‘Govt’s cash-gate response poor’

As the looting of government resources continues to make headlines in the media, government is scrambling to get to the bottom of the problem. National secretary of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) Chris Chisoni shares his insights into the issue with Jacob Jimu.

Q:

Since September, stories about the plunder of government resources have become important items on the media menu. Beyond the confines of financial management, how does the looting illuminate on the question of governance in Malawi?

A:

The cash-gate scandal is a mirror through which our Malawian government needs to assess itself from several angles. Primarily, the scandal shows that government financial systems and structures are porous, subject to deliberate machinations of abuse and lack of serious oversight mechanisms. The scandal further portrays a man-made loophole where personal financial abuse is deeply entrenched. Human interest has engulfed the government financial system to the extent that those that had access to the public purse found themselves with unquenched appetite for looting and pillaging. Furthermore, our governance processes and values have been left to sleep deliberately. As such, all governance systems and structures have been caught napping and currently are overwhelmed to handle the situation.

Q: If we take the problem as a governance issue, how best can we ensure that this never happens again?

A:

This problem is centred on a value system and must be seen from a moral perspective before it is only limited to a legal, governance and economic perspective. Most Malawians involved in this mess need a radical conversion of their values and moral consciousness. How do they smile every day? How do they sleep at night peacefully? How do they enjoy their riches when they pretty well know that they have stolen from the public? When innocent people die in the public hospitals due to lack of medicines when others sleep on their empty bellies; is this something to smile about, is this something to walk tall on? First, it’s a sign of a dead conscience and, secondly, it’s a sign that our enemy towards ending poverty in Malawi is within.

Q: Some people believe that government is only as good as its citizens. Would you say that Malawians in general share some blame for the mess in government?

A:

A rotten government is anchored by rotten citizens who satisfy themselves with a status of rotten values, ambitions, dreams and imaginations. I would totally agree, therefore, that most Malawians are to blame for this current mess. We have seen our fellow citizens leaving beyond their coping mechanisms but have not taken them to task using the ambiguous safety of a right to privacy and a right to own property. We have only grown jealous of those that have plundered our resources without asking an important question as to why they seem to be more successful in a torrid and unstable economic environment in Malawi. We have in one way or the other entertained the get-rich-quick syndrome without assessing how this is impacting on the moral fabric of our society. We have generally participated in this mess by omitting our responsibility to act by hiding under the ‘I don’t care’ attitude or by saying ‘it’s their time, let them enjoy attitude, let me mind my own business attitude,’ while many desperate souls are dying and are being sacrificed for our personal gains. It is a shame for our nation that we cannot reflect our sense of pride and patriotism for our mother Malawi.

Q: Are you satisfied that the Joyce Banda administration has handled the issue in a manner that inspires confidence in its ability to govern the country?

A:

Categorically, the response from this government on this issue is not satisfactory. It is more of a political response than a pure technical response to the mess. Look at the way business on this issue is being transacted using our taxpayers’ money in what is called an extraordinary Parliament. Look at the dissolution of Cabinet after the crisis and see how Cabinet was reconfigured with the same faces expect minimal changes. Look at the deliberate presentation of the historical background of the mess as it is located in 2005 and not today. Look at the nature of arrests going on. Look at those Malawian citizens that appear to be fat cows and walking like sacred cows. Government is struggling and sluggishly trying to deal with the issues but there is clearly and visibly lack of coherence and clarity in the commitment for real handling of this mess.

Q: With respect to civil society organisations (CSOs), don’t you think they have been unable to keep government in check on issues such as this?

A:

CSOs have a daunting task to make sure that such issues as the cash-gate mess must not occur again. However, it is not only CSOs but the general citizenry. We must all be awake and protect our public resources. We must strive to love our mother Malawi for the common good of all. If we keep on leaving issues of accountability and transparency to CSOs, the media and other institutions alone, the general citizenry is abdicating its responsibilities. However, it is a wake-up call for most CSOs to re-engage the gear of activism that must wake up Malawians from the lethargy and regenerate the needed anger to call for accountability and responsibility from those who lead us.