Malawi needs solutions

Few weeks ago when President Bingu wa Mutharika’s hired the ‘lean’ cabinet following the dissolution of the previous bloated cabinet, we lauded him for demonstrating his strong desire to address the concerns raised by the masses through a petition which the civil society presented to government.

Besides trimming his cabinet, government’s attempts to normalize fuel supplies, the appointment of a Presidential Committee on Contact and Dialogue to negotiate with the civil society were some of the steps that formed the basis of our commendation. Like many citizens, we expected that the new cabinet would start addressing issues raised by the masses through the petition that the civil society submitted to government.

The citizenry, according to the petition, would like to see the repulsion of the infamous Section 46 of the Penal Code which empowers a cabinet minister to ban newspapers. They would also like government to stop draining tax-payers money through payments made to the First Lady as her remuneration for her charity. The other demand is that the Civil Procedures Bill popularly known as Injunction Bill, which is meant to prohibit the court from granting ex-parte injunctions against government should also be quashed. The heart of the matter is that President Bingu wa Mutharika and his administration still have a long list of concerns to address if their commitment to good governance and respect for the rule of law is to be appreciated by the masses.

Malawians had high hopes on the new cabinet ministers who we thought would at all cost refrain from misleading the president with shoddy advice on how he addresses people’s concerns. It seems were mistaken because some of the cabinet ministers are nothing but political liabilities who think that their duties revolves around churning out empty refutations and lies on trivia. It seems there is a crop of cabinet ministers who think that their job description is to be organizing press conferences on daily basis in the name of defending government through hollow refutations oftentimes bordering on castigating the opposition and the civil society.

Malawians do not want good-for-nothing ministers who waste their time ranting and raving instead of addressing the concerns that affect the majority of the people. If the ministers believe that they are endowed with great wisdom, then they should end the Chancellor College impasse which has seen students failing to attend classes for seven months now. Let them display their wisdom by ending the fuel and forex crises that are dogging the country, instead of boring people with senseless refutations and lies which even a kindergarten pupil can’t believe.

Let cabinet ministers tackle real issues that make a difference in the lives of Malawians instead of ranting and raving in the name of refutations on daily basis.