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Consumer Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito on Thursday told President Bingu wa Mutharika to reverse Admarc commercialisation as a way of achieving food security in Malawi.
Kapito told the press at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre soon after a two hour meeting with Mutharika which was held in camera that the President promised Cama that he would consider the proposal.
Recently there has been a lot of debate on Admarc commercialisation with Economic Association of Malawi (Ecama) arguing that government hurried the Admarc Commercialisation Bill through Parliament because of donor pressure.
Ecama spokesman Perks Ligoya told The Nation recently that government bulldozed the bill in Parliament allegedly under the influence of the World Bank and IMF who demanded who made the enactment as a condition for aid.
Kapito also explained that Cama and the Malawi Bureau of Standards briefed Mutharika on the status of consumers—ranging from what they consume to the buying power as a way of supporting the president’s vision.
Mutharika stated that the briefing should be part of the rural development integration programme which the president has embarked on so that rural areas should also grow, Kapito said.
He said despite the fact that salaries in the government were adjusted, people must earn good income to meet their needs which, Kapito said, the President supported and promised to look into.
“But the president has also asked us to go beyond urban areas, for instance on the right of consumers, so that they are knowledgeable on their rights there,” said the consumer rights activist.
On counterfeits products that have flooded the Malawi market, Kapito said the president also told the delegates to pull out all sub-standards goods out of shops. Mutharika also wanted the exercise to extend to the rural areas so that nobody is left out, according to Kapito.
Soon after taking office, the president has been holding meetings with various interest groups as a consultation strategy for the government to move in the right direction.
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