In his opening speech, Bishop James Tengatenga of the Anglican Church’s Southern Malawi Diocese made it clear that PAC is well-meaning and has no ill-feelings against the powers that be.
Some of the issues that emanated from the conference as reported in the media were couched in the form of ultimatums which preceded the declaration of war.
At the outset, I must plead with PAC not to let their welcome initiative be hijacked by people with parochial interests or those who equate their personal ambitions with the public good.
Let this conference go down in history as epoch-making in that it charted the route to a more prosperous and peaceful Malawi.
Most of us have read or heard of Lord Acton’s dictum: “Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Perhaps fewer of us have heard of Acton’s other dictum: “Great men are almost always bad.”
These maxims have some relevance to the situation in Malawi today. In 2009, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its presidential candidate Bingu wa Mutharika swept the election votes with flying colours.
The people expressed their gratitude to the achievement of Mutharika and his political party for the good work done during the preceding term. Not only that, through the vote people expressed their hopes that the President would lead Malawi into greater heights of democracy and prosperity.
Now in certain quarters, there is disenchantment with the DPP government. The extent and gravity of this disenchantment, is difficult to measure.
Mutharika has been accused of acting dictatorially and arrogantly. While in the opinion of some people, the accusation is fair, others contend that it is not.
But question is: Are people who are saying Mutharika should resign without first hearing from the President being fair?
The rule of natural justice demands that one should be heard before judgement is pronounced.
Let us hope that PAC’s petition to the President will lead to peace and cooperation. Confrontation leads to conflict.
During dialogue, more emphasis should be put on what we all agree not on issues we disagree.
One thing on which we agree is that the international reputation of Malawi should remain good enough to facilitate foreign direct investment and tourism.
In July, government wants to host an African Union Conference of heads of States.
To a forex hungry country like Malawi, a couple of million dollars brought into the country by the delegates cannot be despised.
Public spirited Malawians and those who know the route to economic recovery would not deliberately create disorders during the next three months and force the relocation of the conference to another country.
Problems facing Malawi are also faced by other countries. There is no need for us to be hysterical about them.
On strikes
The second term of the DPP government has been burdened with strikes. First, it was the eight-month long strike of University of Malawi lecturers.
Now, we are talking of the Judiciary staff. The former strike, centred on academic freedom, was within the powers of the President to solve with a strike of the pen and he did this although belatedly.
The demands by the Judiciary staff are more intractable because they are frustrated by academic laws which are natural not manmade.
You cannot give someone more of something than you have. In the face of scarcity, when you have given more of something to X, you have less left for Y.
These dilemmas cannot be removed by a strike of the pen or threats of any form.
Once government has conceded to all the demands of the Judiciary staff, the chances are that the medical staff will present theirs. If not granted, they, too, will strike.
It is true that the longer government hesitates to honour all its pledges, the more injustice some people experience.
Justice delayed is indeed justice denied. But when doctors and nurses strike, there will be many people denied services. And where patients are not being attended to on time by doctors and nurses, lives are in danger. This is more than mere justice.
