During my early primary school days I developed a dream (Let
me confess that mine was in black and white). I recall that time we were using
slates to write on or worse still we would write on the ground and the teacher
would go round and mark our work from there.
I can’t remember how I convinced my parents whenever I
passed the “ground assignment” with flying colours.
Back to my black and white dream. I always longed for the day
when I would write on a piece of paper using a pen (we used to call them ball
pens).
Then came the most awaited moment; First term in Standard
Five. We were given exercise books and pens. Oh my my, I wrote the whole day
and I can’t remember what I scribbled in that first book.
In between the Slate Age and Pen Revolution we had also used
pencils but they never appealed to me. I always wanted a pen.
The school pens were free and after some time my aesthetic
taste started improving and I longed for more. I occasionally stole my father’s
fancy pens so as to look different among friends at school.
I didn’t know how much money my father paid to get those
fancy pens and as I grew up and started asking for money to buy my own, I was
given amounts like 50 tambala to buy one.
Afterwards I did not follow the cost of a pen and things
have remained so up until lately when I was told that the price had shot to K2,500.
It shocked me so much such that I tried to look back at the country’s
economy since the early 90s. I tried to calculate all the devaluations that
have taken place since then (excluding the current one) but my scanty economics
knowledge never satisfied my curiosity. A pen? Costing K2,500? Really?
In the midst of my struggle, a friend confronted me and told
me I was a mere village boy who does not understand the dynamics and variety of
taste. I agreed with the person and told him to take me to any shop at Blantyre
Market and show me a pen that cost that much. He was dumbfounded and asked me
to go with him to an upmarket shop along the Victoria Avenue.
There then I realized I had done a bad job in explaining to
my friend on the real issue at hand. I have no problem with people buying pens
at K2,500 with their personal money but when they do that with public money, it
pains me.
This story must go to our Members of Parliament. Lately, they
have been deliberating on the just presented National Budget and one of the
issues under discussion is what the country should do with the Presidential Jet.
As things stand I do not know which side of the debate I
should take. Even if I give my views, our President will still travel and she
needs comfortable means to get wherever she wants.
Surely, the debate has been limited to one question “To sell
or not to sell?”
Malawi Congress Party which pressed for the jet to be sold
during the Bingu regime has now changed tune and they think Mrs. Joyce Banda
can use it (I miss their logic though)
However, what our MPs don’t know is that as they are busy
weighing the options on the jet they should also have been talking about what
the nation should do with The Pens. Pens? Yes Pens!!
What about them?
Somewhere behind the chamber, people are purchasing pens
using public money; Nothing wrong with that.
But the anomaly has come due to revelations that those pens
are being bought at K2,500 each. Give me a break. You mean we can spend time
arguing on the jet just because it is costly to manage when the country is
wasting money buying expensive pens for officers to use?
Unsullied and verified information has it that prices at
this institution are inflated to astronomical levels such that a pen that can
be bought at K50 market value is pegged at very unrealistic value.
There is more happening at this institution. The National
Audit Office sent Auditors some four months ago to the institution and they
have come up with issues that require management explanation.
Sadly, for the past month or so, management has been running
away from furnishing the auditors with information.
Surprisingly, Treasury has sent more auditors from what they
call Central Audit and they have unearthed the following:-
-
The institution procured stationery worth over
K70 million in 3 months from July to October 2011 yet right now there is no
stationery.
-
Members of the Management team have been drawing
pool fuel for their official vehicles yet government pays them fuel allowance
every month end.
-
A consultant who was contracted by Internal Procurement
Committee (IPC) to do a consultancy on the Conjunction Bill (As Muluzi would
say ‘I repeat again for the second time, CONJUNCTION BILL’) was paid twice for
the same job over K3 million.
(Somebody still wants me to say Injunction but again I say
Conjunction)
-
Inflating of prices is the order of the day. Besides
the pen cost, a plumbing invoice of about K800 000 shot up to more than K 3million.
This is sickening. I cry for my country, the more we try to
create a corruption free society, the more Malawians have their hard-earned
taxes being abused left, right and centre.
We cannot cut extravagance on Presidential needs while at
the same time failing to live within means thereby spending public money on
things we can do with less or we can do without.
May be activist Ben Chiza Mkandawire wasn’t wrong when
sometime last year he called on Malawians to Occupy the Institution.
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