Political expediency can sometimes be costly. If it may not be costly to the individual perpetuating it, it could be costly to the population at large.
In case you are wondering about what I am up to. The issue of fuel supply hiccups, of course. By now, no one has been left unscathed by the problem.
Just this week, we heard the United States (US) Embassy admitting that some of its operations had been compromised. In the words of US Public Affairs Officer Grant Phillipp: “We have seen the impact of fuel shortages, including on employees of the US Mission to Malawi. We have taken steps to limit fuel consumption to ensure mission operations continue uninterrupted and have offered employees paid administrative leave time to procure fuel for their own vehicles.”
And, as Malawi’s good friend, the US has gone to the ‘lovely’ extent of suggesting means of addressing the problem, with Phillipp saying thus: “We have encouraged the Government of Malawi to raise the price of fuel to adequately cover the cost of importation and regain sustainability in the supply chain.”
And, it seems, Malawi is not short of friends, for the European Union (EU) has added its voice to the matter. For instance, EU Ambassador to Malawi Rune Skinnebach said there was a need to consider three solutions to the problem. That is, increasing fuel prices, finding other means of forex generation and improving transportation modes in Malawi.
- Advertisement -
Listening to him, one really feels that he has the country’s best interests at heart. In his words, “Malawi needs to trade less and produce more and export it. The other way of dealing with this is to look at the transportation modes in Malawi. I know many people do not have access to cars and they take public transport. You need to introduce more economic use of resources you have. I come from a small country in Europe where everybody is using their bikes. When I live in Brussels, I take my bike to the office every morning. And it makes me exercise.”
There you go.
Not that Skinnebach is speaking from a vacuum. Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) Chief Executive Officer Henry Kachaje himself admitted that the country’s fuel prices were too low. In other words, landing costs are higher than fuel pump prices.
Now, if that were a business model, that business model must be flawed.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Maybe members of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change and Consumers Association of Malawi officials were foresighted when they suggested fuel price increases “long ago”. Yes, looking at the queues at filling stations, earlier this year looks like “long ago”.
Now, considering that the fuel crisis has affected operations of many organisations, including the ongoing voter registration by the Malawi Electoral Commission, which had to seek special consideration from Mera; Central Medical Stores Trust, which also lamented that the delivery of drugs to health facilities was compromised because of the fuel crisis; Electricity Generation Company of Malawi, which depends on gensets to offer some of its services. The list is endless. And what has been President Lazarus Chakwera’s response to the issue? Silence! Loud silence for that matter. That is what political expediency can do. It can kill—if not [kill] one’s political career, [it can] at least kill what remains of citizens’ hope. Well, leave politics aside; let us play the game of economics. The solution to the current problem is an economic one. Raise fuel prices so that they can, at least, much landing costs.
And, as the EU has said, do something about vehicle imports. Most of the vehicles are secondhand, meaning that the sellers treat Malawi as a dumping site.
We cannot continue living like that.
