Fix politics beyond voting

In June 2020, Malawians elected President Lazarus Chakwera whose Tonse Alliance promised a better Malawi for everyone.

The court-ordered election followed a streak of anti-regime protests branded citizen marches for electoral justice.

The protests convened by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition represented a wave of chance amid public displeasure with the presidential election nullified by the courts due to widespread irregularities.

However, the big question is: Has the historic election, like several others before it, delivered the change Malawians want or worsened the problems they wanted ended?

While some Malawians believe the country’s political woes can be fixed at the ballot in September 2025, I beg to differ.

The painful truth remains that the ballot never fixed many of our problems in the past and will not fix them in future unless we reason and fix the systems beyond the ballot itself.

Lately, our political leaders have gone to butcheries, pharmacies, oil and fish companies to buy fertiliser.

The country has lost billions of kwacha in the process.

One wonders whether they do not know the right place to buy this commodity.

They surely do, but someone is simply taking advantage of a leaky financial management system that no one wants to fix due to greed and selfishness.

Instead of passively waiting for the polling day, let us fix the system.

l Form a non-political structure to represent all citizens in view of dialogue with our political class.

l Sensitise citizens to their duties and rights to avoid praising mediocrity.

l Independent experts should help the nation meticulously examine the current political system and identify loopholes that need fixing to promote national aspirations as citizens of this nation. Good will is not enough.

l Sincerely engage all the three arms of government in make-or-break national dialogue for the good of the nation. We need to discuss the current political system and ensure that it delivers national expectations regardless of how politicians behave.

l In collaboration with the political class, come up with citizen and development-centred reforms that will fix the system and usher in a new Constitution. 

l Turn political offices into genuine offices of service. Politicians must be servants of their people, not masters of the people who they owe their positions.

The current political system is still nostalgic for pre-democratic era and we are failing to graduate from the old school of politics that only protect unquestionable leaders.

The system has many loopholes that do not only slow country’s development but also allow State resources to be exploited by whoever comes to power.

Malawi needs a robust political system, a ruling class that puts development above petty party politics and citizens who understand development as their right, not a favour.

Malawi requires structures that enable citizens to hold leaders accountable without waiting for expiry of their mandate.

For many years, we have seen development reduced to a political campaign tool, yet this is the main mission of politics.

Politics is a noble service towards our brothers and sisters. That is why we call politicians olemekezeka, honourables.

Experience in Malawi shows that the worst enemy of any government is not the opposition party, but its own failure to perform due to theft, prioritisation of party politics over national development, politicisation of development itself, unreasonable spending, lack of political will and [executive] arrogance.

In fact, a government that performs well does not need to spend billions campaigning.

It is getting too late for Malawi to develop. Other nations are moving forward.

There are plenty of indications out there that our country is moving in the wrong direction. This should sadden every citizen.

We need to sit and reason together as a nation. Citizens and politicians who love their country should lead the conversation.

This is the only place we call home and cannot afford to destroy it.