Is government punishing Malawians?
Indeed getting into political power is one thing, but what to do with that power is yet another. Surprisingly, when some people get into power, they have no idea on how to proceed. There are signs that such people were not prepared to take the reins of power. This seems to be the case in Malawi. There are some obvious signs of unpreparedness by government.
Just like other presidential candidates during the May 2014 elections, Peter Mutharika pledged that his priority would be the welfare of the people of Malawi, especially the poor. Above all, he promised to bring development so that every Malawian should live a better life than before. This now looks like a pipedream. The country has gone deeper into poverty. People are facing hunger and hospitals have no medicines. No one, including government, knows where the country is heading to.
It goes without saying that government would have been showing more concern and act accordingly to correct the situation. Surprisingly, the President and his government could not care less. Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda must be turning in his grave to know that Malawi has been brought down to its knees and has slipped further among the poorest countries in the world. The booming economy under Kamuzu Banda is now in history.
Meanwhile, there are countless examples that show that government could care less. The most recent example which irked so many people and organisations is the President’s large entourage to the recent UN General Assembly meetings. This is costing millions of kwacha of the tax payer’s money. It is obvious that most of the so-called delegates were there for sightseeing and shopping.
Experience shows that, with the influence of power, some leaders in government are capable of saying: “So what?” to those who are querying government’s lavishness. Even if government and its leadership try to split hairs in trying to justify their actions on the UN trip, the fact remains that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has no respect for people as it can go as far as insulting the people who have no voice. It does not need special intelligence to know that in the current hard times government must be leading the way in controlling expenditure instead of cheating people that life will soon be better, while they are busy milking the country dry.
The ‘we-don’t care’ attitude of government seems to show that its aim is to punish Malawians as much as possible. The reason of such cruel treatment is not clear. Probably, this is done with the understanding that Malawians have no power to do anything but suffer in silence. Honestly, the people of Malawi are being challenged in various torturous ways. They can shout as much as they want, nothing will change. For goodness sake, Malawians do not deserve to be punished or challenged by their own government. Just because Malawians are poor does not mean they cannot think intelligently.
Imagine, lately, nurses received their form of punishment. Despite the cry about the shortage of nurses, government announced that it will not employ nurses and, worse still, those who had been employed are being withdrawn. The reason is lack of funds of which government is spending lavishly. There is no empathy for unemployed nurses as well as patients. It’s a regrettable situation.n
