By Davie Mchinga
Yawning sewage manholes, piled and uncollected solid waste, illegal vending, deforestation, are some of myriad challenges that Blantyre City faces.
Once touted as Malawi’s cleanest and most organised city, Blantyre is now an eyesore as crime perpetrated by some street-kids is rampant.
But there’s one man called Isaac Jomo, a former street-kid who fought his way up the radar of power and influence.
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Today he’s Blantyre City Mayor, singlehandedly trying to restore the city to its nostalgic days of cleanliness and safety Blantyre. This is a place the Mayor proudly calls.
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Blantyre has had mayors who have been celebrated and hailed with exaggerated deference because of their standing in society or having some professions that normally attract reverence. But Blantyre was still neglected and has been a city that no one would have been proud of with filth everywhere, brothels operating right in the middle of town, street kids becoming a menace to society, road pavements being turned to vending places and all the mess that one wouldn’t want to see in a city with a lofty pedigree as Blantyre has. Even those who, today, are cheering on Jomo Osman, looked away when he begged them for alms.
Day in and day out, he goes out to bring back the distant glory of a picturesque Blantyre whose paved roads had streetlights, proper drainage systems, when Mudi River effortlessly slithered and zig-zagged the length and breadth of the city down to Shire and Ndirande and Soche Hills basked in the canopy of their greenery.
That’s a Blantyre City that lingers in Jomo’s head. But can he do it all by himself? That’s the question.
Jomo’s efficiency crusades won’t last for several reasons if he continues to operate as he’s doing. First, he has personalized the initiative, and everything is all but him.
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That’s an oversight glitch he is fermenting. Look, Blantyre City is an institution with a well-organized span of control and chain of command.
Therefore, Jomo has a springboard on which he can launch his plans for the betterment of the city of Blantyre. All he needs is to utilize what he already has.
Unlike doing it alone, he must instead strengthen already existing structures and ensure that they perform up to their established mission.
Look, individualising public service is a gamble that he must least take, because Malawi has a plethora of examples who once tried to go solo when it came to ensuring there is efficiency in public service.
It is one of the easiest and most efficient ways of achieving short term goals, but it soon loses steam.
Look, individuals come and go, but institutions live forever and all one needs to do is to strengthen their capacity.
Making them rely on one man to call the shots makes the task a one-man show and generally people, particularly civil servants, don’t like to be overshadowed.
They all want to be recognised and when one individual seems to credit everything to themselves, they step back and watch from a distance.
That’s what will likely happen if Jomo continues this solo crusade of ensuring Blantyre City Council serves residents as it ought to be.
Jomo must also know that he cannot be everywhere and therefore, he needs to delegate certain duties to his subordinates.
Effective leaders assign and delegate duties to the teams they are working with. It’s one way of building trust and teamwork.
They win as a team and if at all they achieve something, they share the blame because everyone may have contributed to the failure or success thereof.
First Lady Gertrude Mutharika was out and about on Sunday with her Beautify Malawi (Beam) Trust, a charity organisation she founded some eight years ago.
In its formative years when President Peter Mutharika first ruled Malawi between 2014 and 2020, the Beam was visible.
But when Mutharika was booted out, Beam went along with it. Until recently, it has been silent and if at all it was operating, it’s either it did not publicise its charity work or the media ignored it.
Charities founded by first ladies are generally a good initiative because of the influence they wield in mobilising resources.
Well-wishers, donors and the business community donate to first ladies’ charities, and such donations go a long way in alleviating some of the vulnerable groups faced in society.
It is no wonder that First Lady Gertrude Mutharika was able to reach out to those affected by the natural disaster in Mtandile in Lilongwe a fortnight week ago as part of its activities.
Also, Beam has been involved in environmental affairs and in 2019, it was involved in cleaning up the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Such a commendable job but in the last five years, it went off the radar and now it’s back.
Look, Beam along with other initiatives such as Joyce Banda’s Mudzi Transformation Trust (MTT) and former first lady Monica Chakwera Girls’ Education and Empowerment Program are good vehicles for development.
However, the survival of these entities relies on the occupancy or tenure of spouses to the first ladies, the president.
Yet the work they do in society is profound and needs to be sustained.
Therefore, first ladies must ensure that their initiatives don’t exclusively rely on donations that come from well-wishers who give simply because they want to be on good terms with the presidency.
But the cost is that the country loses a lot due to their absence. Look, if Beam and Mudzi Transformation Trust had continued with their initiatives, the country could have benefitted more.
Now that former first lady Chakwera is out of State House, it is hoped that she will continue touching lives.
To well-wishers and donors, make sure you support first ladies even when they leave the State House.
Of course, it looks awkward politically speaking for a company or businessperson to donate to a former first lady, but there is a way.
Make your donations in private to avoid being seen as supporting the opposition. Also, first ladies must devise other income generation activities.
Relying on donations alone isn’t sustainable. No wonder, such initiatives die down whenever the president leaves office because their survival depends on the presidency.
To Madam Mutharika, continue the good work. Mobilise as many resources as you can and reach out to the people in need.
Meanwhile, Southern Malawi has been hit by dry spells, and it is likely that there will be food shortages.
Now is the time to mobilise resources and complement government efforts. The goal is service.
