Banda Reaping What She Sowed

Published on 26th May 2014

The outgoing Malawi president, Joyce Banda, is poised to lose. When she took the reins of power after the death of her forerunner, Bingu wa Mutharika, she received a lot of accolades not just as a hard worker but also a woman. Before Banda and her Liberian counterpart, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, came to power, there was a mythical belief that female presidents are less corrupt. However, after the duo displayed their true selves and the way they run state affairs, the belief has slowly dissipated.

While Banda may go down as Malawi’s only-two-year president, she won’t throw in the towel easily. She has attempted to annul the elections, an attempt that the Malawi Election Commission (MEC) has disputed in court which ruled in its favour.

Banda is reaping what she sowed. According to the Nyasa Times, after eight months in power, “… the majority of those getting government contracts [had] political connections to the ruling People’s Party (PP).” PP is Banda’s party. Banda authored her own downfall  when she ordered her portraits reprinted to carry a 'Dr' initial  after being awarded a controversial honorary PhD by a South Korean University of Jeoju, hence pointlessly spending from the public purse.  Apart from a scandal that saw over $ 30 million embezzled by some of her inner circle members, another reason for Banda’s downfall was her style of leadership based on settling of scores, witch-hunt and whitewash. Under her watch, the Malawi kwacha was devalued by almost 50%. No country has ever devalued its currency and looked good to its people. Devaluation, especially for African countries, has always been proposed by rich countries and the Bretton woods to avoid loss in their transactions between them and poor countries. Banda didn’t learn from her predecessor who in 2011 devalued the Kwacha by 10% and caused price increase on goods and services. If 10% caused such an upsurge, what did 50% cause?

According to the African Outlook report, Malawi under Banda, “…has continued to face macroeconomic pressures. These include inflation, exchange rate volatility and excessive government domestic borrowing.”

Banda needs to underscore that her government convoked and crewed the whole elections. How come the opposition rigged without supervising the said elections? Allegations of rigging from Banda might be genuine and worthwhile. This shows Banda’s own poor management. It is true there were some irregularities. Who’s behind such irregularities and who is to blame? Banda has herself to blame.

By Nkwazi Mhango
[email protected]


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