Reconsidering Salima-Lilongwe Water Project is best way to go

Clearly, it is known, and has been for a couple of years, that the love of flattery buoyed by corrupt, greedy, recycled personalities’ template Malawi’s governments have perched on is playing a tragic role to the country.

But it is plain to almost everyone that what Malawians have always wanted is a desire that has been burning since the ‘Scramble for Africa’ was formalised at the Berlin Conference in 1884 and erupted into the struggle for liberation from colonialism over half a century ago: freedom.

And freedom, among others, includes the citizenry having a say in the way the country is governed; the way the country’s natural resources are used and the way the country’s future is shaped.

So it is not surprising that since controversies surrounding the humongous $500 million Salima-Lilongwe Water Project came into the open, some Malawians have questioned the reasoning of the government to allow Khato Civils Pty Limited – whose chairperson confessed to be parties financier – to commence the project without ascertaining its feasibility and let alone forgo legally mandated Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.

To many, it was startling that the ‘un-corrupt’ government which was supposed to uphold the rule of law is at odds with it.

But as Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe has said that government might reconsider the whole project, perhaps it wants to show commitment to respond to the citizens’ concerns.

It is a plea that the government should not just give the impression that it is working on the issues raised on this project; it must work on the complaints as the project touches on the livelihoods of millions of Malawians.

Everyone wants understanding, and there is no better way of expressing this quality than through sensitive listening.

And in this Twitter era Malawi, the Democratic Progressive Party administration will find leadership undemanding not by sculpting its governance on riskier old theories – by creating a deity out of themselves or defending poor decisions – but by hearkening to alternative voices of reason.

Reconsidering of Salima-Lilongwe Water Project is a starting point to the right direction.