Of crime, the Budget

So, literally, Malawi is a crime scene. Daily, there is news of robberies, gruesome murders, rape and many other crimes.

On Monday, Malawi woke up to the news that Soche police had successfully foiled a money heist targeting one of the commercial banks at the Chichiri Shopping Mall in Blantyre.

I am not here to question the shooting of the suspects considering the fact that they were equally armed. Criminals can be ruthless and police know the basics on disarmament.

Some of the crimes we have in our hands can only leave you bamboozled. For instance, how do you explain the mentality of a man who defiles his two nieces but reasons in mitigation that he is on ARVs, that he is the one who supports the children and that he is old. Clearly, this man put the children at the risk of infecting them with HIV. This is cruelty.

In Parliament, some members asked President Lazarus Chakwera what measures are in place to reduce crime. They have every valid reason to be concerned.

While the government has the daunting task of beefing up the security in the country, a growing breeding ground for criminals has been neglected. Children on the street are prone to go into a world of crime.

Already, reports of children robbing people on the street are rife. It is very easy for ‘experienced’ gang leaders to coax the children into their fold. Social welfare is paying a blind eye to the affairs of the children exposed on the street.

Street children can have complex circumstances and are very vulnerable to exploitation and violence.

It is a given fact that the rise in crime may be the result of the high cost of living. Some may go all the way to make ends meet including engaging in crime.

Unfortunately, unemployment can also lead others into criminal enterprises. Sadly, unemployment continues to be a thorn in the flesh of the Tonse Alliance administration, especially because they promised the youth a million and one jobs.

While we are at it, Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe on Thursday presented the 2023-2024 budget. Pegged at K3.8 trillion, the budget had its winners and losers. The hope is that the jinx of overspending and over borrowing will be broken.

It remains to be seen if the government will adhere to the budget. Here is one measure Malawians will use to see whether the Tonse Alliance has performed or not.

Nonetheless, there were some gray areas how the government plans to make the Agricultural Inputs Programme tighter. For years, such subsidies have been dogged with bottlenecks and have ended up being cash cows for the rich few at the expense of languishing farmers.

By the way, the years are rushing and Malawians still wait for the day the price of fertiliser will be at K14 000 per 50 kilogramme bag.

The budget can also be seen as a way to appease civil servants who were threatening to go on strike. Gwengwe raised their pay by 8 percent and introduced a transport allowance for them.

Also going home smiling are chiefs with the doubling of the honoraria they get from government. Paramount chiefs had the greatest grin as they can now import one vehicle a year duty free. Could their be any better way to coax chiefs who play a role in local politics? 

I for one listened with keen interest if he would touch a bit on the $6.8 billion (K7 trillion) grant President Lazarus Chakwera signed with officials from the Belgium-based foundation. The mention of Bridgin will continue to haunt this administration as it has turned out to be one of the hoaxes to happen here.

During the pre-budget meetings Gwengwe was angry when a delegate wanted to know how government was handling the Bridgin issue. In fact he went as far as telling Mind of Youth Development executive director Joseph Posh point-blank that talking about Bridgin ‘was nonsernse’.

In his words, no one ever signed a deal with Bridgin. Yet, the photos of Chakwera with the foundation’s president Tanko Mouhamadou are all over the place. Being minimal with the truth will not help us.