On November 17, Malawians in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu are expected to take to the streets to protest against a growing catalogue of economic frustrations. If the planned demonstrations go ahead as announced, they will represent more than a public expression of anger over fuel shortages, electricity blackouts and foreign exchange scarcity. They will be a loud reminder that patience, like fuel and foreign currency, is running dangerously low.
Perhaps government should pay attention. When citizens begin organising nationwide demonstrations, it is usually a sign that official assurances are no longer providing the comfort they once did. People are tired of hearing that everything is under control when their daily experiences suggest otherwise.
At the heart of the planned protests is a simple but uncomfortable reality: Malawi is increasingly becoming a country where explanations are in plentiful supply, but solutions are in desperately short supply.
Consider the fuel crisis. Now into its 10th week, it has graduated from an inconvenience into a national economic headache. Motorists spend hours queuing at filling stations, public transport operators struggle to keep their vehicles moving, businesses face rising costs and ordinary citizens bear the consequences through higher fares and commodity prices.
A country cannot run an economy on queues. Yet Malawians are increasingly expected to organise their lives around the possibility that fuel might be available today, tomorrow or perhaps next week.
Then there is electricity. Businesses cannot operate efficiently when power supply is unreliable. Production is interrupted, equipment is affected, operating costs rise and small enterprises struggle to survive. We continue talking enthusiastically about industrialisation, investment and economic growth, but these ambitions become rather difficult to realise when electricity is playing hide-and-seek.
Perhaps investors are expected to arrive with their own generators, fuel supplies and power stations. That would certainly make Malawi an interesting investment destination.
Foreign exchange scarcity completes this rather depressing economic trilogy. Importers struggle to access dollars, manufacturers cannot reliably obtain raw materials and businesses find it increasingly difficult to plan. The effects eventually reach consumers through shortages, higher prices and fewer economic opportunities.
Against this background, the November 17 demonstrations should not surprise anyone. Citizens are entitled to demand answers when the basic conditions necessary for economic activity remain unreliable. Peaceful demonstrations are a legitimate way of expressing dissatisfaction, and government should respect this constitutional right rather than treat public criticism as an act of hostility.
Indeed, the protests offer government an opportunity to listen rather than lecture. The temptation to dismiss demonstrators as politically motivated or influenced by opponents should be resisted. Even if political interests are involved, that does not automatically invalidate the economic grievances being raised. A hungry person does not stop being hungry because someone else agrees with their complaint.
Of course, demonstrations alone will not bring fuel to filling stations, restore reliable electricity or replenish foreign exchange reserves. But neither will dismissing public anger, issuing press statements or promising that interventions are under way. Citizens need to know what government is doing, what has gone wrong and when they can reasonably expect improvements.
There is something uniquely exhausting about living in a country where almost everything is running out except explanations. Fuel is running out, foreign exchange is running out, electricity is unreliable, but official assurances remain in abundant supply.
If assurances could power industries, fill fuel tanks and generate dollars, Malawi would probably be an economic powerhouse by now.
Government cannot indefinitely ask citizens to tighten their belts while businesses struggle to operate and households face rising living costs. Patience is not an economic policy. Resilience is not a substitute for competent economic management. And promises, however eloquently delivered, cannot keep an economy moving.
The November 17 demonstrations should therefore be treated as a warning, not merely a date on the political calendar. They reflect a growing loss of confidence that deserves serious attention. Government does not need a magic wand to solve every economic problem overnight. It needs leadership, urgency, honesty and a credible plan that produces visible results.
Perhaps Malawi should adopt a new national economic motto: Come Back Tomorrow. Tomorrow, there might be fuel. Tomorrow, perhaps electricity. Tomorrow, maybe some foreign exchange. And tomorrow, as always, government might have another explanation for why the problems remain unresolved.
A government is not judged by how eloquently it explains a crisis but by how effectively it addresses it. On November 17, citizens intend to make their frustrations heard. The more important question is whether those in power are prepared to listen.
After all, a nation cannot run on excuses. And neither can an economy.
