(MaraviPost): Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe on Wednesday partly blamed low Diaspora remittances to the country as deterring transformation and self-reliance in Malawi. Many in the Diaspora that have tried for years to Engage the Malawi Government on this issue for years agree on the low remittances, however they put all the blame on the Malawi Government for refusing to engage the Diaspora in a meaningful way.
Commenting on the Maravi Post story where the Minister made these assertions, a person who has been a champion of Diaspora engagement with the Malawi government noted that Malawi Government has refused to engage the Malawi Diaspora to come up with programmes that would encourage financial and human investments.
Diaspora engagement policies’ are a primary channel through which migrant source states are interacting with ‘their’ diasporas in many African countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt and many more. However Malawi has shown no inclination to take advantage of its very considerable Diaspora population.
These policies take a wide range of formal and informal manifestations, from symbolic and rhetorical appeals to the loyalty of emigrants and their descendants, to measures aimed at capturing and channeling a share of the migrant remittances that now dwarf global development aid, to new citizenship provisions that extend beyond state borders, to formal governmental institutions that harmonize and oversee the myriad ways in which states impact on, and are impacted by, diasporas.
An article posted on a BBC website http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22169474 indicated Analysis of cash flows by Hong Kong-based Ghanaian academic Adams Bodomo shows that Africans living outside the continent send more money home to their families than is sent by traditional Western aid donors in what is called Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Countries like Ghana and Rwanda enjoy high Diaspora remittance because those governments have worked with its Diaspora as partners.
The Contacts from the Diaspora with the Malawi government started during the Bingu WA Mutharika government. They intensified when Joyce Banda was President and a Diaspora desk was created at the Malawi foreign Ministry.
Many people in the diaspora were eager to get involved. The contact at the Ministry who Joyce Banda had assigned to come up with a working plan would take a month or more to respond to emails until she just stopped responding completely.
Responding to the same article where Minister Gondwe decried low remittances, another person said many are unwilling to invest in Malawi until the Dual Citizenship issue is resolved fully.
Minister Goodall Gondwe should take note that there are many in the Diaspora ready and willing to engage government on Diaspora programmes, they are just waiting for serious engagement from his Government or the Minister who is in-charge of that portfolio.
Malawian Law Scholar, Professor Danwood Chirwa has urged the Government and Civil Society Organizations to utilize the skills of Malawians in diaspora in order to take the country forward.
Chirwa was responding to a questionnaire form Malawi News Agency (Mana) on how brain drain can be limited in developing countries focusing on him as an example.
He cited most successful countries as examples of how beneficial the diaspora is to the development of individual countries as most people in diaspora benefit from international exposure.
Said Chirwa, “The links between locals and the diaspora can be an important asset for a poor country like Malawi. The diaspora can be a link for educational and employment opportunities for people back home. It also provides a source of state revenue through remittances.
“International exposure also bolsters the skills and personal development of people which can be beneficial to the country when they return.”
The Malawi Government should therefore shoulder some blame for these low remittances from Diaspora. Many are eager to see our motherland do well and prosper as it is the only way to support our relatives and countrymen. What is needed is bold leadership from the people in government.
