Chilichonse chakwera
In the ghetto where I stay, there lives a Member of Parliament from Mulanje. At times, this parliamentarian behaves like his constituency is in our ghetto, but we are nonetheless happy because he makes sure that the dust roads are passable in collaboration with the councillor for our area.
The last time I saw the parliamentarian for this area was before the polls. All I see today is a minibus labelled ‘Ambulance’ with branding of the parliamentarian. By the way, an ambulance is supposed to be a mobile ‘health facility’ not just a vehicle labeled ‘ambulance’ with a green or red cross.
But I digress.
So, this good MP from Mulanje is really visible in our ghetto. So, yesterday, as I was passing by his gate I was intrigued. He was seated outside his gates. He was sucking some sugarcane, apparently supervising some construction of a drainage. The sugarcane was sweet, apparently.
But then, I wondered: Isn’t Parliament in session?
It was, therefore, some serendipity that Deputy Speaker Madalitso Kazombo had to have a roll call in the House after only 51 honourable members were in Parliament with 145 absent. This sugarcane sucking parliamentarian was among the absentees. He was not there to speak for the people of Mulanje.
It is clear that most of the absentees were legislators from the government benches. The seating arrangement shows.
For that matter, which parliamentarian can abscond sitting at this crucial time? Which headless MP can put their needs first to those of the people that delegated power to them?
Well, Kazombo warned of some action. We heard similar threats by speakers and their deputies in February 2018. We heard it in April 2019. And in March 2021.
The question is: Are there no Standing Orders to forfeit parliamentarians’ allowances if they play truant?
But then, my pain is not much about the truancy from our beloved parliamentarians. That is primarily because I take them to be one and the same, choosing to disagree on anything and only agree when it comes to raising the Constituency Development Fund or their own perks and emoluments.
Chilichonse chikukwera. That is why the MPs’ absenteeism is a matter of little consequence.
Much worrying is the rising price in maize, a little after harvest time. At K800 a kilogramme, instead of the farmgate price of K500 a kilo, this is worrisome.
What is most worrying is that the Admarc markets are dry. Oh my God! Do we really have Admarc? This is just a shell of a government controlled commodity trader.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced that the Malawi Revenue Authority should not ask for import licences for those bringing maize into the country. That is how bad things are. You mean, an agro-based economy should depend on imports of its staple food?
What this also means is that the rising food costs will mean higher inflation. Maize contributes over 50 percent of the valuables that constitute the inflation rate.
In simple terms, this means that shoe sellers will have to raise the price for shoes so that they can afford to buy a bag of maize. Chilichonse chikukwera.
When the Democratic Progressive Party was booted out of power three years ago, the price of cement was hovering around K7 000. Today, cement is around K20 000. Chilichonse chikukwera.
Under President Lazarus Chakwera, chilichonse chikukwera. There is little signal that he cares a hoot.
If he cared, at this time, should we be thinking about banning second hand clothes and second-hand car imports to save on forex? Malawians in the ghetto and above look forward to happy hours at Dapp and cars from Japan. How many earn a living by selling these?
God save us, for hungry people turn up to be very angry.
