Maravi

Lessons from Malawi

Lessons from Malawi
By The Post
Sun 24 July 2011, 14:00 CAT

It is wrong to ever take God’s people for granted. It does not matter who you are or how important you are, it can never be right to take people for granted.

This is a lesson that comes very clearly from what is happening in Malawi. It is sad that our peaceful and long-suffering eastern neighbours seem to have had enough of being abused by their leaders that they have decided to take matters in their own hands. The loss of life, whatever the cause, is always a sad thing. It is grievous to see that for expressing dissent and unhappiness with the way that Bingu wa Mutharika is running the affairs of Malawi, so many people have lost their lives.

It is not our place to start debating who is right or who was wrong. But we think that it is necessary to ask ourselves: how have those otherwise peace-loving and admirable people gotten to a point where they are ready to jump in front of bullets? What has happened in Malawi?

It cannot be denied that Malawians have been regarded as a docile people who are happy to remain subservient to tyrannical leadership for very long periods. Their history is a sad one indeed in that regard. They suffered under the brutal and repressive leadership of the late Kamuzu Banda. The accounts of how Malawi’s Banda dealt with his opponents can be chilling, if not frightening. But like many other places in Africa, the dawn of democracy has not necessarily improved the lives of the citizens. But if what is happening in Malawi is anything to go by, democracy has brought something. The people have found their voice and they want to be heard. Is this a difficult demand? For many of us, this looks like a simple matter.

But clearly, it is not for tyrants because this is what Bingu seems to have become.

The news coming out of Malawi since Bingu’s re-election suggests that he has become over-confident and been overtaken by the allure of power. It is very difficult to get any sense of humility in the way that he is dealing with issues in that country. It cannot be denied that Malawi has fundamental economic problems that may not entirely be his fault. But in dealing with those problems, he needed to approach them with a sense of humility that would attract people to his side and create broad consensus on how to deal with the challenges that they face as a nation. But such a style does not seem to suit Bingu. The problems that Malawi is today facing can be explained by looking at the pompous over-confidence of a president who could have done great things for his country if only he was prepared to be a little more humble and inclusive in finding solutions for his people.

As Bingu’s Vice-President, Joyce Banda, has said, all that the people of Malawi seem to be asking for is a voice in the way that their country is being run. We know that Bingu and his Vice-President are at loggerheads, but what she is saying is true. Dialogue could and still can resolve the crisis that has engulfed that country.

Bingu’s problem is not different from what we see in our country with Rupiah Banda. People like Rupiah and Bingu believe that once they have won an election, they can run the country to the exclusion of everybody else. In the case of Rupiah, he thinks that winning an election turns him into government’s chief procurement officer, giving contracts to whom he likes and how he likes.

Any criticism of his practices is dismissed as a refusal to accept the mandate that they have received from the people. What is forgotten is that people do not give anyone the mandate to abuse them.

A mandate given to an elected president is to act in the best interest of the people that elected him. And where there are legitimate differences, the president needs to make meaningful efforts at dialogue to ensure that those problems are resolved in the best way possible. But this is not the style of people like Rupiah and Bingu. Pomposity denies them the opportunity to govern well.

When one looks at what is happening around Rupiah today, it is not difficult to understand why many of those who supported him and came out endorsing him in public a mere three years ago have today changed their minds. The voices that strongly led the call for his election in 2008 are today strongly demanding his removal from power. Rupiah has been deserted by people who were closest and dearest to his political career. The question is why?

A pompous, arrogant and self-opinionated person cannot retain friends for very long. Those who thought they could work with Rupiah when they were being warned that they could not have today seen for themselves that it is impossible with this man. Rupiah’s style of leadership, like his relative Bingu, is a bullying type of leadership.

The people around them have to live in constant fear and dread of their boss and show it. If they don’t, they are booted out. If you are doubting us on this point, ask Mike Mulongoti. What happened to his close friendship with Rupiah? What was the problem? Well, maybe Mike was the problem, we don’t know! What about Rupiah’s friendship with Vernon Mwaanga?

What has happened? Why is Vernon not Rupiah’s campaign manager today? From the little that we know, it’s simply that he dared to give some helpful advice and do the right. Rupiah, in his pomposity and vain glory, has gone on to distance many of those who stood closest to him and had the slightest courage to tell him the truth.

What about Lameck Mangani? This was one of Rupiah’s most useful lieutenants in his bid for power. What did Rupiah do to him? Mangani, like all the others that we have mentioned, was kicked in the teeth as payment for his work on behalf of Rupiah. Well, maybe there were political differences. If that is the case, what has gone wrong with his good personal friend, George Chabwera, who we understand stood by Rupiah when the chips were down and he had to relocate to Chipata? Why is Rupiah incapable of maintaining loyal relationships? We are not being personal. To understand the problems of leadership, one has to understand the individuals involved.

Rupiah does not seem to believe in accommodating divergent views and it is clear also that he does not like being told what he does not want to hear. Anyone who tells him what he does not want to hear becomes an enemy. This is why he is losing friends and colleagues at the rate that he is. It is this same attitude that seems to make it difficult for him to dialogue with others when there are problems.

We do not know what Bingu’s personality problems are. But clearly, he seems to possess traits that are very similar to Rupiah. For that reason, we would urge Rupiah to learn from Bingu. It is never right to take God’s people for granted. One day, you may take them too far and suffer the problems that Bingu is suffering today.

Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA, LAMECK MANGANI, MALAWI

posted by MrK @ 2:15 AM