The Hot Chick in Town!
It is unfortunate that corruption has become a serious problem among many countries in Africa. It's even worse that the corrupt practices are usually associated with the swindling of public resources by some state officials. What makes it unimaginable is that the resources being misused are the resources that are meant to benefit a greater community of those people who really need such resources for their daily survival.
In Malawi, corruption has gone way too far! So much so that the future of economic development in Malawi is just too hazy. Considering that Malawi was rated the poorest country in Africa by World Bank rankings (2015), shows we have a huge problem that seriously needs to be addressed otherwise it will be hard to call Malawi a developing country - rather it is an non-developing country. Statistics from Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index show that Malawi is rated 31%. This tells a huge story about how, out of all the activities that involve money, 69% are through corrupt practice. Building our argument on this premise, we can narrow it down to say out of all the government expenditures that are done, day in day out, 3 out of 10 activities are clean activities. It is hard then to realize a change in some of the negative situations that are affecting the citizens of Malawi.
Looking at the bigger picture, one would conclude to say that some of the socioeconomic challenges that Malawi is facing are largely as a result of corruption. Recently there has been the famous “maize gate” where just a few individuals accumulated wealth over a situation that is already dire. The people of Malawi stay hungry and instead of doing something to solve that undesirable situation, some people are coming in to take away that which the majority values a lot.
I wonder whether the term “humanity” does exist in our societies today. Why all these cases of corruption? Will they ever come to an end really? Efforts have been put in place, yes and that can be seen through the election of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), another entity which is controversial in my view. Because you would not expect to kill a rat which has found its way to walk on the edges of your plasma. Even if it chooses to stay there longer, you would not dare to kill it. The only moment you can attempt to kill it its only when it has left your plasma. Similarly the ACB director is appointed by the reigning president and its hard for the ACB operations to work against such a reigning government! And so the existence of such bodies remains nonfunctional insofar as tackling corrupt practices, especially where members of the current ruling party are involved, is concerned.
However, people should not give up this “tough fight”. There still is a need to work tirelessly towards reducing and eliminating this “hot chick” in town that is forcing many people into believing that corruption is part of life anyway. As young people, we need to aim higher and fight our way through to occupying decision making positions which will give us our most wanted opportunity to influence some of the decisions. This is something that will, in a way, condemn this animal for the majority’s sake. Yes, in Malawi and many African countries, for one to be voted into power they need financial muscle to defeat the Big "Recycled Politicians". This should not be a draw back. Gone are the days when the youth could not say anything on the global or whatever platform of public significance. Now we know we have the voice and that we can speak against any objectionable act and so we must!
By Thokozani Amanda Chiwandira Chimasula
About The Author
Thokozani is an entrepreneur (farming) and also a corresponding youth activist from Malawi. Based on her experiences, growing up as a woman in Malawi, her activism is focused on Gender Equality, Social Inclusion and Youth Empowerment.