Some Development Issues and Debates

Greenwell Matchaya, PhD Feedback to: greenwellmatchaya@yahoo.com Introduction : The current government’s effort to get the economy out of the economic problems at hand are commendable and the effort put in authoring the Economic Recovery Plan have to be celebrated as an indicator that probably someone somewhere out there is contemplating of doing something. Having said that , it ought to be said without fear of contradiction that some, if not most of the plans in the recovery plan do not appear to be founded on any solid economic/development theory or empirics. This response to the economic recovery plan is not exhaustive and must not be interpreted as an attempt to undermine government efforts in its bid to get the economy back on its ‘two’ feet, but purports to point at a number of issues that need clarifications, for the betterment of all of us. The comments below are based partially on the understanding that we are in these problems due to the economy’s fai...

In a debate on airlines and efficiency with a colleague aboard American airlines some time back, I vehemently argued that high prices characteristic of SA airlines were symptomatic of structural as well as efficiency problems and that sustainability was questionable given the stronger competition from KA, ET, etc. so the loss did not surprise me....Again, i should say now: The high auto prices in SA is an efficiency, labour wage, union power, and credit market issue...given low GDP pc such prices are unsustainable...either the financial market crashes, or the have-notes will bring econ activity to a halt...give this prophecy some time..it will come to pass Ceteris paribus. For one car in SA, you lose too new cars in UK and US!

While countries of the West, Asia and Latin America appear to be doing fine on average, some countries in Africa appear to be trapped in poverty without a clear way out. Nations like the DRC, Zambia, Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and of course Malawi, among still have larger proportions of their population living below the US$ 1.25, per day poverty line. Obviously, if there was some magic bullet for sorting this out, most of these countries would have been rich already. While we know some of the challenges that poor countries face in their bid to uplift the lives of the poor, our knowledge needs to always be supplemented by views from various sources. Recently I collected some opinions on how Malawi can develop from my friends on Face book. The Question was: ‘Will Malawi ever develop? Below are some insights from contributors. What do you think? Any policy lessons for the GoM? • Bright Sibale What is development in your context bwana? August 18 at 11:16am via mobile • Unli...

The article on tips to the president as it appeared in the Dailytimes. Note, the name is Matchaya NOT mattchaya. that was a typo at dailytimes tips to the president part1 and Tips to the presdient part 2

(A draft of what appeared in The DailyTimes- malawi, Thursday, 3 May 2012; pp 18 and 26) Dr Greenwell Matchaya (Economic Expert) Introduction Now that all seems to be in order and JB has taken control of national affairs, it’s the appropriate time to offer economic development counsel to the president before it is too late as time is really not on our side. The President ought to realize that she inheriting this country at a time when we are at the lowest point in history, socially, economically and politically. Our relations with the outside world are not the best, our relations within the nation are soured by tribalism, and the economy is mauled by absence of radical changes on the supply side, poor donor relations and deteriorating human rights situation. These should be the very first tasks the new government should consider addressing to put the nation on a right track while seeing that we get moving forward. While the importance of reduced corruption, international relatio...

Gc matchaya, phd I think jb shd exercise care in accepting defectors lest she provides cover for hyenas who will work to bring her downfall . Presumably she was being supported by some dpp mps such as kalinde etc. those should be her first priority and then,she should seriously consider working with opposition as one way of encouraging politics of inclusion,. Those who have pledged their support already shud be considered seriously . In fact a government of national unity would be desirable. She should also seriously note that her strength and long term success are dependent on public opinion which itself is a function of people's perception of what she does. Things like bowing down to pressure from tribesmen to lead a tribal grouping are simply in discord with the tenets of survival in multiparty politics in a country with a myriad social fault lines. So should anyone for example approach her privately to try AND convince her that she is more of a certain tribe or religion ...

by Dr G C Matchaya When the news of the demise of the president Bingu wa Mutharika broke out, I was taken by surprise. I did not expect his death to come this soon and just soon after some prophets had predicted it to be very close. Of course the amazement did not last too long as I started pondering on the question of succession. Was it going to be the legitimate successor (the then VP JB) or was it going to be someone else? If it were to be someone else whom then would it be, the Speaker Chimunthu Banda or someone from outside those ranks? No matter how much I tried to think of other possibilities, I was convinced that the presidency was constitutionally JB’s. Now that all seems to be in order and JB has taken control of national affairs, it’s the appropriate time to congratulate her and wish her good luck. So Congratulation and good luck Madam President, this is not a simple achievement and neither is it a simple task. Madam President, you are inheriting this country at a time ...

Should the sad news coming from Malawi be real, the political land scape will change critically and odds will be in JBs favour in 2014 as the stat machinery will be controlled by someone who doesn't have too much 'bads' on her side. The fight however, will be one of PP versus another party in unison with UDF off-shoot. If MCP were to be alive by then, it could as well be a 2 party face off. MCP-vs PP. A match to death , if MCP marries UDF that is. But would be a walkover in case of pp versus mcp without UDF ....alliance with mcp. PP would simply win.

what led to the MCP disaster in 2009? read on at an International Relations journal| IPSA Abstract In this article, an attempt has been made to explain the performance of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the general elections by focusing mainly on the 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections in which the MCP lost overwhelmingly. Specifically, the role of sectionalism of a regional and ethnic nature on the MCP’s national level performance was examined. Different kinds of data from the Malawi electoral commission and news media are used in the analysis. Descriptive statistics are used to summarise the effects of different factors on the party’s share of votes. It is found that a complex combination of factors such as district and regional sizes, education level of voters as proxied by district and regional level data, party level policies and organisation, incumbency, campaign expenditure, individual leaders personal characters and past legacy, party conduct in parliament am...