It is a fact widely acknowledged that DPP was voted out of power because young people, who are in majority in this country, wanted change. The young people were sick and tired of DPP’s never ending corruption. The young people were sick and tired of DPP’s mediocrity in governance. Indeed, the young people were fed up with numerous governance flaws the DPP led government was committing.
And so, on 23 June 2020, the young people made their statement loud and clear. DPP and Peter Mutharika were sent parking. The much awaited-for-change had finally come to the young people. Hopes were high. Expectations took centre stage.
It is now close to five months since the orbituary of the DPP led government was written. Many young people are still expectant. They want the promised one million jobs. They want the promised K75 billion loan. They want opportunities, more and more opportunities. Young people of our land are getting disgruntled now. They are losing their patience.
A few weeks ago, some young people belonging to the Tonse alliance government failed to control their disgruntledness. They thought and still think they have waited for long. No jobs for them. No loans for them. And so they started publicizing their issues on social media.
These young people expected to have things changed at the speed of light. Just the way one switches on and off a bulb. They expected to occupy positions of influence at the State House and other notable government instutions. They expected to take positions which were initially occupied by DPP cadets. Just like that.
In the ousted DPP regime, some young people were given “loans” through the then MERDEF. In a way, these loans were a reward to these DPP cadres for their hooliganism and notority at showing “nyekhwe” to their opponents. And so, the loans were never repaid.
When the Tonse alliance government took over from DPP, some young people surely expected to benefit from the MERDEF funds in the same manner the DPP youths were benefitting. These young people had plans to access the MERDEF funds and then never pay back. In their unguarded moments they said the MERDEF loans are loans which have a political attachment, and therefore they are not meant to be paid back. These loans are an appeasement of some sort, they said.
During the gone and forgotten DPP regime, many young people found their way into various government institutions without following proper procedures. Some didn’t have the required qualifications for the posts. Some didn’t have the expertise. Their only passport to these posts was the mere fact that they belonged to the party and that they vehemently defended the party with some top class craziness and savegery sloganeering.
And when the Tonse alliance government took over from DPP, some Tonse alliance young people expected to go through the same rotten process of employment used by the DPP regime. This is the major cause of disappointment and disgruntledness among these young people.
Should we really go through same route? Is this enough reason we wanted Change? Will the change we opt for bring Change? Now one asks whether we wanted change for the betterment of mother Malawi or because we were jealousy that we were not part of the beneficiaries of the procedes of corruption and DPP’s impunity.
The anger and hunger and desperation that many young people are depicting now is a clear sign that the change that has happened is not from the inside. Thus, the change that we all need is one that is from the inside. The change of the way we think. The way we do things. The change of the mindset.
As they say – as a man thinketh, so is he. Human beings are but products of their thoughts. Our young people have to learn how to train their minds to think differently and positively. Our young people need to have a real good talk on the change of mindset. Indeed, our young people need to listen and listen really good as Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima will be giving a public lecture on mindset change this coming Friday, 30 October 2020 at exactly 6 PM. The mindset change public lecture gives the change we need as a nation. It is a new route our country has to take if we are to realise our potential.
Mindset Change, The Change we need first
