The growing pains of Malawi

The wretched state of Malawi’s development is visible from the sky, more so as you approach Kamuzu International Airport from the Tanzanian end, slanting on the Mzuzu to Kasungu to Lilongwe M1 Highway down below. Looking from above, you see no house of note to adore, no tarred roads, no high rise buildings—only thatched roofs and dirt, criss-crossing pathways until, suddenly, the plane touches down.

Heads of State and other dignitaries flying into Lilongwe for the first time to attend the Sadc Summit last week must be forgiven if, for a moment, they thought with apprehension that they were going to be landing somewhere on a large farm.

Then a ramshackle tractor will come to pull away the trolley holding passengers’ luggage, with some of the precious cargo perching precariously on the ends of the dilapidated trailer. At that time, employees of Lilongwe Handling Company will march in, wearing oversized boots and bright reflector jackets that have seen better days to clean and prep the plane on its journey onward. At the airport, you will not see any Air Malawi planes because Air Malawi long collapsed as a result of greed and abuse and mismanagement and corruption and ineptitude and incompetence.

Welcome to Malawi, the worn-out heart of Africa.

In this country, the Health Ministry budget has increased every year, but the health delivery system has declined just as rapidly. At Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital last week, I found a hospital in decline, with some patients in agony on the floor. It was not a pretty sight and I left wondering if this was not the beginning of the end of the world. And the truth is that even the Education Ministry’s share of the budget has increased, but the standards in schools, the quality of teachers and the facilities in general have continued to decline—and the cost for most parents has shot through the roof.

Our Finance Minister had said this government inherited an economy in crisis. It is still in crisis as we approach next year’s presidential election that it ought to give the voters an opportunity to signify their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the performance of the current government.

This government, without the dubious and quite often sassy talent for spin-doctoring of Hetherwick Ntaba, has now turned to the garrulous Uladi Mussa to give the same tired litany of excuses: If things are bad, then Bingu wa Mutharika is to blame. Vote JB in 2014—and things will improve.

The fact is that since April 2012, the ordinary person has fared no better. Today, anyone in government who insists that the poor people are happy with JB because they are better off than they were last year before devaluation and other IMF-imposed measures would be indulging in the worst form of self-delusion. At the utopian level, it is the image of the country, yes, that is doing better with Hillary Clinton and Christine Lagarde and Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and others flying in for visits, but that does not mean the citizens are doing as well.

I was back in Malawi for the first time in six months, and everything costs twice as much. People are feeling a sense of hardship but it is doubtful that most would proclaim that Peter Mutharika and his DPP were better and should return. It is them who let frustration of the people boil over until it culminated into the mayhem and violence of July 20 2011.

Everywhere you go in Malawi is a salient reminder to visitor and resident alike of the slow collapse of services. Water supply now regularly plays hide and seek with the people; some days you see it, some days you don’t. Electricity supply is, as has been for years now, temperamental. And if the local authorities notice this, then they just don’t seem to care because they don’t seem to be doing anything about it.

But amidst all this, all is not lost. Lilongwe has quite some good structures coming up, the roads were freshly paved and painted, the Chinese-built hotel and conference centre are magnificent structures and, generally, the city of Lilongwe was bouncing with the chutzpah of hosting the Sadc Summit.

The enthusiasm of the local people is still undiminished, thankfully. Take, for example, the concierge we met at the entrance of Capital Hotel in Lilongwe last week. “Welcome to Capital Hotel,” he said: “This is the best hotel in the world.” n