Not knowing pains me

I read a news article which stated that “Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ralph Kasambara, sold his shares in his private practice Ralph & Arnold to concentrate on his government job.” Before that news article I was wondering how the Attorney-General and Minister was handling his businesses. I am also wondering whether Mr Kasambara needed to sell his shares because he was going into the office of Minister of Justice and Attorney-General and these two offices are related to the legal profession.

Would Mr Kasambara have needed to sell his shares if he had been appointed Minister Responsible for the Elderly and People with Disabilities? Finally on this issue: what happens when one sells their shares as the Honourable Minister has done? Do they have to pay tax out of the sale? Will then one have a tax receipt for the sale of shares? Or, does one not need to pay tax? I don’t know.

I find it interesting that the economic recovery story that the Malawi Cabinet was discussing involved tourism. This is nothing new. Interestingly, though, is that Alendo Hotel at the Malawi Institute of Tourism in Blantyre is still in ruins more than a year after it was damaged by fire. We train our tourism professionals at this school and elsewhere. We do not want to invest in the training of the tourism profession. And yet we want to have tourism as one among many of the foreign exchange earners? It looks awkward to me.

I have talked about the sorry state of affairs of the guard rooms for the security personnel at the first two gates at Sanjika Palace. Could someone please take care of these little buildings so that they are fitting for the President’s house? Significant amounts of money were allocated to the State Houses. Please use the money for its intended purpose by among other things, rehabilitating the guard houses.

Many companies have had a fair share of industrial strikes. I applaud Inspector-General Dzonzi for bringing in some discipline in the police service and trying to building a service that is professional. I was not expecting Dzonzi to say what I am about to say in public. But I will say on behalf of the IG. There are not enough police houses to accommodate all our officers and men and women. Where the houses do exist they are in extreme state of disrepair.

I am pleased that President Joyce Banda grew up in the police lines at Kanjedza. It will not be surprising if the house she stayed in as a little girl has never been painted since then. The police lines at Kanjedza, PMF in Limbe and Lilongwe are a national disgrace. I encourage the President to visit these places and see for herself where the people she works with closely are staying.

Could I take the opportunity to once again state my disappointment with President Banda for not declaring her assets when and after she became president? I congratulate her though for her leadership in improving maternal and child health. Well done, Madam President.