Blair divides opinion over Malawi advisor role: Chakwera asked to send him back
Malawians are telling President Lazarus Chakwera to send back the United Kingdom’s former prime minister Tony Blair who is in the country to be adviser to the Tonse alliance government of President Lazarus Chakwera.
The President’s key spin doctor, Sean Kampondeni says Blair and two other members of his Tony Blair Institute are indeed in the country to provide technical expertise and help build the capacity of the Chakwera-led administration.
Blair has always taken the view that government capacity, good governance and fighting corruption are vital to development.
State House communications director stressed that Blair’s work will be unpaid.
However, The Africa Report says Tony Blair’s funding model is that one third of its expenses is funded by third-world countries that seek its services.
But Malawians have taken up in various social media platforms, saying the government does not need the Tony Blair driven mini-Downing Street delivery units which is to motivate teams to operate at the centre of government, advising, cajoling, planning and delivering.
A social and political commentator, Onjezani Kenani said it is incorrect that the services they provide are at no cost to Malawian taxpayers.
“The last time they were here we were paying each of the eight people they brought an equivalent of K6.1 million per person per month. This is indisputable. We also gave each person a house and a car, with free fuel. This is also indisputable.
“They worked with the Joyce Banda government from 1 July 2012 to 31 January 2014, with nothing to show for it. This too is indisputable,” Kenani, an accomplished writer and an accounts professional, wrote on his Facebook wall.
Another critic Idriss Ali Nassah writes on his Facebook wall that a former cabinet minister in the Joyce Banda administration told him that the last time Malawi hired Tony Blair’s “experts”, “we didn’t want them, and didn’t need them. But the donors like such things. To be seen to be doing something to fix our systems, we hired them.”
He says the former cabinet minister said the Blair crew fixed nothing in the country in those two years.
“Nothing, to be honest with you. I think they were more interested to report what we were doing to whoever it is they report to. But to improve and fix our structure, nothing” Nassah quotes the former cabinet minister.
However, some social media commentators linked to the Tonse Alliance support the Blair advisory role, saying he will have an impact in Malawi this time around.
They argue that modern government is not about the traditional civil service, it is about getting things done. It is about effecting change.
Blair’s delivery unit concept has been exported in some countries in the African continent including Rwanda which has been successful.
According to Blair, unless African governments delivered, faith in fledgling democracies could quickly erode.
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Katengeni a Yaya Ku neno akuthangateni ma baranz inu
We dont want recolonisation by the Britons through the dull brains at the state house.What you know Mr president is copy and paste,fertiliser subsidy.Pay the civil servants! Kulira simunati.
As many may say, ‘we dont need them,’ but I have a different view; it depends on what strategy you want them to implement. Sometimes our mind are not visionary, in such cases we can’t see progress taking shape, for example; issues of reforms needs total commitment not just learning and keeping the ideas in the head but practical will bring a difference. We Africans, we like ever learning but very little to show. We wait others do things for us, not us doing the things; for example, we want someone to come all the way from Europe and teach… Read more »
Koma a President atani Kodi? Nzeru zimenezi akuwapatsa ndani?, Akuluakulu athandizeni big Man
I thought we were ready to govern ourselves, but it seems we are not. Independence indeed??? We’re just depicting our stupidity and incompetence. Just ask the British to come back and rule the country as we have provided that we are not yet ready to manage by ourselves.
surely we need people like The Blairs to clean our rotten civil service, if don’t need azungu, then why do we still accept there budgetory support?
‘RWANDA’
CANT WE FOLLOW TANZANIA?
No need for foreign rubbish.
Half of the Tanzanian population (30 million people) live of less than 1,60 US$ per day. Journalists, musicians, politicians etc get jailed…, just in case you didn’t know.
Cry my beloved country. So there is nothing we can do without azungu. If that is the case then we don’t need Independence. Malawi ooh my Malawi.
Ready to with draw my support to Tonse if this Blair thing stays in Malawi, and I will lobby others to withdraw too.
We got our own Brains and we don’t need this Blair thing to organise ourselves.
Ubwino wake Zaka 5 nzochepa, simuyaya.
Most people comment without checking the facts. Blair Foundation works in 16 countries, in all these countries their services are a donation and have been very successful. Blair Foundation will not use a penny from Tax Payers money. Malawians stop this negativity if you want the country to move from poverty where it has been stuck for many years.
Do we need a foreigner to move
out mountains of poverty in Malawi? Really? .. What are Tony Blair’s achievement in the UK when was prime minister? .. Why didn’t he assist Zimbabweans during Mugabe reign? .. He is up to something else…Malawians are not negative.. The same way they said no APM is the same way we are saying no to Blair period.
We dont achieve anything beccause we listern to azungu too much.Structural adjustments was Nzungs plan, what did we achieve besides drowning in white rubbish of poverty more deeper. There always driving us to this and that through their conditions for every loan. More like go sell your garden or farm and i will give you a half bag of maize
Malawi has been independent for 64 years. See where we are, corrupt poor nation. Each of our leaders has failed Malawi. They have been corrupt. Getting a foreigner to advise where we are going wrong is not losing our independence. Munthu suona chitsotso m’diso lako, you always ask someone to look into your eye to see the problem. This is what the VP Chilima was talking about. Change the Mindset. We cannot continue blaming the colonials for our failures. We had 64 years to make our nation successful and may add with some assistance from the colonials but we squandered… Read more »
Exactly! We need a mindset change. Since independence there we have had a number of leadership, all failed due to lack of good governance. It is high time to come to our senses and accept to be helped. This help comes from the experts who have successfully helped other countries. And it comes free as a donation! Should we decline support just because it is coming from a white person? Should we use an example of a failed Zimbabwe who were arrogant, but now are desperately calling for external aid?