Heart to heart with Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda…
by Tiyamike Kathewera
by Tiyamike Kathewera
It gives me great
gratification to write to you, as I take pride in projecting popular thought of
the majority of us plebeians who have little or no access at all to converse
with you your Excellency on a personal level, on that note let me address you
as ‘we’. Since your ascension to the highest office of the land, through that
shocker of fate, we took liberty to follow your Excellency’s leadership with
earnest interest.
Our observance of
your government’s undertakings cannot go without acknowledgement of some of the
positive developments that your administration has undertaken thus far. We resisted the temptation of being amongst
the bandwagon of citizens and zealots citing the normalisation of forex
availability, bountiful presence of fuel in our service stations as well as
mending of our battered relations with our neighbouring brethren as some of
your achievements, among others being touted.
But after investing
much deliberation on this, allow us to believe that the trio of these is
actually how any nation serious enough about its affairs schemes like. This is
why when the other administrators brought mischief in these areas we all
scorned together.
However, permit us
to congratulate you your Excellency on repealing Section 46 of the country’s
Penal Code, which all of us in the modest business of informing the public
thought was an embarrassing assault on freedom of the press that we rigorously
aim to have in all entirety. We acknowledge also that your Excellency did the
needful in reducing VAT for newspapers and publications such as ours when
others thirsted to stifle us out. This is indeed a job we cannot fail to
commend you for unreservedly.
But we cannot
discuss the media in Malawi while withholding our deepest misgivings towards
your government’s continuance of abusing Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)
as if it were a State and/ or a Party Broadcaster when in fact it is supposed
to be and operate as public broadcaster. Perchance we must remind you that
immediately you sniffed whims of the highest powers of the land you mentioned
that you wanted to see an open MBC, where diverse views of all are well
represented.
Over a year later
we are yet to see your decree turn into action. We really thought you were at
par with sanity when you made remarks to that effect and, we cannot expect your
word to go to waste as we near next year’s general elections.
One reality that
you need to always hold close to your memory Madam, is the undeniable fact that
it is Malawians who fund MBC through their taxes, which at times are punitive,
and make no mistake-- these are Malawians of different political parties including
opposing leaders.
It burdens our
souls as common people of this country to be subjected to your countenance each
time we switch on our television sets when other parties are shunned coverage
at that expense. We see no justification why your Excellency’s party should
dominate the majority of MBC news bulletins, not at all.
We are fresh with
memory that you claim to be a listening president, and as we come towards next
year’s elections we, the citizenry, demand MBC to open up to all political
parties wishing for its access so that the majority of us commoners are given
enough opportunity to make well informed choices of our aspiring
representatives.
You must also appreciate the need to review
the MBC Act so that it conforms to public broadcasting tenets in a democracy
where you are currently leader.
Let us now commend
you your Excellency for ‘reducing’ the size of your cabinet as one way of
saving our meagre resources. Congratulations are also in order for your effort
in ‘scrapping’ 30% of your basic monthly package in light of the same severity citations.
But!! We cannot hoodwink each other that resources are indeed being saved as a
result of these measures when in fact your Excellency sees no wisdom in slowing
down on your daily trips within and outside of the country.
We recognize that other
well meaning Malawians, as ourselves, have lamented through other avenues on
the persistence of your government’s depletion of national resources that your
administration claims to have found in critical reserves.
Unless we are
clearly lectured on how resources are being saved while you continue to pocket
daily lucrative allowances for doing work that is well suited for those you
appointed to be your helpers, we will still frown at your daily depletive
visits. We would have been clapping our
palms if you had decided to shell off your allowances and those of your
cabinet, rather than donating a fraction of your salary in the spirit of
austerity.
We cannot profess
to be alien to the argument that your wisdom informs your Excellency that you
can only best be acquainted with our problems when you visit a fraction of our
slums, lay foundation stones, donate blankets or open lodges across the country
if you are not addressing a ‘development rally’.
As much as we realize the importance of such
undertakings, we believe, and hope to make you understand as well, that these
chores are below your stature as Head of State and are best suited for junior
management in NGOs.
We frown each time
we see your face on television at one slum or another, or erecting a foundation
stone elsewhere when Malawi needs serious leadership to steer us all in one
clear direction.
While you amass allowances, together with the
majority of your cabinet and other aides who follow you everywhere you trek, it
is paramount to draw your attention to the alarming truth that your citizens,
the commoners that we are, are becoming poorer and poorer by the day. We had
all hope when you took over government that somehow the usual trend of ‘winner
takes it all’ would come to a halt, promptly.
While there are
serious issues that need your focussed attention, like the Lake Malawi border
dispute and the impending hunger that is undeniably around the corner, you are
at this church function, the other day you are in this slum and that or
donating cows. We are left to wonder if
you ever find time to review our mining act, for instance, so that it benefits
all Malawians.
Madam President,
could you be generous enough and tell the whole nation how much you are spending
during each one of these day after day trips of yours against how much could
have been saved if you stayed in your office at Kamuzu Palace or Capital Hill
just for a single week for instance?
Your Excellency,
allow us also to doubt the acumen in ‘declaring’ your assets when the
electorate, who are irrefutably your real bosses, cannot access contents of the
same. Why should a public servant that you are deem it unnecessary to inform
Malawians the depth of your belongings especially when we all know how well
previous leaders misbehaved with our hard earned taxes?
As we come towards
conclusion of our missive let us remind you our dear leader that Malawians are
more literate today than they were when Dr. Bakili Muluzi was assuming office
in 1994. This is to enlighten you that Malawians are more critical today of
their government than they were 19 years ago.
They now have a
better capacity to demand exactly what they want and expect from their elected
leaders and yourself, Madam, will attest to the consequences meted on those who
decide to do things contrary to the popular opinion.
You were there when
your predecessor, and indeed yourself, won a landslide victory in 2009
presidential election because others had made a nuisance of the mandate given
to them by the electorate.
Lastly madam,
permit us once more to remind you that it is of executive importance to utter
statements only when you are sure of such. We were disappointed just like the
many youths who were promised employment opportunities to South Korea by no
less a personage than your cabinet minister when in fact your government had
not signed any paperwork with your South Korean counterparts to legitimise that
assertion.
We are at greater
pains when we reflect that your government seemed to concede defeat in creating
employment opportunities locally by trying to export labour to other
nations. Unless you edify us on who is
benefitting more from your proposed labour exportation then we remain of the
view that your government has no clue as to how to create employment locally.
And this is disastrous.
As they say, ‘a
word is enough for the wise.’ We hope you will take our letter seriously your
Excellency.
Greetings to our
esteemed father, the first gentleman.
Voice of the people.
