Chakwera to clear the rubble that has left Malawi in ruins: Corruption, impunity, negativity…
President Lazarus Chakwera is setting the right tone as his inaugural address lent itself admirably to what is expected of his governing style – eloquent but not bombastic, pointed but polite.
Chakwera had unique stresses in his opening lines, which set the tone, and indeed the rhythm, for the rest of the speech.
He said for 26 years of multi-party democracy. one administration after another has been shifting its post to the next election, promising prosperity but delivering poverty; promising nationalism but delivering division; promising political tolerance but delivering human rights abuses; promising good governance but delivering corruption; promising institutional autonomy but delivering state capture.
“And now, after 26 years of false starts and stale finishes, it is no secret that my generation has not only left our homeland unbuilt, but also in ruins. It is because of these ruins that our first task in building a new Malawi is clearing the rubble,” said Chakwera.
He said before Malawi can begin to rebuild, it is a must to clear the rubble of corruption, for it has left public taxes in ruins and declared the ruins stops right now.
“We must clear the rubble of laziness, for it has left our infrastructure in ruins; we must clear the rubble of passivism, for it has left our rights in ruins; we must clear the rubble of donor dependency, for it has left our dignity in ruins; we must clear the rubble of regionalism, for it has left our nationhood in ruins,” said Chakwera.
There was more poetry in his speech: “We must clear the rubble of negativity, for it has left our resolve in ruins; we must clear the rubble of impunity, for it has left our governance institutions in ruins; and we must clear the rubble of unprofessionalism and incompetence, for it has left our services in ruins.”
President Chakwera, a former church pastor, delivered his inauguration speech similar to his sermons on the pulpit.
He said the ruining of national treasures of both nature and state is “a sin of my generation that I am bound by God to confess and bound by you to correct.”
The President said for this reason, Malawians must not imagine that it is possible to make the corrections without pain.
“We must accept that the national bones we have dislocated cannot be corrected without suffering.
“I was reminded of this truth three months ago when my 12-year-old grandson suffered a greenstick fracture in both arms after falling badly in school. To straighten the bones, an orthopaedic surgeon at Kamuzu Central Hospital had to apply enough pressure to the arms to administer healing through pain and tears,” he said.
Chakwera said his administration’s quest to heal the fractured nation and governance system over the next five years will come with pain.
“We must have the courage to face and endure the pain of systemic surgery if we ever want to enjoy wholeness as a nation.
“In this transaction, we must each accept that in the context of Malawi’s recovery and transformation, we are each a patient with a bone that needs straightening and each a physician with a duty to straighten the bones of others.”
Chakwera continued: “ We are each in some way part of Malawi’s problems and must each in some way be part of her solution. We cannot absolve ourselves of responsibility for the maladministration we have allowed to happen on our watch for close to three decades any more than we can renege on our responsibility to make amends.”
He called for a collective responsibility in fixing the country’s problems.
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This is good start. We wish our president the best. Fighting corruption is critical. The president must do so through a combination of institutional reforms and strict implementation. We hope that the enablers and leaders in corruption such as Kareem, Shiraz Yusuf and others will be kept at bay. The civil society will be watching very very carefully for the betterness of Malawi and the Malawians
Such speeches have been repeatedly made by former regime. APM had been preaching that to root out corruption needs concerted efforts but ppo have been against this and today u say u need the support of all malawians how? Malawians lets learn to put politics aside other criticising all the times. Malawi shall have one leader at a time so any leader need support from the citizens but lets avoid pointing fingers at a leader when things go wrong. Malawi need to repent for whatever was done against APM. Akati anene za covid ayi akunama he dont want to hold elections nanga lero bwa? Ma figure akukuliramo tinene kuti chiyani? Pls let us all be responsible enough to build our mother malawi.
Eeetu, imeneyo ndiyo Ife timayimbatu last month, tikamakuuzani kuti opposition imaona zoopsa,inu munkaona ngati tinkanama. Ndizimenezotu! Muzipeza kangachepe kuti kolakwika ndipo muzichita kutenga magalasi kuti muzipenya bwino ndikutchela khutu kuti mufufuze apo alakwitse! Hahahahahahaha Ife kunva kukoma heavy!
Together we can.Lets be patriotic,lets be selfless,lets work hard,lets build our nation.Long live Malawi.
As usual promises, promises, promises. At the end of 5 years, Chakwera will once again take to the podium and say, “These first 5 years we were busy cleaning the rubble. Now give me another 5 years to start rebuilding”. He uses the word rebuild as if the previous governments, MCP inclusive, brought zero development. At times it pays dividends when one just embarks on delivering other than promise the undeliverables. Surely the same audience and cheerleaders will bear testimony in the next 5 years.
By the way, where has the American accent gone all of a sudden? Thank God that he realized just in time that he was fooling nobody but himself. Dama aChakwera silikutengerani patali ai.
He doesn’t need all that security within the barracks itself..We voted out extravagance..
Surprisingly, most MCP cohorts were all over town chastising their predecessor that they were overloading security details as if Malawi was at war, more so, this function was being held in a barracks whereby security is believed to be of high standard. Osamamaliza mau mbuz Ng’ona za Chakwera. Mukakhuta kachasu basi zonena mbweee ngati nzeru.
Inuso chokani, mufuna muoneke anthu azeru? Tingokhalani Kaye pa bench Wawa. We don’t demand security,it’s the work of their oath!
He’s commander in chief so he deserves all the security. At least he doesn’t drive around ndi ma kasinja ngati a president anu akale aja. Kaya nkhondo yake inali kuti?😂😂😂
namagwelu a security ku masasa aliki bwanji.
Long Live Democracy.
My dear Chakwera I think you will be more of an undertaker. Covid is real
Well-structured speech Mr President! You have my FULL SUPPORT as a Malawian!
Bravo Your Excellency, speech of a true patriotic statesman. We look upto you Your Excellency Sir, to lead and drive our beloved country to new prospering heights, an all inclusive Malawi. May God guide you as you serve this country and its people with love passion and dignified patriotism. New era has finally come.
Mr President, your 1st priority shud be to deal with MWENYEZI.
If this country is not developing, honestly it is due these Indians.
They heavily evade govt customs taxes
They siphon our hard earned dollars to their respective countries
They heavily oppress their employees,Malawians by paying them peanuts , while paying their fellow white skinned watchmen hefty salaries
They build sub std infrastructures in our cities
They import their country men into our country to do useless job
If you really want to transform this country, start with taking ur eye on these MWENYEZi
Don’t give them chance to get inside you.
Ngati mungafune kudziwa ma shady deals these MWENYEZI do , dare to open up a some sort of an office like, like the way it was during the Truth & Reconciliation, and be amazed with the revelations you might receive.
You are a racist.
Our president is nor idi ameen.
He said we are all a problem in some way.
FIX YOURSELF FIRST!
Corruption has bo race.
Some of us have tried employing fellow Malawians and paying them well. Amangobwenza chipongwe basi
It takes two to tango- the government corrupt employees and the Indians. The Indians offer quick cash hence they are enablers of corruption.
Collective we build
He looks like a zombie..kkk
If the young and energetic Chakwera looks like a zombie to you, ndiye Pitala looks like what? Mtembo?
Well said President Chakwera, we will support u in what ever u need to do to transform this country .
If tonse government pays 9.7billion to mordecai and Co. Then I know the president’s speech today was just another mere rhetoric. Already he sold us a lie in universal subsidy. Again he said cabinet will be announced before 6 July but here we are. These politicians are just shameless liars
Give him a chance man!
I am highly impressed by the speech and whoever has written it must be an automatic replacement of Mgeme Kalilani. The write is prolific and his choice of words is super excellent (munthu wa literature), He/she probably equals Ken Lipenga during the Muluzi administration.
I have listened to so many Presidential speeches since the Kamuzu Banda era but this Chakwera inauguration speech is way up there in its own class….if Malawians have morals left in them, this speech will be an antidote to root out laziness and corruption in our country.
Never again in our country shall we have a mafia government of rooters because Malawians are now being exposed to true tenets of good governance through the Tonse alliance…. And we shall never go back…..
Mr president you have started well and it is my humble prayer that you shall end well when your time comes.
Chakwera’s detractors accuse him of nepotism for hiring an excellent speech-writer who happens to be a relation of his but said nothing about shameless Mutharika’s horrible speech-writer who was also a relation of his!!! It is positive (good) nepotism to pick individuals with requisite skills to do the job but may by chance or design be your relation!!!! Accept, shameless Mutharika was not endowed with any qualities to be presidential material!!!!
Thanks, Chakwera we ready to work for the better of our country.
Those changes are long overdue. I want to see civil service rising again. I want to see parastals offering jobs to qualified profesionals and not based on one’s region or district or tribe. There is too much rot in parastatals and civil service. Positions from Manager to Director are not filled in based merit. Let the new government end this
Most parastatal CEOs did not pass interviews. They were given the positions to perpetuate institutional tribalism, regionalism and cronyism in recruitment and offering of procurement contracts. If new govt can just end this terrible disease Malawi will be on the right path to economic freedom, else we are doomed.
The mark Anthony of our time,
Now let’s go Malawians and paint that celling.
Together we’ll achieve
Powerful speech ever.
Mr president; Count on me. am impressed.
already you have given employment toyour son and in law. No cabinet as you want to run government as a private enterpreise.
But the son-in-law is more educated than you ‘private enterpreise’ you can’t even spell English words correctly [son and in law] but the President’s son-in-law could help you to improve your written English. Allow him to help you straighten your broken English! Let’s celebrate citizens who have unique capabilities and better skills than some of us as we all and they contribute to the re-building of the new Malawi for the benefit of all of us. That’s the enviable ‘Tonse Philosophy’ I love it! Jealous down!!!
Kutha kulankhula chizungu sikuti ndiwe munthu wanzeru. English is just a language m’bale wanga.
Then what is the issue here?
This a unique national address i have held in this regime. Touching where the heart of the problem is. The other regime of bakili, late Bingu and outgoing of pitala have been of promises that were never fulfilled. they never tackled the heart of the problem.
No wonder this country has failed miserably
may God Bless Malawi
Amen and amen!!
An excellent speech that contains everything that we want and need to hear.
We must all, each one of us, pledge to support our new President and do our best to bring his ideals to fruition. Long live Malawi!