A serving Member of Parliament has blamed former president Bakili Muluzi for creating a culture of political handouts that he says has become a “cancer” poisoning Malawi’s democracy, encouraging dependency and undermining development-focused politics.
MP Silvester Ayuba James argued that politicians are increasingly judged not by the schools, clinics and roads built in their constituencies, but by the amount of cash they distribute to voters, chiefs and community leaders.
To illustrate his point, Ayuba recounted an incident involving a fellow legislator who personally financed the construction of a community clinic in a remote constituency. Instead of appreciating the clinic, the community hounded the parliamentarian for handouts, forcing the MP to make frantic calls to borrow over K1 million.
The legislator later lost his re-election bid.
“Bakili anatilakwira kwambiri [Bakili messed us]” wrote Ayuba, arguing that the handout culture has become so deeply entrenched that development projects alone are no longer enough to satisfy many voters.
The MP said he is currently paying a political price for openly rejecting pleas for handouts in his own constituency.
“I have become so unpopular for telling everyone that we should not expect to receive money from politicians; we should demand development projects and business initiatives and support for groups, not individuals,” he wrote.
Ayuba warned that unless Malawi breaks its addiction to political handouts, elections will continue to favour those with the deepest pockets rather than those with the strongest development agenda.
