What Are Malawians Saying About President Lazarus Chakwera And His Government ?
By Burnett Munthali
Introduction
Malawians are analyzing and discussing President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera and his government everyday out there. This is an especially crucial point which must be honestly explained today. This article provides some of those honest answers which everyone else must hear and know.
Chakwera’s Hi-5
First, President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera promised servant leadership. You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It is a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership. Unfortunately, Chakwera is not the kind of servant leader he pretended to be during the campaign, and he is not anywhere closer to being one. For almost 4 years now, his leadership has been more ego centric.
Secondly, Chakwera promised to unite Malawians. There are several factors that can unite people, including shared values, common goals, and mutual experiences. For example, a shared cultural heritage can unite people, as it provides a common identity and a sense of belonging. Uniting a divided people can be a complex and challenging task, but there are several strategies that can help. Here are a few suggestions: Foster open communication: Encourage all members of the group to listen to each other’s perspectives and concerns and create a safe space for open and respectful dialogue. However, how does Chakwera unite Malawians who are not divided and are not fighting in the first place? Therefore, I find this idea of trying to unite Malawians in Chakwera’s Hi-5 quite irrelevant and misplaced. Obviously, it was just one of those talk shows during campaign to win people’s vote. Unluckily many citizens have been divided by poor political decisions which have seen this country struggle economically. Devaluation of the Kwacha is just one of those economic decisions which is taking Malawi nowhere.
Thirdly, the President said he would ensure that Malawians are going to prosper together under his government. Prospering Together. There are many firsts with Reverend. Lazarus Chakwera, the President of the Republic of Malawi. In his HI-5 Agenda, the ‘P’ is for “Prospering Together”, meaning that not only a small section of Malawians should prosper, but everyone. Never before have we seen a statutory corporation calling for separate bids in equal measure, from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the youths, women, and people with disabilities. This is what Dr. Lazarus Chakwera promised in his HI-5 Agenda but has that promise been fulfilled. Sadly, the citizens of Malawi are drowning together into a sea of poverty as civil servants continue to be poorly paid, their death gratuity and pension are delayed up to several years before they can finally get it. Businesses are failing to tick in the country, where most of the goods are imported from outside countries, due to lack of Forex.
Fourthly, Chakwera spoke strongly about ending corruption. To end corruption, we promote transparency, accountability, and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society. Regrettably, corruption levels have risen extremely high in the Tonse Alliance Government than ever before starting from State House to the lowest paid employee in the civil service.
Fifth, Lazarus Chakwera preached that there would be rule of law under his government. The rule of law is a political ideal that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. It is sometimes stated simply as “no one is above the law”. Unhappily, only Vice President Saulos Chilima is answering corruption charges in court and MCP members in cabinet are left free putting them above the law. A lot more could be said on the so-called rule of law and impunity. That will be a topic of discussion for another day.
The MCP Old Guards
When Lazarus Chakwera became party President for Malawi Congress Party (MCP) the first thing he did was to do away with all the old guards in the party under the theme rebranding the party. The old guards are not happy with Chakwera because they think Chakwera sidelined them. Now these are the people who kept the party during the long and tough time in opposition and they did just that with all their wisdom, resources, energy, and time.
Malawians are not happy with Chakwera and his Tonse Alliance Government Administration because it is failing to implement is campaign promises. While we commend Tonse Alliance Government that they are able to complete development projects by previous regimes, such as Mombela University, many projects are taking long and costing tax payers money. Kamuzu Institute for Youth swimming pool is one such project which has come to a standstill due to lack of funding.
The President Reverend Lazarus
President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera is aware of the anger of the people of Malawi, and he is in everyday consultation with different stake holders. He sees people’s reactions on social media and mainstream media even though he does not address Malawians to assure them the importance of the economic direction the country has taken.
It is unfortunate that there is no money for pensioners and the government is struggling to pay them at the appropriate time. That is one of the reasons Hendrina could not be paid her father’s death gratuity and pension for 3 years. Other than that, there is no good reason that government could hold on to the file for many years without clearing the payments. Infect, the office of the Accountant General borrowed money from somewhere else in order to pay the young lady and save their face because they were under pressure. The news was all over social media.
It is sad that the Government has no money to complete projects and that is why you see many projects have stopped on the way, while others are in progress but are moving very slowly at a snail’s pace. In both cases, Malawi is losing out because government is spending more than is required.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Tonse Alliance Government must create growth, progress, positive change, or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social, and demographic components. Malawians must see a rise in the level and quality of life, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities. Development must be visible and useful and include an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change.
For almost 4 years now, Tonse Alliance Government has failed to create growth, progress, positive change, or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social, and demographic components. What we see today is people’s enormous anger, frustration, stagnation in development and people losing their jobs in parastatals such as Admarc and Escom. There is no reason for a failed government seeking another term of office if they cannot deliver their own manifesto.
