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No window-dressing changes, Mr President.
I got a bit disturbed this week with news that the UDF would hold its NEC meeting at Sanjika Palace, an indication of President Bingu wa Mutharika’s about-turn on his earlier gesture and commitment to separate party matters from government issues. Only three weeks ago, Bingu turned down a party request to fund, host and attend the party’s NEC meeting at Sanjika, a decision that earned him praise from all reasonable political commentators.
It is easy to conclude that Bingu’s softening of stance is a direct result of the meeting he had with UDF Chairman Bakili Muluzi earlier in the week. It is sad that Bingu is slowly establishing himself as a leader who easily goes back and forth in his decisions, especially in his dealings with the party chairman.
It is not long ago that the President surprised both friend and foe when he ordered the public broadcasters, MBC and TVM, not to broadcast a party meeting he held in Thyolo. But just when people were beginning to think Bingu might reverse so many wrongs that his predecessor was doing with arrogance and impunity, they were in for a surprise two weeks later when the same MBC and TVM broadcast a party meeting Bingu and Muluzi jointly addressed in Lilongwe.
The development made people wonder whether the country was in for a trial-and-error President who is not sure what he wants to do. Surely, the President should have done better.
Now, it is the use of Sanjika Palace for a party meeting. This lack of consistency is, to say the least, regrettable. Who knows it may not only be the venue that Bingu has offered at the expense of public coffers! One thing that needs to be drummed into Bingu’s ears is that this is abuse of state resources which will not take long to make him unpopular and cost the country dearly. He is sending bad signals to those he desperately ought to be wooing.
Which is why donors will not rush to conclude that the few economic reforms and efforts the President has so far introduced to clampdown on corruption have come to stay. The catchword that the President must watch is track record.
The main reason the previous government continually failed in the area of fiscal discipline was not because it did not have the capacity to do so, but rather because of lack of political will from the leadership. The priority for the Muluzi regime was the survival of the party at the expense of anything else. The so-called political engineer should not have been so naive as to think that he could build a strong political regime on a weak economy. This is because the two are interdependent and are closely linked. Strong political governments anywhere in the world have risen from and thrived on vibrant economies. Conversely, that is why it is very difficult to remove a leader from power if he or she is handling the economy well. That is why I have argued elsewhere that Muluzi would easily have been granted a third term if he had done wonders to the economy.
Unfortunately, the previous political leadership was parasitic through and through. It behaved as if it existed and survived to plunder the public coffers without ever thinking of how to replenish them. Hence the perennial overexpenditure in such areas as travel, state residences, foreign affairs, defence and special activities that donors have talked about.
The common thing about all these areas is that they have do to with the activities of the State President. We need not waste time explaining how the previous government incurred overexpenditure on travel, or who was travelling where and for what? Similarly, we know who was the number one tenant at state residences. It is also not a secret that foreign affairs was the most abused area during the previous government. During the past 10 years, foreign affairs has been the most bloated with UDF functionaries for appeasement purposes. Not too long ago, Muluzi sent a number of people to embassies as a reward for withdrawing from the parliamentary elections and for supporting UDF candidates.
Expenditure on defence is closely related to the President’s activities—which include travel within and abroad. I can go on and on. But suffice to say that the previous government under the leadership of the so-called political engineer lacked the conscience to nurture and grow the economy which would in turn have counted in its favour.
That is why donors are not too easily getting excited with reforms that Bingu has started introducing in fiscal discipline and governance issues. Donors are watching keenly to see if Bingu is himself or just a replica of his mentor who has dearly cost this country during the past 10 years. People are looking forward to seeing substantive changes in the way the new administration is handling the economy and governance issues, not window dressing.
The confirmation by Parliament of the newly-appointed DPP, Ishmael Wadi, who has already shown enthusiasm to deal with corruption, is a good gesture and starting point in this fight. But the new DPP needs support from all branches of government to succeed. All should play their role, including the President.
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