The United Democratic Front (UDF) leader, Lilian Patel, has asked government to swiftly find lasting solutions to challenges affecting the country including Forex and fuel scarcity, high levels of unemployment among the youth, corruption and hunger in some districts.
Patel made the call during a press briefing in Blantyre on Monday as she reflected her 120 days in office as the party’s president also marking a quarter of her tenure.
“We keep imploring the regime to explore lasting solutions on problems that the country is facing, such as intermittent supplies of fuel, scarcity of forex, farm inputs, declining of the health delivery systeme, corruption, high unemployment rate and looming hungwer in some parts of the country among others,” said Patel.
She further urged government to keep engaging international Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock facilities thet will keep improving the lives of common men and women.
In addition, she urged government to address challenges affecting the grain ADMARC and also come open out open to announce the future of the Affordable Impute Program (AIP).
However, Patel has applauded President Lazarus Chakwera for securing a US$350 million from Millennium Challenge Corporation aimed at construction of roads.
Commenting on the reports that Atupere Muluzi, is planning to bounce back and take the leadership of the party, Patel said everyone including Muluzi is at liberty to contest for any position provided the party’s constitution is followed.
She therefore warned that UDF will not spare any member found to creating parallel structures that are likely to divide the party.
Meanwhile, UDF Secretary General, Kandi Padambo, has revealed that the party’s convention will be held next year.
Padambo said because of the Political Parties Act which came effective in 2018 and it stipulates that political parties must hold their elective conventions not later than five years from the previous convention, and UDF held its national conference in August 2018 and five years from then will be in July 2023.
