For most of this week, angry protesters, mostly young people, have been pouring into the streets and highways of Kenya’s towns and cities to demand the withdrawal of a controversial tax bill.
Even after that country’s President William Ruto backed down on the proposed law after it had passed in Parliament, the protesters did not budge.
It appears this was not their only qualm against their leader who had started his term on unprecedented goodwill.
Some are demanding his resignation on the premise that he has failed to govern the country.
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The disillusioned youth are also accusing their government of arrogance, corruption and sustained neglect of their welfare.
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Even when reports suffused their country’s atmosphere that some of their colleagues had been shot dead in the fracas, they did not stay home out of fear of bullets.
More were killed, such that by press time yesterday, the number of casualties, according to a doctor’s association, stood at not less than 23.
The bill that sparked the protests had been pending for weeks. It aimed to raise taxes to purportedly relieve Kenya’s debt burdens, as demanded by its lenders including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Ruto announced a couple of austerity measures to cut down on government expenditure.
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This is quite a familiar scenario and, as has been the case in Malawi before, Kenyans doubt if the measures will be implemented.
Africa leaders have a tendency of announcing measures to reduce public spending amid tough economic times only to turn around and use a “small window” and declare a foreign trip they are undertaking is necessary.
We have seen that happening here.
Under pressure from multilateral creditors to cut down on his spending, President Lazarus Chakwera declared he would not hit the skies from November last year until March this year.
But like they usually do, he gave himself and top government officials, including Cabinet ministers, some latitude by not making the austerity measures absolute.
Many had predicted that our leaders’ proclivity for planes and overseas hotels would deem every international summit an absolutely necessary one.
So, it was not surprising that just weeks after the austerity measures had been announced, Chakwera flew to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a mission he claimed it was impossible to miss.
In fact, his senior officials in government, including Cabinet ministers, continued to hop from one plane to another to attend some insignificant meetings, draining much-needed dollars from Malawi to wealthier destinations.
They sent us statements about their interactions in Europe, Asia, America and wherever planes fly and we published the stories while scoffing at a job poorly done in managing the austerity narrative.
Kenyans, like Malawians, know their leaders seldom mean it when they say they are the servants of the people and that they will sacrifice their own comfort and pleasure for the welfare of those they lead.
So, the anger in citizens of that eastern African country might continue to erupt in the coming days.
One spark triggered by a controversial bill will probably dig out more issues which will converge into a ticking time bomb.
Yet, Ruto’s government had all the time in the world, just like Chakwera’s, to reason with the people and address their concerns.
In Malawi right now, people are talking about several problems besetting the country, with many of them stemming from insensitive leadership.
Cronyism, nepotism and corruption remain rampant.
The silence from the masses on these issues does not necessarily mean they have been addressed, for we see retirees being drawn from their homes to retake positions which they youth are also hankering for.
We keep seeing the fight against corruption being frustrated more and more through the discontinuance of cases involving bigwigs when others are languishing in jail for lesser crimes.
The youth of Malawi are not as passive and disengaged as some observers insinuate.
When the anger in them has boiled to levels they cannot hold anymore, they will surely revolt and the damage may be of cataclysmic proportions.
But Chakwera and his men and women in charge of government affairs have time to correct whatever Malawians have been complaining about.
They have much to learn from Kenya—and from the 2019-2020 nationwide protests which they were part of.
Ruto accused whom he described as criminals of infiltrating peaceful protests. At the very least, he must acknowledge that the so-called gangs had a running event to permeate.
This has been the case in past anti-government protests in Malawi.
In fact, perhaps, Kenya’s events should simply remind us about the dangers of ignoring the voices and cries of the people, for we have our own history to learn from.
