By: Agnes Dumisani Mizere
The writing is clear on the wall….President Peter Mutharika is losing favour and this time it’s not necessarily biblical as in Daniel 5:25’s “mene, mene, tekel and parsing” in relation to God numbering King Belshazzar’s days, weighing and found him wanting and his kingdom being given and so forth.
NO not that as we don’t want to go biblical but political.
The writing on the wall for Malawi from Nsanje to Chitipa shows that more Malawians are frustrated and losing confidence in the current Mutharika administration because of economic hardships and a hazy future.
Skeptics can do a poll to prove this writer wrong but when anything affects the public opinion of any President, those close to the presidency should care and be concerned to address causes.
If it’s not civil servants who are not corrupt being told there is no money to increase their salaries as the economy tumbles then its citizens having to deal with silently increasing costs of goods.
Many on the streets are complaining that they don’t have money. And this is not because of economic sabotage but what some still feel is the “poor management of the economy” hence the need for more political will to put in place stricter measures.
Malawi cannot afford to have a feast and celebrate when it is “broke” hence it is puzzling why some globe trot to parts of the world or hold public rallies disguised as development rallies while the country is “broke” is another concern.
When there is no money in a home, families sacrifice certain things which they treat as “luxuries” including travelling as a group till money is found and their budget able to adjust.
There are taxpayers who are puzzled why Malawi is so broke yet they feel overtaxed with income tax or pay as you earn hovering around 30 percent on top of other taxes.
Does it mean that money collected through taxes is not enough? What happened to the dream of a better Malawi some years back? Yes there are reforms underway and some effort to correct the mess but not all are patient to wait for a long time.
However, calls from some civil society Organisations that President Peter Mutharika should step down for “his failure to take charge of the country’s affairs” are premature.
To date there has been no clear violation of the constitution to begin impeachment proceedings among others and there has also been no sign of economic sabotage which would have been worrying.
Veteran journalist Dickson Kashoti in an online story was right saying that CSOs must first engage the President in dialogue over issues raised before calling for his resignation.
The President has to be told what is wrong in Malawi and what people are saying including voters.
Malawi needs political stability during this crisis and political will to tackle issues including those that already existed for years. These include a “collapsing economy, donors leaving, and the cost of living skyrocketing and negative Cashgate effects.
Many consumers have been affected by never-ending water shortages and Escom blackouts on top of challenges in the education, health and agriculture sector in these days of climate change.
Holding another election will be costly although many feel the donors favour previous regimes but political stability in Malawi is a must.
And so far it looks like it’s not only the media and opposition are showing concern if an article from an alleged DPP cadet posted on the Malawi Voice website is anything to go by.
It’s titled ‘It’s Time to Take Bold Steps Mr. President…Fire Some Ministers, Advisors’ and posted on
If true and not removed, the article showing the byline ” Samuel Samson” speaks of owing “the nation, the DPP and APM allegiance exactly in that order” and talks of “pure cowardice as a senior cadet myself to bury my head in the sand while all pointers clearly suggest that we are going off track.”
The author also claims that “it is very scaring that the president operates in an environment that doesn’t allow him to freely get input from the outside world.”
“Even if it means sending others packing. He must allow himself time to peep into the outside world and have a feel of what Malawians are going through and saying about him and his government.”
“Another respondent suggested that he can even just call some of his fiercest critics or any unsuspecting citizen elsewhere and ask their honest opinion. One other senior cadet summed up the case in DPP by stating that ‘DPP will face itself in 2019 and will surely finish itself before kneeling down to the opposition’ before hurrying to advise that DPP has to put its house in order now.”
If the above was really written by a person who loves the DPP and is factual then it is time to discuss the way forward minus partisan politics because in the end we are all Malawians and not only one political party etc. wanting to develop our country.
If false then what a shame because on the ground that is what more people are saying.
