The influential Catholic Church in Malawi has criticised President Lazarus Chakwera, saying the country has become worse in the four years of his leadership.
In a scathing attack that appears to be directed at the president, the church, through its bishops, said “we have witnessed a glaring failure of leadership”.
“Most Malawians fail to see anybody in the current government who cares about them or who is able to improve their situation,” it added.
In a 16-page pastoral letter titled “The sad story of Malawi”, read out in all Catholic churches across the country on Sunday, it accused the administration of multiple failures including unfulfilled campaign promises, nepotism and rampant corruption.
The church accuses Mr Chakwera’s government of favouring members of an ethnic group or region when appointing people to top positions and victimising journalists who expose corruption.
The letter also said the government had failed to raise people’s incomes even after the purchasing power of the local currency the Malawian kwacha had drastically fallen.
After detailing government failures, the letter said: “It is essential to ask of candidates, what their record of service has been, what they are capable of doing, before voting for them – not who they are or where they come from or what connections they have”.
Malawi holds elections in 18 months and the timing of the pastoral letter is significant.
The church said it had privately engaged Mr Chakwera several times but it had been largely unsuccessful, hence the decision to try a different approach through the letter.
Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu has acknowledged the issues raised by the church but says the government will not engage in an item-by-item response to the letter.
“Instead we will not get tired of utilising engagements we do have with the clergy from time to time,” Mr Kunkuyu said.
In Africa we have leaders who can’t lead, leaders who loudly lament the challenges facing their countries and fall short of any solutions. They seek power for prestige and self comfort. They have truly let us down . Under their watch their countries continue to expert a worsening reduction in conditions of living and deep rooted poverty levels. They ride in expensive cars with long presidential motercades. Their leadership is only for public spectacle and never for sorting out national challenges. This is the type of AFRICAN leadership today. #AFRICAMUSTLEAD.
Watch out for some of the Catholic clergy. They go on criticising and bringing down governments without understanding.
They have been brainwashed by colonialists and cant reason on their own. For a poor and indebted country like Malawi, where do they think any new president will get the money to remove poverty in their society?
It’s the people themselves that should work and improve their economy. Where can Chakwera alone get the resources to feed Malawian? Very unfair! The Catholic Church in Malawi is dependent on handouts from overseas, why can’t it produce enough to meet its own needs in Malawi? This is pure hypocrisy by the corruption Malawian Bishops themselves.