health and education infrastructure development in rural communities;

. Support the development of cottage industries;

. Provide special housing schemes for serving low grade civil servants, for example, health workers, teachers, community and extension workers, police men and women; and

. Implement the Malawi Social Action Fund.


My fellow Malawians
The Peoples Party is offering a transformation that expands access to social services that meet minimum standards of quality of life regardless of location; that reduces inequality; and that accelerates progress towards an all inclusive community and
national development.


Therefore this is a transformation agenda that will get rid of a hoe as an implement of choice;

that will get rid of grass thatched house;

that will get rid of drinking contaminated water.


Through this transformation, we seek to Increase agricultural production and food security though:

.Reorganising the Ministry of Agriculture;


. Creating a Malawi Agriculture Transformation Authority to drive change in the agriculture sector;

. Establishing Agriculture Investment Bank to provide more loans to farmers;

. Establishing new co-operatives and farming clubs;

. Increasing livestock production;

. Expanding irrigation farming and intensify two crops a year;

. Supporting and improve tobacco farming;

. Building more silos in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu.


Indeed, this agenda seeks to decentralize tobacco marketing and licensing systems to districts in order to ensure broad-based
participation by our rural tobacco farmers.


My fellow Malawians
This is a transformational agenda that prioritises animal and fish farming through innovative programmes like Malawi Fish for All
Initiative.


Yes, through this Manifesto, the People’s Party has embraced a holistic approach to improving quality of and access to education.
The People’s Party Government is committed to improving education facilities and infrastructure, teacher’s development, provision of adequate teaching and learning materials, improving conditions of services for teachers among others.


To demonstrate this commitment, the People’s Party promises to:

 Transform the University of Malawi Colleges into fully fledged Universities as one of the strategies to expand access and improving efficiency of operations;


 Construct six Teacher Training Colleges and convert Domasi College of Education into a fully fledged Domasi University of
Education to address the supply of teachers;

 Strengthen the school inspectorate at primary and secondary levels to ensure that education standards and quality match the overall transformation agenda;


 Build 4 vocational and technical colleges to expand access to skills development for our youth.

 The People’s Party is proposing trans-formative strategies in reforming our health sector, and our economy in general.


In the Infrastructure sector, the People’s Party Government aims at implementing programmes for developing a modern and
effective roads network:


• Connect every district headquarters and regulated border post to a bituminized road Network;

• Accelerate and improve routine road maintenance and upgrading by building technical and institutional capacity at all levels
and providing graders in all districts;

• Design a master roadwork plan that should serve the country for the next 50 years;

• Expand the city road network by building more dual carriage highways including the road from Mchinji Round-about to Airport
Turn off;

• Upgrade all major bridges and construct new ones to replace those that have outlived their lifespan;

• Install street lights in all the major cities and district headquarters and ensure that they are functional;

• Provide other modes of transport including city buses, especially to Capital Hill and rural areas, to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated public transport system.


The Peoples Party is offering new hope to our youth; to our women; to our people with disabilities and to our elderly. The Peoples Party is saying that you are the people and therefore the owners of the Party. You are the backbone of the Party’s existence and success.


The PEOPLE’S PARTY Government is committed to improving the plight of most vulnerable members of our communities. In
this regard, through our manifesto we seek to:

Scale up Public Works Programme, School Feeding, Bursary Programmes and Food Aid;


Fast track the finalization of the social support policy to provide the framework for innovation in the provision of social
protection interventions;

• Enhance and promote regular transfers to the most vulnerable and the ultra-poor households;

• Promote longer term, skills oriented and asset enhancing social protection interventions;

• Implement coherent and progressive social support interventions to maximize synergies;

• Improve and scale up the Social Cash Transfer programmes to all 28 districts;

• Support people affected by natural disasters or shocks so that they do not descend into destitution.


My fellow Malawians
This vision requires us to agree on what we must do to realize our destiny.

Most of all, we want a Government that is of the people; respects the people; and serves the people. We want a Government that
guarantees the freedom, dignity, and pride of every Malawian.


We want a Government that is motivated, efficient and able to deliver on its mandate.



My fellow Malawians
I am committed to continue to champion the cause of the rural and urban poor.

I am committed to continue champion the cause of women and youth.

I am committed to continue champion the cause of the workers, the people with disability and the elderly. I am committed
to continue champion the cause of the business community. Yes, I am committed to continue champion the cause of students.


Indeed, I am committed to rural transformation as the centre-piece of our transformational agenda.


This is in response to the fact that life in rural Malawi is a continuous struggle and the rural folks are looking for a leadership and a government that can change their life circumstances forever.


I want to call upon all our people: men and women, young and old; rich and poor to see what I see because I am indeed seeing prosperity upon our land. Now it demands of us to make a better Malawi possible.



A Malawi that becomes the hope of our people and the continent. A Malawi that is a centre of excellence for doing
business. A Malawi that participates in leadership of global affairs.


A Malawi that is efficient and skilful. Yes, a healthy Malawi. In this regard, the choices we make today are critical in
determining the future we desire to have.


I have full confidence in the people of Malawi. We all share the same dream of a better future for our country, our
families, and our children. This Manifesto says what the People’s Party Government, under my leadership, intends to do in order to achieve that objective. I ask of you for your support.


It is Possible to transform Malawi. Nzotheka!


It is possible for the People’s Party to win this
election! Nzotheka!


A better Malawi is possible. Nzotheka!


With these remarks, I declare the People’s Party Campaign for the May 2014 Tripartite Elections launched.

I thank you