Zugzwang: Up to Malawians to fix broken economy

No doubt Malawians are facing extreme economic hardship which make the two-year-old DPP government look incompetent .There has been a rumour about a “coup plot” to over throw the government and replace it with the opposition. Since it has been a rumour, I will leave it at that hoping there is no truth to it whatsoever.

Admarc sleep-over: A photo by Daily Times shows people are being forced to spend nights at Admarc depots just to access the grain. This is Zingwangwa Admarc in Blantyre on Monday night
Admarc sleep-over: A photo by Daily Times shows people are being forced to spend nights at Admarc depots just to access the grain. This is Zingwangwa Admarc in Blantyre on Monday night

Malawi is supposed to be a democracy and I, for one, want leaders duly elected and not getting into office by any other means. There are many places – Iraq and Libya to name just two — that are unstable today because undemocratic means were used to change the governments.

Of the many NGOs operating in Malawi, I happen to appreciate what the Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA) is doing. It has been strong in protesting against price gauging. It is not common in Malawi to see fuel price go down when the price has fallen on the world market.

Malawians we must be ready to suffer now in order to be successful down the line. Since Kamuzu left office, we have constant black outs and water shortages yet we think we can attract investment be it local or foreign.

As a country it is hopeless to be lacking food and clean water. We have a lake and full rivers that we can tap water for consumption, irrigation and power generation, yet all these are considered luxuries in the eyes of the nation. Why are we failing to bring water from Lake Malawi to the cities?It may seem farfetched but it is less ambitious than most of the useless projects that we currently have.

Another area of grave concern is crime. Again misplaced resources is the case: Why do city councils engage private security services? Why don’t they actually provide funding to the police to provide security and let the private sector hire private security firms?

Lastly I am not sure if our parliamentarians are aware of their responsibilities as part and parcel of running the government. We only hear about them during budget deliberations otherwise they barely feature at all in any meaningful way as it relates to formulating and passing bills that may help revitalize the economy.

Parliament through the Speaker has inherent powers to pass bills that are deemed necessary for the common good of the country. Given the economic turmoil, other than finger pointing, let parliament bring forth their proposals, debate and vote and give to the president to sign or reject them. It is about time we moved beyond endless political fights and do something for the people who elected them.

Malawi has changed three presidents within 6 years which in a way is a sign of instability. Of course Bingu did not choose to die to inconvenience the country. We, however, need strong leadership to put Malawi on a solid path to development. While the calls for Peter Mutharika – he has only been in office for two years — to resign are unrealistic but they are a sign of frustration by the people over how things are going in Malawi.

I get it that as a country we are impatient and to me I find us easily forgetful of where we have come from as we expect things to change overnight when we have not really put in the work to make things happen the way we want them to.

At the same time our elected officials lack of the will to level with the Malawians about state of country and what they think we should be doing to move forward. Malawians must know that the West has signaled an end to their support of our budget. Like in a game chase a situation – zugzwang – where one is forced to  make a move, it is up to us to come up with ways that that do not leave us at the mercy of donors.

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Bwampini
Bwampini
8 years ago

Muyambe mwathana ndi mfiti yaikazi ija

Zamkutu
Zamkutu
8 years ago

Why do we elect someone then as a President who eventualy puts his tribesmen in influential positions and has the audacity to promote his village headman all the way to Senior Chief? People arguing that it’s everybody’s responsibility to fix the economy are missing one point which is that someone needs to lead the way for all of us to follow, that someone is there but is simply not up to his job from the look of things. And to you Chuka hater whom by now I am convinced you badly wants his job you should ask yourself why he… Read more »

tim
tim
8 years ago

Economy is down because of a PP person still in charge, it is Chuka he is devaluing the kwacha mercilessly so DPP get unpopular, he will make sure kwacha does not appreciate, as if it does appreciate DPP will regains its Popularity.

B MATS A USO
B MATS A USO
8 years ago

a simwaka mwalemba zamzeru kwambiri koma anthu osafunira dziko lawo zabwino ali zii RNA nfi awo akuti angomwalirapo president. zamkutu zenizeni

bryson
bryson
8 years ago

This guy is writing things from is own dick, can’t you the Pull out Of donors it’s because they have no trust with the mutharikas, you actually one of these guys who want to praise gvt all the times. Go and write these foolish columns of yours somewhere else, not here where a by-end sufferer is. You must learn to differentiate between political and truth. Political is all lies, and others we don’t associate with lies. Panya pako.

Aliki
Aliki
8 years ago

Zugzwang indeed! By the way, the game is called “Chess,” not “chase.” Respect that game, do NOT misspell it 🙁

Joab Ngaiyaye
Joab Ngaiyaye
8 years ago

the economy will not be fixed unless some president is fixed. there’s someone responsible for this economic mess, and that monster has to be nailed into a casket.

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