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Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
The VX Land Cruiser factor – why Africa is still poor
The fuel queues across Malawi's cities tell their own story of an economy and society in distress. The reason for the petrol shortage is not rocket science. It is also entirely predictable. The black-market rate of the Kwacha to the dollar is nearly three times that of the official figure. Thus, fuel at the pump is sold at the official rate, making it less than half the regional norm. This subsidy, along with other price distortions, is calculated to be costing the Malawian treasury some $7-million per day, this money being funded by off-the-books special government-to-government relationships with the likes of Oman, Kuwait, and China, along with loans and treasury bills. The cost of the latter is yet to be felt, though with bills issued at a 30% yield, it's likely to be painful to the point of default. The so-called country-to-country deals are mooted to involve the mortgaging of mineral assets. As the country runs dry of money and scurries about for cash, so does petrol, even if it comes from dodgy discounted sources. Malawi remains, as a result of years of poor governance and policy, firmly stuck in the bottom five poorest countries worldwide, its per capita income one-third of the sub-Saharan African figure and less than 5% of the global average. All the other countries in the bottom few – Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Burundi, South Sudan, for instance – have been beset by years of civil war. Malawi has managed to be poor simply by making bad choices. Hope dashed There was a lot of hope with the advent of Lazarus Chakwera as president in 2020, the first time the Malawi Congress Party had returned to power since the days of relative affluence (and authoritarianism) of Hastings Kamuzu Banda. But Chakwera has proven as hapless as his predecessors. Rather than creating conditions that would drive up investment, he instead has presided over low growth, excessive government spending and dashed hopes. Little wonder that, with poverty afflicting more than 70% of the population, nine out of 10 Malawians say the country is moving in the wrong direction, with most preferring a return to his predecessor, the 85-year-old Arthur Peter Mutharika, who many say would be better simply because 'he and his party have already eaten'. Mutharika's Democratic People's Party has been in power twice this century, between 2004 and 2012, and again between 2014 and 2020. Corruption not only eats into Malawi's present, but also the future. The cost of excessive spending by the state – the government deficit is running just under 10% per annum – is visible in the lavish 20-car presidential cavalcades, the 300,000-strong civil service, and the enormous overseas government entourages and spending habits. That the president's wife would take a whole floor of a luxurious Johannesburg hotel for her friends' shopping trip, or that Chakwera's son-in-law and his son hold prominent and powerful positions in State House, is another indicator that not all is well with the state of governance. The VX factor WaBenzi was once the term used to describe the ruling beneficiaries of government corruption in East Africa – literally, the class that drives Mercedes-Benz cars. Now it's the black VX Land Cruiser that is the vehicle of choice to navigate Malawi's potholes, a $300,000 status symbol, especially when it meets arriving members of the president's family at the foot of the aeroplane steps. But it's the cost of what the state does not choose to do which is still more expensive. Chakwera had a difficult inheritance when he took over amid a fraught election involving a re-run following a vote-tampering 'Tippex' scandal the first time around. Easy victories were possible through a combination of judicious expenditure on infrastructure, along with government austerity to create this spending wiggle-room and getting the state out of its middleman function, which simply discounted the value to the poorest of farmers. With public support and oodles of donor goodwill, it was the new president's war on poverty to lose. But lose it he did, and spectacularly, through a combination of paralysis and patronage. Rather than remove the middlemen from the economy, true to Kamuzu Banda's legacy, the MCP has doubled down on them, a colonial solution for a 21st-century digital world. The result is, for example, that a combination of export bans and the setting of a minimum price by government (effectively becoming a maximum price), the price down at the moment that the farmer reaps his harvest, while the commodity fetches a premium during the hunger season, sold back to the farmer at a vast profit. Malawi works well for the elite with access to forex and inside the system; for the other 80% comprising the rural poor, squeezed between rapidly rising demography and diminishing farm plots, it's a vicious cycle of births, debt, hunger, ill-health and death. Cars wait patiently under posters of President Lazarus Chakwera, which proclaim his eminent re-electability in the September elections. The patient passivity of the electorate, easily divided and thus ruled along tribal and religious lines, contributes to government neglect in failing to hold it to account at the polls over its performance. Malawi is poor because its leaders have wittingly made this choice, preferring to realise the benefits of power for themselves over their people. Rather than using their mandate and local agency, they have fallen back on worn excuses of external factors, from colonialism to Covid. Malawi not alone It's not just Malawi, of course. Next door, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have made an art form of externalisation as the excuse, all the while deepening the elite's extractive grip on the economy. And, in Zimbabwe, when the opposition managed to get itself into power for four years between 2009 and 2013, itself the product of a brave and principled struggle, this was undone by its own leadership, which focused less on the next election and the health of the party than the trappings of power. The outside world has seldom helped, even with the best of intentions. In some cases, the intent has been downright malicious, focused on transactionalism for resources or political influence. In others, the donors have simply played along, wittingly or not, with the externalism argument, preferring to stay in the game rather than call things as they are or leave. With his closing of USAid, President Donald Trump may prove a positive disruptor to this world of diplomacy and self-interest, but it depends on whether he is cutting back aid to change the system for the better of the erstwhile recipients, or simply to use aid (along with tariffs) as a lever to extort for better business deals. In all cases, donors have been complicit in failure, preferring to measure success by the metric of expenditure rather than the impact of reforms. As one German ambassador put it in Zambia during the worst days of the administration (if that is what it could be optimistically called) of Edgar Chagwa Lungu, 'hope dies last'. At the same time, the presidency of Hakainde Hichilema, which defeated Lungu at the polls in 2021, shows what is possible. In spite of a difficult inheritance including foreign debt which had galloped over the previous 10 years from less than $1-billion in 2012 to $23-billion, and a poor relationship with its principal investors in the mining sector, responsible for 75% of crucial forex earnings, HH quickly reset the relationship with the largest of the mining companies, spurring fresh investment and taking a series of punitive arbitration cases off the table, which acted as contingent liabilities for Zambia Inc. At the same time, HH cut a deal with the IMF and Zambia's debtors, which included the previously apparently imperturbable, inflexible and characteristically overly commercial Chinese. These results demonstrate what is possible with leadership that possesses a sense of urgency and is willing and able to prioritise and plan. It emphasises the importance of domestic agency, and of austerity in righting the ship of state. It demonstrates that reforms are not static, but always ongoing, as is the need to manage the civil service, which can act akin to an insurgency countering reforms if it considers its interests under threat. But this highlights the purpose of government, away from entitlement and enrichment to service and delivery. The results of reform are not to be measured solely in the size of convoys, splendour of hotels, number of VXs or frequency and lavishness of per diems, but jobs and growth, the inner-stuffings to end poverty. DM
Zawya
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Malawi: Police Look on as Peaceful Protesters Assaulted
On June 26, 2025, about a dozen weapon-wielding men in Malawi attacked demonstrators peacefully protesting the government's handling of upcoming national elections, Human Rights Watch said today. The police's apparent unwillingness to intervene to stop the violence or to arrest those responsible raises grave concerns about the government's ability to conduct the September general election in a fair and impartial manner. The incident occurred when Citizens for Credible Elections, a local nongovernmental organization, held protests calling for an independent audit of the voters' roll and the resignation of top officials of the Malawi Electoral Commission. While people were protesting in Lilongwe, the capital, 10 to 20 men—some wearing masks and carrying sticks, sjamboks (heavy leather whips), and large knives—attacked the demonstrators, injuring several and damaging property as well. Civil society groups and the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party allege that the assailants had links to a youth militia aligned with the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP). The MCP is being accused of using fear and intimidation against citizens expressing themselves in the lead-up to the September election. 'Malawian authorities need to investigate this brutal attack on peaceful demonstrators and ensure that those responsible are appropriately punished,' said Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. 'For Malawians to have confidence in the fairness of the upcoming election, they need to be sure the police will respond promptly and impartially to threats or acts violence, no matter who is responsible.' Government and law enforcement agencies are responsible for upholding the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and for ensuring that demonstrators can safely protest in line with Malawi's constitution and international standards. The electoral commission's unwillingness to allow various local organizations access to voter rolls to inspect it for any inconsistencies that can lead to vote rigging has heightened citizens and civil society's concerns about the fairness of the elections. Sylvester Namiwa, head of the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives and the chief organizer of the protests, told Human Rights Watch that as the protest was about to begin, assailants attacked those who had gathered. He said that while police and other law enforcement officers looked on, the men severely beat him, dragged him toward a Toyota SUV, and attempted to abduct him. He added that he escaped the attempted abduction when police fired tear gas. The attackers then stole a public address system that the protesters were using, damaged several vehicles, and set two cars on fire. Namiwa was treated for his injuries at a local hospital. A member of Citizens for Credible Elections said that as assailants beat her up, she pleaded with the police for protection. They did not intervene, and the attack left her with a cut on her hand and back injuries. Local human rights activists and journalists covering the demonstrations corroborated demonstrators' accounts, saying that they witnessed police officers watching and not doing anything to protect the protesters, even when it was clear that protesters' lives were in danger. No assailants were arrested; additionally, police did not respond to media queries about law enforcement's response to the attacks. In November 2024, opposition parties and civil society organizations alleged that the MCP had organized the violent attack of a demonstration for electoral reforms by masked men with weapons. At that time, witnesses accused law enforcement officers of standing by while the masked men assaulted peaceful protesters, just as they did at the June 26, 2025 protests. Governments have an obligation under international law to respect, facilitate, and protect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Malawi is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which sets out these rights. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the ICCPR, has stated in a general comment that governments have 'positive duties to facilitate peaceful assemblies and to make it possible for participants to achieve their objectives.' The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly state that 'the rights to freedom of association and assembly are fundamental rights that should underpin all democratic societies in which individuals can freely express their views on all issues concerning their society.' Furthermore, when people express these rights, states are mandated to 'protect associations, including their principal and most visible members, from threats, harassment, interference, intimidation or reprisals by third parties and non-state actors.' 'The Malawian government needs to uphold human rights and the rule of law by investigating, arresting, and appropriately prosecuting both the attackers and those behind the violence,' Nassah said. 'Ahead of a crucial general election in September, authorities need to send a strong message that human rights violations will not be tolerated.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Eyewitness News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Govt depts now allowed to enlist IT services outside of SITA
Published on June 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM by Edgar Naitha The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has dismissed allegations that it is planning to form an alliance with the newly registered political party, Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu. MCP's Second Deputy Publicity Secretary, Ken Msonda, described such claims as politically immature, especially with just three months remaining before the general elections. Msonda stated that the party is currently focused on national development and has no interest in alliance discussions. He expressed confidence that the MCP will win the upcoming elections independently. His remarks follow growing speculation among some Malawians who believe Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu is the most likely party to align with the MCP ahead of the 2025 polls. Source: Capital FM Subscribe to our Youtube Channel:
