ANALYSIS

Final Part 3

THE Daily Times, Malawi’s oldest daily, carried out an assessment of late President Mutharika‘s Cabinet end of February 2012.

Several ministers from that cabinet have surprisingly been retained by the new president. “Surprisingly” comes in for two main reasons.

Firstly, since the time that the Daily Times carried out its assessment - which was done very well and listed the basis of the scores - nothing, that can be attributed to the people retained has improved.

Secondly, considering that Malawi has 14 million people and 194 parliamentarians, if she had looked hard enough, the new president would not have failed to find people capable of delivering, more so now when she needs to produce results fast.

As below, going one by one of the retained ministers, we have attempted to find the sense behind their re-appointment. The Daily Times grades were on a scale of 1 to 10 – which we have taken the liberty to adopt, and are explained as below:

• 1-2: Do us a favour, resign
• 3-4: Pull up your socks, please
• 5-6: Ok, but you can do better
• 7-8: You are a star
• 9-10: Excellent. You deserve another term

John Bande, a Public Accountants Examination Council of Malawi (PAECM) Accountant

His score was 3 out of 10.

While not 100% John Bande's fault, the 2011 Malawi featured very poorly on the Doing Business Index report by World Bank. Malawi was ranked a shameful 133 out of 183 countries. This is not good enough to attract serious investors except the Chinese — who need no persuasion at all, since their interest lies in other areas.

Challenges were that:

• Companies were and are still downsizing and laying off workers because of depressed production caused by a volatile socio-political-economic environment.
• Companies are unable to source forex for the importation of raw materials and products is just yet another drawback.
• The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) reported that 18,000 people lost jobs in Malawi from June 2011 because of the economic problems affecting companies.
• The Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) stated that the country is "bleeding" in as far as doing business is concerned and that there are two options remaining: to stop the bleeding or wait to die.
• The minister failed to come up with any viable options to stop the haemorrhage.
• The minister was adamant that all is well.
• Trade, growth and investment suffered as a result of punitive new taxes and the scraping off of other investment incentives.
• Foreign direct investment into the country was on the decline.
• Trade performance-wise, Malawi is still a net importer.
• Because of a hostile environment, very few Malawians have been empowered in economic activities due to failure to create an enabling and competitive environment for private sector to attract local and foreign investment.

On a positive note:

• The trade deficit had declined from K114,136.50 billion to a low K17,867.00 billion arising from a decline in both exports and imports.
• According to John Bande, the year 2011 was “great” because Malawi registered a 61 percent growth in exports in the first half of the year and that the yet to be released third quarter figures were also going to be positive.
• According to John Bande, the hosting of the Comesa Heads of State Summit and the Comesa business council meeting in the year were success stories.
• The Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC), established during the year, would spur industrial growth by helping to improve the investment environment but the fruits of its labour are yet to be seen.

Other Achievements, these are strictly according to John Bande are that:

• He negotiated a Facility for Economic Zones Project with the Chinese government.
• The ministry is implementing a 'Buy Malawian Campaign'.
• Reforms to merge MIPA and MEPC and establishment of a One Stop Shop (Malawi Investment Trade Centre) are almost complete. It also strengthened SMEs support through institutional merging of DEMATT, SEDOM and MEDI. An Interim CEO is in place.
• The ministry, through BUGS, disbursed grant funds of US$1,219,662 as of 30/9/11 in the areas of agro-processing, tourism and metal fabrication to promote access to finance and enhance productivity of Malawian enterprises.
• 32 Cooperatives were registered, 3000 people linked to financial institutions and K340 million deposits were made to cooperatives. Cooperatives' members accessed loans worth K351 million and the government managed to collect K300 million from timber cooperatives.

Despite all these “achievements” Malawi failed to increase industrial productivity/ competiveness and failed to expand its domestic and international market share.

Conclusion on John Bande’s retention in Cabinet:

A Score of 3 (Pull up your socks, please) in the Trade and Industry, for a country that needs to establish and sustain a viable environment for investment and industry, is pathetic. It means that we are not serious.

This plus the fact that John Bande was adamant citing success in the face of gross failure, makes him one of those people insulting the suffering of Malawians as “success”.

It is so clear that with his mind-set, the ministry will go nowhere. Why has John Bande been retained? Presidential prerogative.

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Portfolio of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture: Daniel Liwimbi, retained

Liwimbi graduated with a Diploma in Dairy Technology at Egerton in 1970. Then  studied elsewhere to get a Bachelors and Masters in Business Administration before rising to the CEO of a Dairy company and later of the Ethanol Company.

His Score was a 3 out of 10

Daniel Liwimbi came into this sector promising a slice of heaven on earth. He said that he wanted to turn things around and promote tourism so it could contribute about 20 percent to Malawi's GDP during his reign.

The reality is, under his reign, in the hospitality industry many holiday resorts remained deserted, business continues to stall, jobs have been lost and the future looks bleak. So far, signs are that the target Liwimbi set himself is only happening in fantasia.

Issues are that:

• There is nothing new he has introduced at the ministry so far as a way of marketing this sector
• The sector badly needs face-lifting, product placement, an enthusiastic advertising drive and a new way of doing things.
• Malawi, as a tourist destination, remains unknown.

All this is despite the Ministry of Tourism receiving huge allocation from the budget. Just how such funding is not utilized to market Malawi as a destination is a mystery.

Countries that have become major tourist destinations such as Dubai, Qatar, Kenya and Madagascar, just to mention a few, invest in marketing and have continued to do so. A few slots of marketing Lake Malawi, Mulanje Mountain and our culture on CNN or Sky News, would do wonders.

Things that were done:

• Officers at the Ministry of Tourism, during the World Tourism Week, collect allowances and go round the country explaining to journalists the same things every year or attending an international exhibition where Malawi is lost in the jungle of world stars.
• The ministry graded hotels across the country, intensified standards through licensing and closing of unhealthy operations.
• The ministry was also part of the world-famous Lake of Stars festival and the Potters Race in Mulanje. Liwimbi's office also launched the Pamudzi Cultural Village, which it bankrolls.

Conclusion on Daniel Liwimbi’s retention in Cabinet:

A Score of 3 (Pull up your socks, please) in the Tourism Industry, in a country that needs to urgently find an alternative forex earner to replace tobacco, is unacceptable.

Why has Daniel Liwimbi been retained? Only God knows!

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Overall Conclusion:

While President Joyce Banda is right in attempting to come up with an inclusive government, and while it was important that there should be some sort of continuity in the cabinet, and while the president has tried in her other appointments to hire people based on merit;

1. the selection of her Cabinet team, especially the retention of the cabinet members that co-manufactured and co-worsened Malawi’s anguish, raises serious questions as to whether we are serious.
2. It also raises doubts if she really scrutinized the capabilities of the people not only those coming from the previous cabinet, but even the new appointees.

As per the matrix below, even going by the collective mediocre performance of the entire previous cabinet, people like Ephraim Chiume, John Bande and Daniel Liwimbi are beyond redemption, scoring below the cheap 3.3 average, and should be nowhere near Capital Hill.

What the future holds for Malawi, in the hands of these proven failures is not very clear; but one thing is certain, the new President does not have time to carry out experiments; 2014 is too close for her to be too comfortable!

Part 2 click here and Part 1 here

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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment

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