Flag reversion presently a luxury

With all due respect I would like to point that the sentiments I Share in the article are a total reflection of my personal economic views as a writer and observer of the national economy.

I should admit that that  when the DPP led government changed the original flag of black, red, green with a rising sun to the present red, black, green with a full white sun in the middle, I was one among the many Malawian citizens who had reservations on the development.

Perhaps I was not fully schooled why the change was necessary or maybe I wanted to be in the bandwagon of the then government critics.

However, if my memory dares not to mislead me the late president  Bingu Wamutharika (may his soul rest in peace) brought a good argument.

Where he said national flags are a symbol of developments and struggles undergone by a particular country and the old flag he thought was out of date since the rising sun depicted the dawn of independence, forty years down the line Malawi is a matured nation with outstanding economic, infrastructure developments among others, worthy the full white sun in the middle of the flag.

While the argument made a lot of sense to all subscribers of the Ngwazi, most Malawians thought the situation on the ground reflected very little on the major developments in the forty years which deserved a full white sun as a true depiction of our country’s status.

Asking me why I am not fully supporting the reversion, here is my take.

My problem apparently is that at the moment as a nation we cannot manage to see other filthy amounts of billions plus of kwachas being spent in the process of returning to the old flag on things like Vehicle plates, Government official budges, car stickers passports, driving licences etc.

The average Malawian is already frustrated and devastated with the economic exertion; the civil servant pay rise of 21% is far from mitigating the losses currently being faced.  And the reversion means they have to dig into their already perforated pockets to have passports, licences and other things bearing the old flag.

It is a mockery to send a such suffering people to the agonies of expenditures on same things in a period of just a year or so.

Asking of my take on this, I will tell you that it would have been better if the Joyce Banda administration concentrated on rectifying the economic injuries the Bingu administration caused to Malawians by way of avoiding petty expenditures as much as it can afford.

In less than two years Malawians will be taking it to the polls. Whoever leader triumphs then, will have ample time for such major changes not now when an average civil servant cannot afford the luxury of two copies of daily newspapers every day.

If it the DPP government spent a staggeringk2.6 billion on the same how much would it cost the PP government after a 40 plus percent devaluation

As quite a number of people would argue that the reversion would simply mean getting back on board the abandoned amenities with the old flag because not were destroyed...trust me there are still more things which will quite demand manufacturing and those are the unnecessary expenditures that can be avoided presently.