The article is late on this Friday. Well. I was in church attending a spiritual recollection for all choir members at St Pius Catholic church. Yes. I am a choir member, among other things.
The fact that I am a choir member now reminds me of how at some point I was the chairperson of the College of Medicine Catholic Students Choir. We had then just produced our album and we happened to be launching it at a local church in Chinyonga. Some journalist or student journalist came to me and asked if I had time for an interview. I can't remember the exact questions he asked but among other questions he asked me why we had chosen a church in the Middle of Chinyonga as opposed to a central location in town. Whatever central meant to him, I found the question disturbing. Having answered it with a dodgy answer, this fella who was clad in a suit kept asking questions. Reflecting upon that interview (Which was recorded, but probably didn't make some airplay) was not aimed at gathering information, but rather making me sound stupid and satisfying some journalistic ego. Someone was flexing his journalist muscles on me.
The whole thing reminds me of how the recent interview of Field Marshal Ken Nsonda by one Brian Banda sparked a lot of debate as to was in the wrong between the interviewer and the interviewed. I am always good at running away from giving direct opinions but this time I will be quick to agree with the DPP man. The interviewer's questions and tactics left a lot to be desired. I would say it was pretty much the same story as the Dausi vs Brian Banda issue where people end up having a quarrel (not argument, mind you) instead of an interview. Seems like our journalists are turning into copycats for some heavyweights who invented their own style of extracting info from politicians and people of that sort. The sort of copying that made our rapper pose on a toilet seat, if you are to ask me.
Talking of journalism, there is a great element of mediocrity lingering around our media. The examples cited above are just among the many blunders and they include but are not limited to radio. Our online news outlets, though famous have this vice of being too political while grossly assassinating the rules of the pen and the Queen's language.
The print media, which I thought was not a participant has recently joined the madness and we have recently seen a lot of blunders, the most scandalized of which was the issue of the "end of and error" which someone who calls himself an editor shamelessly defended. Not that it matters, though.
Some of you might remember that article that was written about the three guys who represented Malawi at an international conference. For some reason someone decided to write "swelling" as "wwelling" and the article was published without anybody raising an eyebrow. Of course readers readers just read without saying anything because they are used to the kind of mediocrity. That matters. Even Richie Online does better in such aspects, and one tends to wonder is issues like editing spellings should be the job of the reader as opposed to the editor, or the underperforming equivalent that these online publications have. Those of you that have an interest in journalism studies probably need to remind people that they need to have English and above all Chichewa lessons in these training schools because what is happening out here is utterly embarrassing. Yeah. Grammar Police in the house.
I will leave the point of politicizing public broadcasters alone. I will not even talk about how we do not have the best of programs on our national broadcasters and how people can parade religious and traditional leaders to praise some empty initiatives and all that, and how half the time of the day is spent watching some foreign station when we tune in to a local channel. Zimenezo sitinena. Za ma station a opposition aja sitinenanso.
All in all, ma journalist athu (achina Chikondi Sato) mudzitolere.
You can obviously do better.
Friday, 31 March 2017
Friday, 24 March 2017
On Alcohol
Alcohol
Controversial topic, right? Yeah. Today we are on Organic Chemistry 501. We will, however skip alkanes and alkenes and go straight to alkanols.
Today happens to be a Friday and a lot of people are out in clubs and pubs to have one or two drinks. In Manja, the local pub has already been swarmed with young people who are already drowning the sorrows of the long week while activating the weekend mood. Of course entertainment places will not be full to the brim for obvious reasons, but Friday brings an exponential increase in the number of attendants in places where people have a feel of nightlife and quench their thirst.
There are two extreme views when it comes to the attitude towards alcohol. Those who are conservative think that alcohol is evil and shouldn’t have been invented in the first place while the liberals think that it is an ultimate need. Every group here could write a book justifying why they feel so with the conservatives arguing from either a religious or an economic point of view and the liberals from a “kukonda zinthu” point of view. One would ask as to who the Richie of Richie Online would side with between the two. Well. I would say none. I do not believe in extremism and I think there is another way of looking at this whole issue of alcohol.
Talking of conservative people who look at alcohol as a drink that is prohibited, most of them would argue from a religious point of view that God does not like people who drink. One of the most interesting arguments is that God’s men are always on duty and they should always stay sober. Sounds valid to me. Of course there could be more sound arguments that I wouldn’t know about considering that I am a Catholic and our church permits the sort of thing called responsible drinking.
Some would also argue that alcohol takes away people’s concentration on important things like career and education and has dragged people away from financial prosperity. These would cite a few local examples and it would sound so valid an argument. They would also talk about the moral decay that comes around with alcohol. Again, a valid point.
Liberals, on the other hand have no proper defense for their attitude towards alcohol. They will always give you the “drinking is fun” or “there is nothing else to do with my weekend” type of thing when you ask them why they take alcohol. Someone once told me that he didn’t know what he could be doing with all his free time if he wasn’t a faithful congregant at Chez Ntemba. No valid points, really.
Looking at the arguments raised from both ends (only that the liberals don’t bring much of an argument to the table), one would always counter-argue that the points are not valid and that we need to be a bit flexible with our attitude towards chakumwa cha mtengo wa mpesa.
Some of my chidakwa friends always make a reference to the first miracle Jesus performed at the wedding in Cana and how Jesus wouldn’t have performed that miracle if He didn’t approve of people taking alcohol. It sounds valid to some extent, although it lacks some substance taking a look at the gradient between the context of the miracle and the circumstances under which people drink in the later day. One friend of mine (who happens to be a Christian Apologist) once wrote a long article that highlighted on the fact that God does not strictly prohibit the intake of alcohol. In case you are wondering who did that, it is Edmond Kachale (check him out on Facebook), a guy who doesn’t drink who put it clearly that God does not say no to a glass or two. I don’t remember if he did, but I am sure in the comments to the post he put it clearly that there has to be an upper limit to the amount that someone can take; and rightly so.
The issue of financial implications of taking alcohol remains controversial. I have had friends telling me of having spent more than K20 000 in one drinking spree and that sounds too much to be blown in a drinking spree to people like me. On the other hand, when you look at what the money is spent on, it is hardly on the alcohol someone takes, but rather on other costs. On a typical outing, someone wants to go to Stereo or Zodetsa for a starter before heading to Njobvu Yobiriwira (Blue Elephant) or Chez Ntemba (or both). Fuel or taxi costs included inflate the drinking budget. Then there are those who go there without eating at home and want to have food there. I am told in some of these places a mere sausage is sold for some four figures in Malawian Kwacha. And then there are some who want to be the good ones by buying for strangers. Nzabhobho. Somehow you would think that beer would make someone poor indeed, but on the other hand you could look at the guy who has his supper before walking into the local pub and having a few drinks before walking home to have a lie. Or that one who just has that one casket of wine in his house to take after supper. Pretty much the same expenditure as the guy who drinks some fancy juice, if you are to ask me. In other words, this is too individualized to be generalized. Probably umphawiwu umakhala wakele. Not sure, though.
For the issues of moral decay and destruction of education and career, I would say that I agree that there are some who have ruined it in life because of their love for the two carbon alkanol. On the other hand, I would always reflect on the week I and my good friend, Yohane Gadama found ourselves living in a house with three medical students in the town of Groningen . These guys had an upright fridge for their food needs and a small freezer dedicated to beer. I remember walking into the house one day only to find one of the guys studying for a test on the next day. Guess what he had on the side? A bottle of beer. It wasn’t much of a different story for the rest of the guys, who used to drink almost daily without compromising the way they interacted with their guests or indeed their education. The last day we were in the city the guys took us out to their friends who were hanging out. With beer making almost 100% of the drinks present, even my friend who happens to be a teetotaler remained comfortable through the chat, which left him wondering why people wreak havoc and throw tantrums after taking a few beers back home. Probably something not related to the beer. Probably.
As of the guys who think they have nothing better to do on a weekend, I would say that there a lot of things one could do on a weekend. You can play darts, for example. Or just sit at home chilling with family while sipping some tea or squash, if you really feel like nights should be spent drinking something. Parties can be enjoyed without beer, for some of you who hadn’t yet gotten the memo. Ineyo ndikutero. Life is possible without beer.
Having said all this, I should say that we shouldn’t attribute everything that is wrong in this world and in the lives of some people to alcohol. It is possible to drink and still handle life properly. On the other end, it is not good to attribute all the fun you have to alcohol, as the fun probably comes from the company you have and the Kalawa Jazmee drums you dance to as opposed to the one bottle of alcohol you drink and bother us with.
Summary of this article? Alcohol is overrated. Osamaunamizira mowa.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Of ESCOM, CSO's, FISP and Sports
with Hope, the Resident Farmer
I must say it’s surely only by chance that I have managed to piece together this article, the main stumbling block being our sole electricity provider, ESCOM. Almost every person within the border of Nyasaland has cried foul because of ESCOM for their unforgivable sins. Talk of low water levels on the lake which was a swansong in the latter part of 2016 and now to the well-rehearsed tune of too much matope due to too much water, ESCOM has distinguished itself to be the vilest evil organization that Malawi will ever get. The catastrophic implications of energy deficiency will hit us harder in the coming years because as each day passes with usual darkness, poverty will continue to gain ground thereby burying poor souls who rely on barbershops, phone charging, anyamata oonetsa Rambo wachiYawo, printing and photocopying mongers for their daily stomach sustenance. And we keep allowing such mediocrity to continue happening. Only 10% of our 16 million populace amagona m’magetsi, but 53 years since we were politically weaned from Britain ESCOM, or rather Malawi, still can't afford a full day short of blackout. And a new kid on the block, EGNCO, tasked to generate power and find alternative ways for the same hasn't really impressed. Too much noise from anyone paid to talk or write but zero tangible solution in sight. I will ask the landlord of this blog for a special in-depth ex-ray of ESCOM in the coming days.
If noise making was an occupation, Civil Society Organisation would be among those highly paid. Not that they receive peanuts, far from it, but they get payment for doing nothing rather than making themselves visible and audible. CSOs should be distinguished from ordinary NGOs which are on the ground providing welfare support to numerous poor Malawians. CSOs' role is to speak for the voiceless and help take the government to task when things are going wrong. For a long time, these paid pundits have been poking the nose of the government and making it sweat for any misgiving. For such reason, CSOs have been ambushed for being considered allies of the opposition. It's only natural that those who speak with the same tone as the government are considered having been given "Chibanzi." The government and surely opposition parties have been secretly funding these briefcase NGOs with the view of rubber-stamping whatever policy they want to advance. We have seen many individuals who were very vocal against a particular regime suddenly become deathly quiet, and to borrow JZU's verbatim, they will say "there is nothing oppose." The role of CSOs has therefore been diluted to become a stepping stone for someone who wants to become somebody. Just three years ago, the likes of Mavuto Bamusi, Voice Mhone, Undule Mwakasungula, Billy Banda, among a bunch, were on every news bulletin talking about how bad the government was performing. I remember Undule led a gang of CSOs who gave Bingu 48 hours to stop the bleeding or to resign for what they called gross maladministration of his DPP government in 2012. But today, these fortune miners have found respite in a born again DPP government that they are used to respond to anyone speaking vile of it's leadership. Billy Banda has been rewarded with a board chairmanship of a Statutory body while Bamusi is the presidential advisor on NGOs. A new crop of noise makers have mashroomed in their place, the likes of Timothy Mtambo and Gift Trapence, a duo renowned for gay rights despite both being happily married, and one John Kapito who has overstayed at a useless CAMA, and one man demonstrator Billy Mayaya, all jostling the government and dining with Chatsika, for their share. Some bloke called Nakoma has been heavily featured on a propaganda program ya Philip Business to speak on behalf of Malawians (he is not even speaking on behalf of his wife)... As 2019 approaches, such of these will be order of the day and we will help ourselves by abstaining current affairs altogether. I am not familiar with laws governing such NGOs but we need to tighten up to stop the rot. These organisations should be examined to see whether they are really being civil lest ayambitse chipani chawo. Tigaireni Report ya Kapito on maize-gate...
Talking about maize, a few days ago our beady-eyed statisticians from the beleaguered Ministry of Agriculture estimated that the country, under the wise and dynamic leadership of Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, will get a surplus yield of maize such that we won’t be sending thieves across the border into Northern Rhodesia to beg the staple for stricken families. One reason that immediately comes to the fore for the massive harvest is the good uninterrupted rainy season such that the efforts of peasants kwa TA Bwananyambi will be handsomely rewarded. Not that there weren’t usual floods, but our friends in Nsanje will be disappointed that World Vision relief trucks will not be visiting them any time soon. A seasonal village inconvenience, the Fertilizer Input Subsidy Program (FISP), had its usual hitches which include minimal to no delivery of bags, very few coupons, fake coupons, theft-in-transit, and very high prices in designated stores. It is just extraordinary that at least a good number of us farmers will get something worth our bloody sweat without the burden of FISP. This program has evolved over the years. During the last bumper years of Atcheya, UDF introduced miserable 10kg Starter Packs which by its name were meant to push over the line the efforts of subsistence farmers. When it was clear that the program was just a political gimmick to woo votes so that Malawians should vote for the de facto (now late) “economic engineer,” it was abandoned for the reason that those farmers have graduated to the extent of buying inputs by themselves. The fake Ngwazi modified the program for a modest subsidized K1000 for two bags of fertilizer ndi mbewu yaulele. The years that followed, DPP reduced the price to a meagre K500 in the run up to 2009 elections which meant that the program was worth 35% of the national budget (idiots). That short-lived grief period orange party government reduced the number of beneficiaries in a bid to balance up the numbers so much so that those who were very poor were catered for by the defunct Mudzi Transformation and Foteleza wa Ngongole programs funded by charities (Loot-e-pal must be one of them). The current administration, whose zero-aid Budget has squeezed the entire program is planning getting rid of FISP altogether because there is nowhere to get the money. When all is said, FISP is a burden for the country such that international organizations like DfID have started pulling out for wasting their resources inflating the tummies of some big wigs with connections to the powers that be. For a long time, there has been nothing to write about on FISP other than the likes of Mulli and co. getting an obscene paycheck. So if we ever talk about an increase in the maize output, the government policies or programs should not be sprayed forth as part of the success story.
And now that the gods have played their part, it’s our duty to protect the environment. This is one of the most boring topics, Climate Change, because it’s just boring. But let me put it in this way, caring for the natural resources has been a problem for the entire universe because no one cares as long as they live to die another day. Small poor landlocked countries like Malawi with a very high density have been on the receiving end from developed countries. Big economies with heavy industries that has been polluting the environment and accelerating global warming have vanished when there is a talk for them to take a leading role in the process. We cannot survive playing it safe when other countries are introducing industries that pollute the environment. Should we then follow suit? A problem for Malawi is that we rely too much on natural resources for our survival. It doesn’t need someone with a higher IQ to establish that we would be ten times poorer if we didn’t have the lake, and TZ is taking a third of it. We have had the Mulanje Mountain but it’s only now that someone has decided to tap fresh water from it. Why do we let large volumes of water disappear into the Zambezi via the Shire river when we should, perhaps, be selling ndowa to Afghanistan. And we have all sorts of good-for-nothing land keeping a few impalas in an animal kingdom headed by a hyena. Why not have only Nyika National Park and let aja Ozigulira Malo inherit the rest (just kidding). What I am saying is that we have underutilized our resources and we let outsiders exploit the few special stones under our long noses (bad Kayerekera mongers). We have utilized resources that need saving especially mitengo and cut our way through the forests for a cheap bag of Makala. We no longer have Chikangawa forest, and the summer fires in the Zomba Mountains have destroyed the few akalulu people from Mtiya hunted to dilute green leaves in their teeth. I hear there is a policy from gaff’ment to ban mauvuni anjerwa zootcha, that’s just a start, we can do more to keep the fresh air we have in abundance.
It’s proven we have, however, mediocrity in abundance in as far as sports is administration in the country is concerned.
I will talk about basketball, that game where poor blokes in oversized boxers and large numbered sleeveless jerseys bounce the ball and throw it for a point or more. I support the great Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA so I know how losing for fun is like. The game in Malawi is on deathbed, there is no international recognized court that can host a reputable national team, and we don’t even have the national team because we don’t have active teams. There was a period in the late 90s and early 2000s when Mimbulu, Magang’a, Bricks and others were regularly featured in the media for the right reasons. The sport needs renaissance to resuscitate it from the debris it is buried in. we no longer have playing courts in secondary schools to nurture those interested to learn the game. Well, basketball is just an example, the same shambles are in Volleyball which we should assume is a cadaver, Tennis has hibernated itself from any activity, nor do we hear noise from the hockey fraternity which were planning on building a state-of-the-art stadium at Kamuzu Upper stadium, anangobetsapo malo zazii. Every sport, maybe bar Netball, we have repeatedly come up short. Timadziwa chani ndiye kumalawi kuno (Netball is not an Olympic sport and only 37 countries play it ndiye sitiiwerengera). We know how to mess funds. The good-for-nothing Football Association recently revealed they are withdrawing from CAF Cup of Nations and CHAN competitions because we don’t have a coach after boma said they can’t employ Mzungu to teach our overrated players how to control the ball. We always blame someone for our failures in this case government hasn’t done enough to support football, and sports in general. For instance, the whole FAM budget was pegged at K34m (someone had K140 million in his pillow) which is not enough for FAM to send the team to Yaoundé for a batism in CAF. But blokes at FAM had known that the Flames will need to travel for over a year after a draw was made but failed to plan and source the funds for the assignments at hand. We have tolerated such nonsense for a long time that’s why we can’t make a grade on the international scene. Solutions? Many, sports should not be taken as pastime because nowadays its big business. Corporate sponsors cannot come into the game if we keep electing useless leaders without a vision. We know the government should play its part especially in infrastructure development and general development of the sports from their infancy, but being poor as we are, it will remain a dream. We won’t see Timberwolves taking on Ntopwa Blazers in a preseason match up any time soon if we maintain the course. Perhaps the government should put another tax on beer that will go to basketball development. Taxes is life.
Have a super weekend
I must say it’s surely only by chance that I have managed to piece together this article, the main stumbling block being our sole electricity provider, ESCOM. Almost every person within the border of Nyasaland has cried foul because of ESCOM for their unforgivable sins. Talk of low water levels on the lake which was a swansong in the latter part of 2016 and now to the well-rehearsed tune of too much matope due to too much water, ESCOM has distinguished itself to be the vilest evil organization that Malawi will ever get. The catastrophic implications of energy deficiency will hit us harder in the coming years because as each day passes with usual darkness, poverty will continue to gain ground thereby burying poor souls who rely on barbershops, phone charging, anyamata oonetsa Rambo wachiYawo, printing and photocopying mongers for their daily stomach sustenance. And we keep allowing such mediocrity to continue happening. Only 10% of our 16 million populace amagona m’magetsi, but 53 years since we were politically weaned from Britain ESCOM, or rather Malawi, still can't afford a full day short of blackout. And a new kid on the block, EGNCO, tasked to generate power and find alternative ways for the same hasn't really impressed. Too much noise from anyone paid to talk or write but zero tangible solution in sight. I will ask the landlord of this blog for a special in-depth ex-ray of ESCOM in the coming days.
If noise making was an occupation, Civil Society Organisation would be among those highly paid. Not that they receive peanuts, far from it, but they get payment for doing nothing rather than making themselves visible and audible. CSOs should be distinguished from ordinary NGOs which are on the ground providing welfare support to numerous poor Malawians. CSOs' role is to speak for the voiceless and help take the government to task when things are going wrong. For a long time, these paid pundits have been poking the nose of the government and making it sweat for any misgiving. For such reason, CSOs have been ambushed for being considered allies of the opposition. It's only natural that those who speak with the same tone as the government are considered having been given "Chibanzi." The government and surely opposition parties have been secretly funding these briefcase NGOs with the view of rubber-stamping whatever policy they want to advance. We have seen many individuals who were very vocal against a particular regime suddenly become deathly quiet, and to borrow JZU's verbatim, they will say "there is nothing oppose." The role of CSOs has therefore been diluted to become a stepping stone for someone who wants to become somebody. Just three years ago, the likes of Mavuto Bamusi, Voice Mhone, Undule Mwakasungula, Billy Banda, among a bunch, were on every news bulletin talking about how bad the government was performing. I remember Undule led a gang of CSOs who gave Bingu 48 hours to stop the bleeding or to resign for what they called gross maladministration of his DPP government in 2012. But today, these fortune miners have found respite in a born again DPP government that they are used to respond to anyone speaking vile of it's leadership. Billy Banda has been rewarded with a board chairmanship of a Statutory body while Bamusi is the presidential advisor on NGOs. A new crop of noise makers have mashroomed in their place, the likes of Timothy Mtambo and Gift Trapence, a duo renowned for gay rights despite both being happily married, and one John Kapito who has overstayed at a useless CAMA, and one man demonstrator Billy Mayaya, all jostling the government and dining with Chatsika, for their share. Some bloke called Nakoma has been heavily featured on a propaganda program ya Philip Business to speak on behalf of Malawians (he is not even speaking on behalf of his wife)... As 2019 approaches, such of these will be order of the day and we will help ourselves by abstaining current affairs altogether. I am not familiar with laws governing such NGOs but we need to tighten up to stop the rot. These organisations should be examined to see whether they are really being civil lest ayambitse chipani chawo. Tigaireni Report ya Kapito on maize-gate...
Talking about maize, a few days ago our beady-eyed statisticians from the beleaguered Ministry of Agriculture estimated that the country, under the wise and dynamic leadership of Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, will get a surplus yield of maize such that we won’t be sending thieves across the border into Northern Rhodesia to beg the staple for stricken families. One reason that immediately comes to the fore for the massive harvest is the good uninterrupted rainy season such that the efforts of peasants kwa TA Bwananyambi will be handsomely rewarded. Not that there weren’t usual floods, but our friends in Nsanje will be disappointed that World Vision relief trucks will not be visiting them any time soon. A seasonal village inconvenience, the Fertilizer Input Subsidy Program (FISP), had its usual hitches which include minimal to no delivery of bags, very few coupons, fake coupons, theft-in-transit, and very high prices in designated stores. It is just extraordinary that at least a good number of us farmers will get something worth our bloody sweat without the burden of FISP. This program has evolved over the years. During the last bumper years of Atcheya, UDF introduced miserable 10kg Starter Packs which by its name were meant to push over the line the efforts of subsistence farmers. When it was clear that the program was just a political gimmick to woo votes so that Malawians should vote for the de facto (now late) “economic engineer,” it was abandoned for the reason that those farmers have graduated to the extent of buying inputs by themselves. The fake Ngwazi modified the program for a modest subsidized K1000 for two bags of fertilizer ndi mbewu yaulele. The years that followed, DPP reduced the price to a meagre K500 in the run up to 2009 elections which meant that the program was worth 35% of the national budget (idiots). That short-lived grief period orange party government reduced the number of beneficiaries in a bid to balance up the numbers so much so that those who were very poor were catered for by the defunct Mudzi Transformation and Foteleza wa Ngongole programs funded by charities (Loot-e-pal must be one of them). The current administration, whose zero-aid Budget has squeezed the entire program is planning getting rid of FISP altogether because there is nowhere to get the money. When all is said, FISP is a burden for the country such that international organizations like DfID have started pulling out for wasting their resources inflating the tummies of some big wigs with connections to the powers that be. For a long time, there has been nothing to write about on FISP other than the likes of Mulli and co. getting an obscene paycheck. So if we ever talk about an increase in the maize output, the government policies or programs should not be sprayed forth as part of the success story.
And now that the gods have played their part, it’s our duty to protect the environment. This is one of the most boring topics, Climate Change, because it’s just boring. But let me put it in this way, caring for the natural resources has been a problem for the entire universe because no one cares as long as they live to die another day. Small poor landlocked countries like Malawi with a very high density have been on the receiving end from developed countries. Big economies with heavy industries that has been polluting the environment and accelerating global warming have vanished when there is a talk for them to take a leading role in the process. We cannot survive playing it safe when other countries are introducing industries that pollute the environment. Should we then follow suit? A problem for Malawi is that we rely too much on natural resources for our survival. It doesn’t need someone with a higher IQ to establish that we would be ten times poorer if we didn’t have the lake, and TZ is taking a third of it. We have had the Mulanje Mountain but it’s only now that someone has decided to tap fresh water from it. Why do we let large volumes of water disappear into the Zambezi via the Shire river when we should, perhaps, be selling ndowa to Afghanistan. And we have all sorts of good-for-nothing land keeping a few impalas in an animal kingdom headed by a hyena. Why not have only Nyika National Park and let aja Ozigulira Malo inherit the rest (just kidding). What I am saying is that we have underutilized our resources and we let outsiders exploit the few special stones under our long noses (bad Kayerekera mongers). We have utilized resources that need saving especially mitengo and cut our way through the forests for a cheap bag of Makala. We no longer have Chikangawa forest, and the summer fires in the Zomba Mountains have destroyed the few akalulu people from Mtiya hunted to dilute green leaves in their teeth. I hear there is a policy from gaff’ment to ban mauvuni anjerwa zootcha, that’s just a start, we can do more to keep the fresh air we have in abundance.
It’s proven we have, however, mediocrity in abundance in as far as sports is administration in the country is concerned.
I will talk about basketball, that game where poor blokes in oversized boxers and large numbered sleeveless jerseys bounce the ball and throw it for a point or more. I support the great Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA so I know how losing for fun is like. The game in Malawi is on deathbed, there is no international recognized court that can host a reputable national team, and we don’t even have the national team because we don’t have active teams. There was a period in the late 90s and early 2000s when Mimbulu, Magang’a, Bricks and others were regularly featured in the media for the right reasons. The sport needs renaissance to resuscitate it from the debris it is buried in. we no longer have playing courts in secondary schools to nurture those interested to learn the game. Well, basketball is just an example, the same shambles are in Volleyball which we should assume is a cadaver, Tennis has hibernated itself from any activity, nor do we hear noise from the hockey fraternity which were planning on building a state-of-the-art stadium at Kamuzu Upper stadium, anangobetsapo malo zazii. Every sport, maybe bar Netball, we have repeatedly come up short. Timadziwa chani ndiye kumalawi kuno (Netball is not an Olympic sport and only 37 countries play it ndiye sitiiwerengera). We know how to mess funds. The good-for-nothing Football Association recently revealed they are withdrawing from CAF Cup of Nations and CHAN competitions because we don’t have a coach after boma said they can’t employ Mzungu to teach our overrated players how to control the ball. We always blame someone for our failures in this case government hasn’t done enough to support football, and sports in general. For instance, the whole FAM budget was pegged at K34m (someone had K140 million in his pillow) which is not enough for FAM to send the team to Yaoundé for a batism in CAF. But blokes at FAM had known that the Flames will need to travel for over a year after a draw was made but failed to plan and source the funds for the assignments at hand. We have tolerated such nonsense for a long time that’s why we can’t make a grade on the international scene. Solutions? Many, sports should not be taken as pastime because nowadays its big business. Corporate sponsors cannot come into the game if we keep electing useless leaders without a vision. We know the government should play its part especially in infrastructure development and general development of the sports from their infancy, but being poor as we are, it will remain a dream. We won’t see Timberwolves taking on Ntopwa Blazers in a preseason match up any time soon if we maintain the course. Perhaps the government should put another tax on beer that will go to basketball development. Taxes is life.
Have a super weekend
Sunday, 12 March 2017
From the Archive
On ma band ogawana zida
This is going out to my fellow youths, who in one way or the other have been affected with this syndrome that is going around, paralyzing our society.
I happen to have been observing the trends in the relationship statuses( not on FB of course) of my friends and al the other people I know and I have noticed one thing since mid December; there have been a lot of break ups than I have known in any other part of my life. If you are in doubt, I am just advising you to check how many of the people you know have had breakups in their relationships since December. You will surely be amazed.
What has prompted me to write this note, however is the gravity of the statistics I hold. I will be lying if I say I have been calculating, but I can guarantee you that from the week begining on the 26th of December, I have been receiving news of a friend's breakup, at least once every week.
Most of the times we soften the situation by just saying the infamous phrase, "Band ija yagawanapo zida" and things end up like that, with one player of the game living on normally as if nothing has happened, while the other is left with the scars of heartbreak.
I for one, have chosen to attribute all this to illconcieved relationships(its my opinion, take it or not). So many youths nowadays are falling into relationships before they really know what they are all about and this is leading us into many problems as a society. The most serious thing about this is that most of us, the youth do not know, and if at all we know choose to overlook the real purpose of relationships and their essence, no wonder many of us fall into and get out of relationships as frequently as 2 or 3 times a year and live on as if nothing has happened.
Some questions pertaining to this "socio-ethical" decay arise in my mind:
-Is this the standard of life we, as the youth are supposed to have?
-Do we, as the youth of today know what it takes or requires to be in relationships?
-Is what we do on a daily basis in our relationships life a reflection of our religious beliefs? If not, why?
-What do we need to do to improve on the current situation?
I know some of you guys might have the answers to these questions. Before I open the floor for you to bring them on, I just want to remind you of one thing. We were created in God's image and we, at all costs have to live with Him in mind, knowing that He gave us His own life for us to live, for the better of the world. We have to live, therefore, knowing that even the relationships we get into shold be there for the better of the world.
As many of you here are Christians, I would also liike you to consider what the Bible and the teaching of Christianity says about the whole subject of relationships, and how relationships can be handled sustainably.
Thank you for the time you spent reading this.
God Bless.
Some of the members of the Richie Online community may remember this note. I posted this in 2012, having been fed up by the whole thing of being the heater of bad news and all.
Five years down the line, I find this text more relatable than ever as the delicacy of the things we call relationships continues to increase exponentially (from observation and experience). We have a lot of people who have given up on the concept of true love and others have gone on to say That things like marriage and love are an illusion.
We have people on extreme ends when it comes to ideas surrounding love and relationships. While some think that we still have something to get from modern day love relationships, some think that they are pointless and not worth the trouble. Without taking a side, I would say that I can relate with both sides of the same coin. The question I remain with is that of whether there is a single formula when it comes to sustaining a good relationship given the various observations I have made. I don't have answers. Some probably do. Maybe we could refer to the lessons from the man from Ulumba (I hope you read that article) but those have been proven to have some design flaws too.
At the end of the day, the issue of relationships leaves the young mind with more questions than answers. Not even the all wise Richie of Richie Online can give you the answers on this one. All he can tell you is that you need to be sure of what you want and what you are doing when venturing into a relationship. While you are in there, make it the best while it lasts and enjoy every moment of it. A little mentorship doesn't hate on this one and... Well. It might just last, so treat each other with respect.
That is one piece from my Facebook archive. Written 5 years ago, yet more relatable today.
PS.
Sorry for the delay in the article.
ESCOM people gave power back while I was already asleep and when I woke up duty called my Gulupu (Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital).
Napepe. Won't happen again. Definitely. Maybe.
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
The Salary Factor
With Richie
Yes. I am back.
This is not the Friday article.
Some sects of the Richie Online Readers Community have filed an official complaint following my back to back posts of articles by guest writers. I don’t know whether that came from the fact that the Daydreamer talked about them and how they have been messing with this country or not. All in all, I think they had a good point and my laziness needed a bit of rebuking. Well. Here we are. I have decided to drop a mid-week article and to also drop the Friday article; all by myself. I hope that this will be enough to atone for my sins, not so Dr Huwa (ndi mlongo wanu Thembi Sibande)? I guess that is it.
Since I have very few things to say on this one, I can go on and share one housekeeping issue. This is going out especially to those who would like to share some insights through the Richie Online platform. I just wanted to inform all of you that from now all guest writers on Richie Online will have to submit their name and a small bio along with the article. This will be strictly published. In short, there will be no anonymous writers and as such people should stop sending articles from Airmail for publishing. Zatha zimenezo. Management is even considering requesting a utility bill, a passport or driving license and two passport size photos from every guest writer. That is still being discussed, anyway.
To this day’s business…
I am now part of the civil service as some of you might know. I am talking of the same civil service which is undergoing some much touted reforms spearheaded by our young veep. Good thing, right? I know the old fellas are giving a nod of agreement. After all, they like to say that m’boma mumasunga. Only them know whatever that means.
Without lying or exaggerating anything, I should say that the reason I wake uo every morning and hang head to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to help patient is on the most part economical. I am there for the money. My job happens to be a calling, but at the end of the day the truth is that if there is no money attached to that work I wouldn’t be going there. Before any hypocrite judges me, I should be quick to point out that I love the other aspects of my work the same way as I love the returns. It is a truly satisfying thing to see a patient “carry his mat” and walk out of the ward after you prescribed some sort of concoction.
I hope you know where this is going. There are people with whom I share a workplace and I know those have figured it out. Well.
As I am typing, a considerable percentage of members of the civil service are yet to receive their monthly payments. I was not going to say anything about this, but the interesting thing is that those of us who belong to the Health sector just got the courtesy of a memo by some high authority from the Ministry of Health, apologizing for the delay in the salaries. What the many people who work in the health sector do not get on that is the poor timing and they cannot help to wonder as to why that communiqué would have to come at a moment when what they are looking for is money to replace the excuses that they have been giving the numerous people they owe.
That was it, in case you were thinking that the rest of the article will be a rant at the government for delaying the much needed salaries. This article is more about systems than it is about one salary delay which was half predictable.
Before I joined the civil service, I had been hearing a lot on how little the salaries in the gaffment were and how you have to wait for the fortieth of the month before getting the bank alert at the earliest. People gave all sorts of complaints in the media and wherever else and for some reason I used to laugh at those teachers and law enforcers thinking that such would not happen to a person of my profession. Of course later the errors diffused and things started happening even in the health sector. It was just a matter of time, anyway.
One angry person posted on the social media and wondered what the government accountants do every month for us to hear some people complaining of a salary delay. I would say it is a valid question and one would add the question as to why people take three months to start getting their salaries after getting hired by the government only to write numerous applications for some nonexistent arrears; where as their counterparts in the private sector get their perks pronto. I am pretty sure someone who is directly involved in the processing of the salaries of civil servants can come to the justification of all the highlighted errors. They would probably say something about machines as if the salaries are processed by some machine into which named have to be carved with a chisel and hammer one at a time as opposed to some computer into which someone can just punch Maxwell Yohane’s account details. We surely have some malignant mediocrity in our systems and that needs to be addressed.
Perhaps one would argue that it is lack of financial prudence that leaves us complaining about the delays in the salaries. I would partly agree for reasons that I would explain.
The people who preach the gospel of entrepreneurship have always dissed those of us who are salary dependent calling us people who provide a temporary remedy to a chronic illness. That might be a good point. If for example, I could invest somewhere and be getting some good returns, I would not feel the pinch of a salary delay and all would be well for me and my wife and child. However, most of us have not gone the investing way for reasons ranging from negligence to incapability (nanga ma change akewa ukachotsapo ka landilodi ndi ka transport, ya investment ikumatsalanso ngati?) All in all, I believe it is possible to start with what you have, where you are and we could all work something out in such situations, which may not be resolved soon.
On the left side of it, I am not sure that I fully agree with the idea that people should be forced into investment as a way of escaping the problem that the government shouldn’t have placed on their plates in the first place. People are entitled to a salary and that is their due after working those long hours in front of those pupils or in that hospital ward. They are entitled to some sort of payment at the end of the month and not in the middle of the next one and that needs to come without any delay, all things considered. Anything that diverts from this norm is a big insult to the many professionals who sacrifice a lot for the betterment of this country.
Everything I have said here finally brings me to the question of why people continue to be docile over such matters. I have not heard but a few stories of people taking some serious action against such mediocre activities. Salaries get delayed month in month out and all people do is to say “ndi m’boma mmenemu” and continue to work harder until we rejoice on payday as if it is not an entitlement. This will continue to happen and people will continue to passively complain and observe. That is Malawi for us.
Lesson from the saga? It might indeed be time to listen to the gospel of entrepreneurship; a time to confess the sin of passive complaining and to be delivered from salary dependency to get into the promised land of self employment and entrepreneurship. Or perhaps it is time to bank on Chilima and his reforms, and to believe that the decentralization of salaries in the civil service will bring an end to our troubles. I know enanu mumagwira kwa amwenye, in NGOs and everywhere else. You probably have some issues there too and all you need is to take action, otherwise I don’t see help coming anytime soon.
Civil servant adzalira mokweza mpaka kale.
Happy 35th February kwa nonse amene zanu sizinalowe.
Yes. I am back.
This is not the Friday article.
Some sects of the Richie Online Readers Community have filed an official complaint following my back to back posts of articles by guest writers. I don’t know whether that came from the fact that the Daydreamer talked about them and how they have been messing with this country or not. All in all, I think they had a good point and my laziness needed a bit of rebuking. Well. Here we are. I have decided to drop a mid-week article and to also drop the Friday article; all by myself. I hope that this will be enough to atone for my sins, not so Dr Huwa (ndi mlongo wanu Thembi Sibande)? I guess that is it.
Since I have very few things to say on this one, I can go on and share one housekeeping issue. This is going out especially to those who would like to share some insights through the Richie Online platform. I just wanted to inform all of you that from now all guest writers on Richie Online will have to submit their name and a small bio along with the article. This will be strictly published. In short, there will be no anonymous writers and as such people should stop sending articles from Airmail for publishing. Zatha zimenezo. Management is even considering requesting a utility bill, a passport or driving license and two passport size photos from every guest writer. That is still being discussed, anyway.
To this day’s business…
I am now part of the civil service as some of you might know. I am talking of the same civil service which is undergoing some much touted reforms spearheaded by our young veep. Good thing, right? I know the old fellas are giving a nod of agreement. After all, they like to say that m’boma mumasunga. Only them know whatever that means.
Without lying or exaggerating anything, I should say that the reason I wake uo every morning and hang head to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to help patient is on the most part economical. I am there for the money. My job happens to be a calling, but at the end of the day the truth is that if there is no money attached to that work I wouldn’t be going there. Before any hypocrite judges me, I should be quick to point out that I love the other aspects of my work the same way as I love the returns. It is a truly satisfying thing to see a patient “carry his mat” and walk out of the ward after you prescribed some sort of concoction.
I hope you know where this is going. There are people with whom I share a workplace and I know those have figured it out. Well.
As I am typing, a considerable percentage of members of the civil service are yet to receive their monthly payments. I was not going to say anything about this, but the interesting thing is that those of us who belong to the Health sector just got the courtesy of a memo by some high authority from the Ministry of Health, apologizing for the delay in the salaries. What the many people who work in the health sector do not get on that is the poor timing and they cannot help to wonder as to why that communiqué would have to come at a moment when what they are looking for is money to replace the excuses that they have been giving the numerous people they owe.
That was it, in case you were thinking that the rest of the article will be a rant at the government for delaying the much needed salaries. This article is more about systems than it is about one salary delay which was half predictable.
Before I joined the civil service, I had been hearing a lot on how little the salaries in the gaffment were and how you have to wait for the fortieth of the month before getting the bank alert at the earliest. People gave all sorts of complaints in the media and wherever else and for some reason I used to laugh at those teachers and law enforcers thinking that such would not happen to a person of my profession. Of course later the errors diffused and things started happening even in the health sector. It was just a matter of time, anyway.
One angry person posted on the social media and wondered what the government accountants do every month for us to hear some people complaining of a salary delay. I would say it is a valid question and one would add the question as to why people take three months to start getting their salaries after getting hired by the government only to write numerous applications for some nonexistent arrears; where as their counterparts in the private sector get their perks pronto. I am pretty sure someone who is directly involved in the processing of the salaries of civil servants can come to the justification of all the highlighted errors. They would probably say something about machines as if the salaries are processed by some machine into which named have to be carved with a chisel and hammer one at a time as opposed to some computer into which someone can just punch Maxwell Yohane’s account details. We surely have some malignant mediocrity in our systems and that needs to be addressed.
Perhaps one would argue that it is lack of financial prudence that leaves us complaining about the delays in the salaries. I would partly agree for reasons that I would explain.
The people who preach the gospel of entrepreneurship have always dissed those of us who are salary dependent calling us people who provide a temporary remedy to a chronic illness. That might be a good point. If for example, I could invest somewhere and be getting some good returns, I would not feel the pinch of a salary delay and all would be well for me and my wife and child. However, most of us have not gone the investing way for reasons ranging from negligence to incapability (nanga ma change akewa ukachotsapo ka landilodi ndi ka transport, ya investment ikumatsalanso ngati?) All in all, I believe it is possible to start with what you have, where you are and we could all work something out in such situations, which may not be resolved soon.
On the left side of it, I am not sure that I fully agree with the idea that people should be forced into investment as a way of escaping the problem that the government shouldn’t have placed on their plates in the first place. People are entitled to a salary and that is their due after working those long hours in front of those pupils or in that hospital ward. They are entitled to some sort of payment at the end of the month and not in the middle of the next one and that needs to come without any delay, all things considered. Anything that diverts from this norm is a big insult to the many professionals who sacrifice a lot for the betterment of this country.
Everything I have said here finally brings me to the question of why people continue to be docile over such matters. I have not heard but a few stories of people taking some serious action against such mediocre activities. Salaries get delayed month in month out and all people do is to say “ndi m’boma mmenemu” and continue to work harder until we rejoice on payday as if it is not an entitlement. This will continue to happen and people will continue to passively complain and observe. That is Malawi for us.
Lesson from the saga? It might indeed be time to listen to the gospel of entrepreneurship; a time to confess the sin of passive complaining and to be delivered from salary dependency to get into the promised land of self employment and entrepreneurship. Or perhaps it is time to bank on Chilima and his reforms, and to believe that the decentralization of salaries in the civil service will bring an end to our troubles. I know enanu mumagwira kwa amwenye, in NGOs and everywhere else. You probably have some issues there too and all you need is to take action, otherwise I don’t see help coming anytime soon.
Civil servant adzalira mokweza mpaka kale.
Happy 35th February kwa nonse amene zanu sizinalowe.
Friday, 3 March 2017
Let's Fix this Nation
by the Resident Broadcaster, Gracious Mulinga aka the Daydreamer.
This other day a year or so ago I was travelling from Limbe to Zomba. After spending almost the whole day trotting up and down the streets, The Daydreamer quietly sank into a seat, gazing out of the window occasionally. The first moments of the ride were relatively quiet, only the humming of the engine and occasional coughs. At Mbulumbuzi, the minibus picked three more people, squeezing us more on the seats.
This new cohort came in to shutter the brittle silence we were kind of enjoying in the minibus.
“So who do you think has brought this country all this mess?” asked one of the men who seemed to be in his thirties.
The other man, probably 50 or so, responded, “It’s not a matter of who has done what. The issue is what should be done to fix the wrongs.”
I realised this conversation had started long before they boarded this bus. The younger man always responded violently while the elder was cool in his answers.
The old man schooled the other how the people actively took part in the development of the nation through active participation during Kamuzu’s reign.
Obviously, both men had been there during the said time, only that one of them was probably too young to know stuff. The old man cited how youths across the country erected buildings (most of which we can still see right now) during the annual Youth Week. He said there was no way someone could be siphoning huge sums of money out of the taxpayers’ big pocket, and that we were making tangible progress. The younger man argued that it was not necessarily that the people wanted to participate in such activities. He was immediately told of the four corner stones the people were being encouraged to live by: unity, loyalty, obedience, and hard work.
They talked about many issues, but somehow I found myself siding with the older man. Not only because of his calmness which I felt indicated that he was arguing out of facts rather than emotions, but also because of the substance in his arguments. Indeed, the issue is what should be done to fix things.
Let’s fast-forward to this moment. Corruption is on the rise, and there are only verbal efforts to curb it. Just pure lip service! How can we believe that something is really being done when nets are cast where big fish do not swim? Where are we with the Cashgate cases? Just a few convictions and stalling investigations. Probably the dogs sniffed a bigger ‘untouchable’ fish they can’t manage to drag ashore. It’s only the expendables that are hung to dry while the big fish are shielded.
Fancy this, a minister is entangled in a maize scam but the powers that be are loudly silent. Whether out of coincidence or not, the said minister’s office goes up in flames and then huge sums of cash are found stashed somewhere out of the public eye. All this is too much to be called a coincidence. I personally believe this is just a tip of the iceberg. Obviously, there is much more activity going on underground. It’s just that this one has been caught, but maybe we should probe many others.
My question has always been, why is it that the president is usually silent on such issues? It had to take the revelation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for him to act. Elsewhere in the world, when people are caught waist-deep in such scams, they step down to pave way for proper investigations which would clear their name. But here, someone was going around announcing to the world that they can’t step down because they are very innocent until we prove their guilt.
Out there, too many people are just loitering the streets in search of food, employment, and such other needs while someone spreads his bed with currencies of different nations. I remember very well how someone promised to ease unemployment once they win the elections. Here we are, three years after, the situation is still dire. Graduates have turned their precious papers into mere decorations.
They say people should take up entrepreneurship, but is the environment that conducive? In the end, many people are flocking down south to the rainbow nation in search of greener pastures. There they live under the constant fear of being hacked by xenophobic individuals.
Somebody says we are the poorest nation on earth. But as the late Bingu wa Mutharika usually said, I believe it is the people who are poor, and not the country. The people are poor because those we entrusted with the public coffers treat themselves to several Christmases a year instead of uplifting the lives of us all. Their focus is on how to get their pockets fat and their bellies big. Here we are, 53 years later with a little to show that we are indeed grown-ups.
And here we are, talking about the wrongs and who did them. Maybe it’s indeed not about who did the wrongs, but who can fix them. Who then can fix all the wrongs we have done as a nation for the past 53 years? This country’s second-in-command was in town this other day encouraging the youth to analyse events critically rather than blindly clapping hands to trivia. It indeed seems out of our idleness, we turn ourselves into bootlickers who can do anything for the sake of a temporary meagre amount of cash the politicians bribe us with to help them advance their dirty agenda.
Even when we are in the so-called influential positions, we do not influence anything. Instead of being influential, people become the influenced. All that is done is clapping hands for the appointing powers so that we keep the job. You may agree with me here that there have been appointments we all expected would make a difference, only to be disappointed with what such people did in the end. A Ugandan comedian who trades as Teacher Mpamire once portrayed this in very simple terms. African leaders have advisers who rarely advise them. Ironically, it is the advisors who get advised. We surely need a system overhaul.
In the digital age, we are privileged with many technologies which enable us to air out our views. But then it’s all empty social network talk. We are activists online, but physically we can’t do anything. We speak strongly against the ills of the system but our courage is mere charade. Pure lip service. If only we could transform that online courage into practical courage, maybe the nation can move steps ahead.
But then, maybe this too is just one of those social network cheap talk.
So, let me conclude with a quote from one of the greatest writers this world has ever seen (at least from my point of view), Dan Brown. In his book Inferno, he wrote, “the darkest places in hell are reserved for those who keep quite in times of moral crisis.” But making noise without stepping out into reality wouldn’t mean anything.
Let’s find a way to fix this nation. Practically and not just in theory.
You can read more from the Daydreamer on this link;
www.hallucinations2010.wordpress.com
This other day a year or so ago I was travelling from Limbe to Zomba. After spending almost the whole day trotting up and down the streets, The Daydreamer quietly sank into a seat, gazing out of the window occasionally. The first moments of the ride were relatively quiet, only the humming of the engine and occasional coughs. At Mbulumbuzi, the minibus picked three more people, squeezing us more on the seats.
This new cohort came in to shutter the brittle silence we were kind of enjoying in the minibus.
“So who do you think has brought this country all this mess?” asked one of the men who seemed to be in his thirties.
The other man, probably 50 or so, responded, “It’s not a matter of who has done what. The issue is what should be done to fix the wrongs.”
I realised this conversation had started long before they boarded this bus. The younger man always responded violently while the elder was cool in his answers.
The old man schooled the other how the people actively took part in the development of the nation through active participation during Kamuzu’s reign.
Obviously, both men had been there during the said time, only that one of them was probably too young to know stuff. The old man cited how youths across the country erected buildings (most of which we can still see right now) during the annual Youth Week. He said there was no way someone could be siphoning huge sums of money out of the taxpayers’ big pocket, and that we were making tangible progress. The younger man argued that it was not necessarily that the people wanted to participate in such activities. He was immediately told of the four corner stones the people were being encouraged to live by: unity, loyalty, obedience, and hard work.
They talked about many issues, but somehow I found myself siding with the older man. Not only because of his calmness which I felt indicated that he was arguing out of facts rather than emotions, but also because of the substance in his arguments. Indeed, the issue is what should be done to fix things.
Let’s fast-forward to this moment. Corruption is on the rise, and there are only verbal efforts to curb it. Just pure lip service! How can we believe that something is really being done when nets are cast where big fish do not swim? Where are we with the Cashgate cases? Just a few convictions and stalling investigations. Probably the dogs sniffed a bigger ‘untouchable’ fish they can’t manage to drag ashore. It’s only the expendables that are hung to dry while the big fish are shielded.
Fancy this, a minister is entangled in a maize scam but the powers that be are loudly silent. Whether out of coincidence or not, the said minister’s office goes up in flames and then huge sums of cash are found stashed somewhere out of the public eye. All this is too much to be called a coincidence. I personally believe this is just a tip of the iceberg. Obviously, there is much more activity going on underground. It’s just that this one has been caught, but maybe we should probe many others.
My question has always been, why is it that the president is usually silent on such issues? It had to take the revelation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for him to act. Elsewhere in the world, when people are caught waist-deep in such scams, they step down to pave way for proper investigations which would clear their name. But here, someone was going around announcing to the world that they can’t step down because they are very innocent until we prove their guilt.
Out there, too many people are just loitering the streets in search of food, employment, and such other needs while someone spreads his bed with currencies of different nations. I remember very well how someone promised to ease unemployment once they win the elections. Here we are, three years after, the situation is still dire. Graduates have turned their precious papers into mere decorations.
They say people should take up entrepreneurship, but is the environment that conducive? In the end, many people are flocking down south to the rainbow nation in search of greener pastures. There they live under the constant fear of being hacked by xenophobic individuals.
Somebody says we are the poorest nation on earth. But as the late Bingu wa Mutharika usually said, I believe it is the people who are poor, and not the country. The people are poor because those we entrusted with the public coffers treat themselves to several Christmases a year instead of uplifting the lives of us all. Their focus is on how to get their pockets fat and their bellies big. Here we are, 53 years later with a little to show that we are indeed grown-ups.
And here we are, talking about the wrongs and who did them. Maybe it’s indeed not about who did the wrongs, but who can fix them. Who then can fix all the wrongs we have done as a nation for the past 53 years? This country’s second-in-command was in town this other day encouraging the youth to analyse events critically rather than blindly clapping hands to trivia. It indeed seems out of our idleness, we turn ourselves into bootlickers who can do anything for the sake of a temporary meagre amount of cash the politicians bribe us with to help them advance their dirty agenda.
Even when we are in the so-called influential positions, we do not influence anything. Instead of being influential, people become the influenced. All that is done is clapping hands for the appointing powers so that we keep the job. You may agree with me here that there have been appointments we all expected would make a difference, only to be disappointed with what such people did in the end. A Ugandan comedian who trades as Teacher Mpamire once portrayed this in very simple terms. African leaders have advisers who rarely advise them. Ironically, it is the advisors who get advised. We surely need a system overhaul.
In the digital age, we are privileged with many technologies which enable us to air out our views. But then it’s all empty social network talk. We are activists online, but physically we can’t do anything. We speak strongly against the ills of the system but our courage is mere charade. Pure lip service. If only we could transform that online courage into practical courage, maybe the nation can move steps ahead.
But then, maybe this too is just one of those social network cheap talk.
So, let me conclude with a quote from one of the greatest writers this world has ever seen (at least from my point of view), Dan Brown. In his book Inferno, he wrote, “the darkest places in hell are reserved for those who keep quite in times of moral crisis.” But making noise without stepping out into reality wouldn’t mean anything.
Let’s find a way to fix this nation. Practically and not just in theory.
You can read more from the Daydreamer on this link;
www.hallucinations2010.wordpress.com
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