Make use of the leadership change
The much-anticipated change of leadership in Malawi came on 23rd June 2020 when the majority of Malawians voted for President Lazarus Chakwera of MCP in the Tonse Alliance. People wanted change because of the problems they faced under the leadership of President Peter Mutharika. The change now is here and it is up to every one to take advantage and use it, in solving the problems in order to uplift their lives. President Chakwera and Vice-President Chilima plus the rest of the Tonse Alliance have shown that they are ready to make the difference.
Recently President Chakwera gave a State of the Nation Address (Sona) in parliament. His composure when talking about the national issues gave a lot of hope and great expectations. A few days later the President went back to Parliament to answer questions from Members of Parliament. His answers were straight forward and indeed he showed that he knows what is happening in the country and he was on top of everything. Interestingly, the same can be said about Vice President Chilima. So far, he has already been to a number of parastatals. Apart from talking about Reforms, he has been shaking up non performers and warning them that if they do not improve, they might be shown the exit door. Obviously, this is different from the previous regime which seemed to have a laissez faire attitude, probably with the backing of the leadership.
It is obvious that Chakwera and Tonse Alliance as a whole wanted change for a reason. If change had not come, most people feel that Malawi would have gotten worse in poverty and lack of security. People can still remember how cadets intimidated them. In fact, crossing a path with DPP cadets was very dangerous. Probably, it is such behaviour which was never rebuked which might have caused Mutharika to be a one term President. Malawians needed protection and it never came.
As it were, the road to change was very rough. The leaders of Tonse Alliance were continuously intimidated. There were even programmes on MBC whose aim was character assassination for the opposition leaders. Apart from what is stated here there were also threats to peoples lives by petrol bombs to opposition houses, offices and cars. Strange enough President Mutharika was just silent. Despite all the threats the Tonse Alliance stood its ground and continued campaigning for change. As the campaigns tailed off it was very obvious that Dr Chakwera under the Tonse Alliance will win.
Everything pertaining to elections is water under the bridge. President Chakwera is now on the driving seat while silencing all those people that had doubts. Honestly speaking, people in Malawi feel that they have found a new freedom. Therefore, people must use it to their benefit. Those people who have questions for the President can go through their MPs to ask when the President goes to parliament to answer questions from the MPs. In fact, Chakwera is asking every Malawian to take part in development. On his part he has promised to do away with corruption and converting public resources into personal fortunes. So far, the government is already dealing with fraud from the previous government.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the leadership change is a big achievement. Therefore, people must use it to better their lives. One does not need to come from a particular part of the country to be considered Malawian.
