‘How to win lottery in Zimbabwe’

Last week Thursday, I and a colleague went to attend the burial ceremony of our friend’s departed mother at Chiwamba, some 45 kilometres from Lilongwe City. It took us almost an hour to navigate through the dusty and pothole-infested 12-kilometre-plus stretch after the main road. Somewhere, we had to park our vehicle after realising that we could no longer proceed, considering the state of the road. Thankfully a good Samaritan who was heading to the same event gave us a lift.

Speakers at the funeral included a representative of the area’s Member of Parliament. Apart from condoling the bereaved, he took advantage of the gathering to ask those with coupons under the Agriculture Inputs Programme (AIP) to go and redeem their fertiliser. But, for whatever reason, people— presumably villagers from surrounding areas— started murmuring. Someone seated next me confided in me that the villagers were probably complaining about why they were being given basal dressing fertiliser when the maize crop was about to start tussling. Ironically, the very same people who are getting subsidised fertilizer would probably be back on the queue next year. This time round to receive relief maize if trends are anything to go by.

Writing in the book Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson argue that the “most common reason why nations fail today is because they have extractive institutions”. One section in the book, which caught my eye, was ‘How to Win Lottery in Zimbabwe’. Sometime in January 2000, master of ceremonies Fallot Chiwawa was in charge of drawing winning tickets for the national lottery at an event organised in Harare, Zimbabwe, by a partly state-owned bank, the Zimbabwe Banking Corporation (Zimbank). It was a lottery which was open to all clients who had kept 5,000 or more Zimbabwe dollars in their accounts during December 1999. Chiwawa was astonished. As Zimbank put it “Master of ceremonies Fallot Chiwawa could hardly believe his eyes when the ticket drawn for Z$100,00 prize was handed to him and saw [the name] His Excellency RG Mugabe written on it.”

The prize might appear little but it represented a considerable amount of money to most people in Zimbabwe—where minimum wages at that time started at less than Z$1,000 ($26) a month— about five times the annual per capita. The bank claimed that Mugabe’s name had been drawn from among thousands of eligible customers!

But as Acemoglu and Robinson put it, the lottery ticket incident could just be a tip of the iceberg. It is among many examples of how African leaders, using their positions— whether knowingly or unknowingly— allegedly create so-called extractive institutions. These institutions are manifested as barriers which methodically block opportunities and incentives of poor people to improve their lives. Control of resources is usually under a small elite or ruling class who are free to manipulate any opportunity as a way of perpetuating dependance of the less privileged.

Oh, sorry I digressed! The AIP may not be a bad intervention per se. However, going by information in the public domain regarding the mixed views it has elicited, it might be worthwhile reviewing some aspects about the programme. This would help fend off some misconceptions as advanced in the public domain about the AIP. It becomes a reputation issue when some quarters start questioning as to whether the programme is, in real sense, helping the poor or perpetuating dependence while enriching a few elites.

However, shortcomings from one programme should not make us undermine positive strides registered in AIP and many others. There are many success stories to celebrate about to avoid subjecting ourselves to a single story. As advanced by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a single story is a one-dimensional perspective. Sometimes, it is a false perception formed about individuals, groups or countries— it is, rather, a misrepresentation of reality.

For instance, from the Western world perspective, Africa is invariably viewed as a continent inherently backward and dysfunctional. African leaders are painted with the same brush as being corrupt. The negative narratives are part of a single story that any foreign media would happily use to deepen the psychology of Africa as a failed continent; one with backward people.

But Malawi, just like any African country, has so many untold success stories. These include the country’s competitive advantage, evidenced in its rich natural resources, potential in tourism and hospitality, its rich culture and heritage as well as a youthful population with abundant energy and innovative ideas. The list is endless.

If well packaged, these and many others could help in amplifying Malawi’s positive image and reputation. But this requires some good public relations. Let us strive to tell our country’s story.

However, in all this, leadership must— at all levels— set the tone through their words and actions when it comes to managing reputation. No serious investor would be interested in investing in a country which is dominated by negative stories, including corruption-related scandals.

This does not necessarily mean that Malawians should not question some of these interventions or those in leadership positions. It is a matter of having a balanced narrative. Not a single story.