Embracing Kamuzu: MCP Presidential aspirant Jumbe dreams of revitalising Agriculture

One of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential hopefuls Felix Jumbe has said that if Malawi would want to realise its full
development potential it is time that the country should move from
focusing on poverty eradication and shift focus to wealth creation.

Jumbe said this in Lilongwe Friday when he launched his Wealth Creation For All campaign. The campaign includes a website that aim atguiding Malawians on how to create wealth through Agriculture.

Riding on the vision of the country’s first President Hastings Kamuzu Banda and MCP’s four cornerstones of unity, loyalty, obedience anddiscipline, Jumbe said this was time that Malawi has to accept that it is an agricultural based economy and embrace agriculture fully for itto create wealth for its people.

Quoting the former Head of State’s popular tag of the country’s people having three basic things which are “enough food, decent clothes and houses that do not leak”, Jumbe said that was a simplified household wealth creation strategy for Kamuzu Banda.

“Kamuzu Banda’s main focus, strategy was improved agricultural
production and all we need to do as a country is to go back to that
strategy. For the past twenty-years we have not been having a proper strategy because our focus has been on poverty eradication rather than wealth creation,” he said.

Jumbe contended that poverty eradication strategies are most often short term while wealth creation strategies are long term.

He also said that for wealth creation to be possible there is need for change of mindset by all Malawians.

“We need to address the mindset of the people to change from looking at politicians as Semi-Gods who will provide for their needs but asleaders to guide them to wealth creation that will turn Malawi into a production house and not a beggar,” added Jumbe.

He called agriculture as an already proven strategy and that the
country’s comparative advantage is in agriculture since the country already has plenty of water, land, air and sunshine.

“Agriculture is the country’s economic backbone not by accident but by the nature of it natural endowments. Again Malawi’s population is 62 percent illiterate and the only natural profession that can engage 80 percent of the population is agriculture. Agriculture provides aplatform for all other sectors,” said Jumbe.

During the launch of the campaign Jumbe had to explain how he is going to achieve his dream if the MCP would give him a chance to represent it next year and eventually given a node to be President of the country by a national vote.

He also took time to answer questions on different issues from the audience.

The Wealth Creation For All campaign, according to Jumbe, is aimed at guiding Malawians on how to use the soil, water, air and sunshine in different agricultural enterprises to create wealth.

The campaign also includes bringing and teaching Malawians use of different agricultural technologies and techniques that can assistindividuals in the wealth creation process at household level.

“We are also looking at teaching people to take agriculture as a
business even on how to approach banks with an agro-business plan for funding,” added Jumbe.

Jumbe is one of the twelve candidates who are set to contest for the MCP presidency during the party’s convention whose date is yet to beannounced.

Other candidates also include the party’s incumbent John Tembo
secretary general Chris Daza, former Malawi Assemblies of God
president Lazarus Chakwera, retired Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo and former Cabinet Minister Jodder Kanjere.

Others are former Secretary General Beston Majoni, the party’s MPs Edwin Banda (Nkhotakota central), Joseph Njobvuyalema (Lilongwe Mapuyu south) and Watson Makala Ngozo (Lilongwe Mpenu) and the party’s former director of political affairs Eston Kakhome.

Whoever will win at the convention will lead the party during next
year’s tripartite elections when the country for the first time will
elect a president, MPs and councilors.