On The Frontline

Good show, Mr. President on reforms

I resisted heavily the idea of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to have Peter Mutharika as their presidential candidate in 2013.

My position was simple: He, after not less than forty years outside Malawi, was yet to understand the nation he was being pushed to lead.

Not only that.

Even in the five years he had served as a presidential adviser and also minister, he had not proved he could actually manage the complexity that comes with the presidency.

However, even within my resistance, there were some few decisions Mutharika took that, frankly, made me pause and look.

For instance, after the death of his brother, he could have, at the stroke of a decision, left the DPP and flew back to the comforts of the US.  After all, he still had a green card. But he chose to stay with the party through thick and thin of having been purged to the opposing bench.

His rather unexpected decision to partner with Saulos Chilima was, again, quite calculated and a mark of a thoughtful man. To me, the decision at least spoke about his innermost urge to change the tribal face of the DPP and, also, to underline that hard work, not connection, can take one to the pinnacle of influence.

But even in these rather progressive and thoughtful decisions that bordered, somehow on sacrifice, I was still skeptical of Peter as a man who could lead. I still wanted him to take his time to learn the ways of the people he wanted to lead.

Unfortunately, my thoughts were not shared with most voters. His victory, hence, threw me between the devil and the deep-blue sea. But life is beyond those on the seat of the presidency. It has to go on.

In the eight months he has been in office, Mutharika, I should admit, has done more to instill hope that things could change for the better than I earlier feared. He has, on numerous occasions, proved that he is a listening President who can swallow his pride and reverse miscalculated decisions. I am sure reversing a flawed decision is not a mark of weakness; it is leadership, too.

Of course, I am also mindful of the history that every president begins a promise. It’s my prayer that, this time, Mutharika and Chilima will defy history.

However, in all this, there hasn’t been a decision I have been so part of its steam than the leadership commitment the President has shown in pushing for reforms in the public service.

I know how dull, dead, frustrating and unproductive the country’s public service is. The question of reforming it into a productive one is unarguable.

The reform song has been sung by all regimes since independence. But even the worst of the critics can today shiver and shudder at the overflow of political will as exhibited by the leadership. This is commendable and it must be supported.

I know that the simplest part of the reform journey ended with the launch on that colourful Wednesday last week. The toughest is in implementation. However, I wouldn’t be a good citizen if I fill my page with prophecies of pessimism. For once, I won’t.

How I wished every Malawian stood for these reforms so that, at least this time, we can sing a different tune.

Mutharika and Chilima, I am inspired to admit, mean well in these reforms. In supporting their well-meaningfulness, I am not blind to my job—and your job too—of holding government to account.

I will, as always, be on the frontline taking the two on whenever I see smoke rising from the chimney of these reforms. We all want these reforms to come to fruition for the good of everybody.

That is why, today, I congratulate Mr. President for leading Malawi to the end of the beginning of these reforms. And Chilima too.

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