Business Unpacked

Time to put politics in the backstage

Next Tuesday, on May 20, Malawians will go to the polls to elect their president, 193 members of Parliament (MPs) and 462 ward councillors to govern affairs of the State for the next five years.

In other words, eligible Malawian voters will once again exercise their constitutional right to vote for candidates of their choice. In fact, they do this every five years or whenever there is a parliamentary by-election in a constituency since the dawn of plural politics following the June 1993 National Referendum.

It is worth reflecting that casting a ballot in itself does not necessarily equate to democracy. Democracy, which is loosely defined as a government of the people, for the people and by the people, entails putting in place a government that is credible, transparent and accountable to the bosses, the people who voted it them into office.

This year’s elections, the fifth since the country adopted multi-party democracy, are very critical as they are being held barely months before Malawi celebrates 50 years of independence on July 6. Given the maxim that ‘life begins at 40″, surely, 50 years is enough for us, as a nation, to celebrate and reflect on what happened in the past 50 years.

It is therefore paramount that as we cast our ballots for our choice candidates next Tuesday, we should do some soul-searching on the quality of leaders we want to have. It is not democracy to go with the flow based on flimsy reasons such as tribe, home of origin or sympathy. Leaders should be chosen based on professional traits such as proven track record, achievements in whatever sectors they have served the nation before besides their education background or qualifications.

The tendency of electing leaders based on tribe and home of origin, in other words nepotism, is what has made Malawi to lag behind over the years.

We tend, as a people, to put politics in the driving seat, hence, our minimal development. This is why, in 50 years, we have recorded mixed fortunes in terms of development of the country economically and empowerment of the people at large.

It is time to reflect that development flourishes where there is good governance. We need a government that empowers the citizens to hold accountable those in power through participation and decentralisation. Personally, I am happy that at last we will have ward councillors in place as they are at the centre of grassroots development. They are the rightful custodians of the decentralisation policy.

In a democracy, governments are supposed to be accountable to the people who vote them into power. Sadly, in Malawi those in authority tend to boss over the very people who they are supposed to be accountable to. In general terms, arrogance (someone called it Executive arrogance) has been the order of the day.

Through our votes, it is time to demand compliance to the rule of law, not doing same things simply because x did it and you can do it. Remember, two wrongs do not make a right.

It is also time government left business to businesses. There should be no interference and undue influence. There should be a boundary between politics and professionalism. Surely, as a nation, we cannot develop when professionals abandon offices to attend political functions disguised as official events.

What we need, as a nation, is to desist from putting everything or our fate in political hands or terms. Many of the problems are very simple that they cannot be solved by politics or politicians. For example, it is a fact that when you add two plus two the answer you would get is four regardless of whether the sum is being solved by a professor or a primary school pupil.

Unfortunately, many Malawians have, over the years, been brainwashed to think that politicians have solutions to all their problems. Sad.

It is barely five days to polling day, vote wisely. May the best candidate carry the day.

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