MUTHARIKA’S ACCOUNTABILITY TEST
I
just finished re-reading an essay Peter Mutharika wrote when he was Professor
of Law at Washington University, St Louis, Missouri.
I
first read it for a class assignment. This time, I read it out of curiosity following
his speech at the launch of the Tsangano-Ntcheu-Mwanza road construction
project.
I
refuse to judge the President by one side of the story. So I read the essay to
discover the President’s deeper side.
I
believe he is a good thinker and able to put his thoughts in the simplest of
terms as was the case when he was unpacking the concept of community technical
colleges launched to offer the youth vocational skills.
In
The 1995 Democratic Constitution of
Malawi the essay published in the Journal of African Law, Mutharika pulls
no punches.
He
writes; “Good governance will be possible
if the people demand accountability and transparency from their government, if
the government understands that it must act within the framework of the rule of
law and if the judiciary understands its role in a democratic society.”
His
line of thinking is clear and can be interpreted from multiple viewpoints.
The
first point is that people need to demand better of the people they elect to
positions of leadership, even post-election.
The
other viewpoint is an assumption that leaders will have to be pressurised or
pushed to govern better.
But
here is the burning question, don’t leaders get to their positions because they
voluntarily promise people things they would do if elected? These, are the
things the electorate consider will bring good governance
With
this in mind, we must quickly understand why good governance is elusive in the
country.
The
shortfall in his statement is that he does not offer the ways in which the
people can demand accountability and transparency from their leaders.
Malawian’s
can demand accountability and transparency through the media. The media plays a
central and pivotal role as a country’s fourth arm of government. It must be
strong and unwittingly carry out its duties without falling prey to the traps
of capitalist pressure and power games. The Malawian media must be commended on
this one. They have been strong watchdogs of our freedom despite pressure
exerted by those in power.
The
second way to ensure transparency and accountability is through open resistance
such as demonstrations.
When
he wrote his essay, Mutharika must have had in mind the demonstrations and
resistance that ended one-party rule and brought multiparty democracy to Malawi
in 1993.
Through
mass protests as the word is, the people demonstrate their feelings about the
status quo and the change they need.
The
people can thus show disapproval as a way of demanding good governance.
Disapproval
can be through opinion polls, the media, demonstrations and the ballot box. Through the ballot, the electorate can denounce
lack of accountability, secrecy and bad governance all at once.
What
then is the problem in our quest to achieve good governance?
This
is the burning question that Mutharika must consider every time he sets out to
silence critics and dissenting voices.
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