Leadership with Responsibility
The greatest tragedy to fall on Africa is not unavailability of natural resources that can spur economic growth; it is not deficiency of appropriate human capacity to fish our people and economies from the quagmire of poverty and hopelessness; it is not the withdrawing of aid.
It is the inability to have responsible leadership.
We lack a kind of leadership that is development-focused, one that is willing to make sacrifices for the very same future.
The democratic Malawi has to a great extent disillusioned the dreams and aspirations of the people who thought that a multiparty system of governance could breed a responsible leadership.
It is indeed true that the riches of Africa are never utilised to develop the people of Africa. The riches of Africa are always channeled to benefit the ruling elites.
What we are developing in Africa are vampire states whereby leaders suck the economic vitality out of their people as one Prof. George Ayittey of Ghana said in his trademark presentation entitled ‘Hippos and cheetahs.’
As a country, we are letting in greed overtake the development ideologies we had in the very beginning.
Why it is that the very same representatives of the poor masses, the so-called Honourable Members of Parliament are happy to approve a 30 percent salary increment for the poorly paid civil servants and smile at over a 300 percent increment on their salaries?
Until when shall a common man stop being used as a hoe that only digs and tills the soil but never benefits?
Until when shall the common man be subjected to chibwenzi chankhwangwa chokoma pokwera?
It brings to mind again what Prof Ayittey once said: sometimes we think that there is something called a government in Africa that cares for its people, serves the interest of the people, and represents the people. In fact, what we understand as a government does not exist in many African countries.
Our Members of Parliament are the arm of the government. If they indeed represent the suffering masses, why should they only be interested with their bellies other than the starving bellies of thousands of citizens they represent?
We have certainly lost the traditional values of Africa whereby we used to concentrate on the community rather than the self. It is not surprising therefore that so many people jostle to be in the national assembly not for the people but for themselves.
The voters are nothing but mere ladders or shoulders used to climb to the top and then ignored.
We are creating a crisis for the future. By and large our people will lose interest in politics because their votes will no longer be for the betterment of their lives but leaders.
By and large politics will mean nothing to the common man and in trying to attach it to the common man then we will have no choice but to keep on playing the politics of handouts as a means of attracting our people.
By and large our people will become hostile to political leaders. I am so sure voter apathy in the years to come will become a dominant factor.
Our people will have nothing for which to vote for in as much as the personal interest of our leaders is the prime objective for elections.
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