Kunkuyu says Malawi needs mindset change to develop not aid

Cases of perennial economic hardships and worsening unemployment levels haunting Malawi will remain a threat to attaining genuine development unless the country’s leadership and the youths embrace mindset change.

Former minister in the People’s Party (PP) regime, Moses Kunkuyu made the observation during Mau Akumudzi live programme aired on the privately-owned Capital FM Thursday evening.

The programme seeks to recognize and raise the voices of the mostly ignored rural communities who are used, dumped and denied meaningful development after ushering the ‘selfish’ leaders in positions of power.

Kunkuyu stressed it would be naïve and mere wishful thinking for the country to register realistic development while sticking to the failed old ways of doing things.

“What Malawi hugely needs now is not donor-aid but mindset change. We should begin thinking of how we can together contribute towards developing Malawi. Let’s graduate from the tendency of merely looking up to government or donors for help,” said Kunkuyu.

However, Kunkuyu cautioned some leaders who he said continue frustrating aspirations of creative youths through the ‘unwarranted’ clinging to positions having passed their prime time of significance.

The youths are in majority in Malawi’s population of over 17 million. Sadly, most of them are victims of high cases of unemployment that seem not showing any signs of abating despite repeated calls to improve their livelihoods.

Kunkuyu, who dumped the PP two months ago and has been passionately lobbying for youth involvement in active politics, also spoke strongly against the manipulation and abuse of the youths by the country’s political leaders; saying such a situation defeats the commonly held notion of viewing the youths as leaders of tomorrow.

Currently Malawi has a crop of aged politicians both in opposition and government who keep on side-lining young people, and usually use the youth as pawns to gain political mileage.

Kunkuyu said: “In fact, they are leaders of today. I was given an opportunity to serve this country in high positions, today I want to urge many young people to take from where some of us left and move the country forward.

“The notion of leaders of tomorrow gives selfish leaders an impetus to cling to positions and abuse the youths carelessly. Our leaders must support the youths and stop parading them as political objects without any value to the country’s development. It’s a serious insult to their intelligence and being.”

While presiding over a youth conference at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) some months ago, President Peter Mutharika acknowledged that Malawi could not develop if the youths were not incorporated in decision making positions.

While describing the president’s remark as a positive direction towards youth empowerment, Kunkuyu cautioned that would frustrate the youths more if not translated into genuine actions and deliberate programme designs to bail them out of the biting economic hardships.

Kunkuyu, famed for his “open critique stance” on national matters, commended the community colleges initiative by Mutharika’s administration but was quick to caution that the initiative has a high risk of turning into a white elephant should there not be deliberate policies to marry that initiative to the main players in the economy like the Banks and other government institutions where these tradesmen should be able to access loans and business opportunities.

He then called on the youth to start taking an active role in areas that matter in society such as church, activism, politics and government.

Malawi is currently facing serious economic challenges exacerbated by the careless plundering of public resources dubbed cashgate totaling K92 billion exposed during former President Joyce Banda’s administration.

Opposition parliamentarians and civil society organizations are also demanding spirited investigations into the alleged misappropriation of K577 billion by the Democratic Progressive Party regime.