Expose the honourable thieves!

Honourable Folks, the February sitting of Parliament is in progress and the public is waiting with bated breath for the publication in the august House of the names of Ministers and MPs implicated in the illicit export of round wood (mkuna) timber.

The newly-formed Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment was shocked to discover that behind the scumbags shaving Dzalanyama of its protected mkuna for export to China are the honourable folks who took an oath of allegiance to Malawi, promising to uphold and defend her laws.

Instead, they’ve betrayed the trust of the electorate, shamelessly behaving like Colombia drug barons who abide by laws of the jungle.

From the account of the parliamentary committee, the politicians appear to bankroll and provide backyard support to a multinational syndicate of bad guys to boot who temper the law with corruption all the way from point of harvesting the mkuna wood to the port from where our treasured inheritance is stashed in sea vessels, a sad reminder of the past when human cargo forcibly left our country in the same manner to develop economies in far-away places, leaving Malawi enmeshed in excruciating poverty.

This explains why, clumsy as it is, the impounded cargo of mkuna timber is said to easily disappear from the custody of the police or Customs officers. It probably just takes a phone call from someone high up in the echelons of power for the timber to be granted a safe passage to the overseas market where it fetches good dollars for the crooks, masquerading as leaders.

The question is: what’s in it for the agents of the State who facilitate the illicit export trade?

Parliament is the ideal place to name and shame the scoundrels who have betrayed our trust, using their positions of power to amass personal wealth through illegal means. The whistle-blowers won’t have to fear a legal backlash since utterances in the august House are privileged information insulated from litigation.

The timing couldn’t also have been better than now when the nation is still reeling from devastating floods, the consequence of environmental degradation largely caused by human activity—the struggle of the poor to survive and the greed of the rich to get richer.

The voter has the right to know the political leaders behind the mkuna scam if only so they can make an informed choice next time they out to cast their votes. It’s a pity MPs tippexed the Recall Provision in the Constitution otherwise the electorate wouldn’t have to wait for the next election to give mkuna thugs a good kick in the teeth.

Here’s also an opportunity for APM to walk the talk on his pledge not to shield any politician indulging in corruption. The work of the Parliamentary Committee on the Natural Resources and the Environment and the upright agents of the State who support its effort to save our mkuna wood can succeed if buttressed by political will of none other than His Excellency, the President, himself.

The committee members, like anyone playing the watchdog role by exposing something someone is trying to hide, expose their lives to harm. The corrupt don’t just go quietly, they have the muscle to fight back and can be ruthless indeed.

The President should, therefore, join the battle to save the mkuna wood and stave off corruption from his Cabinet and government at large. By speaking out against the malpractice and giving a go-ahead to the Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring to book any suspects in the mkuna wood scam, the President would send a clear signal that his government is no safe haven for criminals.

I dare say, here’s an opportunity to send a clear message to those who doubt him that he means business.

Last word: it’s not only the mkuna being combed down with reckless abandon. The pine of Chikangawa in Mzimba and the cedar on Mulanje Mountain are on the verge of extinction as well despite the presence of forestry officers in these places.

There’s no denying that locals contribute a fair share to the plunder in their quest for timber and fuel wood. The answer to that is civic education, provision of alternative sources of energy and law enforcement, of course. But the pot-bellied criminals comb down our treasured trees in bigger volumes and corrupt the system all the way. Besides, as leaders, they are supposed to lead by example. They should, therefore, be stopped and punished.