Former Tanzania’s president the late John Magufuli once took a swipe at officials in his government who always rushed to patch roads’ potholes the moment they learnt he would be visiting their area.
Magufuli was of the view that as long as the roads were being used by people in their conditions, they should be allowed to be used by him in those conditions too.
He described the conduct of the public officers as total fraud, insisting his interest was to see for himself all the problems his people were facing and that concealing them with temporary coverings was totally rash.
The past few days, President Lazarus Chakwera was at Njamba Freedom Park and Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre for two different events.
The roads leading to and around the venues were once again fixed probably to make them more presidential.
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Edges of the tarmac road that passes by Njamba were cleared of all the bushes and looked spick and span.
Those are the locations where people have been attacked by robbers before owing to the overgrown bushes which have now been trimmed.
The practice is common in all councils across the country.
Government officers will rush to paint a false picture of the situation just for a president to have the impression that things are working.
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Yet, in most cases, the deception is physically there for anyone who cares to see. But, failure by our presidents to condemn it implies they find contentment in such acts.
The problem is that the deception further has the potential of preventing the correction of the unfavourable conditions.
We have seen it before, where a president or any other high-ranking official visits a hospital and finds all the equipment and supplies in perfect condition.
Beds all of a sudden get new mattresses and covers to hoodwink the visitors that all is well at the facilities.
Then, we later hear officials from there complaining that they are failing to sufficiently help patients because they do not receive adequate support.
For once, public officers must allow the unfavourable situations and conditions to remain exposed for leaders to have a clear and true picture of their country.
Let presidents travel on potholed roads and see for themselves that a hospital they are visiting to cheer up survivors of a disaster is in a dilapidated condition.
A president and any other high-ranking public official are there in their positions to serve their people, and not to be treated like some demigods who should not feel the potholes.
Of course, there are situations where, for the sake of a president’s security, certain elements of the route he is expected to use are fixed in a particular way.
But the larger issue remains that fixing public structures because a president will be using or visiting them smacks of dishonesty.
How will the president know the real problems which demand his attention?
The habit of hiding from our leaders the real extent of problems in the country is further evident in failure by those who have opportunities of briefing the leaders on different issues of national interest to say the truth.
In fact, there are reports that even when the general mood on the streets is that of gloom and anger due to challenges such as rising cost of living, presidential advisors choose to tell their boss what he would rather want to hear.
Right now, it is clear that many things are going haywire in this country governance-wise, but it appears President Lazarus Chakwera is told something else—that is if he does not ignore what he sees and hears.
In all public events that he addresses, he paints a picture of a country that is progressing in the midst of adversity.
Of course, it may not sound politically right for the President to keep recounting the numerous problems that are there, but acknowledging them does not do any harm.
He should, however, call out all those who rush to temporarily fix problems in anticipation of his visit because they are simply creating illusions which essentially result in the real issues not being addressed.
Like Magufuli did, Chakwera must charge that he is interested to see the reality wherever he goes so that it can also help him to make an honest assessment of the situations and conditions of various public structures.
Roads in poor conditions and hospitals with torn-out mattresses and sheets and falling ceilings must not be patched for the President.
They must be fixed for Malawians.
