The book of Proverbs in the Bible says a generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
That is how the story of newly-elected Lilongwe City Mayor Esther Sagawa can be summed up.
She started her career as Dream, Driven, Determined, Dedicated and Disciplined (5D) Youth Group executive director.
It is headquartered in Lilongwe, committed to developing the next generation of achievers.
“Under my leadership, we developed successful programmes such as Give a Child a Book. The programme was designed to give children necessary school essentials such as books and school uniforms as one way of reducing dropout rates,” she says.
The passionate youth leader wanted to see children attain education with all the necessary requirements.
“We raised money through car wash. We also had partners who supported our vision,” says Sagawa.
As she worked with the youth, political ambitions triggered within her, but her mother discouraged her.
The mayor took heed of her mother’s advice and continued championing the youth voices.
She says: “l believe that for any passion to bear fruit, one needs to discover where you can perform better.
“l discovered that joining politics could be one way of getting closer to the people to learn and hear their grievances.”
In the passage of time, Sagawa made another attempt to join politics.
This time she consulted her husband who gave her a go ahead.
In 2019, she contested for Area 18 Ward councillor on Malawi Congress Party ticket. She made it!
Sagawa says it was a joyous moment as it meant she would serve people from a bigger platform.
She says: “This gave me a chance to serve the community as l always desired,
“The position taught me how to relate with the community and members of Parliament for development.”
At the civic offices, Sagawa found herself being entrusted with the position of deputy mayor of the capital city, a position she held until last week when she was elevated to become the city’s mayor.
“The experience in the office of deputy mayor exposed me to a lot of opportunities and also helped me understand our city structure,” she says.
Sagawa says she now knows challenges the capital city faces and how the office of the mayor can intervene.
“I am getting into the office of the city mayor with knowledge on what needs to be done,” she says.
The mother of two pledges to improve the working environment in the council, administrative systems and structures.
“During my tenure, l will create an inclusive working environment with the residents where they can chip in their ideas on how best we can run the city affairs. And we will also be including youths in all our programmes,” she says.
Sagawa adds that she will use her influence to open opportunities for the youth.
“From my own experience, there was a time l needed a hand to achieve one of my goals. It only needed somebody influential for that to be done at the right time,” she observes.
She recalls how bureaucracy made it difficult for her to secure a signature for her projects.
This, she does not want to continue.
“Sometimes it’s not that people in authority do not want to help, but the structures that have been put in place become a hindrance for people to be helped on time,” says Sagawa.
She pledges that during her tenure, she will organise town hall meetings and engage the youth through social media platforms to solicit ideas and feedback on how to improve Lilongwe City.
On cleanliness which has taken a nose dive in the city, the mayor says she will ensure that every institution should have refuse bins.
“We will also encourage tree planting as one way of controlling dust in the city,” she says.
Sagawa says she will improve the car parking system that will ensure car safety.
Backed by qualifications in information and communication technology (ICT), entrepreneurship, leadership as well as professional marketing, the new mayor is convinced that she has what it takes to provide Lilongwe residents with the modern city they deserve.
“The city needs someone who is able to engage with the people as well as an innovator. l will try as much as possible to take into account these qualities to be an impactful leader for the city’s growth,” says Sagawa.
But how will she juggle between the heavy responsibility of being Lilongwe City mayor, motherhood and wife?
“When l am here at work, people expect me to be the mayor, when I am at home l should act like a mother and when l am with my friends l should be a friend. It’s just about time management,” she says.
Sagawa says despite holding political positions, her passion for ICT has not died.
She says she still likes developing and installing security systems.
When all is said and done Sagawa would love to see that her tenure in office will deliver services that will contribute to the city’s growth.
She will achieve this with a touch of honesty that has seen her rising up the ladder.
Sagawa has fixed her gaze on achieving perfection and her favourite verse, Proverbs 4:18, which reads: “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun shining ever brighter will the full light of the day” remains her guiding light.
The path of the righteous is to shines brighter and until that perfect day.
