If Not Now, When?
Sorry for the tardiness of this week’s ramble, but things have been hectic these past few days…
Lets start with the economy shall we? With the hot, muggy breath of the IMF Country Mission on our necks, we at the Ministry of Finance have been desperately scrabbling this week to prove that a large part of our underperformance against certain targets is down to the vagaries of donor funding. In particular a couple of large donors have not been disbursing the money we’ve been promised in a timely fashion (i.e., ever). It’s not all their fault; sometimes they attach quite reasonable conditions, for example, demanding the production of a project plan before they pump $20 million into an attempt diversify farming practices in a region. You’d think that this wouldn’t be too difficult to produce in a reasonable timeframe. But you’d be wrong – five years after some of these projects have gone live, not only have we not produced a plan, we haven’t actually recruited anyone to write one! So for five years, we’re paying commitment charges on a loan when the money is sitting in a bank somewhere else, and nothing is actually happening in Malawi. Clearly, this can’t go on, and its one of the things my team is hoping to deal with in the coming months. The PS is keen to see results, so these last days have been long and filled with Excel work, but it’s all very invigorating.
The political situation is equally intriguing. If you recall, a couple of weeks ago, I recounted how a number of senior UDF figures were being arrested on corruption charges after their attempt to impeach Bingu wa Mutharika. Well, late last week, he admitted these arrests were ‘tit-for-tat’. A rather worrying precedent, especially when admitted so openly, but to be honest most of these guys should have been arrested some time ago.
On a personal level, the housing situation is no closer to being resolved, but I’m confident of finding somewhere to live before the new year. Call me foolish.
* * *
The papers outdid themselves this week, reporting the resurrection of a sixteen year old girl, some eleven years after she died, aged five. What’s shocking about these reports are the way they miss the extremely obvious non-religious explanations for what happened. Essentially this girl, aged five, was declared dead by a local hospital, despite claims from local people who had visited her that her body remained warm, and she responded to external stimulation, sometimes in such obvious ways as touching those near her. Her description of ‘death’ is equally problematic. She claims she was led to a farm, run by an unkind couple who used her as slave labour, working the fields, cooking, and so on, with a number of other children working in the same conditions. They were fed one meagre meal each day, and confined to a locked room when not working. Eventually, after some time, she claims that the room where she was held was left unlocked by chance. She escaped and wandered towards town, where she was discovered in the graveyard.
Now, call me a skeptic, but I don’t think this poor girl died. I think the doctors at hospital sold her into slavery and she’s been incredibly lucky and escaped. From her account it appears that there are a number of other children who weren’t so lucky. It’s the height of irresponsibility that the papers are calling this a resurrection and not a crime.
* * *
I saw a Hoopoe outside my office this morning. I love living in a county where such exotic and beautiful birds are found in litter strewn gardens.
* * *
Just heard today about Roy Keane leaving Man U. I thought he’d leave at the end of the season, but still, what a shock that it happened so soon and so suddenly. The guy has a temper that leads him into such trouble. One day he’ll look back on his outburst after the Boro game and regret it.
Lets start with the economy shall we? With the hot, muggy breath of the IMF Country Mission on our necks, we at the Ministry of Finance have been desperately scrabbling this week to prove that a large part of our underperformance against certain targets is down to the vagaries of donor funding. In particular a couple of large donors have not been disbursing the money we’ve been promised in a timely fashion (i.e., ever). It’s not all their fault; sometimes they attach quite reasonable conditions, for example, demanding the production of a project plan before they pump $20 million into an attempt diversify farming practices in a region. You’d think that this wouldn’t be too difficult to produce in a reasonable timeframe. But you’d be wrong – five years after some of these projects have gone live, not only have we not produced a plan, we haven’t actually recruited anyone to write one! So for five years, we’re paying commitment charges on a loan when the money is sitting in a bank somewhere else, and nothing is actually happening in Malawi. Clearly, this can’t go on, and its one of the things my team is hoping to deal with in the coming months. The PS is keen to see results, so these last days have been long and filled with Excel work, but it’s all very invigorating.
The political situation is equally intriguing. If you recall, a couple of weeks ago, I recounted how a number of senior UDF figures were being arrested on corruption charges after their attempt to impeach Bingu wa Mutharika. Well, late last week, he admitted these arrests were ‘tit-for-tat’. A rather worrying precedent, especially when admitted so openly, but to be honest most of these guys should have been arrested some time ago.
On a personal level, the housing situation is no closer to being resolved, but I’m confident of finding somewhere to live before the new year. Call me foolish.
* * *
The papers outdid themselves this week, reporting the resurrection of a sixteen year old girl, some eleven years after she died, aged five. What’s shocking about these reports are the way they miss the extremely obvious non-religious explanations for what happened. Essentially this girl, aged five, was declared dead by a local hospital, despite claims from local people who had visited her that her body remained warm, and she responded to external stimulation, sometimes in such obvious ways as touching those near her. Her description of ‘death’ is equally problematic. She claims she was led to a farm, run by an unkind couple who used her as slave labour, working the fields, cooking, and so on, with a number of other children working in the same conditions. They were fed one meagre meal each day, and confined to a locked room when not working. Eventually, after some time, she claims that the room where she was held was left unlocked by chance. She escaped and wandered towards town, where she was discovered in the graveyard.
Now, call me a skeptic, but I don’t think this poor girl died. I think the doctors at hospital sold her into slavery and she’s been incredibly lucky and escaped. From her account it appears that there are a number of other children who weren’t so lucky. It’s the height of irresponsibility that the papers are calling this a resurrection and not a crime.
* * *
I saw a Hoopoe outside my office this morning. I love living in a county where such exotic and beautiful birds are found in litter strewn gardens.
* * *
Just heard today about Roy Keane leaving Man U. I thought he’d leave at the end of the season, but still, what a shock that it happened so soon and so suddenly. The guy has a temper that leads him into such trouble. One day he’ll look back on his outburst after the Boro game and regret it.
posted by the Maradona of Malawi at 10:39 PM
