‘Malawi full of selfish leaders’ says economic commentator Henry Kachaje

One of the country’s renowned economic commentators has said Malawi is full of selfish leaders at all levels who are heavily into consolidating their personal positions than developing the country.

The commentator, Henry Kachaje, says this is the whole reason the country has failed to register meaningful growth and development 49 years after independence.

Kachaje’s comments come barely two months after the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) observed during its two-day all-inclusive conference held in Blantyre that Malawi is in short supply of leaders who can transform the fortunes of the country.

Kachaje, whose company Business Consult Africa is championing an Entrepreneurship Revolutionary Programme aimed at creating one million jobs by 2017, noted at the weekend that it is shocking to note how politicians, traditional leaders, religious leaders and managers of various companies have invested plenty of energy to ensure their personal enrichment rather than the wellbeing of their entities.

“I have observed with great sorrow that in churches, the majority of pastors and leaders focus too much of their attention and energies in securing their positions than serving their congregations. There have been too many fights in religious circles that make one wonder how such leaders can continue to conduct business on behalf of God here on earth,” said Kachaje.

He noted that many companies and organisations have failed to grow, while others have collapsed largely because most managers focus on managing and safeguarding their own positions than managing and leading the organisations they were hired to manage.

“The majority of traditional chiefs and society leaders are no different. It is therefore not surprising that politicians do likewise. They are more concerned in getting power and remaining in power instead of empowering and developing the citizens that trusted them with the mantle of leadership,” said Kachaje.

He noted that most leaders lack vision and that without a compelling vision, those in positions of leadership resort to selfishness, bribing and corrupting their followers because they have no moral reason to remain in leadership.

“What hope do we have in sight for Malawi? Will the true leaders please stand up? Malawians need you for the sake of our children and indeed the future of Malawi. We have been in the wilderness of poverty for far too long. Can someone please lead us into our promise land?” asked Kachaje.

In its communiqué after the recent all inclusive conference, PAC noted that Malawi’s biggest problems was the lack of visionary leaders.

“We have transactional leaders and not transformative leaders. Besides, the country seems not to have a vision,” reads an observation on the political situation.

The communiqué made a political assessment in Malawi based on a presentation by political expert Blessings Chinsinga titled ‘Malawi’s Contemporary Political Landscape: Marching on or moving in cycles and Law expert Edge Kanyongolo’s presentation titled, ‘Constitutionalism beyond 2012’.

Pac observed that Malawi’s current leaders are engaged in “political harlotry” and that state institutions in Malawi seem to have been captured by the executive arm of government.

As a result they have lost autonomy and impartiality in the discharge of their duties.

“It was noted that political selfishness by the politicians has eroded the confidence of the citizens in the leadership and this has, consequently, disenfranchised the would-be new comers into the political arena,” reads another observation.

Pac noted that Parliament is critical to constitutionalism in Malawi because of its authority to define legal limits of power through legislation and enforcing accountability