Enthusiasm to achieve much needed progress in Malawi

The year 2020 has started with a lot of discussions and review of Vision 2020.

In a number of African countries, including Malawi, this vision has been part of the development agenda. Obviously, the countries are looking at how best they have performed. So far reports are showing that Rwanda, under President Paul Kagame, has achieved its Vision 2020.

One only needs to know the type of development taking place in Rwanda—ranging from being car manufacturer to having a reliable flag carrier to bring tourists into the country.

Indeed, President Kagame has proved to be a visionary leader, not just in words but in action by implementing his intentions to the benefit of the people of Rwanda.

With due respect, just planting foundation stones all over the country for intended projects as has been the case in Malawi, has obviously contributed nothing to Vision 2020.

In fact, in Malawi, people have been cheated by the foundation stones which have so far brought empty expectations for progress. It is time people stopped wasting time discussing intentions by the leadership which have no head or tail and only lead the country nowhere. This is the current state of affairs in Malawi.

Imagine, the country can hardly feed itself throughout the year. It is so sad to read media reports that rotten maize, not fit for any animal consumption, is being distributed to people in Dowa district to eat. One wonders where the maize President Peter Mutharika has been bragging about is.

In this country, people still die from treatable diseases due to lack of medicines in public hospitals. Furthermore, having clean water seems to be a luxury. People go as far as using contaminated water in cities and, let alone, in villages where water is scarce.

There is so much talk about tourism. However, this is a non-starter without a national flag carrier. The same is the case with foreign investors. Very few if any show up even after President Mutharika had assured Malawians that he had spoken to some investors overseas who are willing to invest in Malawi.

To talk about high standards of education in this country is now history. Some of the schools are mere shacks and not fit for any form of learning. Worse still, teachers are disgruntled for not being paid on time in addition because no one is listening to their problems. Naturally, most teachers spend a lot of time on their private business, trying to make a living.

Figures for jobless people are always rising. Even university graduates are just roaming the streets with no jobs. There is no hope at all.

To crown it all, President Mutharika’s government seems to have given up on the fight against corruption, bribery and stealing of public resources. These bad practices and many more out there seem institutionalised.

The problems stated above are a tip of the iceberg, which means a call for change in government is pretty in order. The current vision now is to lead the country out of poverty. Malawians must ensure that there is a President and a government answerable to them.

To achieve this, people must be fearless to question the powers that be. It is time the government stopped misleading people by thinking that comments by organisations such as IMF, indicate that Malawi’s economic growth is rising.

It is naïve to accept that there is an economic growth when there are no indications on the ground. People of Malawi must continue showing enthusiasm to achieve the much needed progress.