President Peter Mutharika yesterday took a swipe at Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s pledge to create one million jobs within his first year of office if elected as President in next year’s tripartite elections.
Mutharika was speaking during a whistle-stop rally in Nkhotakota on his way from the Northern Region.
He said: “There are some people who are practising inflammatory politics because they have no issues. They know nothing.
“There is no way someone can create one million jobs in one year here in Malawi. Even claims of establishing a bullet train in Malawi… it’s not possible. I was in America for 40 years… I know. They tried to build such a train but failed because it’s expensive despite their huge economic muscle.”
Mutharika also urged Malawians to go and register in large numbers in the ongoing Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) voter registration exercise currently in its fourth phase in Mwanza, Chikwawa, Blantyre and Ntcheu districts.
He then appealed to Malawians to desist from using inflammatory language, suggesting that this has no place in the country’s modern democracy.
Ironically, before Mutharika took to the podium to address a crowd that gathered to welcome him, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary general Greselder Jeffrey accused some political leaders of attempting to pull the governing party down, calling them “agalu” and “akuba” (dogs and thieves).
Jeffrey’s remarks came barely a week after Mutharika warned Chilima, former first lady Callista Mutharika and other United Transformation Movement (UTM) gurus against attacking him, threatening he would drop on them like a tonne of bricks if they continue doing so.
In an earlier interview with The Nation, UTM secretary general Kaliati implicitly wondered why the governing party scolds the UTM, saying members of the movement do not speak about Mutharika during their rallies.
