What’s this merry-go-round on chiefs?

August 5, 2014

It seems to me the in trays of some characters at the Ministry of Local Government are empty and they have found some imaginative way of filling them up with work through the creation of some committee to investigate how traditional leaders were promoted in the “past few years”.

In a carefully concocted statement meant to hoodwink us all, the ministry says this has been necessitated following complaints from a lot of traditional leaders and some royal family members throughout the country that some elevations were carried out without following procedures as stipulated in the Chiefs Act.

But Malawians should know the true reason this unnecessary committee is being put together to burn our tax kwacha and it is the change of government on June 2.

It is not a secret that during her two years in power, Joyce Banda promoted many chiefs throughout the country. For whatever reason, the present administration seems to be at great pains to blot out this period from our collective memory through dismissals of her appointees in various positions and generally downplaying her perceived success both imaginary and real.

Firing or frustrating chiefs that Joyce Banda personally installed falls into this larger scheme of things.

But until when are we going to have this merry-go-round on chiefs every time we change government? How does it add value to our lives as Malawians? Who cares about how some little chief at some little obscure corner of this country got promoted as if it were a matter of life and death?

In case President Peter Mutharika has forgotten, let me hasten to remind him that he made a statement when he was a candidate for presidency to the effect that Malawi is a near failed State.

He could have meant Malawi has big serious problems that need urgent focused attention and it resonated well with some of us as it was a spot on analysis of our situation.

He could have meant our social services delivery system has literally tanked. Anybody who thinks this is exaggerating our predicament should just visit any central hospital to see if they would be given quality care for their ailment.

The President could have meant the children of the poor people are still learning under trees with no hope in sight for change when their count-erparts elsewhere are figuring out how to use i-Pads.

The President could have meant that despite 50 years of independence, our farmers are still using the back-breaking hoe to produce mere food that does not even last them to the next harvest season when their counterparts elsewhere in the world produce more than what they need using modern machines.

Now that he is President, you would have thought he would waste no time entertaining pure nonsense like that of a whole Ministry of Local Government bothering about some little man or woman somewhere in Malawi, who found favour with a former president.

In any case, the leadership of this ministry has not changed. It has the same PS, for example. If Joyce Banda wrongly promoted chiefs and did not follow procedures contained in the Chiefs Act, why did they not advise her against it? Were they waiting for her to lose an election for them to finally see sense?

When everything is said and done, this is gullibility. The ministry can do better. It can go back to its mission statement and for once do something that adds value to the lives of the long-suffering Malawians.

As a city dweller, I want to breathe clean air and live in a clean city that is secure and well managed. If the ministry has excess money, it can do well to give a good portion of it to city councils to look after their residents well.

For the DPP government, can it sober up and cure this persistent obsession against anything that Joyce Banda did.

For Christ’s sake, the lady was defeated, went out with grace and she is quiet.

It is time for DPP to govern without looking over its shoulders for Joyce Banda.