We shouldn’t be queuing for social media posts, too

Dear judge Mbadwa,

My lord, it was not even the frank talk at the ongoing hearings by the joint parliamentary committee into the abuse of K750 million meant for fertiliser in the Non Affordable Inputs Programme that intrigued me this week.

It was rather a comical response one Zamublessings Chilinde 1—that affable man at the helm of the crisis Ministry of Agriculture—offered to a reporter.

My lord, the reporter dully asked Chilinde 1 to weigh in on the possibility of Malawi receiving fertiliser from Russia with love and all that jazz upon which, the venerated minister asked the paper to follow his Facebook posts to get latest developments.

Seriously, my lord, should we be queuing for Facebook posts in addition to the torturous queues we have been subjected to at service stations, hospitals and water boards?

My lord, I know the country has enhanced a culture of queuing for everything, but that should not extend to information from a public officer that should be readily available for everyone.

My lord, I am not trying to belittle the significance of a public officer trying to be modernist in approach, but there is some prescribed decorum that public officers follow in providing information.

Have we wondered why there is an upsurge of fake news on social media? My lord people tend to fill in gaps with cooked information when authorities decide to be stingy with public information.

My Lord, I still have high respect for Chilinde 1 and I believe that he will do better than this Facebook post debacle because a dossier on him still shows that he is a man of integrity unlike some of his Cabinet colleagues. Maybe the pressure in handling a crisis got the better of him to respond in that manner.

Meanwhile, my lord, the shortage of fuel and the incessant power blackouts have in past weeks continued to make Tokha Are Liars a ready punching bag, from those frustrated with the recent developments.

Even the likes of Sangalani Nakondwa have now the temerity to loudmouth the failures of Tokha at every opportunity. But would you blame him when he is being provided with fodder to make such grand statements.

Dzitolereni ma guys otherwise it is not looking good out there.

See you on my next Facebook post,

Regards,

John Citizen.

With Emmanuel Luciano

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