Jesus responded by asking whose face was engraved on the coins used to pay the taxes. When they answered it was Caesar’s face, Jesus replied with: “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21
In last week’s discussion, the current state of Malawi’s social contract between the governors and the governed was given scrutiny. Being perfectly honest, the contract is in disarray and in need of massive repair. There are very visible signs that both the governors and the governed are stomping all over the rules of operation in the social contract.
A social contract is when the governors (the government) collect taxes from the people (the governed, and then provide services and establish structures for the people to go about their businesses.
The examination highlighted the breakdown in areas such as land reform, streetlights, and potholes on main roads, too much red take at immigration ports, and decentralization.
Privatizing Programme and the introduction of poverty: Decentralization that came to the country through World Bank leading, under the title the privatization programme, has not helped Malawi as a country as Malawians as citizens. Rather than create the middle class that was widely purported to do, the privatization programme brought countrywide, widespread poverty.
It led to the total offloading of government shares from national economic enterprises – factories, companies such as Import and Export Company, SUCOMA, and many others; these national enterprises that were once our flagship for economic wellbeing, have been lapped up by mainly foreigners who either downsized operations, closed shop or exported entire working factories across borders to outside Malawi.
In the final analysis, privatization brought Malawi vast poverty up and down and across the country, infused with the influx of large populations of people from rural areas to urban centers. This is topped by an unguarded, uncontrolled migration of an already growing influx into urban areas of refugees; these have been operating in competitive economic activities outside their government-ordained refugee camps.
Within the privatization programme, the country is gagging because of the missing giant, the Malawi Development Cooperation. This giant (MDC) steered the national development programme which Malawi enjoyed along with loans to the citizens; this in turn led to the creation of countrywide job opportunities in all the ranges of employment.
Income tax regime: The next item that continues to entrench the breach of the social contract, is the creation of a select group of sectors at government level. This is in the area of the tax regime. I was recently challenged to do research into this area; and I did.
The democratic Government of Malawi is made up of two separate, but equal arms of government. These are the executive branch (the president, vice president, and ministers), the legislative branch (members of parliament), and the judiciary (supreme and high court judges).
While the justices pay income taxes known as Pay As You Earn (PAYE), the other two branches, the executive and the legislative do not pay PAYE.
This unequal taxing privilege is creating the unfairness and inequality of the branches of our governing structures on the one hand, but also creating an unfortunate short-changing of the country’s tax regime on the other. Another form of inequality is the spreading of the government pie in terms of placing of adverts: the government only is placing adverts in the MBC and pro-government friendly media. This is not what Malawians fought for in 1993-1994 when millions of Malawians overwhelmingly voted for a multi-party system of government.
Free primary school education ceased to exist: At the dawn of democratic governance in Malawi, the United Democratic Front, brought in free primary school education as its flagship. Citizens in Malawi welcomed this introduction of no school fees for scholars from standard one to standard eight. With adoption of tenets of privatization, free school benefits such as learning tools (books, pens, and pencils, and writing books) that used to be provided to scholars through the Malawi Book Service, went out the window. However, of larger indications of the death of free primary school in Malawi, is the nationwide introduction of the examination fee (K1,500.00) per child per year. This is beside the monthly K500.00 Development Fund contribution every learner/pupil is required to pay
The two fee structures were explained to me when I saw numerous pottery pots selling boys at the Ginnery Corner business area. His pot and the others were selling at K3,500.00. When asked what he needed the money for, he said for examination and development fund fees. He was in standard four. Apart from lamenting at the national back-door introduction of primary school fees, there are two other giant-out-of-proportion elements in the death of free primary school education in Malawi. Consider the following two elephants in the education system room.
The Education ministry got lion’s share from this year’s budget from parliament. Other than salaries, how is this money being used? How much of it is reaching the individual school child? The Ministry of Education is the biggest breach of the social contract. Thousands of poor children that have poured out on the streets, trying to make money to meet the requirements pf getting the “free primary education,” are proof of this.
The School Fund is not reaching its destination to enable schools do the job of cleaning up the schools’ outlooks by painting them, clearing school ground, erecting proper toilet facilities, setting up libraries, etc. But looking at many school facilities, the development fund appears to be otherwise directed away from the school.
A closer scrutiny is required by the governors on its delivery of learning in Malawi and also the delivery of economic ventures that create jobs and other opportunities for Malawians through national and other government undertakings.
To be continued next week on the last part of governors.