What would it take for Black Africa to cease being the butt of jokes around the world? The present crop of leaders across the continent does not seem to have it, or the recent, patently ludicrous development in Malawi would not have happened. The story, absurd in all its obsequious trappings, is that shortly after the global outfit, International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved an $88.3 million loan to Malawi under the “food shortage window”, its president, Mr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and his cabinet members literally went wild with celebrations. The cabinet members rolled out congratulatory adverts thanking the president for the great feat. The loan was arranged as part of emergency measures to provide a buffer against the spikes in food prices following the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war.

In congratulating the president and his government, the cabinet ministers are apparently congratulating themselves, since they are part of the government. This ugly development raises a number of pertinent questions even if the political hawks at the helm of affairs in Malawi couldn’t care less. When did getting an IMF loan, or indeed any loan at all, become a laudable achievement that should spur cabinet members into a congratulatory mood and attract adverts? Which country has ever borrowed its way into prosperity? Like everyone else, the authorities in Malawi know full well that the IMF loan comes with conditions, part of which is paying it back as scheduled and with the interest rates attached. In any case, it can only be hoped that the loan will be expended as promised given the typically African leadership style in Malawi, and against the backdrop of the fact that Vice President Saulos Chilima has been charged with bribery and corruption by the country’s anti-graft agency.

If anything, the obsequious response from the country’s cabinet members literally detracted from whatever respect and dignity remain for the Malawian administration in the eyes of the international community. Sadly, it has rubbed off negatively on the entire African continent whose leaders, from Nigeria to Ghana and from South Africa to Sudan, continue to take the long-suffering masses for granted. The IMF loan is a serious business that shouldn’t be treated flippantly, especially given the projected impact on the livelihood of many of the country’s citizens. In the estimation of certain imperialists and their intellectual acolytes, the African continent should remain impoverished and fixated on being the supplier of raw materials to the western world. The unflattering behaviour of the obsequious cabinet members and the Malawian president just confirmed that they have Africa by the jugular already and all they need do is pull the strings and keep the African continent amenable to their wishes and caprices.

Since they need a reminder, we urge the Malawi cabinet members to note that the loans about which they have rolled out the drums is a debt that must be repaid in full, in line with the agreed terms, and there is nothing gratifying in being a debtor. As the Good Book says, the debtor is servant to the lender. Those granting loans are not doing so as Santa Claus; they are expanding their economy and investing in the future. They are not being nice; they are being wise. There simply cannot be anything tremendously satisfying about a country entering into debt. Evidently, the ludicrous reaction shows the poor level of reasoning by those who have been put in charge of affairs in Malawi, but then that, really, is the situation across the continent.

The Malawian president and his obsequious cabinet members ought to be ashamed of themselves for this unflattering behaviour. They should take steps to purge themselves of the malodorous hang-up going forward. Their act is really a bad testament to both Malawi and the African continent as a whole.

Update news