As a true son of Malawi, I wish to respond to this Government’s July 6 (Independence Day) challenge to one and all to put this Government’s much-touted vehicles for national development under the knife of objective assessment to see if they will reach any other conclusion than that it falls far short of a productive vision likely to breathe new life into our still-born statehood. Armies and legions of ‘zero-substance’ advisors and technocrats at the Government’s disposal 24/7 have assured Government that its ‘comical apparitions’ are a very productive vision!
The Public Sector Reform Programme: This Government can never be an agent of positive change (not in a million years!). It is too exclusionary which conveniently blinds it to the pitfalls of almost exclusively recruiting from among its kinsmen and belt-men for every government and quasi-government position of any substance. Sadly, we now all know the PSRP is about formally personalizing this Government’s rule to give it this Government’s face, a recognizable MTL-belt taste and feel otherwise its task force would have co-opted people of the stature and caliber of Malewezi (for example) that understand the intricate workings of an effective, efficient and productive government (its Bible and Throbbing Heart-The MPSR) and not the DPP loyalists of ‘zero-substance’ it was exclusively composed of. How anyone can believe a government with such a warped mindset can spearhead positive public sector reform even under the umbrella of the Government’s much-touted three pillars (patriotism, integrity and hard-work) of nation building it scarcely believes in is beyond me?
The Malata and Cement Subsidy Programme: The ‘probity and equality of opportunities’ provisions, Sections 13(n,o), would not sanction such doling out of tax-payers’ money (building personal houses for chiefs and the general populace) under non-emergency situation and at the scales envisioned. This programme violates the constitution in every imaginable aspect besides being unacceptably unproductive. This Government and its armies and legions of ‘zero-substance’ advisors and technocrats have displayed unacceptable levels of ignorance of constitutional provisions underlying the democratic governance of a free-enterprise (market-economy) rooted system that our country constitutes. It also spectacularly demonstrates why this Government never understood why some members of the opposition insisted on invoking the state of emergence powers as a condition for releasing ‘flood-victim-assistance’ funds. That aside, iron sheet clad roofs do not compare favourably with grass clad roofs on almost every attribute of value—their response to the elements, durability, first and life cycle costs, local content etc. And most importantly, what tangible benefits will accrue to tax-payers from this programme?
The Green Belt Programme: Why would a properly conceived programme allow implements purchased under the programme be pilferred off to the programme creator’s farms in Zimbabwe, many others doled out to party and government functionaries before eventually auctioning away scores left to languish at ADDs at a paltry one-tenth the purchase price? Valuable lessons (about the ultimate fate of such programmes) have conveniently not been drawn from the Youth Development Programme related Treasury Scam where it was revealed by some Treasury employees that some Minister pocketed a cool $1m and the ruling party of the day stood to gain a large fleet of campaign vehicles as a kick-back from the deal—a clear sign that programmes of this nature are cobbled together not to benefit the country and its people but rather the political leadership and its government functionaries of the day.
The Skills Training Programme: The existing technical and university colleges are for the most part producing graduates without the industry requisite skills because of lack of adequate funding to these tertiary institutions. A programme to create ‘Village Polytechnics’ across the length and breadth of the country modeled after the existing tertiary institutions can not fare any better. I should know better—I have worked with and trained these products.
This Government has cultivated a distasteful habit of ‘launching’ these agendas with a lot of pomp and fanfare and, I must hasten to add, at great expense to the tax-payers but as they say ‘the most empty tins make the most empty noise’. Nothing productive must be expected of these monstrous public displays of unconscionable overindulgence.
Contribution by: Chisala, Maxwell L.
