Being king of peasants doesn’t make one rich

Dear judge Mbadwa,

There was a lot of uproar, my lord, when it emerged that Lazaro had once again travelled to attend to issues of highly vulnerable low income countries which face economic and environment challenges as they can hardly realise the dream of their becoming sustainable.

My lord, if people wanted evidence that this country is on the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to economic geopolitics, then our membership to the least developed countries grouping should remove any shade of doubt that Nyasaland is still among the poorest of the poor.

My lord, we seek solace in the fact that Lazaro is heading that group of poor fellows but that is all.

And it doesn’t mean that we are graduating any sooner from the grouping because our current economic status suggests otherwise.

My lord, instead of improving in areas that would make Nyasaland a middle income country within a short period, we are doing badly in the very areas that matter in the human development index (HDI).

Our education system is still in shambles and I haven’t seen a plan that will for once resuscitate the sector that started suffering when the regime of Chairman introduced policies that encouraged quantity at the expense of quality.

The health delivery service has deteriorated instead of getting better. My lord, we understand Covid-19 affected the sector as all the focus was on facing the pandemic head on.

But I don’t think that should be an excuse for us to have a vibrant health sector because the Covid-19 response was largely donor-sponsored, which means that the Nyasaland government still had breathing space to revitalise its health sector.

My lord, one just has to look at the failure of the Nyasaland Agriculture Input Programme this year to show that we had put all our eggs in one basket in as far as the agenda to support growth of agriculture is concerned, demonstrating that we will not be able to harvest economic independence on the account of the programme.

My lord, there is nothing currently to write home about developing the local industry. What with punitive taxes that are being introduced every now and then?

My lord, I know that some countries have graduated from the least development countries group after successfully implementing programmes that fostered development.

My lord, what is the greatest threat to our graduating from the least developed countries? Well, it is the vice called corruption.

When we can demonstrate that we are ready to fight corruption of need and greed then we can bid farewell to perennial under-achievement that has stifled development in all sectors.

So, as we lead this organisation of poor countries, what is our end game? So far I haven’t seen one, my lord. There is nothing to get excited about being a king among peasants.

But I am still hopeful, my lord, that miracles do happen.

Regards,

John Citizen.

With Emmanuel Luciano Feedback: whatsapp 09 99 253 633