He further alleged that his political rivals are focused on fueling poverty in the country as a means to remain relevant.

“Opposition leaders are deliberately creating poverty and suffering for Malawians so that the people become easy to manipulate.

“They want to destroy innocent people’s businesses and destroy the economy so that Malawians must be suffering,” said Mutharika.

But Mutharika insists that despite the developments he will remain focused to improve people’s livelihoods.

“While the opposition in this country is capitalizing on the poverty of the people to manipulate them into a culture of violence.

“I want to empower poor people to become self-dependent,” he said.

MCP spokesperson, Rev. Maurice Munthali, has the party from the assertions saying as a constitutional order, citizens of Malawi have a right to demonstrate “and they don’t need the party’s (MCP) permission.

“Those who go on the streets of Malawi demonstrating have got a message of their own which they want to deliver, they have agonies for which they want some relief.”

On the AGCOM project, President Mutharika said it will transform the country’s smallholder agriculture from subsistence to commercial.

He added that AGCOM has come to address challenges facing farmers as they will have better access to loans and markets describing it as a game-changer.

“For a long time, we have assumed that development must start in the city and spread to the rural communities. This model of development has failed us.”

“Now I want development to start from rural communities and feed our towns and cities. We are taking development to the people, instead of taking the people to development.”

World Bank country manager, Gregory Toulmin, said the project follows an approach that has successfully created jobs in over 20 countries around the world.

He added AGCOM will boost commercial food production in the country which can be one of Malawi’s economic accelerators.

The $95 million credit funds from the World Bank will see about 650 000 small holder farmers from mostly subsistence to commercial.