The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has said Malawians have lost hope in the Tonse Alliance administration, accusing it of failing to take people to the “Promised Land” after four years of its rule.
Instead, the bishops have said the Tonse Alliance has managed to drag Malawians to ‘Bagamoyo’, a city on the east coast of Tanzania, where, whenever a slave arrived, he or she lost all hope of being free again.
Ten bishops from the country’s eight dioceses, led by archbishop George Tambala who is chairperson for ECM, have roasted the current administration through a pastoral letter titled ‘The Sad Story of Malawi’.
The letter was read in all Catholic churches Sunday during the second Sunday in Lent.
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The bishops said they have had fruitless engagements with the State President Lazarus Chakwera and that corruption continues to be rampant.
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They further accuse the Judiciary of engaging in corruption and partisanship.
Other vices cited in the letter include religious intolerance, intraparty squabbling, victimisation of the elderly and lack of respect and care for creation.
“Instead of reaching the promised land of prosperity, we are bogged down in the same land we wanted to leave, namely the land of hunger, disease, poverty, corruption and the like, hence most Malawians, except the very few well-connected ones, feel strongly that there is nothing else they can do to turn around the country or improve the deteriorating living conditions.
“They fail to see anybody in the current government who cares about them or who is able to improve their situation,” the letter reads.
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The bishops say they have been trying to engage Chakwera.
“Mindful of our prophetic role to be the voice of the voiceless, we have privately engaged the State President several times. Still, we fail to see any positive change in the general governance of our dear Malawi or any improvement in the plight of our poor brothers and sisters across the country.
“We have repeatedly warned the government leadership that if poor governance continued, the state of our nation would become far worse than it was four years ago. Unfortunately our prediction has come true,” the letter reads.
They have also taken a swipe at the Judiciary.
“The price of judges and magistrates is no longer taboo; it is an open secret that some lawyers thrive by bribing judges and magistrates to defeat the ends of justice. Some judges and magistrates are accountable to no one. They take years to hear a case, yet the Judiciary does nothing to discipline them. Instead, they are rewarded with a promotion,” the pastoral letter reads.
Other ills cited in the letter include deterioration of roads, high fees in schools, reduced purchasing power of the Kwacha, an Affordable Inputs Programme they say is a joke and increased levels of nepotism.
The bishops give guidance to Malawians on how to get out of problems.
“With all the ills and challenges listed above and many more, we might be tempted to believe that we are a doomed nation. God does not forsake His children.
“God requires our cooperation in order to assist us get out of the mess we are in. One way of cooperating with Him is to actively and wisely participate in the forthcoming elections,” the bishops say.
The bishops say while leaders are responsible for many of the problems, voters are also to blame for choosing leaders who fail to govern the country.
In reaction to the letter, government spokesperson-cum-Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu said the government has received the pastoral letter with appreciation, wisdom and humility.
“We acknowledge some cited challenges and remain determined to use the bishops’ wisdom to continue building on the progress the country is making.
“We also trust that we will continue praying for each other and our beloved country, Malawi,” Kunkuyu said.
He also said government would continue to engage the clergy.
“We, as government, will not engage in item-by-item response with the clergy in public. Instead, we will not get tired of utilising the engagements that we do have with the clergy from time to time,” Kunkuyu said.
Meanwhile, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency Executive Director Willie Kambwandira has said he agrees with contents of the pastoral letter.
“We entirely agree with the issues and concerns raised by the Catholic bishops. We have raised them several times. Sadly, government has never been aggressive in tackling them. What we see is a retrogressive way of governing, with blatant corruption within the private sector. Cronyism, nepotism and tribalism dictate the chances of employment and access to public services.
“Our leaders appear to have narrow selfish political interests,” Kambwandira said.
Church and Society of Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian said the Tonse Alliance has failed Malawians, as cited in the pastoral letter.
“We, as Blantyre Synod through the Church and Society Programme, totally support and share the observations in the pastoral letter.
“The Tonse Alliance government has failed Malawians on different fronts based on what they promised and what Malawians expected of them,” the society’s executive director Reverend Master Jumbe said Sunday.
‘The Sad Story of Malawi’ is the 28th pastoral letter by the bishops since the first one, titled ‘How to Build a Happy Nation’, was issued in 1961.
Probably the second famous letter was the one titled ‘Living Our Faith’, which was released in 1992.
The current pastoral letter has been signed by all the 10 catholic bishops of the eight dioceses.
These are Archbishop George Tambala of Lilongwe Archdiocese, Bishop Montfort Stima of Mangochi Diocese and Vice Chairperson of ECM, Archbishop Thomas Msusa of Blantyre Archdiocese, and bishops Peter Musikuwa of Chikwawa, Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga, John Ryan of Mzuzu, Peter Chifukwa of Dedza, Alfred Chaima of Zomba, Yohane Nyirenda auxiliary bishop of Mzuzu and Vincent Mwakhwawa, who is the uxiliary bishop of Lilongwe.
