IF I WERE: Peter Mutharika

President of Malawi, I would use the third anniversary of my presidency as an opportunity to conduct some soul-searching on how I have performed since May 2014.

If I were APM, my President, I would not be carried away by the praise singers, who see and hear no evil, by painting a rosy picture for the past three years I have been in charge.

Oh yes, Your Excellency, I would realise that all that the praise singers are only interested in kutola khobwe (making hay while the sun shines) and not necessarily painting a true picture because the reality is that while there are some areas that I have done well, in other areas I have performed miserably.

If I were Mutharika, I would realise that corruption continues to haunt my government and that poverty remains rampant, especially in the rural areas.

I would also take seriously the results of the survey conducted by the pan-African research network Afrobarometer in which they forecast the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to win the next presidential elections if they were held at the time of the survey.

Oh yes, Your Excellency, instead of living in denial, I would step up my game by improving on my shortfalls.

That is if I were Peter, but I am just Garry. n