By Suzgo Chitete
With the current administration having clocked five years in office on June 28, political scientists’ assessment show that President Lazarus Chakwera has not lived up to his promise to govern based on his Super Hi5 agenda.
In his maiden State-of-the-Nation (Sona) address in 2020 Chakwera repeated his campaign promise to govern by what he called Super Hi5: servant leadership, rule of law, ending corruption, uniting Malawi and prospering together.
We asked five renowned political scientists from the Political Scientists Association of Malawi to assess the performance of the administration on each of the five pillars of the Super Hi5.
From this analysis, the Chakwera administration has received an average score of 38.4 percent across the five pillars of the Super Hi5, with ending corruption scoring the lowest (24 percent).
The political scientists, who include University of Malawi (Unima) associate professor Boniface Dulani and lecturer Gift Sambo, and politicals analysts associate professor Nandini Patel, Mavuto Bamusi and Wonderful Mkhuche scored the Chakwera administration highly on uniting Malawi with an average score of 58 percent.
This is the only score above 50 percent as the rest hover below 44 percent. The pillar on rule of law ranked second with 44 percent, 36 percent for servant leadership and 30 percent for prospering together.
On the lowly-ranked pillar on ending corruption, the common issue raised is how the administration has managed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Patel gave the administration on management of ACB an outright zero, saying: “The situation is appalling”, while Bamusi rated it one out of 10 or 10 percent, arguing that the administration has crippled the bureau which is running without a substantive director for a year now.
Bamusi further points out that the victimisation of the former director general Martha Chizuma and failure to meaningfully prosecute cases linked to businessperson Zuneth Sattar are other drawbacks to justify his score.
Sambo, who scored the administration two out of 10, argued that the conflict that emerged involving former director of ACB and other governance institutions is clear evidence that Chakwera’s administration is not committed to ending corruption.
But Dulani, who gave the administration a six out of 10, said the President deserves some marks for few bold decisions such as the appointment of Chizuma as a director of the ACB and, also, the dismissal of senior government officials on allegations of corruption as this sent a strong message.
Argued Dulani: “In the last two years that vigour has kind of dissipated and, indeed, corruption seems to be winning the battle against anti-corruption. But at least from what we saw at the beginning you can give the President some credit compared to previous administrations.”
In a written response, Government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu came to the defence of the administration, saying the ACB is fully-capacitated with adequate finances and human capital.
Said Kunkuyu: “No government has done this before. Issues about individuals, whether being prosecuted or working for the bureau; that’s for the bureau to comment on but as government once all the necessary support has been given, we expect results regardless of who is working at ACB or who ACB is questioning at a given time”.
On prospering together, Bamusi gave the administration a meagre three out of 10, largely due to worsening poverty.
He contended that with over 80 percent of Malawians falling below the poverty line and rising inflation of above 27 percent, as well as scarcity of fuel, sugar and other basic commodities are signs of a nation that is not prospering.
Dulani said the leadership deserves three out of 10 because only few politically-connected individuals are prospering at the expense of Malawians. According to him, incidents of some officials who splashed millions ahead of the MCP convention is a case which defeats the spirit behind prospering together.
“We have seen some government officials who, maybe not paupers but with average income, have become billionaires overnight. We saw this during the campaign ahead of the MCP convention where individuals dished out millions of kwacha. You begin to wonder where these people were before 2020.
“While these have accumulated wealth, that is not the case with the majority of Malawians,” said Dulani, who said this is a trend inherited from past administrations.
Mkutche, who also rated the administration three out of 10, argues that the leadership cannot claim that there is prosperity for all when opportunities follow political connections.
Said Mkutche: “Public opportunities like Neef (National Economic Empowerment Fund), which aims to economically and socially empower Malawians, have been mired by political favouritism and appeasement, with no proper structures to grow viable businesses for the economy.”
Patel gave the administration five out of 10 largely for efforts aimed at empowering women. She said the fact that most women have been appointed in key positions is a positive step in prospering together.
On servant leadership, major discounts on the score is on frequent travel and budgetary allocation to State Residences.
Patel scored the administration two out of 10, saying there is a yawning gap between the government and the governed. She stated that the frequent travels and failure to reduce presidential powers speak volumes of how the leadership has not been a servant to the governed.
Bamusi added that the K67 billion allocation to State Residences in the current budget does not demonstrate the spirit of austerity the President preaches.
Added Bamusi: “This demonstrates hypocrisy to have such an excessive budget at a time when the country has shortage of food, drugs, and people are scrambling for forex and fuel.”
In an interview University of Malawi political scientist Joseph Chunga said technically, servant leadership is about putting the interest of the people first and also how one uses power.
Chunga said Chakwera has generally lived larger than the economy can handle, citing the size of the Presidential convoy and regular travel locally and internationally.
He added that the many allegations of corruption against government officials, including members of Cabinet alleged to have amassed unexplained wealth, send a conflicting message on servant leadership.
But Kunkuyu insisted that Chakwera is a leader who listens and is emphatic as well as communicates on what he is doing and that is what servant leadership is about.
“Schools are being built, hunger being addressed, police houses, roads, and teachers’ promotions… All these stem from having empathy and an understanding of the plight of the people you serve as a servant leader,” said Kunkuyu.
In a telephone interview, dean of law at the Catholic University James Kaphale said failure to reduce presidential powers as promised is a huge discount on servant leadership.
In a written response, Ministry of,Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale said an any attempt to trim presidential powers must be approached with caution to prevent the high office from becoming merely ceremonial.
Namangale, however, added that the amendment of the Protected Flag, Emblems, and Names Act, which removed ‘President’ as a protected name, signifies a reduction of power and a step towards demystifying the Presidency.
“There has already been a shift toward reducing presidential powers, as directed by the President. For instance, the amendment of the Malawi University of Science and Technology Act has opened up the position of Chancellor to other qualified individuals, rather than restricting it to the Head of State,” he said.
On rule of law Chakwera got a fairer score of 44 percent. According to Dulani, while there are gaps, the administration has demonstrated some respect of the rule of law.
He cited personal experience that researchers are able to publish material critical of the administration without repercussions as was the case in the past when academic freedom was under threat.
Mkutche commended the President for living up to his word to appear before Parliament to answer questions.
“There was largely accountability, justice, an open government, and the rule of law at the pace the government systems allowed. The President’s words and character suggested adherence to the law,” said Mkutche.
A common challenge highlighted in the analysis leading to the low score is the inaction to deal with panga-wielding thugs who have been disrupting demonstrations.
According to Kaphale, this administration should have jealously protected the right to demonstrate having benefitted from the same. Kaphale believes a zero would be a fair score on respect for the rule of law as an attack on demonstrators is a serious breach of the Constitution.
Added Kaphale: “We have also seen some appointments challenged in court for being unlawful. If the administration respects the rule of law this would not be case. The same with cases of corruption we continue witnessing – this is a case of failure to respect rule of law”.
A huge relief to the administration is the 58 percent score on uniting Malawi. Sambo, who scored the administration eight out of 10, said the government has really put in place various instruments meant to enhance nation-building. He cited the abolishment of quota system in the universities as one of the commendable moves in this regard.
Both Patel and Mkutche also heaped praise on the leadership for establishing the ministry responsible for national unity and the peace and unity commission, saying these are giant steps in promoting unity.
Mkutche said with these structures in place, there is need for more work to address some deep-seated tribal, ethnic and racial divides, and simmering tensions.
Mkutche, who scored the administration seven out of 10, faulted Chakwera for failure to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the successor of the National Compensation Tribunal as indicated in the 2020 Sona.
While efforts to create the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission received praise, a peace and security analyst Dixie Mfune faults the structure of the commission.
Argues Mfune: “Stakeholders are questioning the seriousness of the executive government in appointing the director general, and the independence and credibility of the commission having a secretariat headed by someone appointed by executive government.
“How do you expect a director general appointed by the central government to call for a meeting of mediation in a political violence that has occurred between Malawi Congress Party and Democratic Progressive Party to attend the meeting?”