Corruption, tribalism and democracy: coded messages in Wambali Mkandawire's popular songs in Malawi

Critical Arts, July, 2009 by Reuben Chirambo

   Ng'ombe mchiwaya tazipulika zikubama [We've heard cattle moo in the
   kraal]
   Zinyama ukutyawula, ukusowera mchambiko [You eat meat, you
   play with sour milk]
   Kilombero wanunkhira, tikukhuta mvuchipera kuno [We can this far
   smell your rice]
   Matochi na mijuwa, chimango cha linga lako. [Bananas and sugar
   cane, the abundance of your land]

Karonga's abundance includes cattle that provide meat and milk. Karonga also grows a good supply of rice, the most famous variety being kilombero. Added to these crops are bananas and sugar cane, all representing the abundance that should satisfy Karonga. This is the same abundance which Kalonga (here representing political leaders) has, and which should satisfy them. Wambali asks: 'Mbukavu wamtundu uli?/Wakukudokera mbanandi iwe' [What poverty?/Many people envy you]. Simply put, people in high positions (the kalongas) are corrupt not because they are poor, but because they are greedy. They have enough to feed themselves and even to take care of others so as not to be tempted to become corrupt. But because they are not satisfied with what they have, they want to accumulate more, through corruption.

Malawi, as a nation, has the potential to reduce dependency on donor aid and to feed her own people. However, due to corruption, this has not always been the case. Wambali, in 'Ulimbo na Phula', almost prophetically alludes to the stress Malawians experience as a result of corruption: in recent years Malawians have suffered numerous economic and social problems because of their corrupt leadership. Former president Bakili Muluzi, for example, is alleged to have siphoned over MK1.4 billion (about 10 million US$) of donor money into his personal accounts (Nyangulu 2006; Sonani 2006b). Except when there is drought, Malawi has always been able to produce enough maize to last until the next harvest. However, even when the country has had bumper maize harvests, Malawi has been unable to feed its people throughout the year. This has largely been the result of corrupt officials, including the political leadership of the country. For example, in the 2001/2 growing season Malawi produced sufficient maize to last until the next harvest. But before that harvest, the government of Bakili Muluzi sold maize from Strategic Grain Reserves to Kenya, leaving the country with an acute shortage of maize. Some people starved. In the 2006/7 growing season, Malawi again produced sufficient maize to last until the 2007/8 season. But the government of Bingu wa Mutharika sold 400 000 metric tons of maize to Zimbabwe to bolster Robert Mugabe's presidential campaign, again leaving the country seriously short of maize. Again some people starved. All these situations have only helped to fuel allegations of corruption at the highest levels of power, including the presidency. Of course, the government--while acknowledging it sold the maize to Kenya (2002) and Zimbabwe (2007)--denied doing so corruptly, prompting individuals like Kelvin Wasambo to ask: 'Tell us the truth on maize' (2008: 2). The International Bar Association (2002), following a visit to the country, issued a statement claiming that corruption and lack of justice have hastened famine in Malawi (by 'lack of justice' they were referring to a failure to prosecute those allegedly involved in the corrupt sale of maize). This is why Wambali says corrupt politicians eventually turn the country into a place where they sacrifice the poor by bargaining away the country's resources with which they could have served/saved the country. This, to him, is corrupt. Having established that Kalonga is corrupt not because of need but greed, Wambali asks the Kalongas: 'Muzi muti mzenge uli na ulimbo na phula?' [How are you going to build the nation with corruption?]--the question is directed at the leaders of the country.