Hon. S. Kasambara writes:
Akulu-akulu, kaya inuyo munaphunzira kwambiri, kaya munayenda kunja kwambiri… Whatever you have done that makes you believe kuti zinthu mumazitsata bwino, the decision to spend 9 billion plus Malawi Kwacha on a swimming pool and whatever facilities that will be there is very unwise.
In the first place, that thing is a ‘want’, not a need. A very remote want for that matter. No one buys a suit for special occasions when they do not have ordinary clothes, including underwears, for their daily dress.
Is this not the same government that told us that because the ship has faced a storm at the sea, the captain has to change the distinction for the safety of the people?
Did the president mean taking a more remote destination from the shore? Now, of all the priorities that we have had to forego because of calamity, where should we get the energy to build a swimming pool at that cost?
Who builds such a giant facility at a colossal amount of money for a house that has no tiles, no fence, no pavements and even go good road leading to it? Have you seen the roads in Kawale?
Or is it not too long ago when the people of Gulliver failed to bring their cars out of their compounds because there were no passable roads? How many essential services remain underfunded in our budgetary allocations every year?
Are we not the only country on earth without an airline? Who cares if we have a swimming pool or not? Mzuzu has not airport. A whole regional city without an airport. Why not spend that money in the first phase of a long term project for an airport in Mzuzu? Chipoka and Nkhotakota have no docks for the Ilala and other boats. Why not prioritise those things? Ka mtima kongoyang’ana Lilongwe basi…
A lot of government institutions are operating in rented premises, some of them have accumulated arrears in shocking sums. Why can’t our good government channel that money towards a big government-offices project in City centre so as to bring a number of government departments that render related services under one roof for the convenience of the service beneficiaries?
Whatever justifications you have for this fuckery is nonsensical.
Being in government does not suddenly make you wise. It just brings you closer to resources for you to steal as you want to do here, and also gives you the platform to demonstrate your naivety and incompetence in leadership. Otherwise, you remain what you have always been, intellectually.
The swimming pool project is one thing that we shall fight to fail, even if it means sleeping at the project site every day until the next elections. Because it is not a need. There is a hierarchy of needs everywhere in the world depending on your situation.
Nanunso anyamata owombera mmanja umunthu udzikutsutsani nthawi zina. Of course, we know ulova ndi opweteka, koma musafike nazo pomamwa mikodzo ya midala iyiyi. There is a reason why every person has one brain and why the poorest man on earth has his own brain. Penapake2 anthu mumawayamba dala kuti mudziona ngati omwe akulankhula sakukuonerani kukondwa.
How would the people of Nthalire understand that this pro-Lilongwe cabinet met and agreed to finance a swimming pool in Kawale when their kids cannot go to school during rainy season because they cannot cross a river whose bridge would cost lest than a billion Kwacha, for example? Ineyo ngati nzika izizi sindinagwirizane nazo.
We have skipped a lot of basics. We have failed to identify our needs from wants. We have been too extravagant with our poverty. I know, of course, that my opinion doesn’t matter.
But if you continue on this trajectory, know that you are quickly voting yourself out of power. These mistakes are too silly for a government to be making and for ordinary minds not to notice. Koma pangani, pakuti muli m’boma ndinu, anthu sangakuunzeni chochita.
