As Malawi marked 50 years of freedom from colonial rule on Sunday, President Peter Mutharika said the country's biggest enemy today was poverty.
Thousands gathered to celebrate independence from Britain in the capital Lilongwe, but many Malawians said chronic underdevelopment and heavy reliance on foreign aid had locked them into a new form of economic bondage.
The jubilee, attended by African leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, comes after a bitterly fought election and a high-level corruption scandal that saw donors freeze $150-million in vital aid.
"The past 50 years have been a long winding road, teaching us great lessons and at the same time making strides and achievements," Mutharika told the celebration, which also marks the 20-year anniversary of multi-party democracy in Malawi.
He urged his citizens -- half of whom live below the poverty line -- to have "one common purpose of building our nation and lifting ourselves from poverty which is by far our nation's greatest enemy today".
The landlocked southern African nation of 15 million people, whose economy is largely based on agriculture, relied on international aid for 40 percent of its budget before the donor freeze.
An audit ordered by former president Joyce Banda found that $30-million in state funds had been looted by officials in less than six months last year.
Mutharika said he was counting on the support of Malawians "in taking our country on a development path" as he introduced new policies to revive its ailing economy.
The celebrations include traditional dances, a military parade and a friendly football match between the hosts and neighbouring Mozambique.
- 'Enslaved' by donor aid -
Standing on a street corner selling bananas and local staple cassava in the chilly early hours of Sunday morning, 24-year-old Agnes Kasi said independence had not brought prosperity for most Malawians.
"Why should we celebrate 50 years of independence if the majority of us are still poor and barely survive?" she said.
"It's meaningless to celebrate when all we need are jobs and economic empowerment. This country needs leaders who can develop it to end this poverty," she told AFP.
Successive leaders, including independence hero Kamuzu Banda who ruled for three decades before losing the first democratic poll in 1994, have failed to grow the agriculture-based economy.
Geoffrey Matonga, a cleric with the Pentecostal church Faith of God, argues that Malawians are not "free as long as we still depend on donors for 40 percent of our budget".
"We are not free people, this donor aid enslaves us. Malawi needs capable leaders to end this poverty," he said.
Henry Kachaje, managing director of Business Consultant Africa, said that "Malawi is at a critical juncture after closing a chapter of 50 years of self-rule" and "must make a choice whether to take a different path or remain on the same path".
Mutharika -- whose brother and former president Bingu wa Mutharika died in office in 2012 -- has pledged to reach beyond traditional Western donors to find "new friends" in China and Russia.
Presidential spokesman Frederick Ndala told AFP the celebrations herald the "beginning of a new generation which calls for people to sit down, reflect and project into the future".
"We must reflect as nation where we are coming from, what we have achieved and how do you move from here," he said
AFP
Sun Jul 06 2014
Malawi's economy is dependent on agriculture, especially the tobacco industry- AFP
Insiden letupan: Sungai Golok 'dikawal' kereta perisai, dron
Rondaan kereta perisai dan penggunaan dron menjadi usaha terkini Briged Tenggara bagi memastikan kawalan sempadan Malaysia-Thailand di sepanjang Sungai Golok di sini berada pada tahap terbaik.
Apple dilapor bakal ganti iPhone 17 Plus dengan iPhone 17 Slim
Laporan sebelum ini menyatakan iPhone 17 akan menggunakan skrin
SPRM tidak berhasrat tahan Tun M
SPRM tidak berhasrat untuk menahan bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad berhubung isu pengisytiharan harta.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Tiada aduan sogokan, salah guna jentera kerajaan - SPR
Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) setakat ini belum lagi menerima aduan rasmi mengenai wujud sogokan kepada pengundi dan salah guna jentera kerajaan dalam kempen Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) DUN KKB.
Pengumuman pelaburan Google di Malaysia dalam masa terdekat - Tengku Zafrul
Kementerian Pelaburan, Perdagangan dan Industri (MITI) mengesahkan satu pengumuman berkenaan pelaburan Google di Malaysia akan dilakukan dalam masa terdekat.
Aksi Sumbangsih JDT, Selangor FC kekal Jumaat ini
Perlawanan Sumbangsih musim 2024/2025 bagi merebut Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah antara JDT dan Selangor FC kekal Jumaat ini.
Kes serangan Akhyar, Faisal tiada kaitan - Polis
Polis berkata, tidak ada hubung kait antara kes samun Akhyar dan Faisal Halim yang disimbah asid.
Kes simbah asid: Tindakan melampau, tidak beradab jangan dibiarkan berulang
Tindakan melampau dan tidak beradab pihak yang terlibat menyimbah asid ke pemain bola sepak kebangsaan, Faisal Halim sepatutnya jangan dibiarkan berulang lagi.
Remaja putus kaki nahas depan sekolah
Seorang remaja lelaki putus kaki kirinya selepas terlibat dalam kemalangan dengan sebuah kereta di Jalan Budiman di hadapan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Sheikh Abdul Malek, pada Isnin.
Keadaan Faisal kritikal, tangan kiri sukar bergerak
KEADAAN pemain sayap kebangsaan, Faisal Halim dilaporkan berada dalam keadaan kritikal susulan kesan asid yang disimbah kepadanya dalam kejadian di sebuah pusat beli belah di Petaling Jaya.