The other afternoon I passed through a small trading centre where a group of boys had gathered around an old radio.
Someone had turned up the volume.
Patriotic songs floated into the dusty air. A woman selling tomatoes hummed along without quite realising she was doing so. Across the road, a tailor briefly stopped pedalling his sewing machine to listen. Even the bicycle taxi operators, who are usually too busy bargaining over fares, seemed unusually attentive.
“Independence Day is coming,” one of them remarked.
Nobody disagreed.
After all, Independence Day arrives every year whether we are ready for it or not.
Something is comforting about rituals. They ask very little of us. We dust off the flags, organise parades, sing the national anthem and remind ourselves that on July 6 1964, Nyasaland ceased to exist and Malawi was born.
That was no small achievement.
Freedom did not arrive in neat packaging. It came because ordinary men and women accepted extraordinary risks. Some lost jobs. Others lost freedom. A few lost their lives. They believed that a people should govern themselves, shape their own future and determine their own destiny.
For that, every generation owes them gratitude.
However, one wonders, for instance, what those freedom fighters would notice first if they quietly returned and sat with us beneath a tree today. Perhaps they would ask simpler questions.
How are the schools? Do the hospitals have medicines? Can a young graduate find work? Are farmers earning a decent living? Do public servants still remember whom they serve?
If we turned back the hands of time today, would John Chilembwe and others be happy with our current progress in politics, education, anti-corruption fight, poverty reduction and constitutional rights and freedoms?
Would they not start giving us fresh lessons on how to fight for the achievement of the above and other contentious topics bordering on citizen’s empowerment to make Malawi great again?
Surely if these heroes and heroines came back to life today, they would be shocked to see how all our post-independence leaders created newer domains of dictatorship and bad governance, among others, through systemic cliques that promote corruption, human rights abuses and stifling of democratic spaces.
Then there is hunger, disease and envy, a trinity highlighted in our National Anthem which continues to counter national progress amid sustained efforts by some individuals holding different public offices to ensure that Malawi moves forward as soon as yesterday.
As a result, we have seen rising disunity, laziness, high unemployment and crime rates, gender inequalities and poor public infrastructure and many other social injustices in the country by individuals, successive leaderships and administrations, which forced our martyrs to take a stand against the white colonialists many years ago.
This year’s independence should give each one of us more vigour to start fulfilling the myriad aspirations envisaged by our departed martyrs.
Importantly, we cannot talk about moving this country forward without touching on the subjects of good governance and corruption, which continues to grind millions of citizens into hopeless poverty.
I’m saying the double-faced impacts of corruption have disproportionately affected the most vulnerable people in this country and continue to deter investment, economic growth and the rule of law.
Nobody can say there has not been some progress in the country since 1964, or even under the current leadership, but as Malawians we must learn to prioritise what matters to us.
Our leaders must also learn to honour their flowery campaign promises and deliver the same when elected into power and the sooner this starts to happen, Malawi will start to move forward.
Only then can we start celebrating our real independence.
