Uncritical citizenry, opposition a threat to governance

Malawians are known for their warm-heartedness and, to some extent, their patience in the face of struggles.

Not only that, but Malawians are also quite forgiving, it is this trait that has seen even the worst offenders in our society being given a second chance at politics, for instance.

The forgiving nature in Malawians has also seen the country recycling the same politicians, despite such politicians having a bad record such as stealing public money and others. If Malawians were not forgiving, former president Joyce Banda wouldn’t be allowed to roam freely following the mysterious vanishing of the jet. To this day, she cannot comprehensively explain to the public what happened to the jet and how the money from its sale was used.

If Malawians were not so forgiving and approach everything with their warm-heartedness, President Lazarus Chakwera would by now have released the audit report into the K6.2 billion and K17.5 billion Covid-19 money.

But, Malawians coupled with a very weak, disorganised, divided, and uncritical opposition block, have given Chakwera a free pass. We have before us very critical issues of what I would say, without fear of contradiction, is the State capture by Sattar and crew, and yet what has been heard so far is deafening silence from the opposition, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the general public.

While the opposition should have been mounting pressure on Chakwera’s government to make sure Sattar and all those he has put in his pocket are thoroughly investigated and face the law, the opposition is busy bickering about someone’s cousin who is of little consequence to what Malawians are facing.

The CSOs are also quiet, forget about the confused comedian who was masquerading as an activist—he was probably just hungry and looking for someone to throw a bone at him. He has now vanished from the stage on flimsy grounds.

It is important that as a citizenry we need to develop a critical mind and attitude and hold leaders accountable. The opposition has a critical role in questioning the government and holding it accountable. There has never been an opportune time for the opposition to gain momentum than now when at every turn there is a scandal.

One would be forgiven for thinking that the opposition is silent on the corruption matters because the opposition is just as guilty.

As a country, Malawians cannot afford to keep quiet and give leaders a free pass while they fail to account for Covid money and prizes of goods and services continue to rise which runs counter to the Tonse Alliance administration campaign manifesto.

The opposition needs to play its role of holding the government accountable and stop wasting time and energy on issues of no consequence.

President Chakwera has not faced stiff opposition and this is probably the reason why he freely changes tune on critical issues because he knows no one is going to question him.

As a country, we all should be worried about muted critical voices of the citizens, CSOs and opposition.