The 66-year-old President of Malawi, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, displays leadership in much of its finesse. His opening remarks in one of his key addresses to the Malawi nation that “One infectious habit we must each cure ourselves of is the habit of demanding more from our politicians than we demand from ourselves” reveals a man well poised to raise Malawi, and influence the rest of Africa, to a new way of thinking.
To succeed as a nation, he says, “demands action from every single household and family in Malawi.” He calls upon every Malawian to take full responsibility for themselves. In a manner reminiscent of the 1961 USA President John F Kennedy’s appeal to Americans to “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” he challenges every citizen to quit looking up to leaders for help. Rather, they must do things for themselves.
“We need to discourage our youth from wasting their education. One of the most common ways an education is wasted is limiting a person’s career to the field of their education. A true and meaningful education does not just make you an expert in a particular field but also equips you with the requisite discipline, mindset, and determination to succeed in any field.” He avers.
President Chakwera points Malawi to a fool-proof way to achievement when he states that they have to insist “that the most educated in our nation must do the toughest things, work the hardest and produce the most. Expecting so much of politicians and demanding so little of ourselves especially those of us with an education has not helped us for the past 10 years and it is not going to help us in the next 10 years if that spirit is not changed”
It is you the citizen, the individual who is most critical in the advancement of a nation. All other positions have cures one way or another. Not for a failing citizenry. President Chakwera asks “…. what hope is there when it is the citizens themselves who fail the country? I therefore submit to you that we need to pay more attention to our civic failures as citizens and take decisive action to correct the same.”
It is progressive to focus on things that make our lives better, our communities richer and our continent more prosperous. “If we each focus on doing our part, there will be no time left to waste on silly arguments about politician this or politician that on WhatsApp or on gossip. You know time spent on gossip in offices is time wasted.” Advises President Chakwera.
Recognizing that the challenge to build a nation anew is tough work, President Chakwera implores Malawians to use creative vision in seeing the Malawi they are gunning for. “Malawi 2063 is a photograph of the new Malawi we are building. The new Malawi we want to become by that time Malawi turns 100.” He muses
“However, as we take our first steps onto this path and embark on this journey, we must do so with the full awareness that ours is not just a journey of a thousand miles but also a journey of a thousand roadblocks, distractions and pitfalls. All of which must be surmounted and overcome” says President Chakwera in a moment of candor as he prepares Malawians for the adversity and defeat that will stand on their way as they match to their “promised land.”
President Chakwera believes Malawi will develop when everyone takes individual responsibility for themselves and for their families. “….. take full responsibility and say: what I demand of somebody else I demand the same of myself.”
Beseeching citizens to adjust their mindsets positively, President Chakwera says “As a nation we need to truly have our minds changed, [our actions demonstrate something different], our passion redirected so that we are able to implement a vision that we all so desire.”
He challenges every citizen to lift their own weight, “…. for example, when this implementation plan says that one of the two key milestones, we must reach by 2030 is a per capita income of one thousand dollars, (MWK 900,000). What changes does that demand for your household? What will you need to do different as a family and as a community to increase your income generating capacity?”
Part of the Malawi blueprint is to diversify, mechanize, and commercialize farming. Everything rises and falls on the family and individual. When things are personalized, people tend to do better. It is a rallying cry to move from subsistence to substantive farming. “What will you need to do differently for others in your family and your community to increase their income generating capacity? …….. we must transit from subsistence to real substantive farming that profits us.”
Pay The Price For Change
President Chakwera leaves a burning question at the doorstep of every Malawian: “Do I really want things changed or I just want to admire these other countries but never be willing to pay the price that those countries pay to be where they are today?”
“The way to make farming attractive to young people is to celebrate those who are prospering from it, for our colleges and universities to be aspiring either to use their education to make our farming smarter or to use farming as a foundation for building wealth they can invest in building other industries they are trained in.” He opines.
We cannot help but think that President Chakwera’s position on flexibility and divorcing our vocations from our professions or schooling fields, is very closely tied to an age-old wisdom buried in Og Mandino’s book, The Greatest Salesman in The World. In his scroll marked X (Ten) Mandino prays for guidance so he may acquire abilities equal to his opportunities as opposed to seeking opportunities equal to his abilities.
You – Malawi, and we – Africa, let us all focus on developing abilities that match our opportunities, which lie untouched in all the challenges that beg solutions across the continent.
Ten Key takeaways For Success Afrika:
- Everything you want done must be done by yourself, not others.
- Do not be stuck with your already acquired competencies; be open minded and go where opportunities take you.
- Give greater meaning to your education by producing the greatest output.
- Rise as an individual – you are the basic unit of your community’s progress.
- Set personal goals and be industrious. Busy people neither gossip nor complain.
- Be creative and visualize and see, feel and “live” the end you desire.
- Acknowledge adversity and defeat then work to overcome them.
- Be dynamic and change with the times; embrace new ways of doing things.
- Things will change when you change – start with changing yourself.
- Celebrate prosperity to attract others to the same endeavor.
