Bambo aNgwazi ananena, ananena okha limani sawa, ndipo mudzalemela (Mbumba song 1960-1990s: The Ngwazi said it, plant beans [cash crops], and you will get rich.)
Zomwe anachita aNgwazi tisaiwale (Mbumba song 1960-1990s: What the Ngwazi did, we must never forget.)
From Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda to Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, there have been six presidents and nine vice presidents. According to public opinion sprinkled here and there, they have all been very, very bad leaders. Most Malawians can name at least one bad thing about every one of the six presidents, but many more Malawians have truckloads of the evil of these five men and one woman committed while they held the mpando onona (posh chair) of the high office of the Malawi Presidency. They have all been a bunch of “no good for nothings.”
They have all occupied the mpando onona position complete with a coterie of henchmen and henchwomen who have, while their leader is in office, have themselves done all manner of hideous things, with most getting away with theft and murder. Below is the list and a few of the evil things Malawians have accused their leaders of being “guilty” of while they were in office (mpando onona).
KAMUZU BANDA: Although he can be credited with bringing vast development to the country, he is also lumped with a very poor track record of human rights abuse, had no time for dissenters to his views, and imprisoned his critics; a few even lost their lives. There was no freedom of speech, assembly and these were entrenched by informal policing through such organized controls as the Malawi Young Pioneers, Youth League, and paid citizen-snitchers for the Malawi Police Special Branch.
BAKILI MULUZI: He brought democracy to Malawi and freed Malawians from the clutches of the one-party rule; however, apart from trying to rule as Dr. Banda did, his henchmen disliking any opposition to their views. But Muluzi is credited with un-industrializing the country, ushering into the country vendor-ism and selling of secondhand clothes. With Malawians moving from the rural areas (where they did all that sawa-growing and enhancing of food security in Malawi and neighboring countries, massive poverty ensued. Through the Privatization Program, companies were sold, many buyers moved their factories across the border, and poverty increased (factories were employers of thousands of Malawians).
BINGU WA MUTHARIKA: For his first term in office, Bingu brought back the aura of the beauty and wisdom of farming. Through his farm input subsidy for every Malawian, he helped the country climb back to food security status. His knowledge of the workings of world financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, helped the country a lot. He also is credited for changing diplomatic relation with the Republic of Taiwan to the Republic of China; an inland port (yet to be used) was erected in Nsanje. But his dealings with opposition and statements like “I will smoke you out” that included deaths of demonstrators made him look bad and like a dictator of sorts. His relationship with his vice president, Malewezi soured towards the end of his 10-year presidency.
JOYCE BANDA: The entry into the mpando onona by JB/aMai (as she is popularly called) was a resounding breath of fresh air. Women loved and highly supported her; some even song songs about her as Kamuzu’s Mbumba had done. She made many exploits in uplifting women, enhancing their lives through the Safe Motherhood program and end to child marriage in the Malawi Gender Law. But the Cash Gate saga, not her doing, has left a bad taste in Malawians’ mouths. Thieves plundered into government machinery in the newly introduced money handling system; an attempted murder incident are all plonked onto her plate.
PETER MUTHARIKA: He had the advantage of being the younger brother of a previously popular president. He continued the relations with China as well as benefitting from his legal friends around the world. But many of his supporters felt that like Kamuzu APM had become old. His relationship with his vice president (Chilima) had soured as his base of supporters from Thyolo, Mulanje and Phalombe. His 2019 election was challenged, and a Court squashed his victory for the mpando onona, after it became apparent that Tippexed (white correction fluid) voter sheets showed anomalies that took Malawians pouring out onto the streets in protest. For the second time in Malawi, a vice president formed an opposition party while in office. The first was Joyce Banda.
LAZARUS CHAKWERA: Chakwera and Chilima entered into the mpando onona through a Constitutional Court judgement, and after Malawians protested the anomalies of the vote counting. Malawians were on a high with the Tonse Alliance formed between Chakwera and Chilima. The hemorrhage started when members of the Alliance started jumping the ship of nine parties; the members of the MCP were openly stating “Ayimanso!” (He will stand again…. This is a phrase Muluzi’s supporters sang in support of his third term bid (it failed). A sign of things failing apart, then a VP is again arrested and put in prison for corruption. On the economic side, things fell apart when the IMF caused the country to devalue the Kwacha by 45%. While corruption is rampant, the stain of June 10, 2024, regrettable and mysterious deaths of VP Chilima and 9 other people, has left an annoying and painful ringing in the ear and stub-in-the-heart of many supporters and members of the UTM.
I am here to tell my fellow Malawians that we are all to blame for the mess that the nation finds itself in. firstly we have allowed politicians to get into office who then turn around ruling and overtaking us. Political elected officials are supposed to be our employees, whom we are supposed to tell them what we want and how to manage the affairs of our country.
We, the people are supposed to make them accountable for every action they take because the said actions are supposed to be on our behalf. We are supposed to tell them what we want.
But time and time again with every successive leader, Malawians we have prostituted ourselves to them, bowing down as if to a king or queen, or worse to a god. Many times, Malawians are joining the gravy train and one day one of being in the office of the mpando onona guy, start bleeding the government coffers of money meant to be spent on the country, for the good of the country.
The Malawi population at 22,216,120, and countless numbers have gone to stand on the roadside, waiting for scraps from people who are supposed to be serving us.
Oh, we cry the beloved servant leaders, where are you?!
