Sometimes, I laugh at how impractical some people are. I mean, when I think that rational thinking is as common as common sense, decisions some people make bring me back to the reality that, indeed, common sense is not common.
Take, for instance, some of the decisions made at the Football Association of Malawi (Fam), which is supposed to be insulated from political decisions. In fact, Fam leaders have, all along, been pretending to be free from the political hand—until, I think, the Malawi Congress Party regime came into power after winning the June 23, 2020 court-ordered presidential election, which saw Lazarus Chakwera, now outgoing Malawi President, getting one over Peter Mutharika, who God has, once again, chosen to lead Malawi. His swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre this coming Saturday.
One of the notable decisions Chakwera made during his reign—which is about to end this weekend—was to transfer the headquarters of some government departments and agencies to Capital Hill, the seat of the government, in Lilongwe.
As such, Blantyre City saw the exodus of civil and public servants who were working at the Blantyre-based headquarters of government departments and agencies. The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority is a typical example of institutions that relocated to Lilongwe. Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) headquarters moved to Lilongwe, too, despite that MHC has one of the imposing structures at what used to be its headquarters in Blantyre.
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There were plans, too, to move the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation headquarters to Lilongwe; with plans, too, to relocate the headquarters of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services. There are several government institutions that were targeted, and what I have listed down are just some of the examples.
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Actually, some of my friends started joking that, considering the rate at which some irrational decisions were being made by the outgoing administration, it would not be surprising for Blantyre Water Board and Southern Region Water Board officials to get the directive that they had to relocate to Lilongwe. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! How many times have I said Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Five, just to save you from the task of counting the words. Needless to say each Ha! represents a year of Chakwera’s five-year term.
Meanwhile, at Fam, the winds of change were blowing, too, culminating in the unseating of the association’s long-time president Walter Nyamilandu Manda. In his stead rose Fleetwood Haiya, a man who, until the time he was elected Fam President, had never been chairperson of the Southern Region Football Association; not even the Central Region Football Association. No need to mention the Northern Region Football Association. By then, the Eastern Region Football Association he has established did not exist.
And, as if dancing to the drums of the Chakwera administration, the Fam presidency started talking about plans to relocate the Fam head office from Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre City, to Lilongwe City. Haiya himself made the announcement after meeting Fifa President Gianni Infantino in Lilongwe. Haiya said this when Infantino visited Malawi. This happened in June 2024.
For a picture of what transpired, these are some of the things Haiya said, as published by Nation Online on June 14, 2024: “We want to make sure that we have the headquarters of Fam here in Lilongwe. We will also have training fields at a minimum of four, where we will also have hostels for both men and women’s football. We believe that, with this structure that we are visualising, once [we realise the dream], [this] is also going to help as we transform the game of football in Malawi.”
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Haiya went on to indicate that the project would be funded by Fifa Forward, further indicating that the project would start once Fam acquires land in Lilongwe. “The Fifa president has given a nod that he is going to support the idea of constructing new offices in Lilongwe and, beyond that, he has also presented that to the President [Lazarus Chakwera, telling the President] that we have agreed with Fam [on this] and this is what is going to happen, but maybe we need land for this.”
Infantino, who also met with Chakwera and the-then Youth and Sports Minister Uchizi Mkandawire, confirmed the development, saying: “During our visit, we had an opportunity to meet the President of the Republic and also the Sports Minister. We had an opportunity to discuss several projects. The future for football here, in Malawi, will definitely be very bright. There is so much passion and talent here in Malawi.”
Well, so many things have happened at Fam from June last year. I am talking about the idea of moving Fam headquarters from Blantyre to Lilongwe.
The truth is, before even Haiya was dreaming of vying for the Fam presidency, there were people who worked very hard to ensure that Malawi football reached a certain level. They worked very hard to ensure that Fam had a strong foundation, including impressive structures at Mpira Village. They did so for the love of football in this country.
And, most importantly, all this long, football fans have seen nothing wrong with the idea of having Fam headquarters in Blantyre. In fact, Malawi football has not suffered in any way by having the Fam headquarters in Blantyre City.
For this reason, and for the love of football, and for the love of this great country, there is no need to move Fam headquarters to Lilongwe. Absolutely no need. That idea [of relocating the headquarters to Lilongwe] is one of the worst football decisions those who love Malawi football can make.
As such, my appeal to the in-coming President, Professor Peter Mutharika, is that, Please Sir, do not buy into Haiya’s idea of relocating the Fam headquarters from Blantyre to Lilongwe. There is absolutely no reason for doing that.
Those who constructed the structures at Mpira, those who ensured that the Fam headquarters were in Lilongwe, and all those Fam presidents who came before Haiya and saw nothing wrong with the idea of having Fam headquarters in Blantyre City were not clueless. The truth is that they were strategic.
Let those who want the Fam headquarters to relocate to Lilongwe construct their own private structures in Lilongwe, instead of inconveniencing Malawians with decisions that, at least to me, do not make sense.
By the way, Mutharika is right that you cannot have all things that matter in Malawi in one place; in this case Lilongwe, the capital city. Countries have capital and commercial cities. You talk of the United States, where the political capital is one and the commercial city is another. In South Africa, it is the same thing, and these are advanced countries.
And you want the poverty- smothered Malawi, a country that cannot feed itself, to have everything in Lilongwe? Give me a break. In fact, you are free to resign from Fam and do things as you please. No one is clinging to you. You are clinging to yourself.
This, Dear Pain, is nothing but the truth.
