Tantalising ourselves: Muckraking on Malawi loan to cushion Kwacha
So we got a very expensive loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), without even having the courtesy of bouncing it with Parliament, to cushion our kwacha?
Goodall Gondwe, our purse keeper, was right on the ball when he said we used ‘tricks’ to arrest our wayward kwacha from tumbling south and created a false impression that the kwacha was on the mend.
But can an economy survive on these kindergarten ‘tricks’? The Big Kahuna tried it by using his trusty boys – the Mwanamvekhas of this world – to ‘trick’ us into borrowing heavily from commercial banks to create a mirage that the ‘zero-deficit’ budget was working. Will the ‘zero-aid’ budget work by using the same ‘tricks’, albeit this time around Peter, Bingu’s younger brother and protégé, borrowing internationally and expensively?
A dear friend dropped this witty analogy of the Malawi of today that, I think, captures truthfully what we truly are. Enjoy:
“Times are tough; everybody is in debt, everyone is living on credit. A tourist, let us call him Mr. Jones, drives through town, stops at a motel and lays K10,000 on the desk, saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs.
“As soon as the tourist goes upstairs, the motel owner grabs the money and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the K10,000 and runs down the street to settle his debt at the piggery he got his week’s supply from.
“The piggery owner takes the K10,000 and heads off to settle his bill with his feed supplier who quickly runs to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has been offering her “services” on credit.
“And the hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill.
“Meanwhile, the tourist, Mr. Jones, comes back down the stairs stating that the rooms are not to his taste. He claims back his K10,000 and leaves.
“No one, in this cycle, has produced anything and no one has earned anything! But the whole town now thinks that they are somehow out of debt!”
That, sadly, is how Malawi has been reduced to now…borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and good ol’ Goodall tantalises us that we have ‘tricked’ the economy back into working again?
My foot!
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That way Malawi will never ever prosper. A quick change of mindset is inevitable to put our economy in good order. To rely on borrowing and/or credit will eventually lead to property grabbing if not settled in time. Thus, assuming the tourist, Mr. Jones, did not come with 10 pin. We are now dwelling in the challenging situations. Even businesses are being operated on credit basis,,,,, what do we gain? nothing,,, lol,,, poor nation. Let change everything. Yes, from national leadership down to our villages.
The problem in Malawi is that when people like Ralph bring out serious issues like the one above, people tend to joke about them because we are naturally jokers.Not serious at all and very dishonset.Those that understand Public Financial Management Management and basic tenets of development will understand that what government did is aweful and unproductive. Mukhala choncho utsiru wosalekeza and not being serious with life.How can a country of dishonest people who thrive on football and zibwenzi develop.Kenako anzanu akalemba mfundo you stupidly criticize without any brain. We have very few people in country who think- thats why we… Read more »
It’s not surprising in anyway that we borrowed or swapped for we have always had this craving for loans: a mighty appetite so to speak. You people in the know how, answer Ralph and inform us as to whether this deal is constitutionally correct, we know it’s politically right for DPP. Did we have to override the role of parliament in such a transaction?
DPP
amayi ali pheee ku states
Koma akulu akale sananame ponena uti “UKAYENDA NDI MNGULU WAYENDA WEKHA”
Koma ka nkhani ka tourist who comes with a 100 dollar bill to a broke town/village is so cliche bwanji. Simunakapeza kena kanukanu ka original?
Buluzi tenthani how many orphans are u assisting or what manufacturing bussiness are u doing nothing blaming blaming blaming stupid stupid as I speak am mixing manure to start making home made fertilizer and I will expand and expand and the government will stop importing fertilizer and Ed will save the dollar ki ki ki u must also follow suit and start doing something
Paja nthawi ijayi anakatenga ngongole ku ma banki kufuna kupitsitsa a malawi kuti mra ikuchita bwino.
Sindikudabwayi, ndi chikhalidwe ku chipani cha chimanga chopelewera (et angadyetse dziko lonse ndi chimanga folo basi?)
The story of the month, omva pang’ono ayesa raph wawanyozela chipani ndi azigogo…omva mwa “mmalawi okonda ziko’ wazindikila kuti its about our nation and future. Keep it up, ur stories are 4 the above average.