By JANET OTIENO | Wednesday, October 9
2013 at
09:58
Malawians are unhappy, with lobbyists and the opposition
lining up to accuse President Joyce Banda of doing her best rendition
of Houdini with them. Mrs Banda left the country on September 16 for the
US to attend the recent UN General Assembly, and has been away since.
Such a long absence comes in the backdrop of a ticking 2014 election
clock, and has bred discontent.
She must have heeded the calls as she was expected
back in Lilongwe on Wednesday, but the question remains, how
effectively can she put her house back in order as the wheels threaten
to fall off?
The southern African country is currently plagued
by a myriad problems, Corruption threatens to spiral out of control,
going by reports of massive official plunder. The shooting of the
director of budget raised eyebrows, with observers suggesting someone
wanted to erase evidence of graft.
The country's airport workers have been agitating
for unpaid allowances. University of Malawi workers are demanding a
promised 25 per cent salary increment. A maize shortage has led to
rationing at 10 kilograms per person at the market.
The country's hardliner civil society activists
have given President Banda 30 days to publicly declare her assets, root
out corruption, and explain the rotting of maize in the silos. Mrs Banda
also has a seven-day ultimatum to fire and arrest public servants
implicated in the theft of taxpayers money in what has been dubbed
'Cash-gate'.
Upon taking office in Malawi, which is heavily
reliant on donor funding to finance its development budget, President
Banda introduced a raft of cost-cutting measures.
She managed to woo back the International Monetary
Fund, which had zipped its purse during the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s
era over graft, but at painful cost including devaluation of the local
kwacha currency and the removal of major subsidies on fuel and other
commodities.
The inevitable result was street protests after the price of basic goods went up.
Struggling economy
She also auctioned off a luxurious presidential
jet to a Virgin Islands company for $15 million in an effort to raise
funds for the struggling economy. However, she was criticised for being
too eager to please donors especially the United Kingdom.
Britain, which is Malawi’s main bilateral donor,
had criticised the purchase of the jet and reduced its aid budget by
$4.4 million. She is now forced to hitch lifts or use commercial
airlines to travel outside the country. In can be unnerving territory:
In March, Botswana turned down her request to ride in its presidential
jet for a US summit for African leaders.
The raft of measures did not appeal to many
Malawians who thought their President was dancing too energetically to
the tune of foreigners. They felt their interests were being relegated
leading to protests and countless ultimatums which an opportunistic
opposition is seemingly taking advantage of.
To make matters worse, Malawi’s economy is yet to pick up, irking the citizenry even more.
All they need, they say, is provision of clean
water, food, loans, live healthily, education infrastructure and support
for development. This is where she could concentrate her energies on:
well-fed citizenry do not bother whether you sell jets or limousines.
To appease the civil society, she also needs to
conduct thorough and credible investigations into the 'Cash-gate' matter
to win over public confidence again. The guilty parties must be made to
return the money, and prosecuted.
In her defence, Banda took the over the country at
a delicate time, and has so far had some breathing space. But patience
seems to be wearing thin. She could sorely do with good news from any
quarter, say an offshore discovery of gas in her portion of the disputed
Lake Nyasa.
It is not far-fetched to say her government could do with these sorts of miracles.
Email: ajotieno@ke.nationmedia.com Twitter: JanetOtieno
SOURCE: REVIEW AFRICA
SOURCE: REVIEW AFRICA
