A Tribute to Bingu: The dream lives on

On 1st August 1915, Patrick Pearse commander general of the Irish republican brotherhood and member of the Revolutionary Fenian Society addressed his Irish countrymen at the funeral of O’Donovan Rosa, a revolutionary pantheon who inspired his generation to pick up the baton in the cause of freedom against British dominance in Ireland. In his speech he said and I quote

“Life springs from death, and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations”. He continued to say that “we stand at Rossa’s grave today, not in sadness but rather in the exaltation of spirit that it has been given to us to come thus into so close a communion with that brave and splendid Gael.” In the same spirit, I come today not in sadness but rather in celebration of one of God’s gifts to Malawi the country I love with all my heart and am committed to serving.

In 2007, President Bingu wa Mutharika was successful in securing debt relief for Malawi from international lenders, which helped to reduce the country’s debt burden and free up resources for development projects. That was in 2006, my dad had just bought a television and that evening Bingu was on TV explaining what his administration had done to win the support of the international community.

I was in Form 3 at New Gift Private Secondary School in Zomba, with my friends Gift Kamchacha, Happy Phiri, and Thokozani Wanyanga Milanzie we used to task each other to watch Presidential diaries and discuss what Bingu said during our class time. Of course a year later, Happy left for Malindi Secondary School while Gift and I went to Chinamwali Secondary School, but that’s how much we loved Bingu, who would not?

When Bingu became President in 2004, the country was still facing a hunger crisis. The country’s inflation levels were so high, businesses were closing down, privatization agenda that was championed by President Muluzi did not produce any tangible positive results. Not because Privatization is bad, but because it was poorly administered and created unemployment. Dr. Mathews Chikaonda’s 10-point plan did not work and threw the country into another economic crisis. For starters, Mathews Chikaonda was a Finance Minister during Bakili Muluzi’s regime up until 2002. In the year 2000, Chikaonda introduced a ten-point plan designed to cut government spending, lower inflation, and interest rates, and improve the business climate in the country.

The major aspect of the ten-point plan was to reduce government spending and as a result, Chikaonda raised university fees from K1,500 to K46,000. The allocation for boarding in Conventional Secondary Schools was reduced from 16% to 9% of total secondary school recurrent expenditure, and the number of students going to secondary schools and universities decreased tremendously. In addition, the government sold Maize (the country’s staple food) abroad and the following year Malawi was hit by the worst famine in 50 years that claimed over one thousand lives and over 3 million people struggled. Reacting to the scenario, President Muluzi responded “IMF is to blame for the hunger in Malawi. They told us to sell our Maize”.

But that’s not a story for today, maybe later. Bingu came in 2004 when the country was going through all of this turmoil and turned around the situation in less than 2 years. The once hunger-stricken nation was now Africa’s food basket donating food not only in Africa but to other continents. A few years later, the international lenders granted us debt relief and Malawi was declared the second fastest growing economy in the world second to Qatar, Malawi was indeed on the move.

But that’s not a story for today, maybe later. Bingu came in 2004 when the country was going through all of this turmoil and turned around the situation in less than 2 years. The once hunger-stricken nation was now Africa’s food basket donating food not only in Africa but to other continents. A few years later, we were granted debt relief and became the second fastest growing economy in the world second to Qatar, Malawi was indeed on the move.

He assembled an effective cabinet that helped him implement his vision and development agenda for the country. The cabinet comprised Henry Mussa, Martin Kansichi, Elizabeth Ayipila, Kate Kainja, Goodall Gondwe just to mention a few. A cabinet interested to help and support the President create decent well-being for the citizens, boost infrastructure and create an environment that enables citizens to prosper. A senior World Bank official told me that meeting Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe was always a nightmare for him because Goodall would always expose this man’s poor economic analysis and lack of understanding of Macroeconomic theory. I laughed when he said he once delegated a meeting with GG to his juniors because he wasn’t ready to meet GG.  That was a caliber of Ministers who surrounded Bingu, people who not only knew what they were doing but had a great sense of patriotism. As it is said, the dreamer is gone but the dream lives on. Continue resting well Bingu