As National Planning Commission (NPC) launched National Envisioning Consultations on 28 February, 2020 in Lilongwe, Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi CONGOMA has pledged full support of the whole process.

According to CONGOMA’s Executive Director Mr. Ronald Mtonga, CONGOMA’s relationship with NPC is premised on CONGOMA’s Mission and on the desire to reform the National Planning System in Malawi which is largely top-down.

“We want to have NGO views and evidence visible in the National Planning process for influencing policy change. NGOs will participate in number of ways including direct provision of advice at meetings, citizen empowerment, making District priorities visible in National Plans and enforcing National Budget Process and Structures to address National Vision aspirations of Malawians,” highlighted Mtonga.

Committing the support, Chairperson for CONGOMA Steven Duwa in his speech during the consultations launch which was graced by President of the Republic of Malawi Professor Author Peter Mutharika, on principles which premised the support from NGOs that included need for inclusivity, legal enforceability of the Vision on all and the fight against corruption.

“We commit to popularize the process to the people of Malawi for their participation and ownership of the successor Vision; Provide the rich evidence we NGOs have on current situation analysis or assessment in all sectors of development; Contribute to the mindset change of the populace so that they positively identify their aspirations as to where they would want to be; and, invest resources to the action planning process”, summarized Duwa.

During the launch, Chairperson for National Planning Commission Professor Richard Mkandawire said the launch of the Envisioning Consultations is an important milestone because it officially sets in motion the process of sensitizing all Malawians and galvanizing the support all leaders and key stakeholders on the journey embarked in securing a brighter future for the next generation.

“Your Excellency, allow me to point out that before this official launch, the Commission started the preliminary consultations a couple of years back. Two main issues seem to be emerging this far – first, a vision that is transformational focusing more on inclusive wealth creation and self-reliance; second, that the Vision should look at the period up to 2063”, pointed out Professor Mkandawire.

Mkandawire also emphasized the reason behind having the Vision period reaching 2063 citing that then Malawi would be marking 100 years of her independence.

“The year 2063 will mark 100 years of Malawi’s self-governing. This is the horizon; we are looking into making Malawi economically independent and self-reliant. Further, we need to plan long enough not for ourselves but selflessly for our children and generations to come. Relatedly, Agenda 2063, which is Africa’s socio-economic development blue print, has the broad aspirations of a prosperous, united and peaceful continent – all of which apply to us as a country”, explained Professor Mkandawire.

When President of Republican of Malawi Professor Peter Mutharika took to the podium to officially launch the national consultations; he acknowledged the current challenges that the country is facing such as persistence poverty and inadequate Electricity Capacity. However, he was quick to say that it was more important for Malawians to note the positive achievements behind the vision 2020 such as reduced impact of HIV/AIDs, plus expansion of road network and development of information technology and infrastructure. The President therefore appealed for support towards the successor vision 2020 to benefit ordinary Malawians.

“There are many things we need to change. We need to change from focusing on poverty reduction to inclusive wealth creation and self-reliance. We need to work even harder to move to economic independence where all Malawians live decent lives without waiting for donations or handouts from anyone”, emphasized Professor Mutharika.

The launch of  National Envisioning Consultations which was run under the Banner ‘Beyond inclusive envisioning to getting things done’ had attracted a number of Stakeholders such as the private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Faith Based Organizations (FBOs), UN agencies, Political Parties, Youth , Local Governments, Academia, and Media Organizations. Among others, the launch would lead to an extensive nation-wide consultative process in order to ensure that the Successor to Vision 2020 reflects the aspirations of all Malawians.

In line with the National Envisioning, CONGOMA is also implementing a five-year project with financial support from IM Swedish Development Partner where among other things seeks to enhance civic participation in the formulation of the next Vision. For this, there is an assurance that NGO’s input will be highly taken on board when formulating the next Vision.