The National Planning Commission (NPC) says achieving ambitious aspirations outlined in Malawi 2063 (MW2063) depends on the level of financial commitment and accountability among duty-bearers as well as giving space to women.

This view was expressed by three NPC women commissioners Betty Chinyamunyamu, Mercy Masoo and Natasha Nsamala.

Betty Chinyamunyamu,

In the first 10 years of the long-term development plan, the country dreams of turning into a lower middle income economy by 2030 and upper middle income economy by 2063.

In an interview, Masoo, a development specialist, said the country is moving, but at a slower pace.

She said: “In terms of defining the framework for getting the Malawi 2063, we have it there. But how we are moving, I think, that is where we need to even look at some of the enablers like mindset change.

“How are we changing as a people to embrace that which we have defined to do as a people.”

Masoo, who is also Water Aid country director, cited instances where a department reports no progress on sector plans and they get away with such failures without being held accountable.

She said: “Until we reach a point where a director loses their job because, maybe three years in a row they have been reporting about a certain undertaking that they were supposed to do three years ago but they have not done anything.

“You have a whole PS [Principal Secretary] sitting in that meeting and doing nothing and business continues as usual. I think we need to change.”

Masoo said development plans should be largely self-financed and stop depending on the donors.

“We have been talking about who is financing development in Malawi. I think, as a country, it is high time we realised that nobody is going to come and finance our aspirations,” she said.

On her part, Chinyamunyamu, a development economist and National Smallholder Farmers Association chief executive officer, said, so far, progress is there, but added that challenges still lie ahead.

She said: “There has been some progress, especially when we look at public awareness of Malawi 2063, Most people know it.

“But we need to double our efforts, to keep the momentum moving because people are now demanding more.

Chinyamunyamu called for accountability, saying leaders at all levels need to be held accountable for their actions and inadequacies.

“We need to build that level of accountability at every level. People must know that there are consequences for their actions, good or bad,” she said.

Nsamala, on her part, said she is encouraged by the institutionalisation of MW2063 and the coherence with the ground work.

She said the pillars and enablers will be the measure of success when time comes to account for the progress of the plan.

However, Nsamala, who is Malawi Blood Transfusion Services chief executive officer, said MW2063 has to speak to the plans at all levels, including the district councils which have to align their development plan.

She said: “We have done well in terms of reaching out to leaders at all levels and making sure our plans are aligned.

“But you know this is the first few years of implementation. There is going to be some mismatches, but if we continue with this trajectory, we are going to have one plan and one budget, trickling down and that is one way in which we are going to achieve Malawi 2063.”

MW2063 was launched in January 2021 and the plan is anchored on the three pillars of agricultural productivity and commercialisation; industrialisation and urbanization.

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