What a cheating government does to people
It is common knowledge that the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s regime really failed the Malawians people. In fact that era was characterized by all manner of struggles. Most Malawians are wondering where the country would have been in 2014 if Bingu remained in power. A million dollar question is. ‘ Why did Malawians tolerate to be dragged into unprecedented economic chaos?’ Mutharika regime left painful memories.
After President Joyce Banda has taken over the reins of power, various revelations are coming out about how Mutharika used to run his government. The picture one gets is that, it was government made easy by cheating. For example he cheated people that it was time to change the flag because he had developed the country beyond recognition.
It goes without saying that after he was branded as economic engineer as well as the most educated man on the land, Mutharika was in a hurry to show his success and prove his economic engineering skills. Regrettably, it was the cheating in his government which was guised as success.
So far the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) scandal is the mother of all cheating practices. It was a calculated move and stage managed to show that the zero deficit budget was a success. The MRA saga has left people speechless. How could Mutharika be so crafty in search of imagined success? For how long did he think he could cheat without being found?
What makes one wonder is how the whole cabinet then, failed to critically look at how MRA had achieved a feat of collecting more revenue than the target. If they had looked at it closely they could definitely have seen that it was all fake. What is worrisome is the fact that there might be many more cheating practices by the DPP led government which are yet to be discovered.
Any sensible person must be aware that cheating, especially in government will always backfire and yield nothing. A typical example here is that despite Mutharika’s vicious campaign about his achievements, there was no sign on the ground for people to buy his story. As his era progressed Malawians went deeper into poverty. Being selfish, he just looked the other way.
The unprecedented cheating stated in this article is a wake-up call to President Joyce Banda and her cabinet to always have a critical and analytical mindset on both perceived successes and failures. Cheating must not be tolerated because Malawians want to know the truth about how their country is run and not waste time with imaginary success stories.
Lastly, any government which is built on cheating policies is as good as having no government. The failed Mutharika government stands out as a clear example which Malawians will use for a long time as a case study of government by cheating.
Emily Mkamanga Email emilymkamanga @yahoo.co.uk
