On one hand, Kwengwere contends that Mutharika's election means that he 'will be so much involved in African issues to the point some people may think he is doing so at the expense of domestic issues.' On the other hand, the Daily Times believes that Mutharika's position may help bring Malawi (hitherto a less known country to many people) to international recognition and therefore help bolster its efforts to attract international investors.
Meanwhile, Mutharika has insisted that 'there won't be any chunk of money flowing into the country because we have assumed the chairmanship of the AU.' In fact, Malawian government has asked the Malawian parliament to approve $3 million to run Mutharika's AU activities.
Inevitably, a section of Malawians will question this spending. More so given the fact that the parliament is unlikely to question (let alone declining it) the funding request, as Mutharika's party holds a huge majority in the parliament.
The hardest thing in life is to please everyone. If you can manage it, the chances are that you are not doing something right. On my part, I feel Malawi stands to benefit from the policies that Mutharika has promised to initiate during tenure. He said:
"Our agenda for Africa should focus on agriculture and Food Security... Africa must share this dream so that five years from now no child in Africa should die of hunger and malnutrition. No child should go to bed hungry."This is a statement of intent, no doubt about it. But those with longer memories will know that others have given promises before, and nothing came out of it. I would definitely empathise with such skeptics.
Similarly, Mutharika may not yet act on his promise. But any attempts he would make will benefit Malawi first. For the simple reason that Mutharika would not want to be seen as a success elsewhere but a failure at home. The fact that Mutharika had to tussle with Colonel Gaddafi for the AU leadership means that he has more than a point to prove, this should give Mutharika an added impetus to act on his promises.
'Food security' has been Mutharika's strongest selling point during his presidency. Malawi has registered maize surpluses in three of Mutharika's six years in power. Even so, the World Food Program (WFP) still estimates that about 45 percent of Malawi's 13 million population will need food aid this year.
WFP's estimate could yet raise in the coming year as Malawi is among many southern African countries that are currently facing dry spells, wich will inevitably lead to poor harvest. Mutharika will have to do something about it; fulfiling his roles both as a Malawian president and AU leader. Malawi stands to benefit.
I feel this is the area where Malawian analysts and comentators should be focusing when discussing the impact that Mutharika's AU leaderships will have on Malawi.