Africa-Press – Malawi. The Public Affairs Committee (Pac) this week woke up from its slumber and told President Lazarus Chakwera what he was supposed to hear two years ago. The current team of Pac has been conspicuous in its reluctance to haul the President over hot coals for the governance gaffes the majority of Malawians accuse him of.
Well, Pac might argue that they have been knocking on Chakwera’s door for a face-to-face engagement but the President’s “busy schedule” could not allow that.
But, there was no harm in the quasi-religious body sending a statement to the Office of the President and Cabinet while still pushing for a physical meeting.
Perhaps, that no longer matters now that the men and women of the collar finally met the President and gave him a reality check at Kamuzu Palace— his own residence. To say the truth, the message by Pac, contained in that comprehensive and honest document, is the brutal reality of Chakwera’s leadership.
In terrible moments of need, the President has rather chosen to take a laidback approach, only coming out mildly to say something to the effect that he appreciates the suffering Malawians are experiencing.
There are decisions that solely depend on his word that could go a long way in presenting a picture that he is interested in correcting governance failures and cutting on public expenditure.
For instance, several stakeholders have talked about how a troubled economy like ours should not have more than 15 Cabinet ministers. We all know how these public officers drain a good chunk from public coffers even though most of them do not really do anything worthwhile in their portfolios.
Of course, Chakwera is coming from a background where many people lifted him and he is supposed to be grateful by offering them top positions in government.
Politically, that may make sense, but there is a need to balance between appeasement and a nation’s economic interests. Pac just reminded the President that maintaining a Cabinet of 29 ministers unnecessarily drains money from Account Number One.
In any case, the people Chakwera sought to appease must by now be satisfied that they have spent some time in Cabinet and would not be bitter if they were chucked out now.
After all, a president is not obliged to explain to anyone about his decision to drop them from Cabinet. No one is entitled to such a position. So, it still is not too late for Chakwera to reduce his Cabinet and show the world that he is really serious about cutting public expenditure.
Pac also tackled the issue of the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) and once again asked that it should be phased out for failing to deliver its intended results.
Many observers have provided their views on why AIP is a waste of money and why sticking to it does not make economic sense. Of course, the truth is that politics and fraud have been the overriding deciders of maintaining the programme.
Government goes ahead to give farmers subsidised inputs because it wants them to remain grateful and vote for the present governing party at the next election.
Then, there also are those who fraudulently benefit from programmes such as AIP through contracts and other deals. Such individuals will do everything in their powers to ensure the programme continues.
Yet, it simply does not make any sense that year in, year out, the very same people who get the subsidised inputs end up not harvesting enough and return to government with their begging bowls.
Suggestions have been made about improving food security in the country such as by redirecting the billions of Kwacha that go into AIP to bigger projects that will ensure maize is there in abundance, resulting in prices automatically going down.
It simply requires Chakwera’s directive for AIP to be phased out. Many more problems that Malawi is facing need his attention. In fact, by virtue of being the country’s leader, he is supposed to provide direction in all crucial acts of governance.
Any kind of failure will be attributed to him. Unfortunately, like Pac observed in that scathing communique, Chakwera is slow to act and very indecisive. You would be forgiven for imagining that he often forgets that he has a country to lead and must make important decisions in time.
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