Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Living the Kamuzu legacy
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.
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.
