Challenges of political change

Every change has challenges, even if it is a promotion, one has to face adjustments at the new position.

This is more so when the previous person had been dismissed due to poor performance. The challenge here is that the promoted man has to do more of the work all over again so as to perfect it.

The scenario above is likened to political change in leadership. Sometimes a bad or unwise person can easily bribe his way through up to the presidency where he would have no clue of what is expected of him. The end result is that the country becomes a total mess and people realise that they are suffering. Bribes no longer matter and people just think of a way to get rid of him or her and it is usually through the ballot box. This is what happened in Malawi in June 2020. It was also a wake-up call to most leaders that bribery cannot work all the time as it can easily discredit both the giver and receiver.

It is not an exaggeration to say that President Lazarus Chakwera, Vice-President Saulos Chilima and the whole Tonse Alliance took over a government in a mess. This means that the current government is facing a much bigger challenge because it is not just a matter of delivering its promises, but also correcting the mess made by the previous government. Mess has left an indelible mark in people’s mind include that some people seem to still think that they can continue to be corrupt and steal government money, provided they have power to protect them.

Cleaning the mess, which President Chakwera calls ‘rubble’ is taking too long, and probably most of it is too deep-rooted. Meanwhile, people are getting desperate for meaningful change which they were promised during campaign. Therefore, it is important that ministers must go around the country and explain what the delay is all about. Most people might probably have thought that change would be just touch and go without any challenges.

So far, it must be appreciated that the Tonse Alliance administration has delivered on food. This year, due to favourable rains and cheap agriculture inputs, the majority of farmers will have enough food.

It has been already said several times that the main problem in this country has been a tendency to think that once given power it is licence to privatise public resources to personal fortunes. This is done through corruption and stealing.

Unfortunately, there is also a belief that these bad practices cannot be stopped. The previous government failed to stop it, in the end more people joined the bad practice as if it were legalised. This is the greatest challenge that Chakwera is facing, but if the late Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli stopped corruption, then Chakwera and the Tonse Alliance can also do it, provided they put the right people in positions of power as well as having meaningful advisers.

So far, the government looks ready to tackle corruption and stealing, plus many other indiscipline’s in government and parastatals. What Martha Chizuma revealed in her reports when she was the Ombudsman showed that the corruption and stealing being talked about is just a tip of iceberg.

Now that Chizuma is the ACB director general, she is expected to do much more by going deeper into rooting out corruption. The priority should be to get back the money or property stolen, and ensuring that the suspect face the law. Those suspects found guilty should face stiffer penalties.

The challenges are many, but there is hope they can be surmounted.