Patrick Achitabwino articles

You might have had a wonderful literary dish of Ngugi wa Thiong’o served with his novels entitled The river between, A grain of wheat, Devil on the cross, Petals of blood, Matigari, a play I will get married when I want, and the drama: The trial of Dedan Kimathi. Take time now to read The Return, one of Ngugi’s few short stories; you will still enjoy Ngugi’s characterization and style.
It appears that Ngugi, the greatest writer to have come from the East and Central Africa as the East African Standard of 8 September 2002 calls him, likes testing some of his characters in short stories before bringing them onto a larger picture in a novel.
The English couple who feature in Goodbye Africa become the Thompsons in ‘A grain of Wheat.’ Joshua in The River Between is an extended character from the Village Priest. What more in The Return as the main character, Kamau, is the prototype for Gikonyo in A grain of wheat.
The Return showcases Ngugi’s attempt to expose the trauma suffered by the Kenya’s Gikuyu people, both as individuals and on a community level, during the period that the British declared a state of emergency as it was struggling to contain the Mau Mau uprising.
The story takes you on a long road of hope that ends in disillusionment, it goes with a reader through the labyrinths of betrayal, it exposes the expectations of a man who longs to meet his wife after a five year period of detention; the very woman a man had lived with for only two weeks before being arrested.
Going through the return one passes through the heart breaking experience of how other people can use the plight of others to satisfy their personal interests. When Kamau arrived home, eagerly looking forward to the embrace of his wife, his mother brings a bombshell.
The episode is explained as follows: ‘She was a good daughter,’ his mother was explaining. ‘She waited for you and patiently bore all the ills of the land. Then Karanja came and said that you were dead. Your father believed him. She believed him too and mourned for a month. Karanja constantly paid us visits… Then she got a child. We could have kept her. But where is the land? Where is the food? With land consolidation, our last security was taken away. We let Karanja go with her…’
The bottom line however is that Karanja, son of Njogu, had never been in the same detention camp with Kamau. The falsification of Kamau’s death was therefore a plot to get hold of Kamau’s wife.
Typical of Ngugi, he toes the theme line from the beginning of the story to the end. All talk is centred on Kamau’s journey from the prison to home, his hopes, his aspirations, and the encounters he came across on the way.

You will have a feeling along the way in the story that Kamau’s journey would end to the contrary of his expectations. At one point Kamau is shown meeting women of his village on the river who could not even respond to his greeting.
Ngugi artistically explains the scene: ‘Is it well with you?’ A few voices responded. The other women, with tired and worn features, looked at him mutely as if his greeting was of no consequence. Why! Had he been so long in the camp? His spirits were dampened as he feebly asked: ‘Do you not remember me?’ Again they looked at him. They stared at him with cold, hard looks; like everybody else, they seemed to be deliberately refusing to know or own him.
The Return can be classified as a historical piece of literature that traces the problems associated with war on cultural trends and life. The author, Ngugi wa Thiongo is a literary and social activist. He was once a distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature as well as the Director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at the University of California, Irvine.
The Return is published in the Anthology of East African Short Stories edited by Valerie Kibera.

Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda can at best be described as the architect of Malawi’s socio-economic development. The country’s cream of professionals is beneficiaries of the magnificent educational foundations that Kamuzu built. To a great extent, Dr. Kamuzu Banda is to Malawi the godfather of the country’s infrastructural, economic, educational and political development.
Malawi can now better celebrate the day of its political icon through no any other means but the development and implementation of strategies that could at best sustain the legacy of Kamuzu Banda. One great component easily noticeable in Kamuzu’s legacy is the belief in high standards. A look at a number of infrastructural developments that Kamuzu spearheaded clearly states his vision. In terms of education, the Ngwazi believed in provision of high standards of education.
At present, the best thing we have to do is to conduct a soul search: are our educational standards living to the challenges that affect the socio-economic development of the nation? If the answer is no, then we have to go again to the drawing board, crop out all bad apples in the education system then implement a new system that will foster the growth of the country’s economy and social moral consciousness.
If the only best thing we can do as a nation is to have schools built only on paper with the money squandered in corrupt practices, the Kamuzu day would remain a mockery to us. We will have failed to live by the Kamuzu philosophy of developing the nation for the benefit of all and not the pockets of a few corrupt.
It is obvious that Kamuzu did set solid foundations for the growth of the country, be it economically or socially. Kamuzu had a good agricultural agenda with a vision to see his countrymen being food sufficient. The rice schemes had been a wonder for many years in the country. We have to sustain them in order to live the Kamuzu legacy. We can, with pride say that, in agriculture we have managed to build upon the solid foundations that Kamuzu did set. The fact that we developed a fertilizer subsidy project that has put Malawi on the map is a strong testimony that we are trying to live the Kamuzu legacy of providing food, beside clothing and shelter.
One thing most people would talk of Kamuzu is the hard working spirit that he instilled in the civil service and the general public as well. Kamuzu was well aware that with hard work Malawi could rise from the meshes of abject poverty into stardom. The big question is: fifteen years in the democratic dispensation can we still call ourselves the proud Malawians that work very hard for the development of our motherland?
How many times have our school pupils, the very future of our country, been sitting idle outside classrooms as teachers are reported to be running personal businesses or concentrate on teaching part time students? How can we justify the culture of some civil servants that is bent at attending one workshop to another day in day out not in the interest of development but to receive allowances? Why is it that to access some services in the public sector money has to exchange hands or else one will have to wait eternally to be served? Why have we lost our admirable workmanship identity, the very legacy that Kamuzu left with us?
It cannot be complete to talk of the Kamuzu legacy if we are to forget his political prowess. Though many other bad political issues were attributed to Kamuzu, it is worth noting that he shaped the political spectrum of this country. Kamuzu practiced the politics of development not the politics of self enrichment and self-aggrandizement. Kamuzu played the servant of the people not the lord of the people. It is out of such ideals that he was there to spearhead projects that entailed developing the country.
Certainly Kamuzu could have ably resisted the multi-partism system of government as he was the sitting head of state. Taking cognizance of the fact that doing such could result in bloodshed, Kamuzu opted to follow the wishes of the people. The statesmanship of the Ngwazi was well shown when he conceded defeat to his challenger Bakili Muluzi even before vote counting had been completed. From this we have a legacy of being united in adversity.
When the current crop of leadership quarrels, putting the wishes of the people at a stake, prioritizing self interest issues at the expense of the people that cast ballots, it is time we realize that we are deviating away from the legacy that Kamuzu Banda left us with.
As a nation we can say that we have to the best tried to give Kamuzu the respect he deserves. The mausoleum speaks millions of our heartfelt condolences to his family and the world in general that we will live to appreciate the works and deeds of Dr. Kamuzu Banda. Certainly, we are to a great extent preserving his legacy.
Though much is known about Kamuzu, it cannot be an exaggeration to say that there is more to the life of Kamuzu Banda that we fellow Malawians must know. The country needs biographies of Kamuzu written by the very people that have been very much close to them. Doing that would enable generations to come to appreciate the works of the father and founder of the Malawi nation. Probably the government should consider persuading the former official hostess mama Cecelia Tamanda Kazamira to write a book on Kamuzu.
We will also learn to live the Kamuzu legacy if we happen to have a special museum for him. The museum will enable us to understand what books shaped Kamuzu’s political philosophy. The museum would be a mouth piece to the world at large for generations to come on the life and works of Kamuzu.
Malawi can live in prosperity if it learns from the Kamuzu legacy and decide to live by such a legacy.

No nation can rise without the impact of labourers; be they manual or professionals. To every little development noticeable, the underlining denominator is the labour force.

Definitely there can never be manufacturing companies, tobacco estates, tea estates, security companies, bus companies etc in the absence of workers. It is worth noting that every time tobacco leaf is auctioned at the auction floors we realize that with it is also auctioned the sweat of labourers.

Little do we seem to realize that for every service rendered to us it has with it human sweat. The million dollar question is: is the sweat that has been shed to give us the comfort and delight attained through the service been adequately compensated?

A recent survey in the wages and salaries that citizens of the country receive in this country has shocking and appalling results. Thousands and thousands of the citizens of the country earn less than K5, 000.00 a month, thus further pushing them to the margins of abject poverty. The minimum wage in the country does not even help matters as it is far too low to necessitate an employee to attain even the least basic necessities of life.

We have a tragedy in the sense that our fellow country men and women live on starving wages. It surprises not therefore that in some institutions seminars are arranged with the element of pocketing allowances to supplement a living not development. Do we wonder then that we hold countless seminars and workshops that yield nothing? Most of them are a means to supplement a living than a strategy for addressing any intended issues.

It is the starving wages and salaries that are leaving our beloved country men and women with no choices but to take the risk of travelling to South Africa and live the miserable life of illegal immigrants; the life of a cat and mouse relationship with the police, all just to earn a little to feed their families back home. They are ready to be deported a countless times all just to ensure that they earn a good living for their families. The labour market in their own country gives them no hope for survival.

It smacks of injustice that a guard who risks his life to safeguard lives of others and even property worth millions or billions of Kwachas earns as little less as K10, 000.00 a month. This is the very same guard who has a family to care for, relatives back home to buy fertilizer for, rental and water and electricity bills to settle, children to send to school to become productive citizens of the country, medical expenses to pay, the list is endless.

At present, the most probable way to uplifting millions of starving-wages paid citizens of the country is through revolutionizing some concepts. Why is it that the poorly paid do not have medical schemes yet the top people enjoy VVIP free medical schemes? Why the unequal economics of according the top people thousands of litres of fuel while people at the bottom of the labour who are poorly paid are not even offered a little transport allowance to alleviate their mobility problems? Thousands of underpaid Malawians walk long distances every day to and from work.

Certainly, the imbalance between the top people and the bottom people in terms of earnings and privileges is unjustifiable. All we end up creating is the establishment of Berlin wall between the rich and the poor that our wages policies relegate to the margins of abject poverty. In the very end the children of a guard will become guards and those of the rich will end up ruling the poor again. We are not providing the poor an opportunity to rise to greater heights.

It is high time that humanity takes cognizance of the fact that no economic development could be meaningful if it fails to uplift millions of masses from the whims of poverty into good life. As inflation keeps hovering high thus sky- rocketing the basic necessities of life, why should we give a blind eye to the salaries of the miserably paid citizens of our country, the very compatriots of our country whose sweat make us comfortable?

One most confusing factor is that at times the people who have the capacity and power to fight for the end of poverty amongst the poor seem to prioritize their benefits you least expect. How many times have our legislators in the august house hiked their salaries and sitting allowances with unimaginable percentages all in the name of the increasing cost of living? Have they, alternatively, took the same vigor to initiative changes in the miserable home takings of the poorly paid employed citizens of the country who they represent in the august house? The answer is a big NO.

At present we need a strong policy than can end up seeing workers paid handsomely. Is the Asian business community, the Chinese business community and other foreign entrepreneurs in the country paying the citizens of the country wages enough to enable them attain basic necessities of life? Should we as a country give a blind eye to the exploitation of our citizens, the very same people that have to partake in the fruits of economic development of their motherland? Why should others be making unaccountable profits at the expense of starving workers?

It is time the business people model their mindset on the benchmark of the philosophy of Kirsten Poole, Co-owner of Kirsten’s Café and Dish Caterers. Poole says that: ‘trying to save money by short changing my employees would be like skimping on ingredients. I would lose more than I saved because of declining quality, service, reputation and customer base. You can’t build a healthy business or a healthy economy on a miserable minimum wage.’

Now is the time that the government ‘makes work pay.’ By bringing in legislation that increases the minimum wage to a good rate, the government would indirectly also have waged a winning war against poverty and diseases. As workers would afford basic necessities of life, they would certainly live healthy lives and further have the capacity to seek proper medical care.

We are proud that of late our economy has been classified as one of the best in the world. There was a time Malawi ranked the second fastest growing economy in the world. However, let us reflect this world admirable economic growth in the earnings of the people of our country as well. Let salaries of police, teachers, guards, clerics and other lower paid citizens of the country have a feel of economic growth through descent salary hikes. As long as our people live on the margins of miserable wages and salaries, talk of national economic growth can mean nothing to them. Our economic policies can only be meaningful if they address the plight of our beloved compatriots.

The best means of progressing to the future is through the past. Any nation can only be in a better position to strategize its development agenda without any fear of compromising all developmental gains attained only if it takes time to reminiscent over how it has evolved from the past to the present. If a nation comes to grips with ideologies and fundamental objectives that inspired others to bravely face martyrdom, it always endeavors to live the dream of the martyred heroes.
Records are clear that the most agonizing factor that led to the Chilembwe uprising against colonialism was Livingstone’s exploitation of the African labourers at coffee plantations in Chiradzulu and other surrounding districts. It was such a moral degredation and dehumanization of the owners of the land that was reaping the people’s self respect and dignity that gave Chilembwe no choice but to consider even the most unorthodox means of resolving the crisis: waging a war with little stolen resources against the Queens well armed forces.
Over a century years after that gallant fight against exploitation, are tobacco tenants earning their sweat? We might have achieved in uprooting the while Livingstones out of the plantations but we end up having Black livingstones who rejoice in the misery of the tenants, paying them as little as K30,000 to K60,000 per annum. To these poorly, below-poverty line living tenants, the dreams of those who martyred their souls to safeguard the pride of a Malawian, to earn the tiller of the ground a discent living, is nothing but a song to the flying wind. Blood shed by the martyrs of the country to wash the people of the land off the dirty of excruciating poverty is yet to cleanse them.
Malawi has had martyrs at different levels. There are those whose lives were nipped in the bud in the struggle to liberate the country from the rule of the whiteman and ensure that the owners of the land enjoy the benefits of their mother land. The second category of martyrs Malawi has had comprises of those who having attained independence from the rule of the whites noticed some anomalies in the administration of the government during the autocratic one party regime. And upon the dawn of democratic dispensation, some people lost their lives as well. Cases of the Young Democrats brutalizing people who seemed to be against the wrong policies the democratic regime was implementing awashed the media. Some deaths were wrapped in secrecy and probably justice will never prevail to reveal what happened.
In all these martyrs there is one underlying principle: the struggle to ensure that their children and generations to come live in a country that they could, with joy, call their own; a country they would be assured of moral, social and economic rights being jealously safeguarded and guaranteed; a country where no citizen would be pleased to see another citizen wallowing in the meshes of poverty in the land of plenty.
The broader visible picture is that our brave heroes, the martyrs, were fighting for a political system of governance that would address the needs of the people and treat them with respect. It is worth noting that behind any political system of governance, there is a continued struggle to ensure economic emancipation of the people of the land. There is no system of governance that mankind can cherish as long as it does not address the economic anomalies affecting the people of the land.
Autocracy, democracy, theocracy, monarchy, communism and whatever forms of political governance mean nothing to people so long if they do not provide them an economic liberalization that eventually safeguards their self-respect and dignity. As long as millions of Malawians live below the poverty line, millions of children die on birth, millions of mothers hopelessly die giving birth, the girl child walks kilometers to fetch water instead of being in class, unemployment rising steadily leading to further disillusionment amidst the youth and the country at large, nobody can say that we have or are living the dream of the martyrs. As long as the socio-economic principles that led to the martyrs sacrificing their lives still prevail then we are yet to live what the martyrs died for; we are yet to make their martyrdom worth the salt it deserves.
The collective principle behind the martyrs was to ensure equitable distribution of wealth amidst the people of the land. We can measure whether we are on a good path through looking at how many masses of the people of our country are migrating from the whims of abject poverty into good life and not the mediocre growth of the class of the elite that earns billions at the expense of their countrymen. Martyrdom was a fight against poverty and until we take strong measure in eradicating poverty then we can be said to be living what the martyrs died for.
Martin Luther King Jr. ably explains: the curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when man ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.
Even Mahatma Gandhi, probably the godfather of non violent activism had no kind words for poverty, calling it the worst form of violence.
Strategizing on the practical initiatives to be taken for the people of Malawi to live what the martyrs died for does not require pressurizing the government alone to take a leading role. Who pays the tenants poorly? Who subjects watchmen in our homes to inhuman salaries? Who pays tea pluckers too little for a living? It is the government? The answer is no, it is us who employ those people. At the moment that the cost of living skyrockets and the sitting allowances of members of parliament rise by K5000 at one go why should the minimum 30 days wages of a citizen of the country be pegged below K5000. Do the rich and the poor go to different markets? Do the sellers of tomato offer discriminating prices pertaining to the status of the buyer? Does fuel sell differently to the rich and the poor? Isn’t the cost of maize pegged at one rate that looks at no status levels?
Let the private sector offer our country men and women better salaries. Let the Chinese investors and their colleagues that do business in the country pay our countrymen the equivalent of their sweat. Let the government offer salary adjustments to the civil servants, most especially the junior ones, salaries that can necessitate them appreciate the fruits of the martyrdom of the heroes of the country that we do commemorate on the third of March every year.
If we look to the past we are proud that others fought a gallant war for us to live in peace and harmony. They shed their blood to earn us a descent living. As we are now in the age that does not need to shed blood, our mandate is to implement the principles upon which our heroes risked lives for.

Guilty. Not guilty, never guilty. The steel gate of Chichiri prison banged at his back. He gulped a mouthful of fresh air. It smelled fresh and tasted kind as it flew past his throat. Five years had gone. Five years of broken dreams, hopeless hopes, in the long Jericho-walls of the prison. Marion posed for a moment, turned his face back to the prison, his heart saying goodbye. He smiled as memories took him back to life in prison.

‘Turn left,’ he could hear the threatening voice of the nyapala rumbling in his ears. All prisoners had then slept facing the right side and now it was time to turn the other side. There were moments the cell was overcrowded leaving no space to sleep. Men had to sleep while seated. That was what it was to spend life in prison.

Goodbye Chichiri, he wanted to yell on top of his voice. Goodbye my home for half a decade.
People had come and gone, others came and died, others had come and would never be set free. He had sung spiritual choruses with them, the favourite song being, Paulo ndi Silas anapemphera. Then they would sing on top of the voice when the chorus reached: zitseko zandende zinaseguka. But the gate of Chichiri prison was so stubborn to fear prayers. It was there only to open when an inmate’s sentence had expired.

“Cecelia,” memories of his wife ricocheted in his brain as he was heading for the bus stage. It was long time he had seen her. She stopped visiting him some two years past. Marion knew Cecilia was not expecting him. His sentence had been waved off as a result of Independence Day celebrations.

“Celebrate Cecilia. Celebrate my sweet. The hour of happiness has come,” he was saying to himself as he was jumping across the road.

Khrrrrrr! A vehicle screeched to a stop. He was nearly bumped. Marion felt like being awaken from a long sleep. As he was lost in the thoughts of beloved Cecilia he did not take notice of the advancing vehicle.

“Sorry man, sorry,” he apologized.
“Mufatu inu,” the car driver angrily yelled as he sped away.

Being in prison had taught him several things: love is precious. That which free people take for granted is the most craved for feeling in prison. He was free at last to meet his Cecelia, to feel the warmth of the bosom of a woman, to be held and kissed like a baby. His eyes had witnessed tragic moments of juveniles being sodomised by fearsome inmates, men making other men women. That was history and it would ever remain such.

Chikondi Malekano, his only daughter must have been knitting together some English expressions now, he thought. She was three when he was sent to jail. Chikondi would scream and yell dad! dad! dad! Marion wondered; would Chikondi recognize him? “Dad is back, Chikondi. Dad is back,” Marion said to himself.

He felt a tap on his shoulder then he shivered.

“Man, what’s wrong. You are talking alone. Are you ok?” It was another passenger in the minibus talking to him. Some passengers in front twisted their necks to look at him. He looked down and did not respond. Was he in a prison attire to attract the sea of eyes of people? He wondered. No, he was not, he answered himself. His clothes were not even dirty; he was clad in the same dark blue suit, grey shirt and black tie that he had worn on the day he was convicted.
His mind was hurrying back home with many expectations. His businesses must have prospered. Probably Cecelia had chased the houseboy. Probably the houseboy wanted to capitalize on his imprisonment to make romantic advances towards his wife.

“Cecelia is a strong willed woman. It’s till death do us part,” his mind spoke as he gazed at the matrimonial ring brightening on his finger.

He smiled as he recalled the many stories of male advances towards his wife that she told him during the first two years she visited him at Chichiri prison. It was heart breaking to note that even his very close friends were at the forefront enticing his wife for nights out.

“Marion my husband,” Cecilia shed tears one afternoon in the visiting room at the prison. “I can never let any man touch me, eight years is not forever.”

The minibus stopped. At last a vehicle journey was over. He just had to walk half a kilometer to his house. At a distance he could see the long and high wall of his house greeting him. There Cecelia was. He would ask him why she not visited him the past three years. Had his parents banned her from paying him visits? Had they grasped his property and chased her away?
Marion shook his hands as he neared the gate of his house. A stout guard in bushy beard greeted him when he knocked the door.

“Open man, open,” he shouted as the guard was blocking him. “Abwana has come.”

The guard tightened his grip on his baton stick. “I am sorry I don’t know you.”
Marion lost his cool: “Adona knows me.”

The guard closed the gate. In a moment a fat woman, hilly-hipped appeared at the gate. She was not Cecilia. She could not have gone hilly-buttocked like this in only two years. This lady eyed him with envy.

“Are you a visitor,” Marion asked the woman.

The woman did not answer. She just banged the gate close then on top of her voice ordered the guard not to open the door for the mad man standing at the gate.

Marion leaned at the door, eyes reddening. “Mr. Guard, I am sorry. But this house used to be Mr. Malekano’s house.”

“Oh, yes,” the guard stood close to him. “You are right. Mrs. Malekano sold this house. She stays with her husband in a new house they have just built somewhere down there?”

Marion followed the map he had been given by the guard. Cecelia could not have another husband apart from him. He knocked, slid the gate open then entered. His eyes crashed with those of Cecilia carrying a baby in the hands, Makiyolobasi the guard then, his hand encircling her shoulders. Marion stood still. Cecelia nearly lost breathe. Makiyolobasi rushed back into the house.

“Is this what I have to pay for love,” Marion was down and in tears.
Cecelia shivered. “I am sorry, let me explain….”
“Explain that I was wrong to report to the police that I was the one who had knocked down a pedestrian crossing a zebra crossing while it was you who was driving…”
Cecilia left the baby down and rushed towards Marion, holding him tight.
“I have been guilty of loving you. Guilty of sacrificing myself to serve a jail term for reckless driving on your behalf…”

Marion pulled himself out of the gripping embrace of Cecelia. He walked towards the gate. Cecelia grabbed him by the shirt. He pushed away Cecilia’s hand then opened the gate, Cecilia followed him.

A faculty member of Harvard and MIT who directs the program on intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution with the Kennedy School of Government who is also president of the World Peace Foundation Robert I Rortberg states that soon Reverend John Chilembwe returned to Nyasaland from the United States of America he established a chain of independent African schools, constructed an impressive church, and planted crops of cotton, tea and coffee. His main motive was instilling a sense of self-respect among his fellow Africans.

Close to a century later after the demise of Chilembwe the hero, the pride of Malawi, we look to him as an inspiring factor in the realization of political and economic emancipation. The big picture is; has the nation attained the self-respect that Chilembwe inspired us to attain. In some perspectives, yes we have. On the other side we are still struggling to live the Chilembwe dream.
At present, the Malawi nation is yet to reach the desired heights of embracing the spirit of nationalism and brotherhood. We are yet to devise a collective strategy that will fish out millions of the starving citizens of Malawi from the excruciating pangs of poverty. We are still ranked one of the poorest countries in the world, and while in such a state, our country boosts of an elite that has fortunes worth billions of kwachas while millions more deserving civilians of the country live below the poverty line. We are yet to provide the majority of the masses of Malawians dignity and self-respect through equitable distribution of the little wealth of the country.

The life of Reverend John Chilembwe inspires the citizens of the country to take a leading role in demanding what belongs to them. Chilembwe gives us an inspiring example when he challenged the British government at the moment it was recruiting the natives of Nyasaland to fight the Germans in Tanzania during the First World War. Chilembwe asked: ‘We understand that we have been asked to shed our innocent blood in this world’s war…but would there be any good prospects for the natives after the war?

As we enjoy the present freedom which was spearheaded by Reverend Chilembwe’s uprising, more so now in this democratic dispensation, we are inspired by Chilembwe to question our elected representatives and demand accountability regarding policies, laws, and decisions they make on our behalf. Chilembwe inspires us to take ownership in monitoring the way economy of the country is distributed, rural empowerment programmes are fostered and poverty eradication processes are implemented.

It is certain that Chilembwe led an agricultural revolution for the country. Through the encouragement of natives planting cash crops, he was setting the base for an agricultural based economic-led economy. This inspires the nation to go an extra mile. Many centuries now we are still trapped in the non-lucrative trading of primary products than value added goods. We still rely on the growth of an economy based on raw tobacco than processed one. As we are reaping economic benefits out of the input fertilizer subsidy philosophy and the much promising green belt initiative, it is time that we diversify our agricultural practices. We can only benefit if we industrialize and shift from the rain-fed agricultural methods to irrigation systems, and in the end, selling products that have been added value to.

One thing is noticeable in the Chilembwe philosophy: the leadership system. The goverance that Reverend Chilembwe initiated entails that quality leadership enhances productivity, economic, and moral growth in a country. For us to make remarkable strides in transforming our country with the little resources we have we need quality leadership at all levels of our society.

We are ably reminded by one of Malawi’s finest philosopher Dr. Paul A. Mwaipaya in the book: the importance of quality leadership in national development, with special reference to Africa, that the significance of quality leadership is that it engages in rational and objective thinking and tries to make policies that are not far removed from the reality of human nature. Quality leadership is consistent in its deliberations as opposed to mediocre leadership which acts either without following any kind of objective manner of reasoning or simply follows the dictates of feelings, passions, sentiments, or special vested interests.

By spearheading the establishment of independent African schools Chilembwe inspires us to devise an educational system that would be responsive to the needs of the country in terms of social and economic development goals. This challenges the government in power at present and any governments to come in future to prioritize the provision of education that will be answerable to the needs of the development agenda of the country. Not only that, the nation at present is challenged to provide tertiary education to its masses, hence the contentious debate of quota system. The bottom line is that our universities do not have the capacity to absolve a good percentage of many deserving students who could excel to become leaders in different sectors in the country.

We can as well go ahead to argue that the principles of governance that were being followed by the British during the colonial days were the ones that enforced Chilembwe to rebel against such a system. This therefore inspires us to jealously safeguard principles of good governance. We can hardly celebrate the Chilembwe day with great happiness if governance is not human centred. Adebayo Adedeji in the article: The case for remarking Africa that is published in the book Action in Africa stresses that no one in Africa, not even former and contemporary despots, doubts that governance is the very foundation of civilized society and that neither social and economic progress nor political stability and national cohesiveness and unity are possible unless and until good governance is in place. Good governance should by definition be human-centred, guaranteeing civil and political rights on the one hand and social and economic rights on the other hand.

May this year’s commemoration of Chilembwe day be a constant reminder to the nation of Malawi that the success of a country goes beyond political liberation. We achieved a political mileage through breaking the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. We further went ahead to successfully abolish the one-party system of governance that ushered us into this democratic dispensation. Certainly, that achievement in the political dimension could please Reverend Chilembwe.

We are however yet to attain self-respect for each and every Malawian citizen through economic liberation. We are yet to go beyond the text book economics that looks at economic terminologies and percentages than addressing the economic thorns hurting the people of our country. It is not calculations of inflation rates that matter to the common man who lives below the poverty line; it is the implementation of program and projects that can transform his or her life from the traps of poverty. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja reminds us that democracy is meaningless without economic and social rights. It means nothing to people who cannot eat properly, have a roof over their heads, find a job, send their children to school, and have access to a minimum of decent health care.

At last, we can say that Chilembwe inspires us to make any meaningful sacrifice possible to make Malawi a better country for its people. This is where all professionals in the country and diaspora have to take a collective action in devising and implementing economic strategies that will lead to economic emancipation of our beloved motherland: Malawi.

We all admire rich people and sometimes we end up shaking our heads questioning ourselves: what is it that makes them rich? What is the secret of their success? Are riches out of magic or out of miracles? Make a date with Chinsinsi cha kulemera, an inspirational book by Pastor Harry Molande, you will easily find a formula for wealth creation.

Make no mistake to underestimate the wealth of knowledge in the book by looking at its size. It is just 11 pages long but the content is immesurable. It is those eleven pages that have the power to turn the economic pages of your life. The book is the silent formula to riches.

The first chapter gives you an inspiring outlook: Malawi is a blessed and rich country. It seems it is a complementation of the belief that Malawi is not a poor country only that the people of Malawi are poor but with potential to become rich.

Have you ever wondered why so many people in Malawi are trapped in the meshes of poverty? Chinsinsi cha kulemenra has the answer. Pastor Molande enlightens: anthu ambiri tikusauka chifukwa cha ulesi, nsanje, kusazindikira, mantha ndi kusowa chikhulupiriro choti tingayambe ntchito, kapena bizinesi.

By the time you will have finished reading the book you will have been armed with critical business analysis skills, ways of carrying out businesses, investments and the culture of saving, capital generation and the impact of HIV/AIDS on business development.

A wonderful writing skill that will mesmerize you in the book is the element of adding a short but eye catching punch line in bold letters at the end of eech topic or ideas. The punch lines are clear reminders to readers of actions to take on the path to the economic paradise. Some of the exciting punch words include: tisachite bizinesi zoletsedwa – tizamangidwa, anthu ambiri amadziwa kusamala ufa osati ndalama, among many others.

It is justifiable to say that this little book takes time to flex its muscles on issues bordering marketing, trade regulations and taxation, and developmental economics. It brings before you recommended characters to necessitate you become a successful business person, issues surrounding business licences and remitting of taxes to appropriate authorities, and money management skills. Money markets have also been covered in passing.

This book tells you one thing – yes, you can. You can become rich if only you have the determination and desire to be so. The book even points out some role models you can emulate. Some of the mentioned include: Her Honour Mrs. Joyce Banda, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi and owner of Joyce Banda Foundation, one of the outstanding private school in the country; business magnate Leston Mulli of Mulli Brothers, one of the leaders in the produce market in the country; celebrity musician Lucius Banda of the successful Zembani Band; Mike Mulombwa of Country Wide Car Hire; Mike Chilewe of Mike’s Trading Center and General Dealers; and Phekani of Chitawira Shopping Center among many others.

It is worthy pointing out that though the book gives examples of successful business persons owning huge businesses, the book also tackles some small businesses like kugulitsa thobwa, kuphika zitumbuwa and many others. The government should consider incorporating the book in the adult literacy curriculum as it will offer the adult learners entrepreneurial skills.

You will wage a gallant fight against excruciating poverty by possessing this book. As it is in Chichewa it certainly means that the rural masses with little education can easily understand the content. The rural masses have a simple formula for economic empowerment through this book.
You will even like the ending of the story as it lists several inspirational books you can read to further your knowledge, notable among them: Think and grow rich, master key to riches, tycoon, and millionaire mind.

Chinsinsi cha kulemera is available in CLAIM Mabuku bookshops and MANENO bookshops. This formula to riches was published by God’s Love Ministries.

There is something so significant with poetry. Great poets say that poetry serve as an invitation to celebrate language, enhancing and enriching our appreciation for the power of words to capture the essence of things. Poetry is a wonderful conveyer of emotions, extending and intensifying everyday experiences. Get hold of Poems from the Warm Heart, an anthology of poetry authored by Mike Zulu, Chimwemwe Kamanga and Marisen Mwale then you will have embarked on an adventurous poetical journey.

Divided into six thematic areas, poems from the warm heart is there to touch your heart, titillate your senses, and heighten your awareness on a diverse range of issues taking place in the universe. By the moment you complete the adventurous journey in the book you will have come across a wide array of poetry spanning the following areas: social perception and justice, love and romance, suffering and lamentation, life experiences, culture, politics and nature.

The best barometer for measuring the poetical mastery in the anthology is through the writing skills incorporated. Poems in the anthology encompass admirable poetical skills ranging from rhythm to rhyme, alliteration to assonance, onomatopoeia to repetition, imagery to figurative language, and finally emotional force.

Marisen Mwale combines rhythm, rhyme and alliteration in the poem: Life, oh, futile life! The second stanza goes: then do we discern, the ill-conceived fruits of destiny/are but malignant mandibles of disguised strife/when the once esteemed beam of light/forever becomes a pall of eternal night/ and abruptly all dreams drift from dumbfounded mind/then do we comprehend how like chasing the wind/ the ill-conceived fruits of destiny are/ how vain full of bizarre palpitations of the heart.

Some poems in the anthology flow with the semblance of the metaphysical poems of 17th and 18th century grand poets such as John Keats, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Andrew Marvel. Reciting Love Dream by Mike Zulu and To my love a dedication by Marisen Mwale, one recalls Andrew Marvel’s famous poem: To his coy mistress. Of course the flow and the choice of the words differ but the angle addressed seems similar. Others have the nostalgic touch like those of leopard Senghor. There is also a revolution angle in some pieces, probably weaved in the poetical touch of Africa’s great like David Rubadiri, Niyi Osundare, Cyril Cheney-Cooker and Dennis Brutus.

As the poems flow with an admirable range of poetical elements, one also notes that the poems have been written in different types of poetry. In the anthology are narrative poems, lyrical poems, limericks, free verse and choral poetry. While Poems from the warm heart express feelings, so too does it also weave into the labyrinths of soul searching. Some poems question: why is sin a sin? Why do we always ask what is wrong with others than what is right with them? The soul search goes deeper into the illusions of democracy. Change, yes, things have changed. But the other changes are detrimental. Cited in one of the poems include: the kwacha growing inflationary wings, girls auctioning their bodies through prostitution, trees looting for charcoal, orphan care becoming a booming business, and coffins selling like hot cakes.

This anthology is a wonderful master piece of poetry suitable for use in schools and colleges where poetry is taught. Of course the quality of the paper used is thin hence the pages can be easily torn and this is where the book requires proper handling.

Authors of the anthology are lectures at Mzuzu University. The anthology was edited by Professor David Rubadiri and published by Malawi Writers Union (MAWU)

The life of a girl child in Africa in general and Malawi in particular is always at a crossroad. In as much as she aspires to rise to stardom through education so too is she pulled back by social customs. The society expects her just to get married and give her husband children. In other cultures, she faces the risk of forced marriage and the danger to acquire HIV through dangerous practices like fisi. But who can explain much better those circumstances than the girl child herself. At last, a collection of winning stories from the 2008 Malawian Girls’ Literary Competition tears off the curtain of silence and exposes to the public the dilemma many a girl-child faces.

Winning stories is an anthology that comprises of Chichewa and English award winning stories in the competition that was organised by Malawi Writers Union (MAWU) and Stephanie Bosch. Going through the stories you will notice a common theme: the girl child can rise to any highest peak in the professional world. Much of the stories in the book portray the girl child surviving unpleasant circumstances to become a medical doctor, lawyer, accountant, and community developer.

One noticeable trend in the book is that it brings to light the aspiration of girls in their lives, the social-ills that need to be abolished to necessitate them attain their dreams, the need to wage a fierce war against property grabbing, and more greatly, the need to treat orphans with a human face.

The anthology Winning Stories carries the following beautiful pieces of literature: Pamela Mithi’s Nambewe the heroine, Clara Chikuni’s Ndaziona mwana wamasiye, Tiseke Chilima’s Be careful what you wish for, Nthambi Chikuse’s Zomwe Chisomo adawona, Grace Bandawe’s The rising sun, Khama Khomba’s The song of life, Prisca Ngoma’s The absurd teacher, Linda Mulera’s Mwana wotayidwa mchimbudzi and Yewo Benadette Kajawo’s Peace at last.

These wonderfully crafted stories are more of free lessons. For instance the story Ndaziona mwana wamasiye ends: Kwa olera ana amasiye, ‘mwana wamzako ndi wako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye.’

Male teachers who capitalize on their profession to sexually abuse the girl child will find a rude awakening in Prisca Ngoma’s The absurd teacher. The story can be said to be a girl-child’s fight for respect, dignity and justice. It exposes how a male teacher who is bent at proposing love to school girls can frustrate the education ambitions of a girl who has denied his sexual advances. In this story the girl goes as far as taking the issue to the court of law.

Another exciting perspective that the winning stories expose is that young Malawian ladies have an admirable and immense talent in creative writing. The structure of the stories, styles and angles of writing used, exploration of theme lines, all manifest the literary potential that girls have in the country. Reading the stories, you will certainly be amazed to note that the stories were authored by secondary school students.

Of course one can easily notice that some expressions used in some of the English short stories might have been copied from some great literary works. However, writing being a learning process and these authors being at infant stages in their creative world, they were likely to face the trap of coping some jargons and clichés.

Winning stories is a beautiful feminine voice that can make a good resource for teaching creative writing. It can also be a good reference point at writing workshops. As for males, the anthology opens their eyes to the world of the girl-child – her dreams and aspirations.

The life of a girl child in Africa in general and Malawi in particular is always at a crossroad. In as much as she aspires to rise to stardom through education so too is she pulled back by social customs. The society expects her just to get married and give her husband children. In other cultures, she faces the risk of forced marriage and the danger to acquire HIV through dangerous practices like fisi. But who can explain much better those circumstances than the girl child herself. At last, a collection of winning stories from the 2008 Malawian Girls’ Literary Competition tears off the curtain of silence and exposes to the public the dilemma many a girl-child faces.

Winning stories is an anthology that comprises of Chichewa and English award winning stories in the competition that was organised by Malawi Writers Union (MAWU) and Stephanie Bosch. Going through the stories you will notice a common theme: the girl child can rise to any highest peak in the professional world. Much of the stories in the book portray the girl child surviving unpleasant circumstances to become a medical doctor, lawyer, accountant, and community developer.

One noticeable trend in the book is that it brings to light the aspiration of girls in their lives, the social-ills that need to be abolished to necessitate them attain their dreams, the need to wage a fierce war against property grabbing, and more greatly, the need to treat orphans with a human face.

The anthology Winning Stories carries the following beautiful pieces of literature: Pamela Mithi’s Nambewe the heroine, Clara Chikuni’s Ndaziona mwana wamasiye, Tiseke Chilima’s Be careful what you wish for, Nthambi Chikuse’s Zomwe Chisomo adawona, Grace Bandawe’s The rising sun, Khama Khomba’s The song of life, Prisca Ngoma’s The absurd teacher, Linda Mulera’s Mwana wotayidwa mchimbudzi and Yewo Benadette Kajawo’s Peace at last.

These wonderfully crafted stories are more of free lessons. For instance the story Ndaziona mwana wamasiye ends: Kwa olera ana amasiye, ‘mwana wamzako ndi wako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye.’

Male teachers who capitalize on their profession to sexually abuse the girl child will find a rude awakening in Prisca Ngoma’s The absurd teacher. The story can be said to be a girl-child’s fight for respect, dignity and justice. It exposes how a male teacher who is bent at proposing love to school girls can frustrate the education ambitions of a girl who has denied his sexual advances. In this story the girl goes as far as taking the issue to the court of law.

Another exciting perspective that the winning stories expose is that young Malawian ladies have an admirable and immense talent in creative writing. The structure of the stories, styles and angles of writing used, exploration of theme lines, all manifest the literary potential that girls have in the country. Reading the stories, you will certainly be amazed to note that the stories were authored by secondary school students.

Of course one can easily notice that some expressions used in some of the English short stories might have been copied from some great literary works. However, writing being a learning process and these authors being at infant stages in their creative world, they were likely to face the trap of coping some jargons and clichés.

Winning stories is a beautiful feminine voice that can make a good resource for teaching creative writing. It can also be a good reference point at writing workshops. As for males, the anthology opens their eyes to the world of the girl-child – her dreams and aspirations.

Have you ever wondered the trauma, disillusionment, ridicule that a childless family experiences? Watch Tinkanena 2, a Zacharia and Mwambo Arts Theatre production to have an insight into this incredible experience.

You have watched and respected the Hollywood and Nollywood stars. Having watched Tinkanena 2 you will be assured that the movie industry in Malawi is geared to make its presence felt on the screen. Tinkanena 2 is a love story that brings with it passion, expresses greedy, puts infidelity to shame, and further explores the diversity of our cultural values and traditions in relation to marital issues.

Starring Frank Yalu, Jacobs Mwase, Dayson Gonthi, Loyce Nkhoma, Alice Kamanga Mwase, Taona Zimba, Tame Muwawa, Gradys Chimbaka, Henry Ntalika and Anita Mataya, Tinkanena 2 is an exciting comedy full of joys and tears, broken heartedness and reconciliation, gender based violence and the law.

When Nginde, played by Frank Yalu, lived for years with no child in his family, the family nearly crumbles. The wife, to gather the breaking pieces of love as Nginde goes on an infidelity spree, seeks the intervention of a witchdoctor, Zacharia (played by Jacobs Mwase). But the woman had to make an unimaginable sacrifice: sleeping with the witchdoctor right on the spot as a remedy to enable the spirits open her womb to have a child with her husband. Just as the woman was undressing, Nginde arrives on the scene then hell breaks loose.

Written by Frank Yalu and directed by Jacobs Mwase, the film takes you to locations in Ndirance, Zomba and Chiradzulu. This comedy takes with it a semblance of reality. You would appreciate the costume as it reflects situations and lifestyles.

When you are watching this film, make sure you have the courage to control your laughter. All the scenes in the movie have one or two scopes to keep your jaws wide open with laughter. Imagine watching the greedy Zacharia chasing his children away having asked him for tea. He then asks his wife to place hot water for him in the bathroom to take a bath. You actually see Zacharia undressing, and then, fishing ndazi, sugar and an empty cup from the trouser pocket. He then scoops water from the bathing basin, prepares his hot solution and starts enjoying his cup of tea. Just in a moment his wife arrives on the door step to live a tablet of soap; unbelievable.

Just as the actors in Tinkanena 2 are at their best, so too one has to appreciate the immense talent incorporated by the behind the scenes crew. The synchronization of some scenes with some traditional songs in the background gives the film a local Malawian touch and further enhances the values of the typical African traditions in human lives. You will further appreciate the cultural diversity in Tinkanena 2 as the comedy brings in several language flavours such as Tumbuka and Yao on top of the film’s main language, Chichewa.

Gluing your eyes to the exciting laughter-striking Tinkanena 2 you will pose some silent questions? Is a woman whose bride price had been paid for a slave? Is the youth a lost generation that prides itself in indulging in sexual promiscuity despite the fearsome threat of the HIV/AIDS scourge? Is a married woman a punching bag with no voice?

Tinkanena 2 was produced by Production Kings Studios and is available at Hair Care Centre in Blantyre and at Liwonde Trading Centre. The DVD is also sold through door to door. At present, door to door selling takes place in Blantyre and Zomba. An original copy of the DVD costs K1, 500.00

Agriculture is the main backbone of the Malawi economy. It is improvements in agriculture that make the yard stick for measuring the prevalence of poverty among the people of Malawi. Strides taken in agricultural revolution in the country over the past four years have put the country on the path of attaining the Millennium Development Goals pertaining to the reduction of poverty. According to the government of Malawi 2008 MDG report, poverty levels declined sharply from 52.4 in 2005 to 40 percent in 2007 on account of improved food security situation largely due to the input subsidy programme and favorable weather conditions that have contributed to the bumper crop harvest in the last four years. It is said that at this rate of improvement, poverty levels would be expected to decline to 27 percent by 2015 thus reaching the MDG target on poverty reduction.
The hoe has the power to pay back the master. It is only that the hoe can only pay back depending on the way the master uses it. China’s economic transformation which is called an economic miracle was mainly as a result of effective use of the hoe. The rapid growth made in several sectors in china was led by agricultural reforms. We are on a good footing in agricultural dimension. The thing that matters at present is to move beyond the current level of farming. We need to intensify intensive farming and diversify the range of products we farm. It is intensive farming that makes China one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of agricultural products. Intensive farming has seen China becoming the world’s largest producer of rice and a principal source of wheat, corn (maize), tobacco, soya beans, peanuts, cotton, potatoes, sorghum, tea, millet, barley, oilseed, pork and fish. Actually, China’s cropland area is only 75 percent of the United States total but produces about 30 percent more crops and livestock than the United States. In accordance with the United Nations World Food Program, in 2003 China fed 20 percent of the world’s population with only 7 percent of the world’s arable land.
It is worth noting that all the progress China has been making in agriculture has not largely been due to improvements in agricultural technology. China has still a relatively lack of agricultural machinery, particularly advanced machinery. For the most part, the Chinese peasant or farmer depends on simple, non-mechanized farming implements just as Malawi farmers do. Our advancement in agricultural revolution in the fight against poverty should model on the China success story. We cannot achieve a lot if we keep on heavily depending on 1 hectare fields. What we need are large farms that can produce hundreds of metric tonnes of products for consumption and exports.
It is high time that our agriculture goes beyond maize and tobacco. How about investing in communal forests? As the demand for energy intensifies and our hills are going bare, the forestry sector becomes of one of the lucrative business initiatives to undertake. There will always be increasing demand for timber as the construction industry keeps on booming. Forests can be an agricultural dimension worthy exploring. Until when shall we keep on relying on Chikangawa forest for timber? Actually, the timber industry is an economic lifeline for some economies. For instance, it is expected that the timber industry would be accounting for 25 percent of the GDP of Liberia. The timber and wood market is worth exploring in the agricultural sector.
Another agricultural sector that the country needs to diversify into is the flowers industry. The flower industry is the economic miracle of East Africa’s giant economy, Kenya. Kenya is the number one supply of ornamental flowers to the European Union, with a market share of more than 35 percent. In 2008, the Kenya flower industry exported 91,000 tonnes of flowers which earned the country US$ 504.4 million, that is 40 billion Kenyan shillings. Malawi has vast quantities of land and favorable climate that can see an economic miracle arising out of the flower industry. It is an industry that should not be underrated. In Kenya, the flowers industry employs more than 100,000 people, that’s making a positive impact in mitigating rising unemployment rates and the adverse impact of poverty.
Amazing so it is that despite having vast quantities of water in Lake Malawi, the water flows all the way to Zambezi through Shire River unutilized in agricultural sector. Lake Malawi is the best source for agricultural revolution. Lake Malawi has the capacity to sustain irrigation all year long thus making it possible for our agricultural season to be three dimensional. Planting of crops could no longer be once a year. Planting could be all year rounder. A resource being underutilized. Probably the Greenbelt initiative will offer a learning opportunity for us to realize the wealth that we had had but unable to utilize. Israel irrigates almost its entire cotton crop of 28, 570 hectares. The water encyclopedia reports that 40 percent of all crops grown in the world today are grown using irrigation. This is the best time to examine what percentage of our agricultural productivity is as a result of irrigation.
To really maximize our earnings from our agricultural productivity and contribute effectively in the fight against poverty, we really have to add value to our agricultural products. As long as we remain perennial exporters of raw materials, we will ever end up at the receiving end of peanuts. Our sweat would never be adequately compensated. Instead of exporting pepper to Arabic countries, why can’t we be processing the pepper, package it nicely and sell it at high value. Isn’t it amazing that we import tomato sauce when farmers in Ntcheu and Dedza produce vast quantities of tomato that can be added value to and exported?
Our agriculture has many missed opportunities. Probably it is high time that the financial services sector consider funding agricultural initiatives that have a seemingly profitable outlook. By and large, our inability to utilize our land could end up pushing us on the cross of jealousy when large scale Chinese investors in agriculture take up vast quantities of land for agricultural produce. But they will be planting the very crops that we the indigenous usually plant. It only takes the transformation of ideas into practice.
While as a nation we embark on diversifying our crops range, the need for updated information on agricultural markets throughout the world need to be made available. Probably we are unable to diversify into other crops as a result of inavailability of information pertaining to viable markets for the products we could diversity in. Do our agricultural offices in all the districts in the country have appropriate information on markets for agricultural commodities? Do we have agricultural information centres? We lag behind because we do not have information that can make us progress. We lag bed=hind because we underrate the value of agricultural information. As market trends in the world are changing so too should the Malawi farmer be updated on the changes in order to make appropriate information that can further revolutinise our agriculture.

How do you strike a deal with publishers to have your manuscript published? What are your inalienable rights as an author of a published work? What procedures can you follow to reap from your literary sweat? Scratch not your head laboring to get answers to these mind-boggling questions; you have a timely intervention in Sambalikagwa Mvona’s ‘A guide to writers’ and artists’ contracts.’
The 80-page book which can as well be described as the writers’ bible tackles a wide range of issues that writers have to come to terms with. It can be argued that it is a red card to the exploitation of writers. As the Malawi Writers Union (MAWU) president writes in the foreword of the book: ‘it is common knowledge that publishers, being businessmen are there to make money and increase their enterprises. If writers do not know and exercise their new rights and, therefore, do not promote their own interests they only have themselves to blame.’
Flipping through the book gives you an edge to have an insight into the century old history of writing in Malawi, general guidelines for publishing contracts, rights of the author, a brief history of royalties, Copyright Society of Malawi (COSOMA), and the role that the Malawi National Library Service plays in promoting the writing and reading culture in the country.
The issue that dominates most is publishing contracts. The book carries with it examples of contracts, among them: a normal Malawian contract, a contract in Finland, standard contract for non-fiction literature between the Norwegian Publishers’ Association and the Norwegian Association of Non-Fiction Writers and Translators, so too a memorandum of agreement for a commissioned contract in Malawi.
The author of the guide is well aware that writing has gone electronic as well as more authors are resorting to publishing online. This writers and artists guide also gives an example of a contract governing an electronic book.
By the time you will have finished reading this guide you will have been conversant with general publishing contract guidelines on illustrations and quotations; infringement of existing copyright, libel, and censorship laws; obligation to publish, advance payment and royalties; choice of law among many others.
One admirable element in the book is that it does not leave a reader in the vacuum regarding which institutions to contact. The last four pages of the book have contact addresses of vital stakeholders in the arts, communication and book industry. Some of the noticeable addresses include those of Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture; Department of Arts and Craft; Malawi Writers Union; National Archives; Musicians Association of Malawi; National Theatre Association of Malawi among many others.
Pertaining to the coverage of the Malawi National library Service which the author calls a writer’s nest, Mvona looks at one of the crucial contributions of libraries worldwide as to uplift a country’s writing and reading culture. He then questions if the Malawi National library service has achieved that goal since independence from colonial masters. It is well expounded in the book that through its Children books in the Werengani series the Malawi National library service has made remarkable strides in promoting a writing and reading culture.
A guide to writers’ and artists’ contracts is a silent constitution for writers and deserves to be on bookshelves of serious writers. Of course one can argue that in line with the title of the book, the book has only addressed interest of writers thus negating other artists like musicians, fine artists, photographers, sculptors and many others. Of course taking into account that the author is in the first instance a published writer therefore much of his knowledge would be in his field. However, that being said, the guide is as well meant for writers and artists combined.
The author, Sambalikagwa Mvona is a renowned creative writer with a string of books to his name , some of them: The blind search, The trap, the sun at Njuli, Modern stories from Malawi and The special document. He is the current president for the Malawi Writers Union.

There are several customs and traditions that have been perpetrating male chauvinism, spreading HIV/AIDS and even degrading the status of women in the society. One exciting piece of fiction, Sins of our fathers by Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande takes an intrinsic look into such traditions and their impact on the girl child.
Sins of our fathers is a short story centering at the life of a fourteen-year old Tania who was married off to Gwamu – an old man and a maize trader – to offset maize loan that her parents secured from Gwamu seven years past. Tania had to endure the most excruciating inhuman conditions in the house of Gwamu until the moment she hit back Gwamu with Nthiko and he fainted. Tania fled away until she fainted on the banks of a river and was being prosecuted for causing gravious bodily harm.
Remarkable traits of creative writing skills are showcased in the story through the way in which the author explores the social customs and beliefs. The traditional belief that investing in the education of a girl child was a waste of resources is evident through the voice of Tania’s father: “Paying for a girl’s secondary education is a waste, something I can’t be foolish to do. For whose benefit? If anything it will be her husband who will enjoy the effort. Provided she knows how to read and write, that’s enough.”
Going through the story one learns that some traditions are perpetrated by poverty. The root cause of the trading off of Tania was that the family had had bad harvest, ADMARC had had no grain reserves, the government was reported to have sold the previous harvest to neighboring countries and people were starving to death. The only people to look to were the likes of Gwamu who were importing maize for sale. When Tania’s parent got the maize on credit they were optimistic that they would later sell cattle to offset the debt. Unfortunately, foot and mouth disease wiped away the cattle. The family had one choice, as Tania’s mother explains to her: “We marry you off to offset the debt. We cannot repay in any other way than this.”
Ndaferankhande goes on to artistically portray several traditional beliefs that wreck havoc in the lives of the girl-child. This is portrayed in Tania’s reflections: while in standard four, her classmate, Mwache who was only 12 was given off to a man three times her age as dowry. Then there was Lucia who had been offered to a widower as a consolation following her sister’s death, a tradition so called kupyanikisya or chimetamasisi. Lucia eventually run away from the village and turned into prostitution to make ends meet.
An exciting element worthy noting in the story is that it tests the application of the law. Was Tania to be jailed for avenging her wrath on a man who had turned her into a punch bag every night? Was the law to only look at her wounding her forced husband regardless of circumstances surrounding the causative factors? Of course, in the end the magistrate ruled that Tania had to be free and taken off from Gwamu and that her parents had to ensure that she further her education.
Certainly, the flow of language and the expressions given in the story will leave you with no seeds of doubt as to why the story scooped the first prize in the 2008 First Merchant Bank/Malawi Writers Union Literary Awards. It is an excellent piece of literature that adds value to the element of research in creative writing. Sins of our fathers is published in an anthology entitled the Bachelor of Chikanda and other stories.

Creative writing in Malawi has had its ups and downs. At the moment the reading culture seem to be dying. But how can a reading culture be sustained when creative writing seem to be taking a nosedive as well? There has been an increased outcry that the quality of literary creative works being penned of late has been leaving a lot to be desired. But wait a moment, get hold of an anthology of Malawian short stories entitled: The bachelor of Chikanda and other stories, then you will appreciate that all is not lost.
This artistically written anthology brings before your table a 240-page literary dish containing 35 stories covering different aspects of social life: cultural trends, poverty, witchcraft among many others. It also recognizes the importance of managing transition in the creative world. While the anthology boasts of short stories by emerging writers on the Malawi scene like William Mpina, Ayami Mkwanda, Ndongolera Mwangopili, Kondwani Kamiyala among several others, it also showcases stories of long-time renowned writers such as Jonathan Tanthwe Mbuna, Sambalikagwa Mvona, Brian Ligomeka, Akwete Sande, Levi Zeleza Manda, Zondiwe Mbano, Jimmy Koreia-Mpatsa, Wisdon Dede Kamkondo and Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga. This combination bridges the gap between the old and the new writers. It brings an opportunity to analyse how writing trends have been forging of late.
An exciting element embodied in almost all the stories carried in the book is how they maintain a drive in adhering to themes being addressed. Some stories are there to question the logic behind some behavior. Others pricks at the evil of some cultural practices when they are not appropriately followed.
An amazing element that attracts a reader is the variety of writing styles. The weaving of Ndaferankhande’s Sins of the fathers in the first person singular entices a reader to be part of the story, to be the main character, to think with the character, to mourn with her, and to get relief with her as well. The opening paragraph of Vincent Muwamba’s The Ants has the rousing appeal that ignite in a reader the desire to keep on: ‘The ants of Mdeka had no mouth to tell of their suffering under the divergent oppressive feet. Feet in slippers, Feet in three storey shoes. Bare feet. Feet! Feet! Feet!
The most common element which gives the stories a lively curiosity is the ending. Most stories have the suspense ending which gives a reader all the liberty to conclude the stories himself/herself.
As this anthology is also better suited for classrooms, it excites a lot to note that award winning stories for the 2008 First Merchant Bank/Malawi Writers Union have been incorporated in this anthology: Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande’s Sins of the fathers; Vincent Chiwamba’s The Ants; and Shadreck Chikoti’s The Baobab. The incorporation of these stories in the anthology provides budding writers a timely opportunity to learn tricks of authoring award winning stories.
This anthology is the best instrument for teaching creative writers. At the end of each short story are four of five questions pertaining to the story. Such simple exercise challenges a reader to measure one’s understanding on each story read.
The Bachelor of Chikanda and other stories could make a vital creative writing resource if it can find its way into school and public libraries.

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. More so now with the World Cup coming to Africa in 2021, many Sub Sahara African countries are repositioning their tourism sectors to maximize economic benefits from an avalanche of foreign visitors. It appears that little do we appreciate that flowers forma a recognizable and profitable part of the tourism industry. Flowers have the beauty that enhances the image of a country. Not only that they are a multi million dollar business that if properly enhanced have the capacity to induce a positive increment on the GDP realized in the tourism industry.

Just in between the Mibawa bus terminal and the highly polluted Mudi river, the flower industry is booming. Vendors have established flower nurseries and their clientele are people interested in having beautiful flower beds around their homes. At the time that the business dimension of the country is endeavoring to shift from an importing and consuming to a producing and exporting, it is imperative that any business initiative that has the potential to contribute towards the cause is supported to the fullest. The flower industry has the potential to make a remarkable impact on the inflation and the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.

Despite the booming of the flower market on the international market in the recent years, the Malawi business sector is yet to break into such a market. The fall of the Lingadzi farms in early 2000 is an epitome of how the flower sector has failed to flourish. It was the closure of the farms that marked the erasing of Malawi flowers at the international market. At the time of its closure, as reported by the African Magazine of December 2000, Lingadzi was the country’s largest flower grower and exporter –exporting an average of 20 million stems of roses a year – with over 700 workers. The closure of the farm saw Malawi losing US$ 28 million in revenues.

Flowers have proved to be among the top forex earning products in some countries in Africa. In the year 2000, exports of flowers and foliage in Kenya contributed 5.8 percent of the total export earnings. According to the Kenya Flower Council, Kenya accounts for 60 percent of African cut-flower exports, in terms of value and is the world’s fourth largest exporter of cut-flower. At one point, the flower industry was poised to overtake tea and tourism in forex earnings. Susan Njanji in the article ‘Economy, climate, batter Kenya’s flower’ say that horticulture contributes about 23 percent of the GDP of Kenya and employs an estimated three million people. In the first three months of this year, the flower industry earned for Kenya US$ 13.68 million

Certainly, in Africa Kenya offers the best learning ground in the development of a vibrant and commercially viable flowers industry. Floyd Mann in the article: ‘Kenya – Globalizing with flowers’ writes that since the country’s independence in 1963, and especially in recent years, horticulture has emerged as one of Kenya’s great economic success stories. Flowers picked in the morning reach the markets in Amsterdam by evening. Horticulture is Kenya’s fastest growing sector and is ranked third after tourism and tea.

For a country that carries in its history the once success story of Lingadzi farms, it is essential to develop and implement deliberate policies that can spearhead the flower industry beyond the present small sector. Banks and other financial lending institutions so too the insurance sector can play progressive roles in supporting and sustaining the growth of the flowers industry. The revitalization of the flowers industry can broaden Malawi’s export base beyond the traditional tobacco, tea, coffee, cotton, among a few others.

Ethiopia has taken remarkable strides in enhancing its flower industry to complement the tourism sector. Ethiopia has been encouraging major flower farms in Kenya to establish flower farms in Ethiopia. Have major companies have actually made a switch into Ethiopia lured by ten-year tax break holidays, better security and little in the way of graft. Sher Agencies, a Dutch company whose 400-hectrate farm in Kenya produces 600 million roses a year, more than any other farm in the world, has opened a farm in Ethiopia.

A closer look at the five thematic areas articulated in the Malawi Growth Development Strategy (MGDS) is sustainable economic growth. The development of a vibrant flower industry is therefore an appropriate means to the realization of the said theme. The flower industry has the potential to enhance economic growth and wealth creation. Apparently, for our economy to make a significant impact in the reduction of poverty, our economy needs to have a strong growth of more than 6 percent.

What is lacking in the business industry apparently is the initiative to broaden the flowers industry beyond the behind mibawa bus terminal, invest in it and develop it on large scale. This is where the private sector has to take an upper hand. Flowers can do an economic miracle to our country as they are doing to the Kenya economy. The flower sector in Kenya offers employment to over 40,000 people. We can reduce the increasing unemployment rate by embracing the flower industry in the tourism sector.

Professionals form the formidable pillars of national development. Whenever a nation reaches some milestones in some areas, it certainly means that professionals specializing in such fields added value to their intellectual prowess. In other sense they put their intellectual resources into fruitful practical use.
Recently, Malawi has been reported to have slipped down on the Doing Business Index. This certainly puts a dent on the development agenda of this country. It is not that our economic policies are too archaic to go along with the pace of economic revolution. It is not even that we are advancing protectionism philosophy. What is pulling down the investment climate is the inability of key service providers, who are great yardsticks in business indexing, to improve service delivery in their capacities.
At present, electricity generation and distribution remains a challenge. Even the only small 11 percent of the population of Malawians cannot have access to electricity twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. How can this situation entice investors in perishable products?, If Kayerekera Uranium mining, probably Malawi’s money spinning project at the moment, decides to invest million of cash in generators on the pretext that ESCOM power is unreliable, what blow is our inefficient and inadequate power generation dealing to potential investors? If anything, power unreliability makes Malawi a costly country to invest into. Where are our distinguished engineers?
We are proud as a country to have educationists, renowned professors and doctors in education. As the population has been increasing over the years, certainly they should have been forecasting on its impact on the provision of tertiary education. Why is it that the intake of our universities has remained at a static level probably for the past thirty years? What strategies have our educationists been advancing to ensure that the country provides an easy access to tertiary education to its citizens to spearhead continued national development? At present, access to education at our universities is not a birthright but a priviledge. In the advent of technological advances, why can’t our universities go virtual? Advanced countries have gone ahead to offer degree and master degree courses online. Why can’t our esteemed educationists exploit such a route? We are training a few professionals indirectly proportional to the development agenda on the country.
In the interests of justice we rely on our learned colleagues in the law profession to offer us appropriate and unbiased guidance on the application of the law. The handling of disputes, civil or criminal, and the administration of justice has the potential to give people confidence in the law or to disillusion them. Some cases seem to be discharged at supersonic speed while other cases grow moulds in files with no hope of being addressed. In such a situation, what justice hope do our learned colleagues offer us? Many a times court rulings have been overturned by superior courts. What if in the first instance there was no appeal? It certainly means that there are people languishing in jails who could not have been had they appealed.
Of late companies have been folding down having been nursing losses consecutively. We question, where were the men and women of figures, the accountants? Where were the economic forecasters, economists? What strategic advises have they been offering to institute turn-around strategies. The value of their charteredness should have had a positive bearing if their academic prowess resuscitated the sinking ships.
Are our banks accessible to the common man? Are they the hub of economic development through provision of loans without infusing complex bureaucratic procedures that let people down? Are the interest rates being offered in line with inducing economic development at the household level? Probably our professional bankers need to streamline their strategies in the light of the economic development philosophy of the country.
Why is it that only a few Malawians have access to insurance policies? What is it that makes insurance policies not attractive to people? Our chartered insurers have the duty to go beyond the wording of the policies. They have to look at the practicalities of tailoring the policies with the economic interest of the people of this country.
Malawi is awash with professionals. Malawi can develop. The setback is that many professionals do not discharge their duties to the best of their intellectual capacities. We should run away from the temptation of writing high class proposals but unable to turn rhetoric into practical. Our professionalism can help the country if it moves away from the desks to the actual practical concepts.

Behind the magnificent buildings that glitter our cities, the bridges that connect people from different sides, road networks that necessitate easy travel from one point to another, air terminals where planes land at, is the construction industry.

Behind the growth of infrastructural development that are improving the well-being of people through the provision of goods and services, silently hides the construction industry which can as well be termed as the backbone to national development. Infrastructure is indispensable to achieve the main development targets such as urbanization, industrialization, export promotion, equitable income distribution, and sustainable economic development. The construction industry, the main player in the infrastructure development, should as well be accredited with silently advancing national development agenda.

The construction industry has a remarkable impact on the GDP of a country, personal earnings and creation and sustaining of employees. The Associated General Contractors of America, projected that in 2009 in Maryland an additional of US$1 billion in nonresidential construction spending would add about US$2.2 billion to the state’s GDP, about US$660 million on personal earnings and create or sustain 17,000 jobs. The analysis on the jobs created was on the basis that 5,800 jobs would be direct construction jobs located within Maryland, 2,700 would be indirect jobs from supplying construction materials and services, and 8,500 jobs would be induced when workers and owners in construction and supplier businesses spend their incomes locally and nationwide.

It is obvious that construction industry is the pivotal element in infrastructure development. Byoungki Kim in the article ‘infrastructure development for the economic development in developing countries: lessons from Korea and Japan’ stresses that infrastructure development is one of the most integral parts of the public policies in developing countries. Good infrastructure such as road construction helps to lower productivity costs hence contributing to economic growth. The construction of relevant infrastructure like roads in rural areas has a considerable impact on national wealth distribution. In South Korea, extensive road networks in 1960s and 1970s led to rapid growth of vegetable production and other cash crops designed for the urban markets.

Numerous construction projects carried out in the country highlights the positive impact of the construction industry on socio-economic development. Roads that have been paved in rural areas linking them to cities have boosted trade in agricultural products as the cost of transportation of agricultural products has gone down.

The country is expected to benefit from probably one of Malawi’s mega-construction project: the Shire-Zambezi waterway. All benefits to be accrued out of the project will be as a result of construction activities carried out by the construction industry. The drenching of the waterway, the building of a port and an air strip are all expected to revolutionise business in Nsanje so too raise the socio-economic levels of the people surrounding the port in particular and nationwide in general.

In accordance with the project proposal for the Shire-Zambezi waterway, when the project is completed it will reduce costs of goods and services for landlocked countries like Malawi and Zambia by at least 60 percent of the current costs. This will certainly have a positive effect on the livelihoods of Malawians as the cost of living will likely go down. It is imperative however to note that underneath this wonderful dream has to be the construction industry.

Apparently as the government is geared to enhance rural development in its development agenda, the construction industry faces the daunting task to be part of the development philosophy. The construction industry has to ensure that it has the capacity to deliver development projects as per the needs of the government and in the time scale specified.

Many a development projects are in the pipeline, most notable, road projects, schools, police and teachers’ houses, boreholes, among many others. The construction industry would add value to the country’s development agenda through successfully undertaking the said projects. Certainly, the construction industry loses credibility, trust and reputation in the eyes of the publics if projects it undertakes do not live to the expectations of the people.

The government’s rural development project could further spur the growth of indigenous construction companies which will in the end trickle-down economic benefits to the country and the citizens. The mushrooming of indigenous construction firms with capacity to handle large scale jobs will save the country from losing forex as most projects will be handled locally, hence requiring no need for forex to pay international construction firm.

This could certainly write a new chapter in the history of the construction industry in the country. As the small construction firms will be developing they will certainly be competing for construction jobs in other countries within Africa and possibly beyond. This could make the construction industry a reliable partner in bringing into the country the required forex. The exposure of the construction industry abroad could as well play the ambassadorial role of marketing services that Malawi can offer in Africa and beyond. If one sector successfully storms the international market, other sectors stand an easy chance as they actually ride on the success of the pioneer service provider.

It is time that our construction industry becomes a force worthy reckoning on the international scale. We could learn from the Norwegian building and construction industry which has attracted international attention for its innovative design and exceptional products. Norwegian architects have won international acclaim for their modern approach to traditional materials such as wood, stone and metal. Norway has cutting-edge expertise in building large timber structures, tunnelling, and cavern excavation, as well as in road and bridge construction. Norwegian manufacturers export first-class timber and wood products like parquet flooring, prefabricated houses, and other building components worldwide. Glued, laminated timber (“glulam”) is a specially-developed, lightweight, and extremely strong product that has added a new dimension to the design of homes, large public and commercial buildings, and even bridges. The main terminal building at Oslo Gardermoen Airport is the largest laminated wood structure in the world. The Norwegian classic example is a precedent that our industry should set benchmarks on.
Meanwhile, as the economic development programme of the country has embraced Public private Partnerships, the construction industry could cement its backbone position in national development if it takes a crucial role in the provision of infrastructure that can support the initiative. As housing scarcity threatens our cities, the construction industry can, through Public Private Partnerships, construct houses. Not only that, the construction industry, by nature of its services, is well poised to take a leading role in some of the potential projects earmarked for Public Private Partnership agreements.
Apparently, the house construction boom provides investment opportunities in forestry and paper. As the online allafrica.com edition of 8 November 2008 reports Malawi's construction industry is experiencing a boom which has made investment in commercial forests a profitable venture. However, the report continues, current production levels don't meet demand in the local and foreign markets, hence the invitation to exploit commercial potential. It is noticeable therefore that the construction industry is giving rise to the growth of the timber industry hence providing a lucrative business and employment opportunity to many Malawians. This could further lead to a possibility of establishing private forests to satisfy the construction demand. Not only that, the construction industry has also been leading to tree seedling production becoming a vibrant economic activity practiced by both small and large scale entrepreneurs though at present the government is the largest buyer of seedlings.
In as much as we are proud that the construction and building industry has played a crucial part in the socio-economic development of the country, we can only hope that the industry will not be contented with its remarkable success but further polish some of its grey areas.

Construction is an integral part in the development of a country as it forms the mother component behind all activities bordering on infrastructure development. However, a worst evil that can wreck havoc in this extremely important sector is corruption and fraud that can lead to the erosion of ethics in the entire sector.

Of course corruption can be said to have infiltrated many developmental sectors but it is extremely important to note that the ravaging impact of corruption in the construction sector can be severe as it can deeply eat resources that could help develop programmes of significant national importance.

Speaking at a workshop on Project Anti-Corruption Systems held in Dar es Salaam in May 2007, Catherine Stansbury from the Transparency International of United Kingdom said that the construction sector was generally perceived as the most corrupt industry in the world.

Corruption has an edge to penetrate into the construction industry system as it can occur at any phase such as project identification, financing, designing, tendering and execution. This trend of corruption could involve project owners, funding agencies, consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, joint-venture partners and agents.

The worst thing is that the toleration of corrupt practices in the construction industry leads into misuse or poor use of public funds and infrastructure that is inadequate, defective, dangerous, and the chocking of the industry itself as the corrupt and incompetent practitioners prosper.

Corruption does not aid the development of the construction industry. If anything, corruption leads to the tarnishing of the image of this reputable industry and induce questionable perceptions in the minds of the people regarding the sectors’ contribution to national development. In the very end, the more corruption sieges the sector, the more competent and uncorrupt construction firms diminish as they are outmarketed by the most corrupt. This poses a danger in the sense that the corrupt firms dominating the sector end up undertaking projects that are hurriedly completed regardless of expected standards and the impact on the services to be provided.

The world has on several occasions experienced tragic events associated with corruption in the construction sector. The South Asia Investor Review of February 11, 2009 reports that on September 1, 2007 the newly constructed Sher Shah Bridge in Karachi, Pakistan, collapsed killing 14 people and injuring many others. The bridge had just been inaugurated less than a month before by the former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf. Shoddy construction and corruption were suspected but an investigation was yet to produce results.

The Investor Review further adds that earthquakes that hit China and Pakistan in the last few years have caused massive destruction. The fact that the damage was significantly disproportionate to government schools and other government buildings raised questions about shoddy construction by government contractors supervised by corrupt officials.

As the Transparency International explains, corruption on construction projects is damaging. It damages developed and developing countries resulting in projects which are unnecessary, unreliable, dangerous, and over-priced. This can lead to loss of life, poverty, economic damage and underdevelopment. The yet to be concluded education scam is a vivid examples of how a country retrogresses when construction projects are mingled with corruption. Up to now, many school blocks keep on existing on paper. Money that was meant to enhance educational development did not serve the intended purpose.

The scope of the damages of corruption in the construction industry stretches as far as companies. This results in tendering uncertainity, wasted tender expenses, increased project cost, economic damage, reduced project opportunities, extortion and blackmail, criminal prosecutions, fines, black listings, and reputational risk.

Of course corruption in the construction industry is a complex issue and difficult to root out easily. A research that was conducted in 2002 by the Chartered Institute of Building on corruption in the UK construction industry reveled that it is generally assumed that corruption occurs but the form and scale of corruption is by its nature difficult to establish. The research shown that many researchers had had direct experience of corruption. For example 41 percent had ever been offered a bribe on at least one occasion.

To really root out the malpractice this malpractice it is imperative that the construction industry adheres to a clear policy on corruption, ethics and transparency that recommends and supports the development and implementation of industry-wide anti-corruption mechanisms.

Strict adherence to ethical guidelines in the construction industry is the best means in the fight against corruption in this industry. As the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) Code of Ethics for Contractors in the construction industry clarifies ‘Construction services have a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by Contractors require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Contractors must perform under a standard of behaviour that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.’

But not only contractors should be expected to adhere to proper ethical codes. As the construction industry involves many players, it is also essential to ensure that consultants strictly adhere to a framework that standardizes their conduct. The NCIC Code of Ethics for consultants in the construction industry gives out fundamental principles that should govern consultants. The principles include: Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public; Perform services only in areas of their competence; Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner; Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees; Avoid deceptive acts; Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of their profession.

The country can successfully wage a must-win war against corruption in the construction industry if the enforcement and monitoring of the industry stakeholders compliance to the stated ethical codes takes centre stage at the aggressive level. The inability to police the conduct of construction stakeholders in the light of the principle ethical guidelines codes breeds a fertile ground for corruption. The Anti Corruption Bureau should further take the initiative to sensitize contractors and the public masses on the repercussions of corruption in the construction industry on national development.