I have been following with interest a dear friend of mine's plight in Malawi recently. It seems that his beautiful country, with its beautiful people, are facing some serious challenges. The challenge: the painful process of corrosion of democracy. Sound familiar?
So many of our nations here in Africa have made amazing progress with democracy and good governance. However, all to often we hear of stories of incredible corruption and absolute abuse of power and country funds. And even more often, these stories stem from the highest stage...the presidency. Presidents come into power with the most beautiful and inspiring passion for their people. And somewhere along the way, this passion is replaced with greed, and, dare I say it, insanity. Ring a bell yet? I am sure we all know of one very prominent leader in power right now in a country very close to home who fits this bill. But I won't elaborate on his story; I am sure we have all heard it many times before.
In honour of my dear friend and his country, I will use President Mutharika of Malawi as an example to illustrate my point. What a wonderful man he was. He had to flee Malawi in the 1960s for fear of being persecuted because he spoke against the autocratic rule of then President Banda. When he returned, he, and his pals, formed the United Democratc Front (UDF) and promptly ran for election. Mutharika stood for democratic reform and the protection of human rights. He promised to fight the hard fight of corruption (yip, you read right!). He came into power in 2004, with an exemplary record....working experience with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the World Bank. He was re-elected in 2009. And then things started to go pear-shaped.
He has become intolerant of criticism, he has randomly and arbitrarily dismissed government officials and has been implicated in the harassment of civil society activists who oppose his policies. And...surprise...more and more members of his government are being implicated in major corruption scandals! Something more shocking: in 2011 President Mutharika dissolved cabinet! Then, later, appointed a new one, which included his brother and wife...And there is more: despite Malawi's heavy dependence on external support, he has managed to get onto a warpath with development partners, denying the country all sorts of resources.
I ask myself: How does this happen? How does someone come into power with so much heart, and then, while in power, the heart slowly turns into a cold dollar bill. How can you sleep restfully at night knowing that the 1000-count cotton sheets keeping you warm means that there are five children out there who will die of a malnutrition-related disease? I will have to leave it at that and let you ponder...maybe you can come up with a solution to this problem we have faced in too many countries.
So many of our nations here in Africa have made amazing progress with democracy and good governance. However, all to often we hear of stories of incredible corruption and absolute abuse of power and country funds. And even more often, these stories stem from the highest stage...the presidency. Presidents come into power with the most beautiful and inspiring passion for their people. And somewhere along the way, this passion is replaced with greed, and, dare I say it, insanity. Ring a bell yet? I am sure we all know of one very prominent leader in power right now in a country very close to home who fits this bill. But I won't elaborate on his story; I am sure we have all heard it many times before.
In honour of my dear friend and his country, I will use President Mutharika of Malawi as an example to illustrate my point. What a wonderful man he was. He had to flee Malawi in the 1960s for fear of being persecuted because he spoke against the autocratic rule of then President Banda. When he returned, he, and his pals, formed the United Democratc Front (UDF) and promptly ran for election. Mutharika stood for democratic reform and the protection of human rights. He promised to fight the hard fight of corruption (yip, you read right!). He came into power in 2004, with an exemplary record....working experience with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the World Bank. He was re-elected in 2009. And then things started to go pear-shaped.
He has become intolerant of criticism, he has randomly and arbitrarily dismissed government officials and has been implicated in the harassment of civil society activists who oppose his policies. And...surprise...more and more members of his government are being implicated in major corruption scandals! Something more shocking: in 2011 President Mutharika dissolved cabinet! Then, later, appointed a new one, which included his brother and wife...And there is more: despite Malawi's heavy dependence on external support, he has managed to get onto a warpath with development partners, denying the country all sorts of resources.
I ask myself: How does this happen? How does someone come into power with so much heart, and then, while in power, the heart slowly turns into a cold dollar bill. How can you sleep restfully at night knowing that the 1000-count cotton sheets keeping you warm means that there are five children out there who will die of a malnutrition-related disease? I will have to leave it at that and let you ponder...maybe you can come up with a solution to this problem we have faced in too many countries.
President Mutharika passed away about a week after writing this post.
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