Malawi

I just spent 4 nights in Lilongwe, the capital of the African country of Malawi, the last of my lesser visited southern African countries. And, to be honest, I was a little tired of travelling but wasn’t able to change my airline ticket home without huge fees, so I arrived in Lilongwe.

I stayed in the country’s best, and only, 5 star hotel: The President’s Hotel, with all my necessities: AC, a swimming pool, hot water and a bar that served overpriced South African wine. Adjoining it, what every poor African country needs ( Malawi is ranked as the fourth poorest in the world ), is a go-cart track offering 10 laps for $50:

I walked the few minutes to the town center, filled with government buildings and not much else. Sadly, for the first time in my 3 weeks in Africa, I was pursued by groups of children begging for food. They didn’t look malnourished and when I said “ no” they laughed and went away.

Malawi is known for its friendly people ( except the begging children) and its lakes, including Lake Malawi which was spotted by Dr. Livingstone a few centuries ago. Unfortunately drivers were asking $200US for the 3 hour round trip to see a lake so the cheapskate in me declined. Besides, I live right beside a lake in Toronto (Lake Ontario). I did console myself with an excellent chambo fish dinner, caught from the lake.

As usual, I was mostly interested in the history, politics and economics of the country, but it was becoming pretty routine. The Malawians arrived in the great Bantu migration 2,000 years ago, battled with the arabs post 1,000 which explains why 20% of the country is Muslim, was exploited by the Portuguese for its minerals and slaves in the 16th century and became an English colony/ protectorate in the 1800’s, adopting both Christianity and English.

The country gained independence in 1966 and was ruled by the dictatorial Hastings Banda until he was voted out of office in 1994 by an equally corrupt, but perhaps not quite as oppressive, regime. Malawi is proud of the fact it has never endured a military coup and its leaders have peacefully relinquished power after electoral defeat, but it doesn’t make them less corrupt.

A news article I read indicated 30% of Malawi’s annual budget is lost to corruption and the signs of a government failing to provide infrastructure necessaries was evident: potholed roads, non-working traffic lights, garbage everywhere. And the Malawians I spoke with all identified corruption as the most significant problem hampering Malawi’s economic growth. 80% of the population are subsistence farmers and many are reeling from last year’s El Niño inspired draught. USAid cuts threatens its HIV and tuberculosis medical campaigns.

I’d like to end on a more upbeat note. Aside from the begging kids, people were very friendly. Travel was easy and all my necessities taken care of . Maybe I’m short shrifting the country because it was my last, but unless you like looking at beautiful lakes, I couldn’t find much else to do here.

But my highlight, was, sort of , seeing the president, or more accurately, his motorcade as he left the Convention Center beside the President Hotel. It had been preceded by four hours of drums, yelling and general hoopla surrounding his visit. Many of his supporters were dressed in traditional clothes, with a photo of the president prominently displayed:

How I would love to walk around with a photo of the current US president on my rear…….

With that happy thought, I begin the long journey home.