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 the now-famous verse, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21.
In the short time that I was in Malawi this past week, the aftereffects of Cyclone Freddy were very visible; broken fixtures like lamp posts, houses, big cravens on mountains (saddest mount was the former Long Live Kamuzu hill that has in the past 25 years become the home of residents of Chilobwe), and potholes even on our four-way carriage, our pride, the Kamuzu Highway. Many of these have created new landmarks among them potholes. However, clearly visible is the general countrywide laxity by the governed and the governors: these are the populous and the government and other leaders (political, civic, economic, social, and religious).
This leads onlookers to ask a myriad of questions being asked everywhere I went. Among them: who is in charge here? Do we have a city or national government anymore? How is it that our pride and joy, the great four-way carriage Kamuzu Highway streetlights are not working? How is it that shantytown vendor shacks are erected onto the streets? Are there governing national and city or town authorities that always operate, not just when disasters take place? Most, most, most of all, if something like a street shuffle among the residents were to break out, how swift would police response be? Would it be adequate, or appropriate? There is much talk of “do not worry about robbers, the public will run after him/her, beat the thief, and burn him/her on the spot.
The social contract between the people and governors, whereby the people pay taxes and the governors (the government) that are made up of the captains of industry (banks and companies), police, army, councillors, members of parliament, ministers, and the presidency (made up of the president and the vice president), is faulty, not operational, and extremely suspect – on both sides. As tax-paying members of the contract, the governed get services like health, education, paved/tarred roads, electricity, security, etc. The governors make laws, policies, and rules for the governed to follow.
Looking at Malawi in its current form, the social contract is in total disarray, with both the governors and the governed stomping all over the rules of operation. Can we really call ourselves Malawians from the warm heart of Africa?
Governors
Land issue: The new land law has not fixed anything but instead has created a problem for landowners from the 1960s when former President Dr. Banda encouraged Malawians to buy land and go into farming. The new law is targeting them vigorously. This is dangerous, because in between the village people encroaching on the previous landowners, there appears to be foreigners that are buying land at alarming forest fire speed.
Streetlights and potholes on main roads: The city streets are littered with deep pre-Freddie potholes, some of them so deep, they are accident-prone structures. To top this, many main roads in the city centers are non-functioning. Scarier than this, is the absence of police on the streets.
Too much red at immigration ports: before and after Freddie, Malawi needs assistance. However, to bring these into the country is meeting great assistance, especially when that assistance is coming from Malawians. This is disheartening and does not help vulnerable Malawians needing medicines, clothes, and other relief items.
Decentralization created country-wide poverty: contrary to what the country was told in 1994 by the leadership of democratic Malawi, the decentralization programme, which came complete with the sell of government share, brought poverty to the country. As the government off-loaded its shares in one labor-intensive company after another, many Malawians lost their jobs while others were downsized, and people downgraded in their scales. Not surprisingly, this led to hordes of village-based Malawians to flock to city centers looking for livelihood, and the birth of the ever-increasing street vendor system.
To be continued next week on the governed
