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