By Vincent Gunde
Political activist Bon Kalindo has expressed his grave concern over huge sums of money politicians are receiving in the country while many people working in government and private sectors re receiving low salaries which cannot sustain their daily life needs.
Kalindo said the only persons who are getting low salaries in government are councilors regardless of the job they are doing to their communities, staying with the people while MPs have run away from the people that elected them, Government is not recognizing them as important.
He said Members of Parliament (MPs)are pocketing close to 6 million Malawi Kwacha but looking at salaries for Councilors below K200,000 observing that some other people are pocketing K50,000 per months, questioning the authorities that is this the Malawi people fought for?
Speaking through an audio clip, Kalindo has advised government to massively investigate those that it is arresting that there must be concrete evidence observing that when these suspects appear in court, they are found with no case to answer making others to be thinking that the suspects were arrested on politically motivated charges.
Kalindo said he has seen politicians pardoning each other while the poor are languishing in the country’s prisons speaking for itself that prisons were built to accommodate the poor people who have no money to buy for themselves justice.
He said it is sad that while politicians are pardoning each other for the offences committed, he is still reporting to police for his bail he obtained in 2017 and 2018 claiming that for two months now, he has not gone to police so that the police pick him up to their cells.
The activist has sent a warning bell to the country’s politicians that there is dry spell across the country speaking for itself that some districts in the country will not produce anything beside the people being hard working in their fields.
He has appealed to politicians regardless of their political parties, Civil Society Organizations, churches, and all Malawians to come together to strategize on what the country can do for the dry spells which its future, will affect the entire population in food security.
Kalindo said this is probably the best time for the country to think outside the box that the country has five lakes, beautiful rivers with plenty of water just flowing for no utilization, and good fertile soils that why the country is so poor?
He has urged the country to change from relying on rain-fed agriculture to irrigation saying this is the only way Malawi can have good food security but, continuing relying on rain- fed agriculture, Malawians will be crying year in and year out of hunger.
The activist has observed that the country is busy planting trees but the big question is that are these trees cared? Expressing his deep concern that trees are being depleted at nobody’s care for charcoal burning which is flooding in towns and Cities.
“We need to sit down as a country that trees are not being protected and yet, people are planting trees, this must be looked into with a critical eye,” said Kalindo.
He said it is sad that politicians are the ones behind wanton cutting down of trees carelessly and the same are encouraging their constituents to plant more trees, saying this attitude is making the country slowly becoming a dangerous nation.