Msonda ditched UDF on Tuesday claiming he wanted to reflect and strategise on his political career.
Banda, who is PP’s interim president, welcomed Msonda at the party’s headquarters off Chikhwawa Road in Blantyre.
She described Msonda as a seasoned politician.
Said Banda: “I am very excited to welcome Mr. Ken Msonda. Ken is a seasoned politician. He has fought gallantly for the protection of democracy in the country.â€Â
When asked if Msonda is not the type of recycled politicians filling her party’s hierarchy, Banda said: “I have in the past 12 months worked with recycled politicians. In fact, they are only five percent of the [PP] executive. They have shared their experiences and built the party which has registered about two million members. It is better for the party.â€Â
Msonda described himself as “a foot soldier” and that the party will benefit from his vast experience.
He argued he has joined PP because “it is a party of inclusivenessâ€Â.
“[PP is] the party that has the welfare of the people at heart and is geared to fight against poverty through rural and industrial development, job creation, economic empowerment of the poor and underprivileged and infrastructural development,” he said.
He said he feels sorry that some people claim “Malawi is not ready for a female president”, in an apparent reference to Banda’s perceived bid for the presidency in 2014.
“That is deliberate distortion of facts, a political propaganda by those who feel you [Banda] are a threat to their political ambitions,” said Msonda.
Banda formed PP early last year after being expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) where she served as first vice-president to President Bingu wa Mutharika. She was accused of forming parallel structures.
![President Peter Mutharika has said in his New Year's message Malawi is set to make progress this year after his government erected economic building blocks over the past five years.
"In the past five years, we have collectively saved the economy from the ruins of 2014 to the stability and inspiring growth we are seeing,” he said. “By all international standards, Malawi has proven to be an economic performing star— a rising African star. This is what patriotic Malawians can do for their country."
The President pointed out that in the past five years, Malawi has started making progress which this country lost in 1979, adding Malawi’s economy was ahead of China and other countries in income per capita but due to state violence and oppression, people’s participation in the economy was inhibited.
Mutharika said with violence and oppression the country was creating poverty instead of ending it.
He, therefore, praised development partners and foreign governments for their support and endorsing the progress Malawi is making.
He mentioned Global Fund which has committed to supporting Malawi with $500 million and International Monetary Fund for resuming budget support for the first time since it was suspended in 2013, as some of the partners who have shown their confidence in his government.
"We also have serious investors who intend to start building a city in Mangochi, together with Mangochi Airport and a five star hotel. We are set to make progress,” he said,
However, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry believes as much as Malawi is making progress serious challenges remain.
In its assessment of business in 2019, the chamber—which is the voice of the private sector—decried rampant corruption and persistent power cuts which it said impacted negatively on investment and business.
For instance, MCCCI said gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in the past five years reflect lack of meaningful creation of wealth by the private sector owing to persistent insurmountable obstacles to doing business whose solutions are not forthcoming.
“While progress was made in increasing the electricity carrying capacity of the national grid, thanks to the United States Government’s grant assistance through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, there is need to generate adequate electricity for the expanded grid to carry.
“It was expected that Egenco [Electricity Generation Company] and other Independent Power Producers [IPPs] would measure up to the expectations but thus far, that has not happened. Issuance of licences to IPPs took inordinately long and therefore their start time was pegged back,” reads the 2019 Business Environment Assessment report signed by MCCCI chief executive officer Chancellor Kaferapanjira and its president Prince Kapondamgaga.
Due to this depressed scenario, MCCCI says the performance of the private sector—often referred as the engine of the economy—will likely continue to be negatively affected unless authorities appreciated the impact of these challenges on the private sector and ultimately on the economy and worked on them.
Despite the power and finance challenges, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) agrees with Mutharika that Malawi has turned a corner.
RBM Governor Dalitso Kabambe in earlier interviews also downplayed the fears of sluggish growth, saying the economy is on track as evidenced by stable inflation and exchange rates as well as stable fuel prices.
RBM also maintains the economy will still grow by five percent in 2020.
“Our projection is data intensive. Therefore, we cannot speculate based on what is happening out there, but we use available data,” he told Business News last month.](https://www.mwnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Peter-Mutharika-350x250.jpg "Msonda says he is foot soldier 1 | The Nation Online")
