BY FOCUS MAGANGA
The law on appointment of ACB director makes an interesting image of the nature of the top public offices in Malawi. In it’s current spirit, it envisions political spices that goes with the job, and makes provisions that places merit on the radius that counts, but not necessary that reigns.
While candidates for the position are interviewed and rated, as was the case this material year, the law actually requires that three persons on the top of the performance sheet, AND not just the best candidate, be recommended to the president.
And from the list, the president picks HIS FAVOURITE CANDIDATE. And it can be anyone of three. But that is not all. In the case the president is not happy with any of the three names– for whatever the reason– I hear (and I am using this language purely because I am not a lawyer), the president can reject ALL the names and the process can start all over again. And this is until the President gets the one he likes.
Once this is done, the name of the person is sent to another set of politicians to confirm the political likeability of the candidate.
Today, this person happens to be 100% politically likeable to nine members of public appointment committee, and 99% politically unlikeable to nine members of the same committee. I think this is more about how the person is perceived politically other than her actual performance. And it is all because the architects of our laws chose politics and put merit on the second position.
If we are a people who are for strong institutions, the starting point would be to review this law. Otherwise, this is the same committee that won people’s hearts when it declared MEC commissioners as being incompetent.
And I am now of the strong opinion that this committee has not be truly competent or incompetent itself, it has just been more to do with political correctness of their decisions.
Malawians are born double-standards lot. The law can be translated based on the nature, origin, opulence, connections and other accolades the individual is capable of wielding. Those legal books are there in the offices as decorations. Until a time comes when people desist from thinking along party lines, the status quo is here to stay. To day a man and a woman living under one roof can belong to different parties, which of course is mature politics, but not in Malawi. In civilised nations that works because those contrasts mean nothing at the end of the day. The catch is differences in IDEOLOGIES, COLOURS, PRACTICES and nothing more. When all is done and dusted, they sit down at a dinner table as a family. In Malawi it is something different; yes a cat and mouse running battle. Bottomline is: Let Us Live With It.