Written by Peter Makosa
“Diplomacy is more than saying or doing the right things at the right time, it is avoiding saying or doing the wrong things at any time.” – Bo Bennett.
In it’s insatiable quest to make Malawi a great nation again and restore it to it’s glory to the international community, the Chakwera – Chilima administration needs to deep-clean and cleanse our foreign embassies.
Our embassies all over the world are heavily infested with people who do not know anything about diplomacy – very rude, pompous, self-serving and unprofessional embeciles who can’t even say or attest anything good about Malawi.
Malawi needs to strengthen diplomatic ties with strategic international development partners as the operational levels of our foreign policy is the essential crucible for formulation of diplomatic approaches to international challenges.
The new government must, therefore, ensure to sanitize our embassies and take out all the rude, ignorant ‘viruses’who found their way into the embassies only because they are politically connected and not qualified, unfit and incompetent.
It’s high time Malawi is represented by patriotic, capable and competent people in our embassies and advance our national agenda and market our beautiful and naturally endowed country.
There is no need to send clueless, unqualified and uneducated political handclappers to foreign embassies as a reward for mere loud-mouthing when the country has in abundance capable young men and women who can give the best shot in serving Mother Malawi through diplomacy – the use of negotiations to advance Malawi’s international interests.
I suggest that the new administration focuses on employing some principles of operational diplomacy in as far as appointing the people who must be sent to represent Malawi as the Republican ambassadorial agents.
The people must be considered for ambassadorial positions purely based on merit, professionalism and patriotism and these are some of the qualities; national interest, credibility, patriotism, clarity, understanding, circumspection, impeccable communication skills, people-management skills, comprehensiveness, knowledgeable, commercial-tourism-and- trade awareness and decisiveness.
Sending qualified and creative people as diplomats in foreign embassies has great rewards for countries. A case in point is Rwanda, where their embassy in London negotiated a tourism marketing deal with Premier League football Club, Arsenal on the ‘Visit Rwanda’ advert on matchday shirts.
While our Rwandan brothers and sisters were busy doing strategic diplomacy – promoting their country as a tourist destination to the world, our diplomats were busy eating Chapati while telling fat lies about those who are professionals to their political masters.
In these embassies we need creative and forward-thinking young Malawians who can market our country as a tourist and investment attraction abroad. People who can negotiate with investors and traders.
I am not talking about Ambassadors, Hgh Commissioners or their deputies, I mean everyone. We need vibrant people.
We don’t want people who will be promoting MCP or UTM in London, Washington DC, Geneva, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg or Harare, just like the DPP did.
This time we want people who will promote Malawi and all her untapped beauty and undiluted sovereignty. We need people who love Malawi.
We have real professional career diplomats in these embassies but they are overshadowed by political stoogies and bootlickers who holds and operate the remote control.
Through strategic diplomacy, private-public partnerships abroad through our embassies and high commissions, the Tonse Alliance philosophy, which is hinged on making a better Malawi so much better for all, can be advanced via international policies that will benefit the people of Malawi.
The art of diplomacy, they say, is to take an opportunity and turn it into something better for your people.
We must drain the swamp in all our embassies as we fix our country. There is so much chaff, and, we must, as a matter of necessity, replace all the chaffs with healthy but good quality grains for diplomatic brains.
It’s time to cleanse our embassies, mask up for professionalism in a bid to operationalise effective diplomacy.
Malawi deserve better, and therefore, I will not waste time to discuss Brian Bowler and many of his likeness here.
