In the book "Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places" the author, Paul Collier, argues that whereas leaders in Western Europe and North America always try to smile at their people, their African counterparts never do so.

Pres. Mugabe celebrates his birthday

Collier is not implying that African leaders are nastier or grumpier than their western counterparts. Rather, he is emphasizing that western leaders acknowledge the role played by their people in getting them into positions of power. They can thus afford a smile, albeit a fake one, to retain or win favour from the electorate. This rarely happens in Africa where even elected leaders are still masters to be feared and revered: demigods to be praised.

Africans must not allow themselves to be abused by their leaders. Consider Zimbabwe’s predicament. It is shocking that the Zimbabwe parliament, among other public institutions, spent a lot of money placing advertisements in the media to wish Mugabe a happy 86^th birthday and happy anniversary while 1.6 million Zimbabweans are without food; 1.9 million Zimbabweans are currently surviving on food aid and four in five of the country's young cannot afford school fees.

Of course the money being spent on these lavish activities cannot feed all the people in need of food, but these activities indicate lack of concern and diminished responsibility on the part of the officials.

Zimbabwe is not unique. Recently in Malawi, all the media organisations that are still in good books with the government got more than they bargained for, in advertising revenue. The election of Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika as African Union (AU) chair came barely two weeks before his wedding. Just like in Zimbabwe, both the public and private sector seized the opportunity to shower their praises and congratulatory messages in the local media. Even charity organisations that are always looking for donations joined the frenzy. One European expatriate working with Population Services International (PSI) in the country was so dismayed that they let it be known on a micro-blogging site, Twitter. This is happened in a country where more than half of its 13 million people are living below the poverty line.

Walk in any office, bank, shop or any public building in Malawi and you will be greeted by the president’s portrait. This was the case under Hastings Kamuzu Banda's presidency; Bakili Muluzi era, and now Mutharika.

Malawi is a poor democratic country; its constitution guarantees that there will be a different president every ten years, or five years if the incumbent fails to win their second term; and change is certain in the case of death of the president. Now, does Malawi have resources to replace all these presidential faces every time there is change? How much does it cost? Can the government not use this money for better things?

There is nothing wrong if people want to be nice and appreciative towards their leaders but it must not come at the expense of more important and urgent issues. It is our leaders who take an oath to serve their people and not the other way round. As for Malawi, presidents have enough packages once they have done their time, including tax-free imports.

By Jimmy Kainja.

Jimmy Kainja  is a Masters of Research (MRes) graduate in Media and Communications at London Metropolitan University.