OF ROTTEN HOPES, PREVARICATION, AND NOISE

Socrates is credited to have said that, "No one desires evil," and we can interpolate all sorts of ethical maxims but it will take eternity to dispute this Socratic paradox. In principle, the ancient father of philosophy implied that whatever goal man may have in life, he can never wish bad luck to himself, he will fight the devil given an opportunity. It follows then that the character of humanity is based on two fundamental goals, happiness and winning. That's why you'll find a bandwagon Golden State fan celebrating in ‘Winiko style' for a 3-1 lead in the NBA final,  but in no time, the abject mood suddenly engulfs the character when he sees that the Cavaliers have magically turned on the screw to take the Ring. It's impossible to get bored with a win no matter how ugly it can be, and chigulu (aganyu a Man U included) will take satisfaction in the ills of another for the sole reason, to borrow the words of Charlse Darwin, "survival of the fittest." Many spiritualits will hang me for blasphemy when I say that even God is greedy for wanting to be the only one, He actually says so himself (try to understand Deut 32: 16). He created the world and wouldn't want to share with anyone (comrade Lucifer had other ideas). Enough for a moral lesson anyway as the blog's landlord who also earn a living by masquerading as a fixer of broken anatomies, would be livid and never invite me again if I keep on preaching. But one can discern that if there is a war between a greater good and personal glory, only a flyspeck of a population can choose the latter.

For a good reason, that's why Nyasaland is on the ropes of losing the hopes democracy gave her. For a long time, our fundamental problems have been well documented such that we don't need global financial watchdogs like the IMF and the World Bank to spell out that 80% of the citizenry are in the abyss of poverty nor that our rain-fed economy which relies on "those who smoke" has failed to create employment opportunities for the youths that we have resorted to opening artisanship colleges in 193 constituencies. We don’t need to be told time and again that we are a failed state. Perhaps we can blame the politicians for their greedy intentions on their quest for ultimate power. But why are other countries who were in deeper troubles than us (Rwanda comes quickly into mind, and I hear alot of noise also on Magufuli, the Tz bulldozer) have quickly migrated from ultrapoverty to sustained economies that they won't ever go to Zambia to beg for nsima. We cherish nsima anyway (the big Kahuna want us to try Zicheche for once). Diverse in culture the country can be, we have failed to find a collective goal that will repel the personal glories of everyone. Our hopes for the thriving of the majority are rotten because we have a weak political system that can eliminate egomaniacs building mansions in semi-urban areas, a system that can get rid of those ‘untouchables’ who will get away with any crime thrown on their faces, and those leaders whose only objective for seeking public positions is only to milk their way towards obesity. The weakness in the political system stems from the fact that we inherited every law from Colonialists such that their way has become our "only way." Our lawyers wear ugly wigs in court but we will chase lunatics on the road if they put one. Our levels of authority are congruent to Western political strands. Engineers and technicians will feel their place is in the office where they can zoom their lenses at the overlarge bossoms of ignorant secretaries when they should be in the field doing the works of a foreman (and we curse heavy rains for a damage caused by poor drainage system on newly constructed roads). And the bureaucracy that can make things done is longer than the presidential convoy, it takes ages for one to register anything or just to open up a pub. To cut the chase, our problems are rooted in the fact that we use a system that was built on the backbone of a Western country with different economic structure and cultural values. We can speculate, therefore, that our plans to parrot everything has led us to fail nail down white-collar thieves to the Maula stake. Not that everything British is bad, but from the beginning (Kamuzu time) we should have chosen a path that was a bit realistic for our goals instead of acting British.

Talking about catching thieves, every media outlet worth its salt is covering the infamous "Maizegate" which apparently looks to have implicated some big wigs in the ruling DPP. I am intrigued myself to get the relevant aspects of what the media calls a scam. I am tempted to call the whole debacle a bluff that some potbellied overzealous opposition parties used to hoax some misguided media houses to tear apart some DPP leaders. However, hearing the hullabalo it shows there is certainly some fire in the smoke, Some questions like 'how they (Admarc) gave contracts to two Zambian companies on the same day" and "why one of the companies has successfully sued the other company of feeling double-crossed. And why were politicians in the thick of the contractual razzmataz as if they are lawyers. Perhaps why did a third company found its way into the nest by conniving with the Lomwe political gaint through private emails (akuti mbava zinaba computer ku office yake ku Capital Hill). Perhaps we should be asking whether initial reports by the government  that up to 6.5m souls were facing 'galu wakuda' tallied with the situation on the ground. The inflated numbers probably were a means for some gurus with connection to the powers that be to cash in from the predicament. The crooks must have seen that an opportunity to pump their stomachs was to give poor Malawians a raw deal of paying K12500 for a bag of maize when the cost to get the same from Zambia is far much lower. We can only speculate. Prevarication here is baffling because we can't be certain who is the devil among all those involved. We had an inquiry sponsored by one Kapito of Cama which vindicated the government saying that nothing was amiss in the whole process (chibanzi chikuyankhula someone told me). And then the gaff'ment instituted a commission to uncover the truth, its deadline has been extended twice (we know why). And the publicly acclaimed inquiry by Joint-Committee of parliament which went to Zambia under the sponsorship of an NGO (fishy). The toothless ACB have indicated they will pounce on anyone implicated at any opportune time (kidding). Every soul is now a private investigator in own right, we like commedies, and this sounds sarcastic. The thieves are too cunning such that we can’t send another to catch a fellow.

We have a lot of empty tins making all sorts of noise, more like a country run on try and error. Now the focus is easily shifting towards the “jet” as government propagandists are beating a drum with a new song that the president deserves some respect and should have his own Boeing 737 instead of being in the first-class section on commercial airline. Well, some cadates are being paraded on MBC to advance the cause, while other ‘concerned mongers' are digging into the mysterious sell of the previous jet by Amayi (mesa anagulira chimanga). Not bad for noise, despite bigger challenges on our noses like prolonged salary payments to civil servants, floods, and universally acknowledged dire social welfare. Madonna keeps on stealing babies but we can’t modify laws to let our own modest families have the same privileges. (I was told super diva Rihanna had her toes smeared by fumbi laku Mchinji , ife timafunako autograph komanso tamva kuti sanakwatiwebe). As the year fade, we have to ask what this government has really accomplished now that half their term is gone. Its a government that doesn’t inspire confidence nor boost morale in all spheres of the society. It has a leadership that will take us nowhere because of dysfunctionality in their operations. Talk of ineffective public service, never-ending wrangles with the courts, collapsing tertiary education, and zero employment created. Yes they keep telling tales of how school leavers need to challenge themselves and become entrepreneurs, but how can a fresh graduate get a bank loan without collateral with very high interest rates that only make the banks happy? We clap hands on social programs which only consume large amounts of money but the output does not affect the economy.  We should be wiser next time lest we keep moving in circles.

Enjoy your weekend.