missing middle indeed

Today I stumbled unto a midwife's blog calling herself a "baby catcher". The symbolism of baby catching is rightly proclaimed because sensing from her writing, she is actually catching the babies from their mothers' wombs to save them from the impossible conditions under which they are borne. The baby catcher talks about suffering, pain and hopelessness and yet there are so few hands to help. It makes me angry that more than 40 years after independence our mothers should continue to die from preventable conditions and diseases. It is disheartening that while our leaders engage in political battles of supremacy and building political empires hospitals are going without adequate facilities and personnel to take care of simple procedures like child births. What is missing in the whole picture? The 'middle'? I long to see the day when leadership in Malawi will be people centred and not self centred.

amazing how shallow minded leaders can be

A Namibian cabinet minister was recently sent by his president as current chair of the SADC organ on security to check out reports of political instability in Malawi. The honourable minister has been quoted in the Malawi press as saying he drove from Blantyre to Lilongwe, a 300 Km stretch and did not see any sign of political instability. In his ministerial intelligence, the honourable gentleman concluded that Malawi was, therefore, politically stable because he did not see any sign of instability. He accused the media of painting a negative image of Malawi worldwide.

Quite amazing as to the kind of sign the honourable minister was looking for. Perhaps he was looking for multitudes of people carrying placards and destroying public structures. However, while he talked to the press and expressed his surprise at not seeing any 'signs' of political instability, government lawyers were battling it out with lawyers for the state vice president at the high court following the vice president's unconstitutional removal from office by the president. At the same, some quarters from the society were planning to match, a group calling itself defenders of the constitution had issued a statement condemning the firing of the vice president and relations between the president and his former party had just taken another nose dive after press reports indicated relations were getting better...and yet one Marco Hausiku spent the regional body's resources to travel all the way from Namibia and failed to see any 'signs' of political instability in Malawi after all this mayhem.

Malawians were blessed with peaceful hearts and they are naturally peace-loving people. There have been situations in the country where all recipes for an all out conflict were brewed and yet the people have chosen to sort out differences amicably. No one in his right senses can therefore say that because no one is fighting or rioting to show disfavour with the president's unilateral decision to violate the constitution then there is no political instability in Malawi. If Africa is to make any progress at all leaders should learn to tell one another the truth. Without backing the vice president who chose not to report for duties in spite of drawing a monthly salary, the decision by the president to fire him when constitutionally he cannot do that was not living in accordance with the vows of the high office-preserve and defend the constitution. For a long time now leaders on the continent have always told one another everything was well even when people are starving and many go without jobs. Amazing how leaders can be so shallow minded.