Cabinet assessment: Leadership is everything Sourced from: http://bppmw.com/index.

php/sunday-times/headlines/national/4701-ca binet-assessment-leadership-is-everythingYou might have heard this saying before that everything comes down to leadership , or its absence. In 2011, it became clear that the leadership of this country h ad decided to take Malawi down a particular road: a road where loyalty to politi cs and the party were more important than to the people of Malawi. If it had bee n that the people of this country came first, then we would have seen less of th e incompetence, arrogance and corruption and more of delivery of services that a re crucial to the survival of the millions of poor citizens of this country. Delivery of services, of promises made, of expectations created, is the ultimate yardstick with which we have measured this cabinet's performance in the year 20 11. In most respects, it was a year to forget. Survival became an everyday strug gle and when the people of this country went out on the streets to let the elect ed leaders know of their unhappiness, they were met with brutal force. Thereafte r Malawi never became the same again, with the elected leaders lording over the people and the people mistrusting their government. The real problem of this cabinet, in the year 2011, has been the man at the top of the pile. President Bingu wa Mutharika decided to be more authoritarian than ever before in handling growing discontent against his rule. His expulsion of Br itish envoy Fergus Cochraine-Dyke went against all advice and norm, including fr om within his own cabinet and this nation has been made to pay dearly for one ma n's indiscretion. His utterances in public before July 20 and after that have ha rdly inspired confidence in the future of this country as a vibrant, upcoming an d solid democracy. Of course, in this cabinet are smart, intelligent and hardworking men and women. But these are constrained by the direction the president has chosen to take. Th ose ministers who have done well have done so in a very restricting environment and kudos to them for that. The argument that some ministers should be scored highly because they could have done well without the restrictions imposed on them by their party's mandate and the president's actions does not make ultimate sense. This argument brings us t o the issue of Malawian politicians and resignations. It seems our politicians h ave a completely different philosophy on resignations. Elsewhere, when you disag ree on a point of principle with the manner in which your leadership is running affairs, then you do the honourable thing and resign. Joyce Banda, if she was gu ided by that principle, would long have resigned and taken the moral high ground . But she has chosen to cling on to the trappings of the vice-presidency even th ough she now hardly operates as the vice president of this country. The economy is a mess and inflation is running away. Jobs are being lost, indust ries are struggling. There is no fuel and forex. Electricity is in short supply. Water is being rationed. The roads are a collection of potholes. The constituti on is under threat and the Judiciary under attack. Malawi is at a crossroads and ultimately, the president and his cabinet are judged by how much they are doing to pull the country back from the brink. How would you have rated the cabinet under these circumstances? ******************** What the grades mean: 1-2: Do us a favour, resign 3-4: Pull up your socks, please

5-6: Ok, but you can do better 7-8: You are a star 9-10: Excellent. You deserve another term! ******************** Team of contributors Theresa Chapulapula Clement Chinoko Kingsley Jassi Thom Khanje Suzgo Khunga Simeon Maganga Isaac Masingati Henry Mchazime Temwani Mgunda Charles Mpaka Felix Mponda Karen Msiska Chachacha Munthali Madalitso Musa Idriss Ali Nassah Wezzie Nkhoma-Somba Daniel Nyirenda McDonald Thom ******************** Bingu wa Mutharika: Time runs out President Score: 4 With less than two years to go before the end of his second and final term as pr esident, time is certainly running out for Bingu wa Mutharika who, eight years a go, famously set lofty dreams for himself and the country. Last year, however, t hings were just messy for Bingu and for Malawi.

Even with donor inflows, the country failed to balance a $1.8 billion annual imp ort bill for fertiliser, medicines, raw materials and other commodities against exports of mainly agricultural produce and a few minerals which generate less th an $1 billion a year. The president fought with the donor community and when they criticised his leade rship style and economic direction he told them to go to hell and they froze aid to Malawi instead. Our programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fam ously went "off-track" and with reduced tobacco dollars flowing into the economy , everything was on the skids. Then our "economic engineer" brought along the do-it-alone Zero Deficit Budget ( ZDB) which, so far, has all but reduced viable economic activity to zero. This h as left businesses in this import-dependent country unable to buy goods and mate rials abroad, with others laying off workers and some closing shop. The ZDB was expected to raise K303 billion ($2 billion), launched in 2011 from local resourc es, with the Pan-Africanist boast to show to the world we are a truly "sovereign and independent country 48 years after independence," according to Mutharika. T his was a slap in the face of donors, who withheld 40 percent of their budgetary support over Mutharika's human right, economic and governance record. Persistent foreign exchange shortages have in turn led to fuel shortages. Long f uel queues, a thriving black market for forex and increasing arrogance from the leadership stoked public discontent throughout much of 2011. On July 20, 2011, some 19 people were killed when police opened fire on anti-gov ernment protesters after civil society organisations had spearheaded demonstrati ons against Mutharika's rule. Britain, Malawi's largest bilateral donor, in July suspended about 19 million of budgetary aid to Malawi over failure to address concerns about "economic managem ent and governance". This was followed by other donors and the United States which put on hold a $350 million grant for Malawi's energy sector out of concern over the way the July 2 0 protests were handled by the authorities. The IMF, amid a worsening of ties, said in June its programme with Malawi was "o ff-track" as the government had failed to review a $79.4-million (55.7-million-e uro) credit facility meant to cushion the chronic foreign exchange shortages. Mutharika also disagreed with the IMF on the exchange rate, saying devaluation w ould be over his dead body, while IMF said the kwacha was over-valued and was th e chief cause of persistent imbalance in the foreign exchange market. A token 10 percent devaluation did little to appease the IMF. With the president fighting the IMF, other donors, who provide 40 percent of the development budget that also pays salaries for the country's nearly 170,000 civ il servants, will wait for the IMF green-light in order to resume budget support . But in what was seen as nodding to demands to cut on government expenditure, Mut harika on September 6, 2011, reshuffled his cabinet and trimmed 14 portfolios. T he cabinet had 42 ministers and deputies. The current one has only 17 ministers. Mutharika, who also serves as commander-in-chief of the police and the armed ser vices, kept three portfolios for himself and named his wife Callista as national coordinator for women and children's health, placing her as number two on the h ierarchy.

Her K1 million monthly salary angered many, who argued that she should not be pa id for doing charity work as the president's wife. Before that had been Mutharika's expulsion of Britain's envoy Fergus Cochrane-Dy et in April over a leaked diplomatic cable critical of Mutharika. Britian retaliated by sending our ambassador home from London and cut direct aid . After that, the president became increasingly militant in his approach, ridicu ling the donors and threatening to "smoke out" his critics. Mutharika now says he wants to be given three years to fix the country's economi c mess: "I am not the problem", he says "but I am the solution." That may not convince many Malawians and donors who believe the only solution is for the president to swallow his pride and chiefly address the concerns of the IMF for donors to unlock their vital funds for Malawi. And 27 months might be too short a time for an economic miracle to happen. ******************** Joyce Banda: Faded dreams Vice President Score: 1 The surprise picking of Joyce Banda as running mate to partner President Bingu w a Mutharika and their eventual resounding success at the ballot in May 2009 was full of promise and hope. She made history by becoming Malawi's first female vice president. But this hope was dampened 18 months later when Banda was bundled out of the rul ing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on the accusation of forming "parallel st ructures". The expulsion in December 2010 earned the vice president tremendous public sympa thy on account of the fact that Mutharika had gone through the first five years virtually with no deputy, after vice president Cassim Chilumpha was also sidelin ed from government business, accused of treason. Relations between Banda and the President began to sour when Mutharika's brother Peter was endorsed, without any convention of the DPP, as the next presidential candidate of the governing party. But three months later after her expulsion, as if to justify DPP's reasons for b ooting her out of the party, Banda formed her own People's Party. It was now dif ficult to vilify the DPP continually on the grounds of Banda's dismissal from th e party. Since then, by and large, Banda has hardly functioned as vice president of this country for which she was entrusted to serve the Malawian public. Rather, she se ems preoccupied with being the president of People's Party. Banda has defiantly said she will remain vice president of the country until 201 4. While Mutharika and his party are to blame for boxing the vice president in, she has to shoulder some of the blame for the fix she finds herself in.

As a seasoned politician, she knew from the start that she was vice president of the Republic by virtue of her being a member of the DPP. It was from that platf orm that she had elected to the second highest political office in the country. She also knew that if she acted contrary to the values of the DPP, she would get kicked out of the DPP and eventually be sidelined from the presidency. She had the Cassim Chilumpha saga to learn from. In a wide-ranging interview on radio, s he said that President Mutharika promised her in 2009 that she was going to be t he next president. When Mutharika went back on his word and instead opted for Pe ter, his brother, Joyce Banda was stung by this betrayal and she decided to put personal interest ahead of public service. Today, she is all over the place spreading the gospel of her party, attacking th e policies of a government she is principally part of, policies which she would have helped to correct and serve the people better had she been in the system. In this, she is also caught in the fix whether to use public resources in pushin g the agenda of her party and her future presidential ambitions when Malawians h ave pressing needs that require solutions today and which she would perhaps have helped to solve had she been a functional vice president. The Republican Constitution backs her on the taxpayer-run resources that she has at her disposal as vice president, but her political direction is bringing conf lict of interest. Is she the vice president of Malawi or the president of PP? In countries where politicians function on the basis of principle and political correctness for greater good, Banda would have resigned from the government whos e policies she does not agree with so she could fight for public interest from a higher moral ground. If she is a person of principles, if the government has me ssed up so bad, if the DPP treated her shoddily the question is why has she not resigned, on a point of principle. Clement Chiwaya did it, and has always remained a politician held in high regard by many across the divide. ******************** Peter Arthur Mutharika: Big brother syndrome Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Score: 4 That Peter Arthur Mutharika, who happens to be President Bingu wa Mutharika's ki d brother, is a reluctant some say unwilling candidate for 2014, is a fact. That the now-72-year-old Washington University constitutional law professor never ca me back to Malawi until after his big brother became president in 2014 is also a fact. Another fact not in dispute is that Peter is the president's brother and sometimes he is crucified for the perceived ills of the president. The younger Mutharika went to study in the US over four decades ago. He got hims elf a Green Card in between. He never came back home ever since. He actually mar ried a woman (now deceased) from Trinidad and Tobago and has three grown up chil dren, all of whom have never been to Malawi. Prof. Mutharika only came back to M alawi after his brother won the presidency in 2004 to become his constitutional affairs advisor. President Mutharika, now 78, wants to cede power to the younger Mutharika when h is constitutional two five-year terms expires in 2014. To prepare for this, in h

is second term, President Mutharika made Prof. Mutharika justice minister, educa tion minister and now, foreign affairs minister. As education minister until September 2011, Peter was disaster most foul. It was on his watch when rural teachers were promised hardship allowances. Teachers ar e still fighting how to access their allowances a year after Peter was removed f rom the ministry. It was also on his watch when Malawi experienced the longest academic freedom st ruggle Malawi has ever experienced. Well, you may say it was Big Brother who mad e all the wrong pronouncements but it was Peter who was in office on Capital Hil l. Actually for the entire eight long months Peter said nothing. It was Big Brot her who said everything. Then Bingu made Peter Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister aft er the reshuffle of September 2011. Now Peter has to clean up where his brother has soiled. Last year, Malawi's foreign relations were at the lowest ebb. Bingu had, against all reasonable advice, deported British High Commissioner Fergus Cochrane-Dyet in connection to a leaked cable. This did not endear Malawi with the rest of the Western donors and development partners froze their aid. Malawi also had souring relations with Mozambique and Lilongwe was not on talkin g terms with Lusaka over the deportation of the then opposition leader, now Pres ident Michael Sata, in 2007. So Peter Mutharika has been everywhere trying to fire-fight and restore broken r elationships. He has been to the United States of America (USA) where he met Dir ector of African Affairs John Karson. In the United Kingdom, he has met with Bri tish Foreign Secretary William Hague where Cochrane-Dyet's deportation, among ot her issues, was discussed. After that, there was a little thawing of relations b ut up to now, the UK has not yet sent a replacement envoy and neither have we. While relations with Zambia are still frosty, Peter Mutharika was outscored by f ormer president Bakili Muluzi, who flew to Zambia to talk to Sata, after which S ata announced that Muluzi had persuaded him to 'forgive and forget'. To mend rel ationships with our neighbours is the job of foreign affairs minister, not a for mer president. In 2011, question marks hanged over Peter Mutharika's citizenship, distracting h im and others from the core of his duty as a minister. "Peter himself is not sure whether the presidency is his for the taking, that's why he is not ready to renounce his American citizenship," one university analys t said. "His allegiance is more to the US than here," said Harry Mkandawire, a former al ly of President Mutharika who has since defected to estranged Vice-President Joy ce Banda's newly-formed People's Party. True to his split personality, the younger Mutharika recently caused a furore wh en he sneaked out to the US unannounced for an extended holiday. "Is he going to run affairs of state from the US?" was the question most asked. Prof. Peter Arthur Mutharika is still a mere minister but already fellow ministe rs call him "the boss"; will he maintain it? His record as minister falls short and the Mutharika brothers know the odds are stuck against them and that the arr anged succession may not be a shoo-in.

******************** Ken Lipenga: Confounding the doubters Minister of Finance and Development Planning Score: 4 The cross that Ken Lipenga carries as Finance Minister is that many have questio ned his credentials to lead this ministry at this crucial juncture in Malawi's h istory, when the economy is on a slippery slope. Lipenga is a former journalist and university lecturer in English, with a PhD to boot. He is a wordsmith, not a financial whiz kid. However, since his appointment to the position on September 6, 2011, Lipenga has demonstrated a grasp of finance and economics which gives the impression that h e is a man who knows what he is doing. Credit should go to Lipenga for: 1. Announcing in his maiden mid-year budget statement that he was reviewing nume rous comments on policy measures undertaken in the zero-deficit budget and that he would undertake a comprehensive assessment of the tax policy measures for con sideration in the annual budget in June. 2. Responding favourably to the outcry to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) on milk, eggs and honey. Lipenga also adjusted the minimum tax on turnover to apply it on ly on companies that perpetually report tax losses. 3. For resuming negotiations in earnest between Malawi and the International Mon etary Fund (IMF). The Technical Assistance Mission was even in the country and w hose report is now the basis for continued discussions between Malawi and the IM F as Malawians look forward to the restoration of a programme with the IMF, whic h is a key requirement for donor support. 4. For effectively and effortlessly communicating to the public, through the med ia, about what the government is doing to address the economic challenges facing the country, thereby providing assurance to Malawians that not all is lost for the country economically. This is no surprise, really, for a former journalist a nd minister of information. 4. For playing the role of a fire-fighter between two hard-stance parties the go vernment on one hand and the civil society and the donors on the other on the di fferent opinions prevailing on the economic management techniques for the countr y. While defending the government's policy, he has assured the other parties tha t their views would be considered as the government continues to explore ways of addressing the economic problems affecting the country. However, Lipenga has performed dismally on the following: 1. Solving the issues of foreign exchange and fuel shortages. Although the respo nsibility of addressing these issues is collective and largely rests in the hand s of the president, the Minister of Finance is at the centre of providing advice to the government on the matters. We think the administration, and therefore th e Minister of Finance, has grossly failed on this matter. 2. Defending the indefensible. There is clear evidence to show that the zero-def icit budget has failed in as far as revenue generation and expenditure are conce rned. The budget is clearly short of resources and Malawi cannot talk of success

ful implementation of the zero-deficit deficit when it is being done at the expe nse of basic service provision to the people. The government needs to swallow it s pride and go back to the negotiation table with development partners with an o pen mind. 3. There are also numerous reports of the government failing to buy drugs in pub lic hospitals, pay civil servants on time, complete roads and other development projects because of lack of funding. In an advert published in The Daily Times o f January 31 2012, the Roads Authority wrote: "Delayed payment to contractors an d consultants is the major challenge faced during the year [2011]." This is only one example of many. 4. It is taking too long for Lipenga and company to restore Malawi's programme w ith the IMF and relations with other donors. In his mid-year budget statement, L ipenga ruled out the possibility of getting back to the IMF programme, and donor aid, within this financial year. As Minister of Finance, he is the lead negotia tor in as far as relations between Malawi and donors are concerned and, as chief advisor to the government on this matter, he takes the flak. 5. Failure to strictly adhere to the implementation of the budget as passed in t he National Assembly on June last year. Despite claims in the mid-year budget st atement that the budget was performing well, the IMF says the government operati ons are being funded by Reserve Bank of Malawi, meaning the budget is failing to perform in as far as revenue targets are concerned. 6. Failure to arrest run-way inflation. After several years of declining and sin gle digit inflation, Malawi has gone into double digit inflation. This means a r ise in commodity prices largely because of the wrong economic policies being imp lemented by the government. Although the kwacha looks stable officially at K167 to one US$ dollar, the real rate on the parallel market is well above K250 and k eeps moving. With the government's appetite for domestically borrowed money on t he increase, it is just a matter of time before pressure starts mounting for the adjustment of the lending rates. The macro-economic situation in the country is definitely not consumer and business friendly. It is Lipenga's duty to do somet hing about this. 7. Lost jobs: One of the objectives of the Ministry of Finance is to "increase g rowth and productivity of the economy and expand opportunities for all". But, th en, companies are downsizing and laying off workers because of depressed product ion caused by inability to source forex for the importation of raw materials and goods. The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) says 18,000 people have lost jobs in the country since June last year. Regional and local reports also indica te that foreign direct investment into the country is on the decline. This, comb ined with depressed prices for key crops such as tobacco, means economic opportu nities or jobs are being lost instead of being created. 8. Failure to launch Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS II). As minist er responsible for development planning, one of the key tasks set for the financ ial year 2011/2012 was formulation and launch of MGDS II. The launch was planned for July 2011 but, up to now, nothing has happened. However, the World Bank can not complete the drafting of its Malawi Country Assistance Strategy without the input from the MGDS II ******************** Sidik Mia: Potholes ahead Minister of Transport and Public Infrastructure Score: 5

It doesn't look too good for Sidik Mia at this ministry Air Malawi is on the ver ge of going bust, the so-called World Inland Port at Nsanje is turning into a so re white elephant, road projects are way behind schedule and some (from the look of things) have been totally abandoned. The CEAR trains have stopped running. Of course, we saw him try to work to move things; in December, he was signing an MOU for the construction of a railway line from Moatize in Mozambique through M alawi to the port of Nacala, through which 18 million tonnes of coal will be exp orted from Mozambique annually. The project entails the construction of a railway line through Chapananga in Chi khwawa to Nkaya in Balaka, a distance of 138.5km and the rehabilitation of the e xisting railway line from Nkaya to Nayuchi, a distance of 98.6km in Malawi. The minister says once in operational, the rail line is expected to save Malawi in e xcess of US$120 million annually in transportation costs. This has the overall e ffect of reducing the transport costs of goods to and from Malawi by about 40 pe rcent. But then this is exactly what we were told when Nsanje Port was the in-th ing but take a look at where we are now. Again, construction works were expected to commence immediately after the Concession Agreement was signed on December 2 2 2011, to be completed in 2014. But then, we haven't seen anything take off the ground and this is already February. The slow progress on completing existing road projects is the perennial problem of this ministry and Mia seems to have been caught in the same web. The KarongaChitipa road was expected to be completed in 2011, now the completion date has b een shifted to this year, so too for Edingeni-Njakwa road. Construction of the M zimba-Mzalangwe road finally started, but it has been slow with only about 25 pe rcent of the work so far done. And whatever became of the Zomba-Jali-Chitakale road? Last time we heard work ha d been halted because of reported disagreements between the contractor and the c onsultant from Kuwait. In September when Mia came in, the story was that he had sorted things out and work would start soon in earnest. Then there was another s toppage, this time blamed on the fuel shortage. Will that road ever finish? Or, rather, will construction of that road ever start because it's been long promise d. How about the Blantyre-Zomba road? Little seems to be done on this project, e ven though funds were identified and the nation was told something was to be don e in a year. That was in 2010. While there seems to be progress on the Mchinji-Kawere road and Lilongwe-Nsipe r oad, progress has been painfully slow on the second-phase of the Masauko Chipemb ere Highway in Blantyre. A myriad of reasons have been given for why that is the case but all Malawians want to see is Men Working Ahead. And, again, Malawians would once want to see the minister of transport and publi c infrastructure in an overall or dustcoat wearing hard-hat criss-crossing the c ountry huffing and puffing pushing for these projects to be completed. Mia is al ways smartly dressed and has a clean-cut image that perhaps he should ditch once in a while and get dirty. That might not mean the roads will suddenly be comple ted on time, but the symbolism of it would not be lost. ******************** Henry Mussa: Missed opportunity Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Score: 4

For Henry Mussa to have made a difference in 2011, Local Government Elections sh ould have been held, the rural electrification programme should have progressed at a fast pace and the rural growth centres should have been standing as the pri de of districts across Malawi. But so far, only Dowa and Neno and Chitipa have b enefited. The ministry failed to conduct Local Government Elections in 2011 despite having budget allocations and instead they proposed an amendment to the Republican Con stitution to conduct tripartite elections in 2014 where Malawians will elect cou ncillors, members of parliament and the president at the same time. But that ame ndment is yet to be done. Without councillors Malawi is said to be in an "unconstitutional position as far as local assemblies are concerned." The absence of councillors is depriving loc al communities of development at the grassroots level as media reports have reve aled misappropriation of resources in district councils. In 2011, the ministry listed the following as its successes: *The completion of the first phase of rural growth centres where the benefiting centres now have facilities such as secondary and primary schools, health centre s, banks and electricity. This is true for Neno, Dowa and Chitipa. *The ministry has managed to put floodlights in Blantyre and Lilongwe through ci ty councils. *Rural Livelihood Support Programme (RLSP) is still on-going, whose aim is to im prove villagers' access to resources and to ensure more efficient use of availab le resources. *Under the Integrated Rural Development programme, K2.5 billion was set for the rural infrastructure programme and K600 million for the development of rural gro wth centres in Chitipa, Lilongwe, Phalombe , Nthisi, Mchinji, Chikhwawa and Mzim ba. *Under the Local Development Fund, some K4.9 billion was allocated for the const ruction of 1,000 primary school teachers' houses, 100 school infrastructure unde r the crisis response programme and the establishment of 1,000 community savings and investment groups. But then against this backdrop, the ministry is always criticised for the appare nt abuse of the role of traditional chiefs by politicians. Chiefs are expected b y the society to be custodians of culture, but have lately been used by the gove rnment to drum up support for unpopular decisions, including, of late, the gover nment's agenda against devaluation of the kwacha. This might be down to the fact that there are no councillors and mayors but most city roads are a potholes mess and refuse collection in 2011 remained a problem as it was in 2010 and 2009 and 2008 and the years before that. In a nutshell, t here has been little progress made in this regard. ******************** Ephraim Chiume: A cocktail of bad laws Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Score: 3 For a ministry whose mandate is to promote the rule of law through the provision

of professional legal services in a transparent and accountable manner for a ju st and democratic society, it has been a year to forget. The year 2011 started with George Chaponda at the helm of the ministry. He cause d unnecessary uproar when he told everyone that a section in the local courts wa s meant to promote public decency and that farting in public was going to be pun ishable. Chaponda instantly made Malawi world-famous. But, then, it later emerge d that 'fouling the environment' did not precisely mean the interpretation the m inister had. Pragmatics, semantics and phonetics came into play. While Chaponda told the world media that the law was going to punish those who went around fart ing, Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga said it was polluting the environment whi ch the law targeted. Well, Chaponda was shipped out in September and in came Ephraim Chiume, an archi tect by profession. Maybe the reasoning was that he redesigns and reengineers a ministry that evidently haemorrhaged during the leadership of first, Peter Mutha rika, and then Chaponda. And try he did. For the first time since 1995, the ministry was able to prepare a state report on International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) , which will be submitted in March. The ministry has also made substantial headway in prosecuting cases quickly. It was able to prosecute about 40 homicide cases and 40 other criminal cases a mont h in the Central Region alone, with most of the suspects being prosecuted within three months. The ministry also managed to publish 21 bills and over 47 government notices and vetted about 50 agreements. The ministry also handled more than 600 civil cases , some of which commenced long time ago. But, then, the bad news: The delivery of justice has been severely crippled by t he strike by 2,000 judiciary workers since January 9 and news that judges, too, are to commence their industrial action on March 1 only adds to the misery. The striking workers are demanding a review of their perks, as passed by Parliament in 2006. The minister has been too quiet about this when, in fact, he has to be seen to be doing something hands-on and in public to address the standoff and al lay fears of a breakdown in the justice delivery system. The very unfortunate case of disregarding court orders in the arrest of former A ttorney General Ralph Kasambara lost Chiume many points. While he might not have been singularly responsible for this imbroglio, he is the minister tasked to up hold constitutional order in this country and it is on his watch that constituti onal order was seemingly broken. His utterances in Parliament when he took sides with the violators of the law cast him as a man not in total control of his min istry. He has much to do with restoring faith in Malawi as a country that respec ts the rule of law; or else, he just might have introduced a culture of impunity . There has been protestations from a cross section of players that the many "bad laws" which the ministry has been initiating since 2009 be repealed. But the gov ernment's resistance to do this has led to further criticisms both at home and a broad and at times straining relations with the donor community. Do we really ne ed these laws, Mr. Minister? An amendment was made in 2010 to Section 46 of the Penal Code (Cap 7:01) which g rants powers to a minister of information to ban any publication deemed "not to be in public interest". When Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) took the matter to court to challenge

this amendment which threatens the right of newspapers to exist, the government challenged MHRC's action, earning Malawi yet another bad reputation. Then, there are sections 137a, 153-156 of the Penal Code, which deal with homose xuality. The argument that the sections stay because we inherited them makes no sense, really. Minority rights activists have spoken about the need for a review of these sections, but Chiume's ministry seems not interested to listen to them . But, then, there is a huge cost to it. The places where we seek donor and budg etary support have said they are not interested to help those countries who oppr ess the minorities. Catch 22 for Chiume, that. In 2011, the ministry prepared another bad law: the Civil Procedures Act dubbed "injunctions bill", which prevents Malawians from suing neither the government n or its officials. When the chorus of protests against these bad laws had reached a crescendo, in D ecember, the government reacted by sending the laws to the Malawi Law Commission for review, but, by then, damage had already been done to our nation's reputati on. ******************** Reen Kachere: Fighting and fighting Minister of Gender, Child Development and Community Development Score: 6 The defining moment in the past year for this ministry was when lunatic men in L ilongwe in January this year went on rampage stripping women wearing trousers an d miniskirts. Soon, the mayhem caught on across major towns and cities of the co untry in what became perhaps the most brazen assault on women's liberties since the advent of multi-party democracy in 1992. Reen Kachere was caught right in th e middle of it performing a dicey balancing act standing by and appeasing the ag grieved women and carefully managing the anger against the few guilty men while alienating the rest of the men. She did well. The mandate of this ministry is to protect the rights and welfare of the vulnera ble groups of people such as children, women, the elderly and persons with disab ilities. This is done through legislation and policies as well implementation of planned activities. Everyday in this country there are many reported cases of women and child abuse, of neglected orphans, the elderly and desperately poor child-headed households. What mechanisms the ministry has put in place as a social safety net for these p eople and how the success of such interventions can be measured is not clear. Th e odd help given to an orphanage here and an appearance by the minister on natio nal TV with a donation to the elderly there does not at all constitute a viable national policy. According to Eye of the Child, the year 2011 saw some strides by the ministry in terms of building up systems to address some of the issues affecting the vulner able members of our society. The passing of the Child Care Justice Act is one example but, then, the ministry has not been able to advocate for adequate resources from the Treasury to imple ment its programmes, and there is the impression that the minister is satisfied with what meagre allocation her ministry has been receiving.

As a result, most social welfare offices across the country are severely hamstru ng and are unable to respond well to the needs of children and women because of limited resources. And what is the ministry doing to address cases of children found loitering arou nd in the streets? What became of the programme started by former Minister Patricia Kaliati of remo ving street children and sending then to rehabilitation centres where they would be educated? What happened to the programme to build shelters for abused women and children? And the programme to have nursing homes for old people with no one left to take care of them? In the current situation, victimised women are just taken to an ill-equipped Vic tims Support Unit at a police station and children are shipped off to an orphana ge, if they are lucky to get into one. What came of the advocacy to address the socio-economic issues as well as negati ve attitudes affecting persons living with disabilities? It started with a bang, but soon fizzled out. While the ministry may cite inadequate resources as its main challenge, issues o f child rights, gender mainstreaming as well as disability rights have a special consideration among development partners and the ministry can easily tap into i nternational resources for implementation of its programmes if the minister was aggressive enough in resource mobilisation. The minister, as a political champion in the ministry and as a renowned gender a ctivist and civil society technocrat herself, should take responsibility for thi s. The ministry, in its official submission for the cabinet assessment initiatives, says it has been able to implement various projects aimed at promoting the welf are of women, children, people with disabilities and communities in general. Some of the notable projects or programmes which are supported by the government , as presented by the ministry, include: 1. Early Childhood Development (M'mera Mpoyamba) programme which has been alloca ted K50 million to support communities to set up community based childcare centr es. So far, 245 centres have been established in various districts. 2. Social Cash Transfers: While this programme is largely supported by donors, K 70 million has so far been used to roll out the programme, reaching out to 27,00 0 households in 7 districts. 3. Support to Orphans and Vulnerable Children: This programme draws support from the Global Fund through the National Aids Commission but the government allocat es funds to support the programme on Other Recurrent Transactions. K8 million wa s earmarked for welfare support and operation issues in the ministry. 4. Capacity Development: Through community development, the government is suppor ting the infrastructure development of Magomero College to offer diploma/degree courses in social work and other professional courses. This work is at an advanc ed stage and K117 million has been allocated for this work this financial year. However, the minister cites limited staff, inadequate funding and increased dema nd for services as key challenges.

******************** Yunus Mussa: Party man Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Score: 2 Yunus Mussa has been far more visible as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seco nd vice- president, than as a cabinet minister. This is no surprise, really, in a country where the lines between party and government are so blurred they are a lmost non-existent. Mussa sits at the helm of a ministry that made all the wrong headlines in 2011 b y selling houses belonging to the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) to the politi cally well-connected for a song. This multi-million kwacha scam cost the governm ent a lot of money but also highlighted the fact that not only is MHC failing to provide housing to millions of deserving Malawians but the little there is bein g abused. Let us judge this ministry by what it is mandated to do. Mussa's ministry is tas ked with providing land and housing to the general public and all stakeholders s eeking these services. The ministry's mission is to create an enabling environme nt for efficient, effective and sustainable provision of land and housing manage ment services to the general public, in order to promote and encourage sustainab le economic growth and development. Its vision is to have equitable access and s ecure tenure to land and housing for all. To what extent has the above been achieved in 2011? Very, very little. ng list at MHC for deserving Malawians desperate for houses is still a ng wait in vain. The minister would win kudos if he initiated an audit ist and worked on rooting out the corruption and favouritism that goes he allocation of houses. The waiti frustrati of this l on into t

Once he made all the right noises about large tracks of land lying idle in town and cities, most owned by absentee landlords holding the land for speculative pu rposes. As yet, nothing has come of it. Maybe if he dedicated more of his time t o activities crucial to his ministry and less to party activities, something tan gible will be worked out. Then there was talk of a mandatory rehabilitation of o ld, run-down buildings which are an eyesore in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Zomba. Some called it the return of the Red Star operation of old. Again, no thing came out of it, even though our cities are desperately in need of a faceli ft or, least of all, a fresh coat of paint. Of course, some things did move in the ministry but most are long-running projec ts that Mussa just inherited and for which he must get very little, if any, cred it. The reallocation of idle estate land to landless households through the Kudz igulira Malo Project in which 998 households were reallocated on 2,173 hectares of land can be deemed a success, but even that is being tampered by the relocate d people selling off their land and moving back to where they came from. They cl aim the absence of roads, schools, clinics and other infrastructure is why they are ditching their new areas. The construction of the Malawi University of Science and Technology, constructio n of new housing units at Area 49 in Lilongwe and disbursement of through the Pub lic Service Home Ownership Scheme 42 mortgage loans to public servants during th e current financial year and the completion and opening of the magistrates' cour t in Blantyre are pluses for the ministry.

But, then, a clean-up in the vital operations of this ministry is long overdue. The process for land ownership/transfer and the subsequent land allocation is st ill a problem. This is marred by corruption and the process takes too long such that people are still landless despite applying many years ago. The inability of the Malawi Housing Corporation to move with speed to provide lo w cost houses is Mussa's Achilles' heel. That there are only 6,000 housing units against over 100,000 applicants is a ratio that inspires no confidence. The ministry has also failed in the maintenance of some of its infrastructure, n otably the government building in Blantyre where there are frequent water and el ectricity disconnections due to the ministry's failure to pay utility bills. Housing in both rural and urban areas still remains a major challenge. People ar e still living in slums and it appears no considerable effort is being made to c orrect the situation. If there is anything happening about the urban slums, then we have not heard Mussa articulate whatever urban development scheme he has. ******************** Peter Mwanza: The politics of food Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Water Development and Food Security Score: 4 In this country, it is hard to tell the truth about the real food security situa tion. Everything about it is shrouded in secrecy sometimes the fact about the si tuation on the ground and in our reserves becomes fiction and vice versa. But th e real deal would be a frank minister who is not caught up in the politics of fo od and will tell the nation as it is if we have surplus, then we have a surplus. If we are running short of food, then we are running short of food. As it is, s ome parts of Malawi are experiencing severe food shortages but the minister will tell you there is plenty grain. But what good is grain stuck in the silos when people are going hungry. Well, maybe you have to understand the politics entwined with the ministry becau se agriculture is the backbone of Malawi's economy as the economy relies heavily on agriculture and agro-industries. And how much food we produce or fail to pro duce has repercussions on the political career of the president. In the 2011/2012 national budget, the Ministry of Agriculture was allocated K38. 3 billion up from K32.7 billion that was approved in the previous financial plan . The ministry set out to implement several projects but the major ones are the Fa rm Inputs Subsidy Programme (FISP), the promotion of cotton production in Malawi , regulation of the tobacco industry and the roll out of the green belt initiati ve. Tobacco remains the mainstay of the country's agriculture industry but, over the years, the industry has been dogged by a number of problems ranging from overpr oduction of the leaf, child labour, deforestation and increase of non-tobacco ma terials in the leaf. Owing to favourable prices that previously were on offer at the auction floors, the tobacco industry registered an increase in yields from 200 million kg in 200 8 to 237 million kg in 2011, according to Tobacco Control Commission figures. Then, in 2011, the bottom fell out for tobacco farmers. Prices hit rock bottom a

nd the blame was placed on the anti-smoking lobby and a dwindling demand for tob acco on the international market. Politics was at play too, as the ordered depor tation of tobacco barons a few years back created a frosty relationship between the buyers and our government. The low prices of tobacco last year hurt the farm ers but left our economy ever more vulnerable. Faced by this, the Ministry of Agriculture moved to introduce quotas in the indu stry in a bid to regulate tobacco output and halt overproduction and raise price s at the floors. So far indications are that the total national output of tobacc o is likely to go down but it remains to be seen if the prices will go up. Tobacco Control Commission estimated that this year 160 million kg will be produ ced, but this could be less as many farmers have pulled out of tobacco as a resu lt of quotas and there has been erratic rains in some areas. In 2011, the ministry was allocated K17.4 billion to procure 140,000 metric tons of fertilizers comprising 70,000 metric tonnes of Urea and 70,000 metric tons o f NPK fertilizers to be distributed to 1.4 million farming families under the su bsidized farm input scheme. The programme has failed to take off this year and work as well as it did previo usly. Problems include irregularities in the distribution of coupons for buying the inputs as well as corruption at Agricultural Development and Marketing Corpo ration (Admarc) depots countrywide. Thousands of beneficiaries received coupons in September and October last year b ut, to-date, they have failed to access the fertilizers and seeds, and we are ju st a few weeks before the end of the farming season. Either, the Ministry of Agriculture did not sure that there were enough supplies of subsidised fertiliser, or the 1.4 million number of beneficiaries was bloate d and was probably beyond the ministry's financial capacity this year. The ministry should have made sure that there was a matching bag of fertiliser f or every coupon it printed rather than to give farmers false hopes. The programme to promote cotton production is probably the single biggest succes s of the ministry in 2011. Under this programme, the ministry was allocated K1.6 billion, on the background of a successful year for the cotton industry in 2011 . This has seen farmers getting quality cotton seed and pesticides and it is hoped that this will in turn result in the production of quality and improved cotton lint for domestic and export trade this season, thereby generating the much need ed forex for the economy. Another success in the ministry is the Greenbelt Irrigation and Water Developmen t Initiative, which was allocated K7.4 billion in 2011/12 Budget with the aim of accelerating irrigation development in the country. The initiative is already p aying dividends as some of the irrigation schemes in the country have been rehab ilitated and are up and running. Overall, the ministry continues to perform well, but its image is tainted by the thousands of subsidy coupons that continue getting dirty in the hands of farmer s each passing day with no fertiliser in site at Admarc depots. This could resul t in food shortages in some households this year. More could haveand should havebe en done to stop the mess. ********************

Patricia Kaliati: Much ado about nothing Minister of Information and Civic Education Score: 2 When President Bingu wa Mutharika dissolved his cabinet on August 9, 2011 and ap pointed new ministers almost a month later, firebrand Patricia Kaliati was the l east expected face to be at the all-important Ministry of Information and Civic Education. Her appointment came against a background of a sorry government image battered b y the promulgation of unpopular laws, an economy in recession and a shared feeli ng about bad governance, executive arrogance and faltering democratic credential s which culminated in the July 20 demonstrations and its 19 fatalities. Governme nt's gang of spin-doctors who included her predecessor Symon Vuwa Kaunda harped on monotonously about Malawi's sovereignty, attacked by 'imperialist' donors, th e civil society organisations and the media, and generally promoted a homophobic agenda with an aim to deflect attention from the government's failings, but wit h little success. Hence, with the fallout from the July 20 debacle, a sober, critical, coherent, c omposed, diplomatic and analytical mind was the desired personality for the port folio but Kaliati was flushed from the Gender Ministry and thrust back into the Ministry of Information and Civic Education to considerable disaster. The mission of her ministry is to develop, promote, co-ordinate and regulate pub lic information programmes through the development and utilisation of innovative information and communication technologies and other services to ensure a well informed and knowledgeable nation for accelerated socio-economic growth and deve lopment. One of its objectives is to create free flow of information by developing polici es and legislations for a conducive media and communication sector. It also aims at promoting distribution of publications and strengthening of regulatory frame work to facilitate free flow of information. But Kaliati has little to show for achieving both the mission and the objectives . Since taking over from Vuwa Kaunda who fared no better Kaliati seems to have i nherited the disease of incompetence from her predecessor. Instead of putting a positive spin on the image of the regime, Kaliati is all ov er the place picking fights with donors, the media, the opposition, civil societ y organisations and anyone who holds dissenting views about the current regime, sometimes using the most uncouth of languages. While Kaliati obviously knows how to speak (fast), she usually lacks substance a nd grace in her public speaking. While her attempt to be the Jack-of-all-trades speaking for the police, the mines, foreign affairs, virtually any government de partment without communicating anything of substance has endeared her to the med ia eager for a hilarious sound-bite, it had done little to hide the fact that la ck of substance and moderation are her Achilles' Heel. Meanwhile, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), a statutory b ody under her ministry established to regulate players in the communications sec tor, continues to hog the limelight for the wrong reasons. Daggers were draw late last year between Macra and mobile telecommunication oper ators over the purchase of the Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (Ci rms), notoriously known as the spy machine, with the regulator contending it wou

ld monitor fraud, revenue assurance and quality of services while the operators warned the system had far-reaching implications as it posed the possibility of i nvading people's privacy, contrary to the Republican Constitution. Kaliati's response was to threaten the operators with revocation of licences for attempting to override Macra. She made no public attempts to understand the pub lic furore surrounding the Cirms and why the government, as the licensor, had an obligation towards the operators other than just disconnecting them. And in an embarrassing turn of events involving Macra, Joy TV, whose licence was revoked in Malawi, was in October granted one by Zambia to broadcast from Chipa ta. Zambia President Michael Sata had an axe to grind with his Malawian counterp art but that did not mask the rigorous controls applicants in Malawi have to und ergo to be granted a licence. It was a world apart in November when individuals and organisations related to P resident Mutharika were granted multiple TV and radio licences at the expense of experienced operators in the media. Kaliati and Macra explained away the anomal y by saying the licences were only for phase one (when no such arrangement exist ed during the application process). Over and above, Macra has routinely censured private radios, especially for airi ng programmes critical of the regime. But it is not only Macra that blotches Kaliati's scorecard. The Malawi News Agen cy (Mana), despite having a footprint in all districts, has become an irrelevanc e whose only achievement is wasting taxpayers' money. The agency has failed to take advantage of its wide coverage to boost its revenu e through subscriptions. But, to achieve that, Mana needs to be restructured and depoliticised so that its stories can be trusted and used by the private media a huge, ready market. On another note, the private media already weighed down by the hostile economic environment prevailing in the country has withered under the onslaught of attack s on its credibility, operations and existence from the government. Kaliati, con trary to her ministry's mission, never shies away from lashing out at the privat e media, especially for coverage critical of the government. Presidential press conferences and briefings remain a hostile environment for pr ivate media journalists as both government and ruling party officials tend to sc are journalists. And her management style? Bush management, if the public inquest she held at the Information Office in Blantyre in January is the barometer, where she publicly embarrassed the ministry's employees and ordered the transfer of the Regional In formation Officer on the spot and in front of TV cameras, is something to go by. Some sort of kangaroo justice that has no place in this century. One wishes she were as peremptory in pushing for the enactment of the Access to Information Bill which has been gathering dust for over five years now. But she hasn't. That, and everything else she has failed at, leaves her clutching at the straws for survival. And we haven't even bothered to talk about the nauseating propaganda, mayhem and confusion at MBC Radio, TVM, or MBC-TV or whatever it is that it's called. What has become of the famous merger, madam Kaliati? ******************** George Chaponda: From frying pan into the fire

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Score: 3 Phew! What a year to forget it was for the Ministry of Education, Science and Te chnology in 2011 the academic freedom saga at the University of Malawi that drag ged on for a needless eight months, teachers were unpaid for months on end, stud ents in public universities went up in arms against the shoddy running of their loan scheme and perpetual late payment of their allowances. It seems everything the ministry touched in 2011 just crashed and burned. For 2011, the ministry was headed by two blundering ministers. First was the hap less Peter Mutharika and after the reshuffle in September came in George Chapond a, who had left a fouling mess at justice. It was, for the minister, jumping fro m the frying pan at justice into the fire at education. In all this, the permanent secretary remained John Bisika. As usual, the ministry had a huge share of the budget allocation of K54 billion in the 2011/12, which was a whopping 18 percent of the total national budget. Al l this is to ensure the ministry's plans and policies are executed with requisit e resources to drive the national development engine. For all what happened in 2011, the question that remains is: how did the ministr y let something that could have been easily contained by round-table clear-the-a ir talks between the police and university professors turn that ugly for so long ? Granted, President Mutharika muddled the waters when he intervened but, even t hen, the ministers should have been seen to be working on something. Rather, the y buried their heads in the sand and were inactive in solving the problem create d when a spy told the police chief the contents of a political science class. While some of the related issues were out of the ministry's hands, the minister could have acted to pacify the lecturers by guaranteeing their academic freedom, by distancing themselves from the planted spy, by condemning harassing of lectu rers, by standing by the victim. But none of that came from either Mutharika or Chaponda. If the minister failed university lecturers, he did not do better with school te achers. Though it was indicated in the 2011/2012 national budget that 37,652 tea chers would benefit from the hardship allowance targeting those stationed in rur al areas with a monthly allowance of K5,000, the initiative came to an abrupt ha lt. This, we understand, was to, first find what criteria to use to define "rural". The result? Protests by the disgruntled teachers who staged sit-ins and strikes against this action. To date, there has been no resolution to this. On infrastructural development, there is still the widespread problem of lack of adequate and appropriate classrooms, classroom furniture, teaching and learning materials and teachers' houses across the country, a problem worse in rural sch ools. The teacher/pupil ratio remains frighteningly high, compromising both teac hing and learning. The teacher to student ratio remained at over 1:40, yet train ing colleges are graduating teachers all the time. The ministry battled the same old story in 2011 and it's a fair question to ask minister Chaponda what he has done about (1) perpetual delays in paying salaries (2) never-ending nightmare of failure to introduce newly recruited teachers ont o the payroll (3) inability to promptly recruit graduates from Teachers Training Colleges.

While in 2011 the ministry recruited and deployed teachers to rural schools whic h performed badly due to shortage of teachers, the new recruits faced demoralisi ng challenged which the ministry has to address as a matter of urgency. Well, there were a few positives for Chaponda and company in 2011. The ministry continued to bankroll broad-based consultations on secondary school curriculum r eview to align secondary education with emerging issues to make education releva nt. The ministry also continued with funding to 26 grant aided schools through Assoc iation of Christian Educators in Malawi (Acem), and maintained the new selection public university policy based on class space approach and not the previous bed space approach. There are a few more positives, we can tell you that, but even those cannot nega te the persistent problems in this ministry, which only a thorough audit and sys tematic overhaul can fix. And so far, Chaponda has done none of that. ******************** Goodall Gondwe: Running on empty Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Score: 3 For a man who was largely said to be a star performer when he was Minister of Fi nance a few years ago, what a climb-down it has been for good old Goodall Gondwe . Well, to be fair to him he didn't create the mess at natural resources, energy and environment. But, then, he seemed unable to clean the mess. Grain Malunga, the previous minister, had told Malawians to "get used" to the de bilitating shortage of fuel (and electricity) in the country. For telling it lik e he was, Malunga was dumped out of cabinet for his troubles and in came the tru sted hands of Gondwe. Hopes were raised by this appointment but they were soon t o be dashed. A former director of the International Monetary Fund [IMF], Gondwe came in just after the suspension of $350 million Millennium Challenge Corporation energy gra nt to Malawi. The grant was suspended by the US government as a result of Malawi 's poor governance record. But, as a former IMF man, Gondwe was thought to speak the same language with these people and the hope was that he would call on his experience and things would be fixed. That has not happened and Malawi is still in the throes of the crippling fuel an d electricity shortages that even Gondwe himself admitted the other day the freq uent electricity blackouts were an embarrassment to the country. Gondwe's solution to the fuel crisis? He has advocated for the construction of m ore fuel reserves across the country but this has been met with derision from al l over, as Malawi already has enough of such facilities but what it doesn't have is the fuel to put into cars, gas stations and the reserves. The ministry has e ven tried to batter tobacco that had remained unsold from the previous season wi th fuel. It didn't work. On the electricity blackouts, Gondwe has tabled a proposal which he thinks will be a viable solution but only in the next two years, which is cold comfort to th ose in the dark who want power here and now. The minister announced that [courtesy of the passing of the Public Private Partn

ership law by Parliament] the country could see private sector investment in the power industry within the next two years to supplement what was being produced by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi [Escom]. In addition to making Escom compete with private power suppliers, the ministry a lso launched the DFID-funded Energy Efficient Lighting programme, which will dis tribute 2 million energy saver bulbs in residential houses for free as a way of saving on electricity and reducing blackouts. On mining, Gondwe has intensified a drive to explore various mineral deposits in some parts of the country with the aim of making mining become part of the back bone for Malawi's economy alongside agriculture. But without fuel and without electricity, nothing really works and it is on this basis that Gondwe joins the heap of failures in this cabinet. ******************** John Bande: Hard business Minister of Industry and Trade Score: 3 This is probably not John Bande's fault at all, but the 2011 Doing Business Inde x report by World Bank shows that Malawi's investment environment is ranked a po or 133 out of 183 countries. No serious investor would be easily persuaded to co me and sink their money in such a place. Except, maybe, the Chinese but these ne ed no persuasion at all. Bande knows pretty well that something has to be done quickly to improve the bus iness environment in the country. Companies are downsizing and laying off worker s because of depressed production caused by a volatile socio-political-economic environment. That companies are unable to source forex for the importation of ra w materials and products is just yet another drawback. The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) says 18,000 people have lost jobs in the country since June last year because of the economic problems affecting comp anies. Bande said it wasn't true but we all know that Bande, if he is in touch w ith what is happening in the industry, must know the truth. The Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has said t he country is "bleeding" in as far as doing business is concerned and that there are two options remaining: to stop the bleeding or wait to die. So far, the min ister has not brought in any viable options to stoop this haemorrhage and indica tions are that many industries are dying at a rate faster than the minister woul d like to admit. The year saw the introduction of new taxes and the scraping off of other investm ent incentives as the government maximises the tax revenue collection to finance the zero deficit budget. That has not at all helped spur trade, growth and inve stment. Regional and local reports have also indicated that foreign direct investment in to the country is on the decline. This combined with depressed prices for key cr ops such as tobacco means economic opportunities or jobs are being lost instead of being created. Trade performance over the years has disadvantaged Malawi in the sense that impo rts normally outweigh exports hence experiencing a trade deficit. However, latel

y, the trade deficit has declined from K114,136.50 billion to a low K17,867.00 b illion arising from a decline in both exports and imports. While the country goes into this tailspin, John Bande believes that the year 201 1 has been great because, on paper, Malawi registered a 61 percent growth in exp orts in the first half of the year and that the yet to be released third quarter figures are also going to be positive. The minister also says the hosting of the Comesa Heads of State Summit and the C omesa business council meeting in the year was a successful story. The Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC), established during the year, is m eant to spur industrial growth by helping to improve the investment environment but the fruits of its labour are yet to be seen. The ministry says the following were some of its key achievements: 1. Negotiated a Facility for Economic Zones Project with the Chinese government. 2. The ministry is implementing a 'Buy Malawian Campaign'. 3. Reforms to merge MIPA and MEPC and establishment of a One Stop Shop (Malawi I nvestment Trade Centre) are almost complete. It also strengthened SMEs support t hrough institutional merging of DEMATT, SEDOM and MEDI. An Interim CEO is in pla ce. 4. The ministry, through BUGS, disbursed grant funds of US$1,219,662 as of 30/9/ 11 in the areas of agro-processing, tourism and metal fabrication to promote acc ess to finance and enhance productivity of Malawian enterprises. 5. 32 Cooperatives were registered, 3000 people linked to financial institutions and K340 million deposits were made to cooperatives. Cooperatives' members acce ssed loans worth K351 million and the government managed to collect K300 million from timber cooperatives. All well and good but, when looked at critically, Malawi has neither failed to i ncrease industrial productivity and competiveness nor has it expanded its domest ic and international market share in the past year. Because of a hostile environ ment, very few Malawians have been empowered in economic activities due to failu re to create an enabling and competitive environment for private sector to attra ct local and foreign investment. ******************** Jean Kalirani: A nation on the sickbed Minister of Health Score: 4 The story of the Ministry of Health in the past year is a story of a public heal th delivery system itself so sick it should be in the intensive care unit. For m uch of 2011 to date, the ministry has battled a "disease" called drug shortage w hich was blamed on several factors, among them, a donor community keen on ensuri ng effective procurement policies. That we even list the need to ensure that all holes were sealed as a reason for the drugs shortage is telling of how porous and corrupt the system of procuring and dispensing of drugs to public hospitals was.

The acute drug shortage was worse late last year such that at central and distri ct hospitals where the majority of poor Malawians go to, they were asked to buy their own medicines like painkillers and antibiotics. Tales of rationing of anaesthesia were told by pregnant mothers who underwent op erations at health centres.. In reaction, the ministry announced that K1.1 billion for emergency drug procure ment was available in September. The rampant drug shortage at health centres and district hospitals across the country was relieved further by the joint donor p rocurement of essential drugs worth US$33 million (about K5.4 billion) whose fir st consignment of 2,124 kits comprising antibiotics, among others, are currently being distributed to 620 hospitals across the country. Here we list for you wha t we consider the successes of this ministry against its failures in 2011/2012. Successes 1. Facilities proving Basic Emergency Obstetric Care services increased from 71 to 98 2. About 1.8 million insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) were distributed w hich contributed, towards prevention of malaria; 5.4 million universal distribut ion of mosquito nets currently underway. 3. 10 dialysis machines were procured to relieve the pressure on the few availab le at central hospitals 4. Introduction of new Antiretroviral Therapy regime in August 2011 in a move to wards virtual elimination of PMTCT 5. The immunization of 1.2 million children aged 12 months and below against pne umonia and meningitis. Failures 1. Poor drug procurement system which led to donors freezing its drug budget con tribution to the Swap basket fund. 2. Inadequate modern medical equipment for effective diagnosis of illnesses 3. Nurses and doctors are still not enough; doctor patient ratio remains at 1 to 40,000. 4. Infrastructure such as housing for health personnel is still inadequate. Phal ombe, Lilongwe and Blantyre still have no district hospital and this exerts pres sure on referral hospitals and health centres. 5. Health workers still remain lowly paid which results in frustrated, over work ed, underpaid and de-motivated health workers ill-treating patients. 6. Most public hospitals are crowded, dirty and in serious need of a facelift or a fresh coat of paint. ******************** Daniel Liwimbi: Paradise lost Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture Score: 3

Daniel Liwimbi came in promising a slice of heaven on earth. He said that he wan ted to turn things around and promote tourism so it could contribute about 20 pe rcent to Malawi's GDP during his reign. Well, in the hospitality industry many holiday resorts remained deserted, busine ss continues to stall, jobs have been lost and the future looks bleak. So far, s igns are that the target Liwimbi set himself is a mere fantasy. There is nothing new he has introduced at the ministry so far as a way of market ing this sector that badly needs face-lifting, product placement, an enthusiasti c advertising drive and a new way of doing things. Everyone knows that no one go es to a place they don't know existed. Malawi, as a tourist destination, remains unknown. We are rather famous for the wrong things 19 dead on July 20, bad laws , harassment of women over their choice of dressing, fuel and power shortages, b ad roads, bad drivers. Every year the Ministry of Tourism receives huge allocation from the budget and how such funding is not utilized to market Malawi as a destination of choice is a mystery. Countries that have become major tourist destinations such as Dubai, Qatar, Kenya and Madagascar, just to mention a few, invest in marketing and have continued to do so. A few slots of marketing Lake Malawi, Mulanje Mountain and our culture on CNN or Sky News, would do wonders. What the officers at the Ministry of Tourism do best is during the World Tourism Week when they collect allowances to go round the country explaining to journal ists the same things every year or attending an international exhibition where M alawi is lost in the jungle of world stars. Ok, you can't really blame Liwimbi: business in the tourism went down 70 percent due to the fuel scarcity but, again, its 70 percent of how many domestic and in ternational tourists? Even then, the minister of tourism should have been industrious by making specia l arrangements so that key players especially those in Mangochi, Monkey Bay and Salima have stocks for their customers. The Ministry of Tourism simply folded it s arms and watched as the industry took one blow after another. On a positive note, the ministry graded hotels across the country, intensified s tandards through licensing and closing of unhealthy operations. It was also part of the world-famous Lake of Stars festival and the Potters Race in Mulanje. Liw imbi's office also launched the Pamudzi Cultural Village, which it bankrolls. These are just a few of the positives in an industry starring into a bleak futur e, unless something is done and is done quick. ******************** Simon Vuwa Kaunda: Far from impressive Minister of Youth development and Welfare Score: 4 Thank goodness this ministry was renamed Youth Development and Welfare from the previous Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. This is because previous ministe rs would concentrate on sports particularly crowd-puller football at the detrime nt of everything else. Now, the ministry is mandated to look after youth development and welfare and ho

w well Vuwa Kaunda has done in this regard is how Kaunda will be judged. So far, the nation waits with keen interest to know what initiatives the ministry has p ut in place to uplift the welfare of the youth. Well, we know that in 2011, about 2,000 young people were trained in entrepreneu rial and livelihoods skills. But then a hundred other organisations are doing th e same type of thing out there. The ministry is also developing a Youth Development Centre in Neno which aims at transforming young people into productive citizens and, if such centres are rep licated across the country, it will be a huge success for Vuwa and company. Inevitably, we are going to have to assess Vuwa's input in sports. Under Vuwa's watch, the Malawi national football team has been, more than anything else, a fa ding flame. At the time of writing this, the team's trip to Chad for a 2013 Africa Cup of Na tions (Afcon) qualifier was hanging in the balance because the government delaye d to provide them with K15 million for tickets and upkeep. It's the same old sto ry. Nothing has changed. And there has been controversy. First, a multi-million kwacha bus which the Mala wi National Council of Sports bought was hijacked by Vuwa who claimed it was a f ulfilment of a pledge president Mutharika made to the Flames when, in truth, the bus belongs to all sports associations. The evidence is there for all to see. T he bus is registered in the council's name and it doesn't carry any Flames or Fo otball Association of Malawi logo. Second, Vuwa's response to queries on why the government decided to shift a stad ium to be built by the Chinese from Lilongwe to Blantyre, against all approvals, was far from convincing. "Lilongwe has a lot of Chinese funded projects so we want Blantyre to benefit," he said in Parliament. That wasn't too impressive an answer, which also reflects to a large extent how Vuwa has performed in his job thus far. He has been very far from impressive. ******************** Aaron Sangala: Nothing to smile about Minister of National Defence and Internal Security Score: 2 The year 2011 will go down in history as the year our minister of defence came u p defenceless against the wrath of a woman in parliament and all because she had rightfully sought answers about a death that cried murder most foul. The police top brass who fall under Sangala's ministry were involved in nefariou s activities with a Polytechnic student, Robert Chasowa. The deal they had turne d sour and the student turned up dead in the corridors of the university. Police were quick to rule it suicide when all indications pointed to foul play. Sangal a has, up to now, not explained to the nation what exactly happened or indeed wh y the police top brass were wining and dining with the student. Under Sangala's watch, the reputation of the police has gone to the dogs. The us e of excessive force against July 20 protestors left 19 people dead and no one i s yet to be held to account for that. The police lately acted with impunity in i

gnoring two court orders for the release of lawyer Ralph Kasambara. Again, no on e has been called to account as yet. A sign that our police under Sangala have been severely compromised was when the army had to be called out to the streets to restore order when vendors in Lilon gwe ran amok. Indeed, it has come to be a common sight to see army officers main taining order at filling stations! On the part of the Malawi Defence Forces, it all seems dandy maybe because MDF i s one institution so shrouded in secrecy and mystery that it is hard to get anyt hing out of them except, of course, that which the army wants publicised. For al l we know, our soldiers have been doing fine when called to duty in a number of hotspots in Africa. A number of MDF soldiers last year served, and keep serving, on peacekeeping missions in Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo (D RC). One unhappiness coming from the army is the failure to build female hostels at M DF establishments across the country, and something the ministry has so far done little to address. Because of this, the MDF has been reduced to a predominantly male institution. It cannot recruit female soldiers because there are no facili ties to host them. But it is with matters of internal security that Sangala has evidently struggled . The police continue to make news for all the wrong reasons and it is disturbing that after a lot of resources were dedicated to reforming the police, cases of p olice brutality and insensitivity are still being reported. As minister responsi ble, Sangala should take responsibility for the police heavy-handedness that res ulted in 19 deaths on July 20. In fact, this deadly outcome was a result of ill-preparedness by police in deali ng with cases of public disorder. Senior police officers are on record saying th at they were overwhelmed and overawed. This is a failure Sangala should shoulder . The death from assault of Edison Msiska, a Natural Resources College (NRC) stude nt while in police custody, is another dark spot on Sangala's copy book. In a democratic dispensation, one would hardly expect the police to use force le t alone one that leads to death on a suspect. Yet this is happening in a ministr y Sangala heads. Why have heads not rolled in the ministry, why has this seeming impunity not been put to an end? The minister's has not made any public pronouncements about these issues, making him complicity to the acts of his officers. Then there is the immigration department which is swamped with a backlog of pass port applicants so much that there was a mini-riot by angry customers the other day. Our borders are so porous Somalis and other nationals jump through them alm ost every other day. No one has to be reminded that porous borders are a grave s ecurity risk. Further, involvement in corrupt practices by another arm of Immigr ation Department officers raises questions about how much Sangala has done to cl ean up the rot in this department. Cases of officers caught corruptly aiding and abetting illegal immigrants are reported time and again. Were it elsewhere on the back of the July 20 death, on Chasowa's apparent murder , on the suspects killed by police in custody Sangala would have long been asked to resign. His insults to Anita Kalinde in Parliament that led to a physical co nfrontation should have been the last straw.

******************** Lucious Kanyumba: Labour of love Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Score: 3 Before Kanyumba there was Yunus Mussa. Mussa was always in the news for his crusades against the importation of cheap l abour into Malawi and allowing "investors" into the country who ended up as stre et traders. Mussa also spoke out against low pay and poor conditions for Malawian workers in foreign-owned companies. But Kanyumba, has not been as outspoken, preferring to go about his business qui etly but it has not been business as usual. The need of vocational training for the many people coming out of secondary scho ol has never been greater than now, where 130,000 people enter the job market ea ch year but there are no jobs for them. What the ministry has done in 2011 to in crease intake in vocational programmes for such people is not easily apparent. The labour market in 2011 was also a volatile one, with strikes and sit-ins by m any workers being the order of the day. This was largely due to the fact that th e cost of living kept rising, while salaries and wages were left behind. What la cked from Kanyumba in 2011 was an all-inclusive labour indaba to get to the hear t of the problem, lest the strikes will not go away. At that indaba, the ministe r would have been told that a review of the minimum wages to meet the challenges of inflation was long overdue. The minimum wage of K178 per day has put many wo rkers below the poverty datum line. Some of the issues that the striking workers were fighting for included lack of holidays, unpaid overtime, low wages, absence of written terms of conditions of employment and unsafe working conditions which the ministry has the mandate to e nsure are the accepted minimum at every workplace. And it seems the need to employ professionals is more felt in Kanyumba's ministr y itself, where there is a reported vacancy rate of over 50 percent and this is negatively affecting the performance of the ministry. However, in the year under review, the ministry pats itself on the back for succ essfully launching the Malawi Decent Work Country Programme in August 2011 which is the driving force guiding the Ministry in the fulfilment of its mandate. It also conducted a National Youth Employment Situation Analysis with the aim of identifying and addressing impediments to youth access to employment. And, oh, another plus for Kayumba was that in 2011, many companies launched thei r HIV and Aids policies! A healthier workforce means a happier environment. ********************