15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” – Matthew 16:15-16
Join together all our hearts as one, that we be free from fear. Bless our leader, each and every one, and Mother Malawi. – Last four lines of Malawi national anthem, author: Michael Fredrick Paul Sauka
Let us once again discuss the office of the Vice President of Malawi, his/her role and his/her entitlements as per the Republican Constitutional provision of the land of Malawi.
At the outset, it is very saddening indeed to read, listen and witness the frenzied debate on this role that entered our political platform in 1993.
Before 1993, the country had one leader, for whom all Malawians prayed for at every occasion including etching prayers for his long life on a mountain, whose words could be seen in space.
From 1993, Malawi has had vice presidents that have been feared (Chakuamba – from his leadership of the MYP days), ignored for not being wathu-wathu, to being imprisoned, then one ignored but later became president, to another ignored for not being Mlakho, to another whose term was terminated by the Constitutional court, and sadly yet another that was assassinated.
Enter into the fray, Retired Court of Appeal Justice Pastor Dr. Jane Ansah! She is barely 100 days in office, and a coterie of Ansah-bashing liturgy is a-flare in Malawi’s conventional and social media platforms.
The woman had the audacity to make a private visit to the UK where, word got out, she was to celebrate her husband’s (this is Malawi’s Second Gentleman) 80th birthday.
True to Malawi brazen bashing nature, before even luke-warmly wishing the Second Gent Happy Birthday, swords started flying, researches conducted on the cost of the trip, and counting the number of persons escorting the VP.
Tempers of course rose to fever pitch levels.
Before laying out the concerns of the Malawian persons, a simple outline of the entitlements of the 2nd top leader is important.
During Kamuzu Banda’s 31-year rule over Malawi, he neither had a wife nor Vice Presidents. This changed in 1993 when Malawi had Gwanda Chakuamba as the country’s first vice president.
With the coming of Muluzi, the country found itself with the phenomenon of “spouse of the president.” Needless to say, these had to be cared for and looked after through Constitutional provisions. These are there and cannot be challenged because Malawians do not like a particular person, or Malawians believe it is a costly venture.
Where the person (president, vice president or spouse of the two leaders), so too do the entitlements.
On the Vice President entitlements the VP is entitled to benefits and allowances that include: Official travel and accommodation expenses; Security personnel and protocol support; Daily subsistence allowances; Access to government vehicles and transportation; and a specified number of bodyguards.
Wherever the VP goes, these entitlements go with him or her: to the North, to the South, outside the country. One is President or VP, the entitlements follow the leader.
These entitlements do not vary depending on the circumstances of the trip or the government’s changing policies. It is ironing that VP Dr. Jane Ansah’s UK trip sparked controversy.
The backlash for her private trip to the UK, was reportedly due to the budget for the trip, a whooping MKw2.3 billion (approximately US$1.1 million). According to my research, one informant told me that many critics of the trip argued that this expenditure was excessive, especially considering Malawi’s current economic challenges, including food shortages, fuel scarcity, and inadequate public services.
Below are some quotes I uncovered in my research.
“This is not a state visit. This is a birthday party!” a government activist said.
“You cannot justify spending billions of kwacha on a private celebration when Malawians are struggling to survive,” said Willy Kambwandira, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency.
“The trip flies in the face of government-imposed austerity measures,” noted investigative journalist Jack McBrams.
The VP’s UK trip controversy highlights concerns about the Malawi Government’s accountability, transparency, and prioritization of public resources.
The critics noted with concern the Malawi’s government austerity measures to restore fiscal discipline that include: Freeze on staff recruitment as a means of controlling the wage bill; Suspension of promotions, especially those without Treasury approval; a Moratorium on vehicle purchases: banning purchases of new government vehicles and other high-value assets; and Limited foreign travel: the provisions included delegation sizes and duration of the trip; and limiting embassy staff to five officials.
Other austerity measures are 30 percent reduced fuel entitlements for cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, and senior public officers.
These measures aim to reduce government spending, increase revenue collection, and promote fiscal responsibility. The government hopes to allocate resources to critical development and social service sectors, such as education and healthcare, the fiscal disciplinary measure advanced.
However meaningful the measure may have been, unless there is a total ban on travel of all government officials, the UK trip, private or not, unless there is the removal of the Constitutional provisions, Malawians must not just go on the criticizing rampage because a Constitutional provision is a Constitutional provision.
In the mix one contributor to the discussion put it best when she said that the officials in the OPC that includes the VP’s office need to continue to handle government business and release information on the “Need-to-know basis” where the “less is best” rule is still the best rule when it comes to handling some government business matters.
What is all this stuff about “a letter from the Treasury Dept.?! A government document circulating on social media platforms, makes the running of government business look like running a chicken farm. “There was too much disclosure on the objective of the trip on paper. Malawi VPs are entitled to all expenses paid annual leave, so why not use that provision?” she asked.
Lastly, officials from the VPs’ office need to be there as firefighters in these matters; they should not be adding fuel to the fire.
And then the delegation was a bit large for a private visit.
As a country, there should be a check on what flies out of our Government offices. Unless they are notices to the public, Government letters need to be classified, and prevented from finding their ways to social media platforms. Some of these things are of national security.
Let us protect our country. “The Government should be concerned about the current tendency of Government top secret letters flying on helter-skelter on social networks. They need to look into this issue seriously,” the informant told me.
Long live genuine democracy!
