Loose Cannon Ken!

The 1965 British comedy classic, Carry-On Cowboy, satirizes the archetype of an inexperienced outsider navigating the perilous landscape of the Wild West. The protagonist, wholly unskilled in the art of gunfighting, boldly confronts seasoned sharpshooters despite lacking the dexterity to draw and fire a weapon with the requisite speed. In a surprising turn of events, he triumphs in a duel against a highly skilled adversary—an outcome that underscores the comedic premise of an unqualified contender achieving improbable victories.

This portrayal raises the question: can reckless individuals truly succeed, or is their triumph merely a product of comedic exaggeration? Empirical reality suggests that such unpredictability rarely yields success in high-stakes scenarios. More often than not, those who act impulsively and without strategy succumb to scrutiny and failure under pressure. However, it is worth considering whether what is perceived as victory is, in fact, something else entirely. Given that a "loose cannon" is neither designed nor expected to achieve precision, it would be naïve to anticipate rationality from those who embody such erratic behavior—especially within the realm of politics, where flamboyant figures often emerge despite their disregard for calculated decision-making.

Ken Chitatata Msonda, a prominent yet controversial figure in contemporary political and business discourse, has garnered recognition for his unconventional approach to leadership and decision-making. His well-known assertion, “I have no political enemies,” has become emblematic of his public persona. Msonda first gained prominence in 2005, a pivotal period for Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL), as the company faced challenges related to privatization. At the time, he served as the Chair of MTL’s Board of Directors and was a vocal opponent of its proposed sale for $30 million to a private consortium, which included Telecom Holdings Limited—a Malawian conglomerate composed of Press Corporation Limited, Old Mutual, Nico Holdings, and the Deutsche Telekom affiliate Detecon.

Msonda’s opposition was rooted in his conviction that corporate governance should uphold both profitability and employee welfare. His valuation placed MTL’s worth at approximately $200 million, significantly higher than the proposed sale price. He argued that privatization at such a diminished valuation would result in mass retrenchment, a scenario he deemed unacceptable. His unwavering stance positioned him as a defender of corporate integrity, advocating for equilibrium between commercial viability and social responsibility.

However, the trajectory of Msonda’s career over the ensuing decades has transformed perceptions of his leadership. While initially regarded as an assertive and principled strategist, his evolving public image now aligns more closely with that of a “loose cannon”—an unpredictable figure whose actions challenge conventional expectations. The juxtaposition between his early corporate advocacy and his later political engagements presents an intriguing case study in leadership dynamics and the fluid nature of public perception.

Ken’s Political Life

The trajectory of Kenneth Msonda’s political career remains somewhat ambiguous, particularly concerning the period during which he chaired the board of Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL). Whether he simultaneously operated as a covert functionary within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or transitioned to the United Democratic Front (UDF) as a consequence of his dissatisfaction with the privatization of MTL remains a matter of speculation. However, political appointments are frequently drawn from the ranks of loyal party affiliates, a trend that may provide insight into his shifting affiliations.

It is important to note that Msonda was a founding member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Brown Mpinganjira, before swiftly aligning himself with the UDF in 2001. The precise nature of his political allegiance at that time remains uncertain. However, from 2006 onward, Msonda increasingly voiced criticisms of the ruling DPP administration, ostensibly under the guise of his role as UDF’s publicity secretary. Given the tendency for corporate board chairs and directors to be politically appointed individuals who exhibit allegiance to the incumbent government, it is plausible to interpret his actions within that framework.

During his tenure within the UDF, Msonda appeared to position himself strategically, waiting for an opportune moment to advance his political and professional interests. This calculated approach suggests an acute awareness of the intersection between political positioning and economic opportunity, reinforcing the notion that political maneuvering often serves as a conduit for access to influence and resources.

This opportunity dawned with the demise of President Bingu wa Mutharika, and the subsequent ascension of Joyce Banda, as state president in 2012. Ken had to play his cards to find his way into the political corridors of power again access the tap into the public purse once more. One can only start to question, the patriotic, humanistic characters, for the welfare of others, had faded, or one can give King Ken the benefit of doubt that he was preparing his retirement package. The nation was right on the edge to fully understand Ken’s clandestine motives.

Reports suggest that during his tenure as the publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Kenneth Msonda was allegedly instrumental in efforts to destabilize the party and obstruct Atupele Muluzi’s bid for the presidency. It is claimed that he orchestrated an internal faction in support of Humphreys Mvula’s candidacy, utilizing a court injunction to prevent the anticipated national convention, which was widely expected to favor Muluzi.

Following the high court’s decision to lift the injunction, Msonda faced physical retaliation from UDF loyalists, who allegedly confronted him in a hostile manner. Speculation arose that both Msonda and Mvula had received financial incentives from the then-ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), fueling allegations of political maneuvering for personal gain. According to a Nyasa Times report dated January 10, 2012, titled “Msonda Quits UDF Because of Frustration,” his departure from the party signaled the beginning of a complex and evolving political journey, one that would cement his reputation as a contentious and unpredictable political figure.

The gold-digging appetites for Ken were not adequately quenched under the short spell of People’s Party ruling from 2012 to 2014, after an embarrassing loss of PP’s political campaign smeared by the infamous cashgate scandal. Ken’s allegiance to the out-of-power People’s party faced an abrupt end, when 2 years later, he jumped ship to join the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. I would describe King Ken’s political career, as nothing short of good luck and grace, noting his ability to switch across enemy camps willy-nilly. This definitely attests his own ‘I have no political enemies’ rhetoric hypothesis. This signaled King Ken’s second spell in DPP, again whilst it was in power, to ensure he remained as close as possible to the public purse, one would only suppose. During his welcome speech, King Ken narrated that ‘politics has no syllabus, one need to observe the political pendulum, how it is swinging’.  

His Democratic Progressive Party spell appeared to be strong as long as DPP was in power over the years ahead of the 2020 elections. In one situation, during a press conference, Msonda contradicted with the position of the party, when he made a press release in April, 2020, insulting the five constitutional high court judges for ruling to hold a rerun election, without the blessing of the authorities of DPP, pressing the party in contempt of court ruling. This presser which was quickly nullified by DPP’s publicity secretary, should have sounded an alarm of the Msonda’s machinations of things to come, DPP should have fired Msonda immediately. But that’s not how politics works in Malawi.

Three years later, Ken Msonda resurfaced in a de-javu fashion of his UDF era, who at this time he was a member of National Governing Council, to have another controversy of seismic proportion. This time he was at the centre of creating a fraction inside the party to support Kondwani Nankhumwa's candidature against the incumbent Peter Mutharika. He was a point of reference in 2023, by the party’s president Peter Mutharika, that Msonda was not a member of DPP, but a member of PP. When was known to be part of the fraction which felt unimpressed with Mutharika’s ambition to be the party’s torch-bearer in 2025 and had conducted an ‘illegal’ National Governing Committee (NGC) meeting in Lilongwe in which they announced dates for their next convention. This embattled fraction led by the former Secretary General, had push the party into a pandemonium of court cases after another to force a national convention and elect their desired candidate. According to a news article released by 247malawi.com on the 14^th December, 2023, Ken Msonda was regarded as the strongest critic of Mutharika making many Malawians linking him to have joined the MCP led government alongside others such as Kondwani Nankhumwa, Grezelder Jeffrey, Nicholas Dausi, among others.  It is very much ironic that Mutharika, being the president of the party, accepted and endorsed a candidate, who appears to have been a member of another party except DPP, as a National Governing Council member. I would assume that proper due diligence was not conducted or some stories are missing from what the public was presented.

In January, 2024, the DPP expelled Ken Msonda, among other candidates, after an elongated disciplinary hearing and assessments. This expulsion gave Msonda a license to aspire for another opportunity to be close to the public purse, as his character is renowned for. It was already noted that Msonda had a divisive character demonstrated by the illegal presser in 2020, however, the DPP NEC did not deem it necessary to either discipline Msonda or expel him then. Like I have already indicated that Msonda served in the NGC, as a member, yet it had been common knowledge that he had been moving from political party to another. In March 2024, the Maravi Post reported that Msonda made a bold decision to join Malawi Congress Party in Mzuzu, quoting it as a surprising turn of events. The article acknowledges that Msonda, has a history of switching political parties, and that senior members of MCP wondered his motives and loyalty. The most recent political highlight came in the name of a primary elections’ loss, in Rumphi East Constituency, Msonda suffered, at the behest of Alfred Nyasulu who amassed a victorious 508 votes almost a year later, in March 2025. 

After this loss, Msonda had become the most vocally provocative spokesperson for the ruling party uttering quite divisive and derogatory statements such as the following:

1.      On October, 2024, Msonda narrated that ‘Mutharika intends to join MCP’.

2.      In June, 2025 Msonda attacked DPP’s claim that Malawians are suffering citing that it is all due to ‘Malice’ and ‘Bitterness’ of DPP’s situation out of power.

3.         In June, 2025, - MCP’s Ken Msonda Hits Back at DPP, Labels Party a ‘Criminal Enterprise’

4.      In May, 2025, Msonda in responding to pre-elections violence that occurred in Mponela narrated the following: ‘Truth must be told to shame the devil and DPP propagandists in Malawi. DPP is good at dirty propaganda to seek public attention and sympathy. It is alleged that the torching of the vehicle was done by DPP leaders themselves’. (Times, online, website: https://times.mw/political-parties-fault-each-other-on-violence/)

5.      In May, 2025, in order to make an impression, Msonda declared that ‘MCP will rule Malawi until the second coming of Jesus Christ’.

M  My Take on Msonda's political style.

Msonda’s outrageous political comments have not only been uncommon, but have also been a political trademark for his career. He is the modern-day spin-doctor of the ranks of Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba, but he seems to do it in your face. Whilst we can ably track Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba political journey to have merged from MCP to have ended with DPP, Msonda’s journey is quite elongated, interwoven and complicated. Like a chessmaster, he waits until he sees a good move, and may offer a pony to get to the king. He shoots like he is already blindfolded. He doesn’t care about the aftermaths of his statements, in the moment of his utterances. He is a potential candidate to offend you, no matter how calm and composed you may think you are. The true litmus test for anger management.

I would believe that his character symbolizes the most unstable and deluded political caricature of our Malawian political landscape. Having switched from National Democratic Alliance to United Democratic Front to PP (assuming that he was not a political activist under Bingu’s governance) to Democratic Progressive Party to and lastly Malawi Congress Party, Msonda demonstrates the most outrageous political opportunism unparalleled.  His most constant derivative is that he comes out of a political party when it loses an election and joins the political party in power at least as long as it remains in power. He will prove his loyalty whilst he is accessing the intricacies and benefits of being in government, but that loyalty will get tested the most the political party gets booted out of government. He is loyal but my analysis informs me that this loyalty is towards himself and himself at most.

The loss of primaries is indicative of his failure to win the trust of the majority MCP loyalists, convincing them of his failure to demonstrate steadfastness in the political game. I would advise any political party never to allow his character come close to your politburo, as that would sow some seeds of disloyalty in the long run, and chicken would easily come home to roost. Loose Cannon Ken wins all the time, a chance for glory dawns his way and your conclusion is as good as mine, ‘he is the opportunist shooter’!

Wonders never end

There has been a long told story of the three little innocent pigs who befriended a stranded wolf in the neighborhood. These three tiny pigs had the presumption of a fair world in which both wolves and pigs could co-exist and imagined a world of reconciliation. They did not fathom the violent and uncertain real world, which their parent pigs narrated to them. Their idealistic world soon crumbled, as they merciful decision turned them pigs to beacon, for the hungry merciless and relentless wolf, who feasted on them one by one. The ending of this story is as tragic as one can imagine.

This is reminiscent of the current political dynamics in Malawi. The sad story of the current political world is the just ended tragic demise of the former Vice President, Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima (SKC), may his soul rest in peace. His world was different from the world of the brinkmanship politicians.  He envisioned a nation so perfect and so kind in which his goals and ambitions, including that of everyone else were attainable. He cherished the goal to rise to the highest office in the land and govern Malawi to economic success like his career trail entailed. Equipped with a Master's in Economics, whilst serving as a VP under the DPP regime, he quickly made his move to pursue and was awarded, a prestigious PhD in Knowledge Management degree from University of Boston in March, 2014. The current political conditioning in the nation regards those aspiring for this highest position, to have attained at least a minimum of a PhD and possess academic prowess to the level of professorship as a presidential trait.

The masterplan in political aspiration of most candidates is to either form one's party and contest for the hot seat unopposed or seek an election within the governing political party. Your guess is as good as mine, the latter is a task of gigantic proportion compared to the former. SKC, as he was renowned made his move to pursue the former, with the latter in mind. Being fully equipped with indigenous folktale wit, kept his ambition concealed, only throwing his pony piece spin-doctors running wild making bold statements of his candidature ahead of the infamous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) convention of 2018. This surely was a bold move, considering the insatiable appetite incumbents had demonstrated over the democratic years from the dawn of 1993 to serve double terms. This desire did not leave the then incumbent president, Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika out of the hook. He seemingly looked like he had changed his mind, as before he had wanted to step down after serving first term, yet convinced that the blank cheque was on offer, he opted to move for the second.

SKC threw the second card, noting his only move to make his goal achievable was to form his own party and create a competitive force. The United Transformation Movement (UTM) was lodged within the ranks of DPP loyals and amounted a huge traction for the ambitious youth, SKC represented. His maiden party, registered as UTM staged a strong force to reckon with, when the 2019 elections placed them in third position accruing over a million votes. SKC, as one who never associated with defeat, made another move to challenge the elections with a legal lawsuit, to push for nullification of results, upon adequately been served with evidence of vote rigging and massive electoral irregularities.

 

A Nation With An Issue of Blood!

In the book of St. Mark 5:25 onwards, is laid a classic story of a woman with an issue of blood, who made a resolution to call it ends by touching the helm of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. The story is quite old but best reflect the situation in which the nation is in. The nation has an internal bleeding situation which demands immediate intervention, should odds go to our favour. The disturbing fact with internal bleeding is that no one sees it, and as a result no one controls it, unless you resolve to do something about it. The pain is internal and out of reach for our nearest neighbour, unless one yells out. The treatment is complicated as it demands a careful surgical operation, with attention to detail as life and death is pinned to it. Seriously, our nation needs God’s intervention. I believe if our leaders could diagnose the pervasiveness of the problems, they would stop playing games, put on the gloves and knife, and start working out on our sickness.

We have a twin problem spelled out in one word, ‘inhumane’. Malawian’s long standing reputation is currently under stake subject to the increasing corruption cases and murderous reports on people with albinism, all for the hunt of the old bucks! All these are symphonic to moral delay and over-westernization. One cannot put pieces together on how we have metamorphosed into what we are today. I will only imagine, the very principles of humanity that have slowly been offloaded with the euphoria of democracy gnashing its jaws on our very conduct. How ironic that the nation that lodged over one million refugees from 1978 to 1986 cannot lodge its own endangered citizens from manslayers. How ironic that the same nation laments the killing of its citizens in foreign lands, Mozambique and South Africa, and spends over MK300 million for their repatriation, cannot create safe houses for its 10,000 population of endangered brothers and sisters, whose only crime is their deprivation of the protective skin pigment, melanin.

The brutal witch-hunt for our beloved brothers and sisters born with albinism has been systemic and orchestrated by ambitious and lucratic networks too pervasive to be detected by our law enforcers. So far, by the time of publishing this blog, 17 people with albinism had been murdered in cold-blood, 66 additional people born with albinism abducted without trace, we can only assume the worst, and 28 others have been denied ‘resting-in-peace’ in quest of the millions their bones and body parts can award. Mathematically, the country has been merciless to over 111 bodies of people born with albinism, whose parts have been distributed to places, bargained and sold, without any conscience, in search for a dollar. As if that is enough, many of them have suffered insults, dubbed names, such as ‘mobile money’, ‘walking corpes’ by vendors in our townships and suburbs. This trend at which things are unfolding is an exact duplication of the Rwandan genocide, with a slow motion button placed on remote control. Photos of bones, body parts and all are shared on Whatsapp, and yet, the law-enforcers are simply providing assurance of a better day. The nation has turned too savagery reminiscent to the depictions of ‘The Lord of Flies’ novel which exposes the animalistic passion of a human heart. I have always doubted whether a man would on his own volition abduct another person without having established a market opportunity elsewhere. I have no word to describe the fate and the reputation we have carried abroad for our reluctance to curb this stench once and for all. On one occasion an officer was reported to have connived with murders to offer them an escape from the arms of the law at five hundred thousand Malawi Kwacha (MK500,000), a development which is quite lamentable and very inhuman. We probably have for long disregarded our friends born albinism as less humans, and denied them their right to life. I don’t believe that this brutal surge against people with albinism is born out of poverty, but I have all reasons to believe it as a result of our evil passions, cushioned by the lust for money and value-eroded culture. We have turned into beasts, probably worse than beasts.

The government must act and act now. The president’s call for ‘shoot on sight’ is highly applauded and more should be done. If we all mobilise ourselves in search for these networks, we can kill the plant at its bud. If all our border districts were heavily secured, and whistle-blowers could be placed in strategic positions, we could have dealt this issue once and for all. If we can eliminate the myths in our minds that riches come through the abductions and murders of albinos, and if we can all collectively work to combat this evil among us, I see Malawi rescuing itself from the present peril. The sentences that the courts are producing against the perpetrators of these barbarous acts are both provocative and unconvincing.  They are an expression of whether justice is the vision of our judiciary or not. In one case, a convict was sentenced to ‘four’ years for trading with bones of an albino and another case a magistrate sentenced to 17 years two convict for murdering albinos, dismembering their bodies and conspiring to trade them for a fortune. Putting each other in perspective, Bernard Madoff, a former Nasdaq chairman ‘conman’ was sentenced to 150 years for swindling over 65 billion dollars through fake policies and products. A Former Mayor of Blantyre City, John Chikakwiya was sentenced to three years and two months for stealing 6,000 dollars meant for road construction, yet a former Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Triza Namathanga Senzani, bagged a decent three year jail sentence for swindling over 100,000 dollars through the same Malawian courts. Even after the same courts had sentenced Steven Monjeza, a two year sentence for stealing a phone, and a seven year sentence to a Form Four student for forcing sex on his girlfriend who was a minor. Surely, there is something intrinsically wrong with our judiciary system! I need to be schooled on how these sentences are arrived at. There are countless examples of double standards with our courts and should this continue I stand back but wonder whether it is justice or something else being pursued by our judiciary system.

If the government wishes to curb this malpractice, then I believe that the government must necessitate that sentences given by our courts against those who commit such heinous acts are proportionate to their acts. The murderers are worse than human beings, in expression of one Comrade Mugabe, when you reach the level of butchering another fellow being, dismembering his or her breasts, head, limbs, and other private parts for economic gains, you cannot qualify to be called a human being. In other words, we oftentimes demonize the former German Nazi Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, who for a schizophrenic driven agenda, systematically exterminated 6 million Jews, for their hair, golden teeth and national pride, but history will have no mercy on us categorizing us as merciless as Hitler if we do not deal with this evil once and for all.

To pin it together with the corrupt practices in our justice system, where law enforcers shield perpetrators at a fee and where the courts give lenient sentences to convicts, is beyond our imagination. As a nation, we surely are bleeding from inside, and the longer we caress this internal bleeding, the greater the chances for a national fatality.

Maize, Malice and Malawians

This is the trailblazer blog for the year, 2016, a new year that preceded another year full of unprecedented events, the floods that had hit several of our areas, tumbling foreign exchange rate even when the tobacco market was open, an unjustifiably high bill for our 51st Anniversary Independence celebrations, a year which saw promises denied, spite of murderous armed robberies, a couple of fire razes of warehouses, shops, markets and flea-markets. 2015 was not all a bad year, though, we had record-breaking outstanding performance of the Malawian Queens at the world stage of netball, and their counterpart football outfit, the Flames, proved a point by bringing home a COSAFA shield. What worries us are not what has come to pass, but the level of readiness to what is to come.

The three worrisome matters, are contained in the title of this blog, the maize, malice and Malawians. I will endeavor to break down why the matters matter, and disprove the point that it is not the mere fact that they all start with 'M' that make them significant, or would it be.

Maize, is the staple food of the nation, to the extent that maize is the country's food security indicator. During the growing season, 2006/07, the country's food security levels skyrocketed to 3.2 million metric tonnes, thanks to the farm input subsidy programme (FISP) that had been resisted by the donors in its maiden financial year. The country could for the first time manage to export 391,255 metric tonnes of maize, after it had exported only 1,160 metric tonnes of maize the previous year. The country was dubbed a 'food-basket' in the Southern Region of Africa, by experts from the Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa (FFSSA). However, the success story was short-lived after the programme was dogged by perennial anomalies ranging from nepotism, coupons used as vote-buying mechanisms, corruption, failure to exercise transparency in the award of contracts, and all. The governments paid little or no attention in addressing these perennial anomalies, to the extent that it became no news to catch vendors selling FISP-branded bags of fertilizers on the black market. Based on the recent reports from Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA), the country's 10 FISP programme had consumed a mammoth MK 280 billion in budgetary allocation without a trophy to glory of. The country remains vulnerable to food insecurity, at the pity of erratic rainfall distribution which is hugely affected by the growing climate change evils, such as El-Ninos, producing floods and dry-spells. The nation has not yet found a workable solution to its long-debated food diversification programme on the ground, as masses continue to depend on maize year in, year out. The greenbelt irrigation project remains a decorated policy on paper with little replications on the ground. On a sad note, the tractors procured for the greenbelt irrigation scheme remain static at the warehouse of the country's PVHO, without any MP or lobby-groups making noises to get them moving. One can easily witness a gross posteriority not by our leaders only, but by everyone from policy-makers to the least on the ground. I will not be afraid to say that we have our priorities upside down, spending most of our energies on the call to amend 'homosexuality codes' as though it was the central feature keeping our economy jet-lagging!

Now, allow me fellow citizens to move to the next area of concern, which is malice. Malice is a term that stands for 'feeling a need to see others suffer' or a 'quality of threatening evil'. Malice is not one of the infamous terms in our national anthem, but lately, I have been contemplating that should the need to revisit it grow stronger, the term should find its way into one of the stanzas. The most malicious society would be the one with no regard to other people's welfare, especially strangers, foreigners and nationals. While other societies are as malicious as can be to foreigners, Malawian society's malice is rather awkwardly pointed inward. the trend of the political climate in Malawi. The trends of political opportunism in the appointment of Vice Presidents is one classic example, where soon after the election, a characteristic enmity emerges, the lack of succession plans in most political parties is another dominating example, in almost all political parties in the nation, failure to relinquish political powers and pointless fragmentation in parties subject to lack of unity, is a fruit of malice. The nation remains heavily populated in terms of both its citizens and political parties, the opposition political parties are horses with the same colours, without distinctive political ideologies, and the nature of malice is infectious down to the business fraternity and the common man on the ground, mimicking my last blog, 'A Country is as Good as its Leadership'.

On the last point, Malawians, I would like to throw the closet open, in case someday someone shall read this blog and appreciate the nature of a country, the author once lived in. Malawians have to shoulder all the blame for not living up to the expectations of engineering the nation to its former days of glory. The people's greed and need for a fast-buck has turned us into the deep abyss of thievery, an extreme act of violence against our future generations. We have become very individualistic and materialistic, forming platonic islands which we seek to entrench unspeakable wealth. We pant for the next dollar, but take no regard to legacy. We justify acts of unspeakable evils for the next dollar. It was unimaginable that Malawians had the audacity of massacring innocent lives, I mean people living with albinism, exhuming their bodies, should they fail to get hold of them, and relentlessly hacking foreigners to grab their hard-earned properties. We have over time grown into a monstrous creature that shamelessly refuses to repent. I would only shed crocodile tears for the calamities that is bouncing back on us. The national pride resides in our ability to stamp out the evils among us and stand for the common cause, the welfare of all, not specific personalities. Polar politicization has obviously handicapped our thinking in a way that we are quick to judge the wrongs of political leaders across the lane, than we are of our own. As bwande always put it, we remain amazing creatures on earth.

In conclusion, I will be tempted to include what in one instance with a good friend of mine from church concluded. Malawi does not belong to anyone but us, and we are therefore unequivocally to blame for the mess we have given it. As the year of monkeys unfolds, we better pray God forgive us for the crimes we committed one to another and seek widsom from the Most High. We need a mental revolution and ownership of the state of being. We need to emigrate a culture of legacy and possible, it may take another Ernesto Guevara's form of campaign, taking the dross away from the grey matter. We don't need a lot of foreign aid, we need a lot of foreign exchange in the form of trade! We need revolutionize thinking to unearth the massive wealth that lies underneath the ground. 'Chuma chili nthaka' means more that what we have literally thought it meant!

A Country is as Good as its Leadership

Behaviour has in a long run been linked to one’s upbringing. This assertion has surprisingly not developed keen interest in research to identify whether behaviour and upbringing pose an intricate cause-effect relationship, probably since it is obvious that one’s upbringing contributes explicably to one’s character. But wait a minute, this could be a hasty generalization fallacy, as some have been reported to demonstrate changed behaviour out of exposure rather than upbringing. May be the affinity to one’s upbringing would overwrite peer pressure to change one’s behaviour. We all appreciate the fact that one’s upbringing is a subject of parental control and it is therefore inevitable to conclude that ‘a house is as good as its leaders’. Leaving the debate of nurture versus nature to the sociological discourse, I am compelled to discuss the ‘fact’ that a country is as good as its leadership. I would rather reluctantly endorse it as a fact, in the historical and political landscape’s sense and not in scientific sense.

Africa is one such continent that showcases the ‘truth’ about this assertion. Statistically speaking Africa has been the hub of all kinds of development and natural resources. The African continent is renowned for its natural deposits. According to the African Natural Resource Centre (2015) the continent account for 30% of the world’s minerals and about 10% and 8% of oil and gas resources respectively. Following this truth, Africa has the second largest tropical forest in the world. The continent has vast fishing resources added to the above, with the largest lake in the world, Lake Victoria generating over $600 million every year. According to the National Geographic the continent produced over 483 tons of gold in 2008, accounting to 22% of the world gold production. There is a lot of wealth this continent has comparative to other continents such as Europe and South America. Realistically, the continent has faced a couple of setbacks, citing colonialism and slavery, which have robbed it of ‘part of its’ potential for world dominance in development. I wish to state that this robbed the continent ‘a part’ not all, sadly the continent continues to lag behind in terms of economic development. The largest number of countries that lag behind UNDP human development index and World Bank world development index come from Africa.

Slavery and Colonialism truly are partially to blame but the African continent is dogged by leadership with nothing to showcase but poor governance, corruption and cronyism. The continent has seen the richest presidents in the world to say the least. According to Ibrahim Index, 21 out of 54 countries in the continent have deteriorated in terms of governance, which includes Malawi. The truth is a country is as good as its leadership. Where leadership fails, the country also fails. Now this takes me to the very subject of our discussion, and I will focus on my country Malawi.

The nation is salvaged by reports on failure to follow the agreed budgetary lines for the country to be a recipient of the Extension Credit Facility (ECF) from IMF. These reports also come in the light of the understanding of the rationale behind a number of cuts outlined in the new public reforms in social service delivery in the sectors of education, agriculture, health and social welfare, subject to the limited resources. All these developments spell doom to the plight of the nationals in the nation which is on its economic bedrock and approaching the looming epicentre of food shortage. These developments beg the following questions: Does the Malawi government consider good governance as a priority? Does the leadership of the nation share the economic hardship of its citizens? Is the fight against corruption a rhetoric PR gimmick or is it a cause to be achieved? Is this the outlined agenda of the current DPP government for national development? How should the government promote its development agenda in the face of the challenges it is facing? The country’s performance is accredited to its leadership, whether good performance or poor performance. The country requires a change of thinking, a revolutionary development agenda, and a divorce-filing from its old politics. Someone once said, you cannot continue doing the things the same way and expect different results. I would like to pinpoint the kind of leadership that is needful for the country to forge forward.

1. Selfless Leadership

A selfless leadership is the leadership that aspires the best in others before aspiring the best in itself. Doug Dickerson comments the following on selfless leadership: ‘the emergence of selfless leadership begins with this fundamental principle: until you empower your people, [you are only a spectator]. When they are empowered, they can produce, achieve and succeed’. John Maxwell, another renowned leadership scholar once stated of the difficulty it is of finding common ground with others if the only person focused on is oneself. The disaster that the African continent has faced, creating more casualties that war, and famine combined, in fact it is the derivative of the two, is selfish, self-centred leadership and governance. African leaders have amassed themselves wealth with a proportionate percentage of their countries’ GDPs. The desire to lead should be the desire to take ‘a people’ or ‘a nation’ from one place to another place. If there is not consideration for promoting, uplifting, or progressing from one level to the next level, the activity of leadership throws into pieces the very concept of leadership.

2. Visionary Leadership

Africa continent remains where it is for lack of vision and visionary leadership. In fact, the continent is a recipient to imported strategic visions in exchange for aid. The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) have only worked retrogressively to the developmental interests of the continent, one would put it. But besides the fact that SAPs and other global strategies do not reflect African interests, one wonders why domestic policies and strategies have not created opening for wealth and job creation in Malawi. As I was writing this article, news had started circulating that the Ministry of Health will not afford to employ 51 medical doctors for lack of financial resources. The country is lagging behind in terms of provision of medical services, with intermittent medical supply shortages and technical expertise. The last thing the nation would do is to frustrate the very efforts it is creating by denying to accord employment opportunities to the already trained medical doctors. The country’s strategic vision is seen off-track dogged by the rampant and unchecked corrupt practices. As a nation, we need a clear strategy that will have allocated resources, to say the least. The last corruption scandal has taken a snail’s pace, with only four court cases reaching their conclusion, owing to the missing case files, and minimal funding to the anti-graft bodies such as Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Judiciary System. There is surely a high tower responsibility to the current government to put bolts and nuts together to make a sound impression to the donor community of its commitment to fighting corruption. It is not a responsibility to the faint-hearted. Resources that have been used for catering the bloated entourage should have been saved for other rather prudent purposes. The nation needs vision and strategy which will definitely shake the dogmatic quest for self-aggrandizement and encourage economic patriotism.

3. Progressive leadership

We need a progressive leadership, a leadership that is styled in self-belief and over-reliance on self-potential for development. Malawi needs progressive mindedness. Country needs a developmental statesmanship with a view for the generations to come. We all read history about Joseph Stalin’s five year plans, which much as he was a dictator, and I don’t commend him for that, he readied his country for the second world war, both in terms of machinery, weaponry and manpower. This country needs to apply the theory of developmental state which according to many scholars such as Joseph Stiglitz, and Adrian Leftwich, is a state that benefits from the combination of private business advancements with a sizable state control which interface in a mutually beneficial pattern. It is a terms, judging from the one who coined it, Chalmers Johnson, in his book, MITI and the Japanese Miracle, ‘a shorthand for the seamless web of political, bureaucratic, and moneyed influences that structures economic life in capitalist Northeast Asia’. In fact, being a developmental state, is the only survivor jacket in the current global 'economic free-fall' that has an impeccable guarantee of a safe landing. The country requires concerting its energies on sacrificial approaches to making Malawi graduate from being a primary producer into an industrialized secondary producer, and this can only be done through progressive leadership. So far, I remain unconvinced on whether we are on track with this goal.

Lastly, the nation remains on its economic sickbed and it frustrates the heart that strategies on paper remain on paper, probably until a wake-up call hits us and shake us a little bit from our economic dogmatic slumber. We need better leadership to steer this nation towards unexplored waters, and the current leadership has an uphill task to demonstrate this leadership, or sooner or later the nation may render it expendable.