Prominent economic expert Greenson Nyirenda has challenged the Malawi Government to be transparent, inclusive and prioritize national interests over greed when entering into international treaties.
Nyirenda’s remarks come in the wake of a startling revelation that the country missed out on approximately MK900 billion due to a shortfall in a farm produce supply deal with South Sudan.
In an interview with Nthanda Times, Nyirenda emphasized that the country’s failure to meet the production demands of the South Sudan deal could have been mitigated had it involved a larger number of producers.
“Malawi is good at signing such treaties without any implementation strategies. It is not quite a new thing because that is how we are as a country. Because sometimes it is about greed. Maybe someone wants to monopolize such deals, either politically. At the end of the day, it fails,” said Nyirenda.
The economic expert stressed the vital role of transparency and public involvement in the treaty-making process.
Nyirenda called for the government to make the details of such agreements public, allowing a wider range of potential producers to express their interest and contribute to successful implementation.
“We need to see our capacities before signing such treaties. We need to find out who produces what. When such deals come, we need to involve a lot of people, the deals should come to public for people to express their interest. In that case, we can meet the production demand,” said Nyirenda.
Out of the agreed-upon 180,000 metric tons of agricultural products including maize, maize flour, groundnuts, and beans, only 1200 metric tons were supplied.
