This journey begins with a man from a fishing district in the Eastern Region of the country. He is on a small boat and he sails towards the coast to dock that small vessel for he has big dreams.
His head, which is slowly balding, is supposed to carry the aspirations of the whole nation. People who have endured 30 years under tyranny.
The man gets off the boat, invades the land and conquers it. Soon, the people are singing a new song. “Democracy” and “freedom” become buzzwords they throw about carelessly without thinking about what the new dispensation entails.
Indeed, at the dawn of democracy Malawians thought they had righted all wrongs. Nobody would blame us for being hopeful, understanding that the world around us was moving at the same pace.
In 1994, the landmark achievement in the fight for political freedom was registered in South Africa when they got rid of the apartheid regime.
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Back home, the small gains that people had made in ousting the one-party regime mirrored what had happed in South Africa.
It is actually amazing how the universe conspires to make fun of humans. Today, the socio-economic backward journey that South Africa took that year reflects ours in every step.
Thirty years after embracing multiparty democracy, Malawi has failed to make any socio-economic progress. There is not even political progress since we seem to be stuck with demagogues who are in it for self-aggrandizement and nothing else.
From our first democratically elected leader in 1994, political leadership has been more about sheer popularity at the expense of ethical and strategic leadership for meaningful progress.
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We have embraced a culture of chaos and irresponsibility so much that anyone gets away with anything.
The inception of multiparty democracy in 1994 meant opening the door to corruption, nepotism, impunity, political appeasement and laissez-faire maladministration.
Our injuries are self-inflicted and our predicament is of our own choosing. You can tell from what politicians tell us during political campaigns that they know exactly what our country needs in order to heal.
The worst thing is that these people not only have the answers, but the country also has the resources to see us move from this dark spot.
But for some ominous reason, a few people choose to keep those resources to themselves so that their opulence can massage their egos.
In this way, we have maintained systems that champion patronage over servanthood. Our political leaders are gods above us and they don’t live in the same world we live in.
The cancer we have nurtured over the last 30 years of multiparty democracy should worry us for it is critical. The failures of the Tonse Alliance, for example, should tell you that we have hit rock-bottom as a nation.
You may remember very well that the coming in of this administration was considered some form of renaissance – a rebirth of sorts.
It was likened to that revolution for a referendum back in 1993. It was seen as a resuscitation of a people’s agency to fight for and finally get what they deserve.
But four years down the line, the new powers in the shrines continue from where their predecessors left off. Corruption cases involving big people are being buried before our eyes.
Our brothers and sisters in the villages are still dying of hunger. The Malawi Kwacha continues on a downward spiral, and the most productive young men and women are running away from this place of affliction. Our leaders have failed us.
Perhaps the other journey should begin with patriots. People who will sit down, look themselves in the mirror and beat their chests. A group of morally-upright elites who will accept blame and take responsibility.
Those who are brave and humble enough to accept that it is the educated elite that have let down this country.
We no longer need people who shine in big English, but rather those who would feel ashamed that all that foreign learning has not benefitted the average citizen.
We have failed to make any progress in these last 30 years of freedom because those who know better have decided to use their privilege to fool the people they must uplift.
