Dear judge Mbadwa,
My lord, should we say we are living in denial or we are just postponing the inevitable? Prices of goods and services are increasing daily and the silence from the authorities is deafening and their inaction is as ubiquitous as a cheap tomato.
The other day, the Nyasaland Electricity Corporation announced an increase in tariffs and, my lord, without a corresponding increase in income; the poor majority will bear the brunt of this increase.
And it was not long ago when water tariffs were hiked beyond the reach of the majority of the urban poor who need it.
Now, my lord, with fuel scarcity still haunting Nyasaland, I was fascinated when Lazaro rebuffed those who determine fuel prices, stopping them from effecting a 30 percent hike.
Little wonder that Jonah Kapita and his team of disgruntled consumers remarked that perhaps someone is living in denial because the current pump prices are cosmetic.
The commodity is already selling at a higher price if you factor in the black market price, the bribes being given to fuel attendants or to Dobadobas just to jump the queue.
In fact, the increase in prices of commodities reflect the true value of the country’s currency and it is a matter of time, perhaps after the elections, that we will know the true value of the currency.
My lord, we can be in denial but postponing the problems without offering real solutions will not take the country anywhere.
It is not surprising that under their watch, the cycle of fuel shortage is repeating itself with the same excuses of shortage of forex and all that jazz.
We have more often than not seen people who were hired to provide such solutions hiding in the maze of excuses instead of finding answers to the challenges.
If it is not your job to find solutions; who should?
I repeat that altruistic leaders are hardly available instead every time and after every election we begat the get-rich-quick type that are ready to sell the soul of the nation to the highest bidder.
The citizens deserve better,
Regards,
John Citizen.
