Malawi needs selfless leadership

The events of the past few weeks do not give much hope that Malawi will change for the better. It only confirms people’s disappointment that politicians are the same regardless of their political beliefs; that they do not listen; that they put their self-interest above anything else; that personal glory and aggrandisement is the main driving force for vying for political office rather than make a difference in the lives of the people.

After keeping his promise to appoint a lean Cabinet, President Peter Mutharika dampened people’s hopes by appointing more than 10 people as advisers. From an economic point of view, the appointment of 12 advisers is just as good as having a cabinet of more than 30 people because the advisers enjoy the same salary and fringe benefits as ministers.

It is a transfer payment because the net effect is the same. It’s like robbing Peter and paying Paul. Apparently, President Mutharika has entangled himself in the circle which he was trying to break, but he has done it differently.

Aside from the fact that conflict may arise between the advisers and ministers, the caliber of many of these advisers is questionable. Many of them do not have any track record of having achieved anything professional in their lives other than being praise singers, defending the political system, kinship or regional ties. But the big question is: Does Mutharika need these advisers really? For example, what does an economic adviser bring to the job when everyone knows the impeccable track record of Goodall Gondwe as Minister of Finance.

As Malawians were trying to make sense of Mutharika’s colossal team of advisers, reports are circulating that members of Parliament want to increase their salary and perks by 100 percent. Again, one wonders on what basis they want to increase the pay rise by this margin. It is not because the cost of living is high, but because they are just selfish. It is not because they do more work because most of them do not even contribute anything in Parliament. Some of them are JC and MSCE holders, meaning that their academic qualification is low; others do not even understand their role as MPs. But this will be an act of sheer greed and selfishness.

While everyone understands that the cost of living has gone up, increasing perks and salary by 100 percent is not justifiable. An increase in the salary should be tied to inflation rate. If the inflation rate is 15 percent, a salary increase of the same margin is understandable. If MPs who are earning K724 000 plus per month are complaining about the high cost of living, what about those earning as little as K20 000 or K30 000 per month?

As representatives of the people, they should be the first to make sacrifices. Good leaders lead by example and suffer with the people they represent. Why should the poor bear the brunt of austerity measures when MPs, ministers and a chain of presidential advisers wallow in riches? Obviously, we know that chickens have come to roost. But at what expense?

When you look at the shacks people live in and walk the dusty streets of Mchesi, Chilinde, Mbayani, Chilomoni, Zolozolo and Chibanja or when you look at the dilapidated buildings in the heart of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu or when you look at the uncontrolled vending in the cities and poor state of roads, you realise that there is a lot of work to do to improve people’s lives.

But this requires leaders who are selfless, who will serve the interests of all Malawians and not parochial interests; leaders who know where Malawi should be in the short term, medium term and long term and how to get there. They should take responsibility and protect government resources from abuse and unnecessary expenditure.

The challenges facing Malawi require serious, visionary, problem-solving, responsible, focused and committed leaders. So far, the leaders’ actions show that they are still in the “business as usual” mode, contrary to the transformative leadership message they were preaching in the run up to the May 20 tripartite elections.

Meanwhile, people are watching to see whether government will pass the second test of…, you what it is.