Bingu to ‘difficult’ people: Stop, smell the roses!

Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:40

Written by ABEL WEZZI

LILONGWE—“Difficult” Malawians should be willing to accept change, especially good change, says Malawi’s president Bingu wa Mutharika.

Defending his government’s heavy push to change the national flag on Wednesday, the president told “Malawians you are difficult”.

Flags, he said, “depict developments in a nation. Even the United States and the British Union jack have all changed and evolved to what they are today.”

These were the president’s first comments on the contentious issue of changing the national flag. There has been opposition to the change from a wide section—civil, political and religious--of the population, saying it was a waste of resources and Malawi, which remains one of the poorest countries on the planet, had a ways to go before it could claim that it had developed.

But Mutharika doesn’t think so. Repeating what his cabinet members have said all along, the president said Malawi had made strides since independence 46 years ago.

“The half sun was inherited from the British which was part of their claim that they had brought light in darkness. We cannot continue to be at dawn in 2010 as we were in 1964.

“Unless you have serious objection you can bring forward, why don’t you keep quiet and we move on with development,” said Mutharika who sees public opposition to the government proposal not enough reason to pause and think it over.

The president was speaking upon return from a summit of the African Union in Uganda. During the conference, Mutharika, who is the organizations current chair, presented his African Food Basket proposal to 17 countries aimed at increasing food production to end hunger in Africa.--maravipost