Muluzi not responsible for failure of Vision 2020: National plans not personal to holder
For starters, Vision 2020 was launched by the then state president Bakili Muluzi in March 1998. Lately there has been some talk, especially on the social media, which seem to suggest that former president Bakili Muluzi is wholly responsible for the failure of Vision 2020.
From this kind of thinking one can easily note that Malawians are still living with a mentality of personalising national development. It also reveals how much partisan politics influences our opinion over national issues which ought to be above petty partisan biases.
One needs to understand the process which culminated in the national development framework document christened Vision 2020. Those of us who were there fondly remember the high voltage awareness messages on the radio and in the print media about the Vision 2020. The message was much about what Malawi should be in terms of development by the year 2020.
The formulation of the vision was a departure from the past approach where government development strategies were designed to cover lesser periods.
In fact, the past national development plans before Vision 2020 spanned from 1987 to 1996. This, therefore, means that the Muluzi administration which came to power in 1994 had only two years to finish the implementation of the 1987-1996 national development plans.
The Vision 2020 messages were not for individual glory but promoting and rallying together all Malawians to support the dream. Ownership was achieved in the fact that there were wide consultation before the document was officially launched and gazzeted.
The vision itself was clear in terms of its strategic goals and the role of all shareholders in realising the dream. Ideally, from the political front, all political party election manifestos were supposed to demonstrate how they would implement the national vision.
Political campaigns were supposed to be about competing on the best strategies to implement Vision 2020 as opposed to what we are witnessing today.
The vision itself did not give the hows as that was the responsibility of government departments by its technocrats. The implementation of Vision 2020 was for 22 years from 1998 to 2020 from which only six years was under the Muluzi leadership.
Simple arithmetic shows that the vision was to be implemented for 16 years without Muluzi. Unfortunately, for no other reason than relentless efforts to dent his legacy we blame him for the failure of the vision.
Did Muluzi carry with him the vision when he was retiring in 2004 to his retirement home at BCA Hill in Limbe? If his administration messed up in the six year’s he was in power, wasn’t the 16 years not enough for us to correct things and infuse some life into the implementation of Vision 2020?
For example, the vision states that the country would not achieve its objectives without good governance. Was it not the Muluzi administration which laid the foundation by establishing good governance institutions? What have we done to make sure that these institutions work effectively for the good of the nation?
Bakili Muluzi just like any leader had his strength and weaknesses. However, to blame him wholly for the failure of the Vision 2020 which defines the role of all of us in the implementation processes is to a large extent exposing our ignorance on how national development plans work.
National development plans are not personal to holder. They are not owned by leaders or their political parties. Instead of blaming one person for our failure it is time to reflect on how partisan politics has affected the implementation of the plan.
Word on the street is that blaming Bakili Muluzi will not take this country anywhere.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Yes muluzis government came up with this good vision 2020 dream but unfortunately he ransacked the very needed resources that would have made this dream a reality. This meant that the incoming government(s) had to prioritise the every day bread and butter as opposed to chasing this dream. Ever since the dawn of democracy, Malawi had influx of money which unfortunately muluzi and his lieutenants pocketed. By the end of his term, Malawi had slipped further into poverty as opposed to developing, sad. To sum it up, muluzi killed this country.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s Malawians for you.
Why Malawians say that Muluzi was responsible for the failure of VISION 2020 Is that Muluzi uprooted the foundations that Dr Banda had put in place. I have the following observation that I feel Muluzi messed up everything for Malawi.
Kamuzu Had put in place Malawian Companies which were of Malawi origin, headed by Malawians, benefiting Malawians. Companies like Import and Export, Press HOldings, Hardware and General Dealers. These were truly Malawian Companies that Muluzi and his henchmen ransacked openly. There was Malawi Development Corporation, PEW, David Whitehead, Sucoma. We had Banks that were established to help Malawians like Commercial Bank of Malawi, Fincom. Muluzi sold our local Banks to South African Banks like Commercial Bank was sold to Standard Bank SA, FINCOM was sold to NEDBANK. SUCOMA was sold to ILLOVO also a South African company. We had Press Furniture which was one of the best in this part of Africa a Local company producing good furniture which was displaced on the Market by South African Supreme furniture which Muluzi brought in the Country with a tax holiday there by displacing Press furniture. We had PTC Shops and Quicksaves in all the Districts of Malawi, servicing Townships up to 10.00pm everyday, these were displaced by the coming of Shoprite Shops. Malawi had PEW which was sold to a South African Company, Pew was Building Bus Bodies, trailers and bodies of some cars. If we can quantify, the Jobs that Malawians lost, the profits that we are still exporting to RSA plus the goodwill lost and demotivation of many qualified Malawians definately it was hard to achieve the Vision 2020. We were a self sustaining economy in terms of things like producing our own furniture, assembling our own buses even owning our own chain shops and supermarkets. Muluzi also failed to utilize the peace in Mocambique to rehabilitate our shortest route to the the sea of BEIRA and opted for the long and uneconomical Der Es Salaam corridor and NACALA as a result our patronising of the Der Port has developed the Der Salaam City. The ten years rule of MULUZI Malawi became A consuming Nation, a begging Nation and progression was zero and achievement of Vision 2020 was just on paper
eeeh bro u loaded with facts
Continuity from Kumuzu Banda was all wrong. If Bingu (first term) came immediately after Kamuzu, I am 100% sure Malawi would have moved to another level by now. Muluzi wasted our 10 years.
We are in this mess coz of Bakili. If he continued where Kamuzu left pano kulibe mbava za DPP.
He sure didn’t help it
Muluzi put this country on the wrong path by entrenching, institutionalising corruption, stripping of government assets, and engendering a mindset that praised money over morality. His actions spoke more loudly.
He may not be solely responsible but he did nothing to advance Vision 20/20 so he as the leader is to be blamed because he failed us and is responsible for our sorrow state of affairs we have found ourselves
He definitely derailed it.
Did you all notice that this article coincides with Atupele meeting with Chakwera?
Atupele is past his expiry date. We don’t want any more Muluzi’s.
Bakili is the one who put the country where it is now. it is a know fact and this poorly written paid article cannot dispute that fact.
Honest approach to the issue at hand .we can change and do better if we have the will
How can we do that when the directing machinery is managed by inherent thieves and killers. The writer of this story may have been there but obviously he was not observant enough to know that the leadership of the time only parroted the smart of the time like the likes of Aleke and friends. When Malawians started acknowledging the contribution of those clever people instead of encouraging them he started frustrating them because he wanted third term. If indeed you were there you must have sleeping through an accident which is what Muluzi’s reign was.