US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE1114

UNCLAS LILONGWE 001114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PGOV, PINR, MI, President 
SUBJECT: MUTHARIKA TOUTS RURAL GROWTH, ESTABLISHES DONOR 
DIALOGUE 
 
 
1. Summary: President Mutharika summoned heads of mission to 
thank them for their support and to air his views on key 
policies.  He discussed his plans for rural poverty 
alleviation, the GOM's move to Lilongwe, and promised to have 
regular meetings with donors to establish a policy dialogue. 
End summary. 
 
2. President Mutharika convened the heads of diplomatic 
missions and donor organizations, along with most of his 
cabinet, on December 6 to thank donors for supporting his 
administration during its first six months in office. 
Mutharika observed that the GOM is now "back on track" with 
donors after the difficulties created by the previous 
administration.  He promised to keep public expenditure under 
control and vowed that the GOM will "not slide back, but will 
move forward." 
 
3. Mutharika wants Malawi "to shift from being a consuming 
country to a producing country, creating wealth and creating 
employment."  He said the key to economic transformation lies 
in empowering the rural poor, and he observed that lack of 
capital and lack of training are what keep rural people 
economically depressed.  To address this integrated rural 
development, he promised to revive a dormant GOM policy of 
creating "rural growth centers" that would enjoy all of the 
services that cities have, in terms of roads, electricity, 
water, telecoms, banks, etc.  He said that this would 
encourage people to stay on the land and stimulate the growth 
of regional areas. 
 
4. The president commented on the difficulties of 
implementing his two current rural poverty initiatives, the 
"Targeted Input Program" (TIP) to deliver seed and fertilizer 
packages to poor families, and a broader fertilizer subsidy 
program.  The TIP rollout has been delayed, he said, because 
of the logistical challenge of packaging and distributing 62 
million kilos of fertilizer and seed in small packages.  He 
cited problems with transport, but promised that he had now 
mobilized the Malawi Army to complete the distribution.  On 
the fertilizer subsidy, he attempted to clarify confusion 
about the program, saying that it was intended only for those 
who could not afford fertilizer, and that the GOM did not 
wish to distort the commercial market. 
 
5. Turning to his other major topic, the move of the GOM to 
Lilongwe, Mutharika stated that he would be moving into the 
New State House "as soon as possible."  He denied media 
claims that he was spending lavishly to renovate the 
building, and said that his staff had only done cleaning and 
repairs and were moving the old furniture from the former 
Blantyre residence to save money.  He promised to continue to 
share the building with Parliament temporarily, but he was 
emphatic that Parliament must find a new permanent home. 
With that, he asked donors to contribute to the construction 
of a new Parliament building. 
 
6. The president then opened the floor for questions and 
comments, to which several of representatives responded. 
Most thanked him for the information and the opportunity for 
dialogue.  A few cautioned him about the need to communicate 
policies clearly, for example on the role of Parliament in 
Malawi's young democratic system, and in the setting of 
publicly announced targets for development projects. 
 
7. Finally, Mutharika expressed his desire to meet regularly, 
perhaps quarterly, with the diplomatic/donor heads, in order 
to establish a policy dialogue.  With that, he adjourned the 
meeting and invited the group for tea and further informal 
discussions. 
 
8. Comment:  If instituted as advertised, this forum will 
provide a useful vehicle to communicate donor concerns 
directly to the head of state.  Donor reps had suggested to 
the new GOM as early as August this year that such a forum be 
established.  In conversation with the Charge after the 
meeting, the president expressed his wish that the regular 
sessions be used to discuss policy issues in-depth, and said 
that he hopes for an honest dialogue where donors will give 
him feedback.  He mentioned that for the same reason, he had 
enthusiastically enlisted Malawi in the African Peer Review 
Mechanism, in order to get honest assessments of the 
country's policies. 
GILMOUR