Handouts: Democracy’s silent killer?

It was supposed to be a post-mortem meeting of the first phase of the voter registration process which ended on Sunday. Just a post-mortem!

In fact, everybody gathered at Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) offices in Blantyre last week expected the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to only stick to what they had noted in various registration centres they visited.

But the committee’s chairperson Kezzie Msukwa, after presenting the expected, flipped to the unexpected.

Sounding calm and concerned, Msukwa asked MEC to critically find ways of curbing the tendency of politicians giving handouts to voters as a way of wooing them.

Most MPs in the meeting—notable ones being George Chaponda and Jean Kalilani—clapped their hands and some, nodded their heads. There was an aura of agreement with Msukwa.

The interesting thing, according to commissioner Reverend Emmanuel Chinkwita-Phiri’s response to Msukwa, was that the issue was brought up by politicians themselves.

In the first place, voters, particularly in rural areas, view their representatives in Parliament principally as big bosses who can deliver protection: influencing the police and dealing with aggressive, corrupt land officials, or working to route jobs or multimillion-dollar projects to their districts.

By providing handouts—especially in form of distributing hard cash—the big bosses do not just end up wooing the voters to their side, but they also get their power consolidates. The whole process, then, works mostly to the advantage of politicians.

Arguably, being principal beneficiaries, nobody would expect Msukwa and fellow politicians to be the first to publicly speak against the tendency. As it is always the case with politicians—known for serving personal interests—the tradition is to expect them to remain silent.

So what could have moved Msukwa and fellow committee members to speak against a tendency that does not just help them win power but also consolidates it?

“It is a question of maturing in democracy. We cannot be doing the same stuff over and over again without soul-searching,” says Msukwa.

He adds that the idea of handouts is hurting the country’s democracy and needs to be stopped.

“We want to have everybody participate in democracy. The idea of handouts is creating a situation where our politics is becoming an enclave of the rich people. If you are not rich but have good ideas, you find yourself in a tight position to participate because you cannot influence anybody on the ground,” he said.

Blessings Chinsinga, associate professor of political science at Chancellor College, argues that there is a big connection between handouts and the entrenchment of the country’s democracy.

“The capacity for a politician to provide handouts depends on how wealthy one is. As a result, we end up voting for rich people, some of them not well endowed in terms of articulating policies the country needs to transform,” he says.

He does not stop there.

“Malawi needs leaders with transformative ideas to develop. But the idea of handouts leads the nation to have leaders who cannot add value to the country’s development goals. We also lose out people, who are not rich to provide handouts but with great ideas that the country needs to transform,” he says.

He adds that, because of handouts, elections no longer become a competition on policy issues; rather it is about which politician has the capacity to use his or her riches to influence the public.

This tendency, however, does not have a long history. It was almost inexistent during Dr Kamuzu Banda’s 31 years of dictatorship. It only emerged with the return of multiparty democracy in 1994.

“I think democracy also led to a great deal of commercialisation of our politics. This gave birth to handouts,” says Chinsinga.

But how can Malawi curb this tendency?

Chinsinga argues that, in the first place, ‘we need to understand what fuel it’.

“I don’t think there is a quick fix to the problem. The reason is that our people, especially in the villages, are very poor. They struggle even to subsist and this makes them vulnerable to handouts. Politicians, as a result, take advantage of this,” he says.

He proposes that Malawi needs to invest more in improving the livelihoods of poor people so that they are not desperate and vulnerable.

In a 2009 research project submitted to Chancellor College Faculty of Political Studies titled The Influence of Candidates Handouts on Voter’s Choice: The Case of 2009 Parliamentary Elections in Blantyre Bangwe Constituency, Twambilire Harris Mwabungulu notes that electoral laws and corrupt practices in Malawi are silent on handouts.

“There are no specific recommendations that prohibit distribution of handouts. An analysis of electoral laws as compiled in a booklet by MEC (undated) Constituting Sections 75-77 of the constitution of the Republic of Malawi, Malawi Electoral Commission Act, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act and Local Government Elections Act shows that the laws are silent on handouts.

“It is, therefore, imperative that electoral laws and corrupt practices incorporate the prohibition of handouts. Such being the case, cases of handouts distribution will be minimised since distribution of handouts will be against the law and anybody breaking the law will be punished accordingly,” he writes.

Msukwa, taking the legal argument further, thinks that, by coming up with a strong legislation, the tendency can be curbed.

“We can learn from other countries, for instance, Zambia. They have a law which if you are found giving handouts to people, your constituency comes up for grabs. As I am talking, I have information that almost 15 MPs have been petitioned for allegedly being involved in the practice,” he says.

He adds that just a month ago in Zambia, an MP had his seat declared vacant for giving money to the church.

The challenge, Msukwa notes, is that his committee does not have the power to initiate laws in the country.

“Laws are initiated either by the user ministry or the general public. Our role is only to raise the issues to the public,” he says.

Chinkhwita-Phiri, on his part, advanced that MEC will ensure that it takes up the issue.

“It is good that you have raised up the issue. We Malawians should love our country so that we get the best out of it. We will take it up to spearhead the legislation,” he said.

He added that the problem in the past was that everyone in the country was concerned with the possibility of holding tripartite elections next year.

“The result was that we only managed to come up with laws that were geared to have the election possible. In the process, we forgot to look at a number of electoral issues that needs attention as well.

“Apart from the question of handouts, there is political financing which also needs to be regulated. I hope that together we will do that,” he said.