Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has challenged President Lazarus Chakwera to find genuine solutions to skyrocketing prices of basic commodities in order to arrest the poverty cycle as he admits that Malawians are suffering in silence.

Nankhumwa made the remarks today in Parliament during the rising of the house’s proceedings.

Nankhumwa who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice president for the South, said that it is true that Coronavirus has devastated a lot of countries and has left economy paralyzed but should not be used as an excuse of failing o fix the country.

According to Nankhumwa, if anything, Covid-19 should trigger leaders into being innovative and come up with solutions for the people

“It is an insult to the intelligence of Malawians, especially those that live in extreme poverty, to always blame Covid-19 for this government’s failure to fix the economy and improve people’s livelihood,” Nankhumwa said.

He added; “I am fully aware that Covid-19 has indeed negatively affected the Malawi economy but it is during hard times like these that leaders must be innovative and come up with solutions for the people.”

Nankhumwa further added that since Tonse Alliance was ushered into government last year, fuel prices have gone up twice with negative ripple effects on the rest of the economy and pushing many Malawians further into poverty.

He further bemoaned high unemployment rate in the country citing an example of a huge turnout at the Malawi Police Recruitment interviews adding that, the development should be a wake up call to the Tonse Alliance leadership.