It is quite disturbing to learn that some Malawians are still behaving as if they are more equal than others, especially those privileged to serve in high public offices that get to determine how resources generated by tax payers or from elsewhere should be distributed.
That the whole Ministry of Education can get to dedicate a huge chunk of public school infrastructure construction project to the home districts of the line minister and the incumbent head of state smacks of irresponsible acts and being inconsiderate to the needs of other equally more deserving citizens. Those at the heart of the distribution should be ashamed and should have realised that this was bound to create perception problems and draw public fury.
Even if we were to give the minister the benefit of doubt that he was not in the loop, he should have taken it upon himself to order a review of the decision by some of his officers once he got wind of news that Thyolo and Machinga districts had been identified as the major beneficiaries of a World Bank funded program under his ministry.
The Peter Mutharika led administration is already under fire for promoting what critics describe as nepotism, corruption and regionalism hence it was irresponsible for the education ministry to handsomely reward the home districts of the President and the Education Minister with such projects, at the expense of the other districts which got to share crumbs.
Only a couple of weeks ago, we lost potential future leaders in the four children that were trampled by a falling wall of a poorly constructed school block in Zomba and we feel sick to the stomach that the Education Minister could, in one breath, claim that his ministry had learned its lesson through the accident when the truth is that he is entertaining his officers to toy around with the very resources that, if shared well, could have helped avert such a tragic occurrence.
The powers-that-be should to realise that we are all Malawians and all the resources in the government system need to be shared equally, otherwise giving more to Machinga and Thyolo could be a recipe for disaster.
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