Kabambe courts technocratsto political leadership roles
Former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor Dalitso Kabambe has challenged experts in various sectors of the country to join politics and take charge instead of leaving Malawi’s destiny to incompetent leaders.
Speaking during a public lecture he held at Mzuzu University on Friday, he said posterity will judge his generation harshly for approaching national development with a laissez-faire attitude.
Kabambe, an economist, encouraged civil servants, who he said usually suffer in silence, and political science students to join politics to help shape the national decision making process.
The ex-budget director further said he joined politics because during the 24 years he worked in the civil service politicians repeatedly ignored professional advice.
Said Kabambe: “Actually, the whole reason I decided to join politics was frustration. Many times, you would advise that let us do this, but sometimes where you think the simplest of advice would make a lot of sense, politically it becomes one of the hardest things to do.”
On fighting corruption, he suggested the need to conduct monthly audits in all ministries and departments.
He said Malawi needs a no nonsense approach towards “ending” corruption, with forensic audits playing a central role.
Mzuzu Civil Society Network secretary Isaac Cheke Ziba who attended the lecture said he was not sure how else Kabambe would be different in implementation of his ideas.
Last week, Kabambe had dumped the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) barely a month to the party’s elective convention amid speculation that he is poised to join Tonse Alliance breakaway partner UTM Party.
He was one of the aspirants for the DPP presidency.
