The country’s research think-tank Afrobarometer survey shows over 89% of Malawians believe that the nation is going to the wrong direction under President Lazarus Chakwera’s leadership.
The survey further reveals that over 85% Malawians say Chakwera has failed to manage the economy and have lost trust that he can fix the economy again.
The research adds that eight people in every 10 people they feel the economy has crushed. Poverty levels has gone up.
Afrobarometer surveys which has been released on Thursday, March 14, 2024 adds that a sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Previous surveys were conducted in Malawi in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2019.
Key findings of the survey including;
1.Large majorities offer negative assessments of economic conditions: 85% describe the
country’s economic situation as “fairly bad” or “very bad,” and 74% say the same about their personal living conditions.
2.Looking ahead, Malawians are pessimistic about the country’s economy: Only 16% think things will get better in 12 months’ time, while 63% expect them to get worse.
3.More than eight in 10 citizens say the government is performing “fairly badly” or “very badly” on management of the economy (85%) and other key economic tasks. Management of the economy tops the list of most important problems that Malawians want their government to address.
- Almost two-thirds (63%) of citizens say they went without a cash income “many times” or “always” during the previous year, and 35% frequently went without enough food.
- Almost four in 10 Malawians (37%) experienced high levels of lived poverty during the past year, while another 38% experienced moderate lived poverty.
THE SURVEY COMES BARELY A MONTH AFTER MALAWI CATHOLIC BISHOPS REBUKED CHAKWERA FOR TAKING CITIZENS TO BAGAMOYO INSTEAD OF PROMISED CANAAN.
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
Nine survey rounds in up to 42 countries have been completed since 1999.
Round 9 surveys (2021/2023) cover 39 countries. Afrobarometer’s national partners conduct face-to-face
interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice.
The Afrobarometer team in Malawi, led by the Centre for Social Research, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult Malawians in April 2022.