Poverty in Malawi

This is one of my old articles, I wrote this piece in response to Professor Kanyama Phiri’s reading that Malawians were living below United states 10 cents a day in 2006 and it was published in Malawi’s The Nation News Paper of 31st May, 2006 under a title Politicians’ tinted glasses. I thought of bringing it up again because of several reasons, firstly to preserve it and then secondly, as we approach the 2009 elections, it is imperative to have our politicians realize that they have a great responsibility to the poor Malawians, it is one of my duties as a bona fide citizen of my beloved country Malawi to contribute to the voices of reason.

The indication that Malawians live on the periphery of the poverty line—10 United States cents a day—and the denial by some officials of this fact, not only indicates to the nation the extent to which life has become a struggle for fellow country men but equally the gravity of which our government is not aware of a true Malawi and the plight of its people. This is pathetic. The extent to which poverty can be understood in Malawi should not be based on the politicians’ scope and, at the same time, they are not the best people to outline the gravity of this social ill. Their understanding of poverty is limited to where their plush cars can reach. Real poverty lies beyond. The only time politicians and the poor interact is when the former seeks the consent of the later to assume those positions that widen the gap between the two. When we talk about real poverty in our country, we do not need to observe it from the balcony of the houses in the suburbs. It is the thought of not knowing where the next meal is going to come from. The people who are in frequent touch with the communities in the periphery of the towns and cities would attest to the fact that Malawians are now extremely poor and more desperate than they were during the Dr Hastings Banda’s era. It is sad to see the extent to which poverty is killing the talent in the youths due to lack of education. How many people in the villages can consistently raise K20,000 for school fees apart from other costs? Yet this is the generation that is the future resource of our nation. The extent to which HIV and AIDS are tearing the society is another indicator of our problems. If real, meaningful development is to occur, at the macro level, then it is about time that we refocused our energies and start dealing with the challenges imposed on the nation by neo-colonization.

Our country is potentially very rich, with numerous natural resources which need to be shaped into a manufactured product that would bring about the much needed foreign exchange and pride. We need to refocus our energies. The country needs policies that will encourage manufacturing and at the same time policies that would protect the market of its products. This is the one way our country can come out of the economic shackles that the colonialists left us in. This is the time that we should start drifting away from running the economy and the country on taxes. Tax money doesn’t bring about development. It is circuitous and an economy based on taxes is suppressive to the social life of the people for it makes consumption exorbitant for the poor masses. An economy should serve the people and not the reverse. The dependency on donors is another challenge that we have to gradually detach from. We are a sovereign state but they have the power over us. Our choices and decisions are always under their microscope and all we do is lick their palms to please them. It is about time that we started being radical and pro-active in the management of our country. What we are making is history and all the generations to come will assess us by the quality of the nation that we will pass on to them. On the micro level, development being preached from political podiums does not reach the people. It goes over their heads into the abyss but for real development to be realized, we need to dismantle the political podiums. Politicians and their noise-makers on development need to be closer to people. We need to initiate-active communication which is not vertical or up-down but horizontal, talking at an equal level with the same motivation with a likely result to achieve integrated objectives, in the process realizing development for the people. It is important to indicate that if war on poverty is to be worn, it is important to understand poverty as a multifaceted problem that needs a multidimensional, holistic management which includes the poor themselves for they understand their needs better than others who either perceive the issue from book chapters or images of malnourished children conjured up by the media. Crucial again is the notion that it is normal to be poor as some religions claim. You cannot sing praise on an empty stomach. This alienates the masses from engagement in real, hard work that can move them from the pit of poverty. Faith should be practical. As Karl Marx indicates, religion serves as a poor substitute for social justice and happiness in the present world. It is about time that we started challenging our thinking and socialization for the greater good of the nation and the future of all the Malawians that will live after us. While we are looking up to government and its policies, it is of much value to start dealing with colonization of the minds that continuously haunts our nation. It is about time that we started appreciating what Malawi produces on all economic fronts. At the same time it is schizophrenic for someone born in Malawi, a Malawian to say for example, that they can’t dance to Malawian music. This is another major form of poverty that exists in our country that we need to defeat. To borrow the words of David Korten (1990) “poverty in Africa would not only be known by images of malnourished children but also through the ladies and gentlemen who dance in clubs in Kinshasa, Congo Brazzaville, Lilongwe and all the major towns of our continent when music is being played in Paris, New York and London”.-.