Out of forex, out of credit, out of fuel: critic's verdict on Malawi's pump crisis

A prominent political commentator has accused President Peter Mutharika's government of recycling the excuses of its predecessor, as motorists face long queues and patchy supplies of petrol and diesel.

Idriss Ali Nassah challenged the administration's explanation that international supply chain shocks are behind Malawi's worsening fuel shortages.

In a post, he said the line resembled what he called former president Lazarus Chakwera's "convoluted excuses" during the last fuel crisis, when Chakwera blamed the war in Ukraine and was heavily criticised.

The real problem, Nassah argued, is Malawi's lack of foreign exchange, exhausted supplier credit lines and depleted strategic fuel reserves.

"Okay, but how is it that, in the region, Malawi is the only country particularly affected?" he wrote.

He claimed that fuel remains available in neighbouring countries.

"Anywhere else that you look—Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana—there is fuel," he said.

His comments come as Malawians again face long queues.

Emmanuel Mataka, chief executive of the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), recently told parliamentary committees that forex shortages were hindering fuel imports, saying the country still has a gap between the foreign currency it earns and what it needs to import goods including fuel.

The problem is not new. An IMF report noted that international banks had stopped confirming letters of credit for Malawi's fuel imports, and that supplier credit lines had become harder to sustain because of inadequate forex.

Nassah ended by accusing the government of reviving "Chakwera's book of convoluted excuses" barely a year into its term.