CASH GATE - A SAD STATE OF AFFAIR (In Malawi)

MALAWI’S CASHGATE

The cash gate affair has been dominating Malawian politics and increases to do so with more revelations coming out. Cash gate is the talk all over Malawi daily  with more arrest of government officials surfacing.

As the cash gate continues to dominate the media so are ordinary Malawians going hungry, and dying for lack of food and medicines. The nurses, the few nurses around are fed up, striking, marching to Capital Hill with petition in hand.  The president, Dr. Joyce Banda, is out of town leaving her cabinet to solve the problem and so it goes.

I am angry in the spirit and frustrated with the shenanigans of African leaders, their briberies and corruptions, when will it all end?

A few weeks ago I was doing my usual Saturday morning thing, shopping. I hate shopping, however,  in Malawi, I have developed the taste for shopping, maybe this is to break the day, otherwise the day is very long. It is also an opportunity to visit my friends, the local traders, put a smile on their faces, buying odds and ends; at least they get to feed their family, so important. Nobody should have to go hungry, but sadly, in this day and age people are going hungry all around the world.

When a man cannot feed his family, he resorts to violence, directing his anger and frustration towards his wife and children.  A vicious cycle, the impact of what poverty does to families.  The two main things I hate most in the world are poverty and violence against women and children. Others include injustice, all types of abuse, greed, selfish acts etc.  What poverty does to people and the violence perpetrated against women and children is often a result of poverty. Malawi is no exception when it comes to violence against women and children. The rate of domestic violence is on the increase around the world. 

Back to my story, walking along ‘old town, in area 2, I came across a mother sitting by the road side with her hungry toddler of not more than 3 years of age begging for money.  The young toddler was searching for food in the dirt. It broke my heart; I spent the whole day feeling sad and couldn’t get the image of this baby out of my mind. I went across the road and bought two large Malawian doughnuts for mother and son. Mum, thanked me and told her son in Chichewa, “Look this woman has brought us food”. As he bit into his doughnut, his face just lit up. A beautiful baby with a beautiful smile, but poverty, hunger has already marked his young tender face, so sad, a sad state of affair. It is possible my doughnut will be his only meal for the day, and yet we have ministers appointed to advocate for the people. However, these ministers have been found stealing from the public coffers and driving around with millions of Kwachas in the boot of their cars, a very shameful act of people we entrust to govern us.

Another revelation, which came to light, the assassin who tried to assassinate Mr. Paul Mphwiya, the former Budget Director of Finance was believed to have been paid 72 million Kwachas of which 40 per cent of the money from  donors and from Malawian taxpayers. Now I understand why with the large presence of NGOs/donors in Malawi. However, the funds poured into Malawi sadly have not reflected on ground level.  As we say in Ghana “Oga da chop wawa”!  Simply translates “the boss is eating plenty, plenty”!

Malawi is in crisis, no money and near bankruptcy all due to poor management of funds.  No accountability within the government each blaming the other, this problem is systemic and cannot be resolved overnight.  In my opinion, the cash gate scandal has taken Malawi backwards a further ten to twenty years.  Malawi is heavily reliant on donor aids to survive. Tobacco being Malawi’s main export is a very precarious market with tobacco lobbyist banning the sale of tobacco, the drop in the sale will undoubtedly affect Malawi’s economic growth. Strangely, for a tobacco producing country, Malawians are not smokers.  To see a Malawian man smoke is rare site, statistically the figure I believe to be around 1 in 30 men smoke. The main smokers are the Asians and the Caucasians

Should donors continue to support Malawi in the wake of cash gate?  Difficult to say, not being an economist, a catch 22 situation.  I believe Malawi should continue to receive support however; money should no longer go to the government.  The issue at hand who should hold the money and monitor how future money is spent and accounted for in Malawi, a challenge for the international communities and governments  who currently supports Malawi.  I believe there has to be a tighter regulations and accountability enforced upon Malawi by the international communities.

On 25 November, at 10 0’clock in the morning, local time, not far from area 3, where I live a mob justice took place. Five men caught stealing the takings from a Lebanese shop were served mob justice! The driver of the vehicle was shot dead by the owner of the shop, two of the men were told to strip, and then set a light, burnt alive. The third man beheaded with a hoe while a mob of people watched on. The surviving male is currently in police custody. Malawians are fed up have become very angry indeed!  On my quiet secluded area, of area 3, we have had several-attempted house break ins, including my compound.  A night guard attacked, requiring stitches to his head. The little Malawian Kiosk on our street broken into and the thieves made of with all the provisions in the kiosk, all in a space of one month (October/November).

A sad state of affair in Malawi.