A brand new poll should worry Malawi’s new government led by the People’s Party, MaraPost’s Yamikani Simutowe reports

BLANTYRE--Government has failed to manage inflation and the economy is in bad shape, second results of Afrobarometer Round Five Survey have shown.
 
Released Friday, the survey also shows household food insecurity has also joined the “permanent problems of lack portable water, limited to health care and general poverty.”
 
Afrobarometer is an independent, non-partisan African based network of researchers whose purpose is to measure popular perspectives on the social, political and economic environments in each country where it is implemented and across Africa.
 
Besides, they give the public a voice in policy making processes by providing high quality public opinion data to policy makers, policy advocates and civil society organizations, academics, media, donors and investors and ordinary Africans.
 
Here in Malawi, Centre for Social Research (CSR) of the University of the University of Malawi is Afrobarometer’s national partner.    
 
The survey, made available to MaraPost, also looked at performance of the media, economic and country living conditions and problems most in need of government attention.
 
According to the survey, one in two people think the country is headed in the wrong the direction whereas seven out 10 feel the country’s economic conditions are bad.
 
Cash income poverty is the most endemic as most people regardless of age group, location, education and sex experienced it; 62 percent reported having no cash bringing job.

On performance of members of parliament, about six out of ten Malawians disprove of the performance of their legislators especially in the south and centre.

Over 70 percent of the respondents expect the media to reveal mistakes and corruption by the government while 3 out of 4 Malawians say the media is doing the watchdog role effectively.

The Banda administration can take solace in this: While people tell Afrobarometer that their own present economic conditions are worse off than last year, they expect them to improve. 

CSR National Investigator Maxton Tsoka says the Malawi “government has to improve its performance in improving living conditions as many people think the country is doing in the wrong direction and that the country’s and people’s economic conditions are bad.
 
“Our experience is that views of Malawians are generally consistent. Our free advice; please take them seriously,” said Tsoka, disclosing that they will release the third results in November.  
 
The network has so for conducted surveys in 35 African countries.
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(c) The Maravi Post 2012. Reproduction without acknowledgement prohibited

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