The Voice of the Voiceless Poor
BY: Peter Qeko Jere
BY: Peter Qeko Jere
Section 65 is the most talked issue in Malawi politics today. It is all over in the print media, Radios, Television, and on people’s lips in town and villages. Politicians in Parliament have failed to map a way forward and as of now parliament is adjourned indefinitely. We don’t know when they will meet to discuss the national budget and for how long this parliamentary adjournment shall be before the budget is discuss. Voiceless poor Malawians do not even know when their MPs shall get back to parliament to discuss the budget. Therefore this section 65 saga is negatively affecting the psychological thinking of many Malawians as of now.
The voiceless poor in the villages are shocked and surprised that members of parliament mainly from opposition have openly declared war on this year’s budget. Led by John Tembo, the opposition members of parliament declared that section 65 is more important than the budget hence it has to be discussed first in parliament. In other words, John Tembo and all opposition members of parliament are saying that they care less about the welfare of the poor and have nothing to do with them this time around. They also are saying that their party politics in parliament is vital than issues of the voiceless poor in their constituencies.
In the same vain, many Malawians are keeping a close watch on what is happening in our politics and one day the power of the vote shall be the judge. There is nothing the electorate can do now because constitutionally they don’t have any power to deal with those members of parliament who are against and undermine the budget. Some have strongly argued that opposition members of parliaments careless about the poor people in their constituencies because they know that they will not make it to parliament during the next General Election.
It is vital to note that there are many interested in this section 65 issue because it is directly affecting the budget which is the very lifeline of all Malawians. The nation can not function without the budget hence anything to do with it become an issue of interested for anyone who is a Malawian. In this regard therefore, the church is not excluded.
The church in Malawi directly gets negatively affected in a situation where someone is blocking the budget because majority of the people in this country belong to various Christian churches. The church largely depend on weekly and monthly contributions from their faithfuls hence any blockade to the budget produces serious repercussion on the daily operation of the church. This is because the Malawi church by and large does not have long term functioning investment activities. Therefore politicians should bear in mind that the budget is not only a national issue but is also a Church issue because members of the church directly face the consequences of delaying passing the budget. For instance, adjusted new salary in the budget will create an improvement in the weekly and monthly contributions to the church while any blockade and political madness surrounding it will in one way or the other directly suffocate the church finance hence it is vital that MP should consider the budget first and not section 65. Our politicians should understand that the church can not remain silent this time around because they are directly affected by any political madness that blocks the budget. Also it should be noted that the same people who are denied access to the budget by the opposition parliamentarians belong to the church a situation which forces the church to directly get involved in issues surrounding the budget and section 65 and the budget.
The church can not remain silent in issues of the budget and section 65 because the church represents the voice of the suffering voiceless poor who are being denied access to the budget due to greedy and selfish actions by opposition politicians. The poor in the villages in Malawi don’t have a platform where they could air their grievances in times like these while politicians are free to have their peace of mind broadcast in the many radio stations in the country. In such times, it is the duty of the church to stand between the gap and become the voice crying in the wilderness to speak on behalf of the poor. The church which fails to defend the poor is not a true church at all because a true church is the one which sides with the voiceless poor.
The church can not afford to remain silent in this political madness going on in our country because it is the very voice of God, the kind of God who gets involved in the lives of the poor when they are suffering and are oppressed. Throughout Old Testament and New Testament politics, we have God full time involved in the lives of his children when they were oppressed in Egypt by Pharaoh. In Egypt, God came down and redeemed his people from autocratic rule of Pharaoh. God sided with the voiceless poor in Egypt and he came down to redeem them. Now if God get involved in the lives of the poor then what will stop the church from doing likewise and who shall stop it? This is the nature of God and the very model the church follows even today. The church in Malawi even in the current scenario can not remain silent but become the voice of the voiceless and stand between the gap to protect the poor from being any economic abuse by the opposition. Someone asks how is the opposition economically abusing the poor? They are directly abusing the poor by undermining the budget and openly declaring that their number one priority is section 65 and not the national budget. Therefore, opposition politicians should realize that by undermining the budget, they have undermined the very lifeline of Malawians, the national budget.
The voiceless poor in the villages are shocked and surprised that members of parliament mainly from opposition have openly declared war on this year’s budget. Led by John Tembo, the opposition members of parliament declared that section 65 is more important than the budget hence it has to be discussed first in parliament. In other words, John Tembo and all opposition members of parliament are saying that they care less about the welfare of the poor and have nothing to do with them this time around. They also are saying that their party politics in parliament is vital than issues of the voiceless poor in their constituencies.
In the same vain, many Malawians are keeping a close watch on what is happening in our politics and one day the power of the vote shall be the judge. There is nothing the electorate can do now because constitutionally they don’t have any power to deal with those members of parliament who are against and undermine the budget. Some have strongly argued that opposition members of parliaments careless about the poor people in their constituencies because they know that they will not make it to parliament during the next General Election.
It is vital to note that there are many interested in this section 65 issue because it is directly affecting the budget which is the very lifeline of all Malawians. The nation can not function without the budget hence anything to do with it become an issue of interested for anyone who is a Malawian. In this regard therefore, the church is not excluded.
The church in Malawi directly gets negatively affected in a situation where someone is blocking the budget because majority of the people in this country belong to various Christian churches. The church largely depend on weekly and monthly contributions from their faithfuls hence any blockade to the budget produces serious repercussion on the daily operation of the church. This is because the Malawi church by and large does not have long term functioning investment activities. Therefore politicians should bear in mind that the budget is not only a national issue but is also a Church issue because members of the church directly face the consequences of delaying passing the budget. For instance, adjusted new salary in the budget will create an improvement in the weekly and monthly contributions to the church while any blockade and political madness surrounding it will in one way or the other directly suffocate the church finance hence it is vital that MP should consider the budget first and not section 65. Our politicians should understand that the church can not remain silent this time around because they are directly affected by any political madness that blocks the budget. Also it should be noted that the same people who are denied access to the budget by the opposition parliamentarians belong to the church a situation which forces the church to directly get involved in issues surrounding the budget and section 65 and the budget.
The church can not remain silent in issues of the budget and section 65 because the church represents the voice of the suffering voiceless poor who are being denied access to the budget due to greedy and selfish actions by opposition politicians. The poor in the villages in Malawi don’t have a platform where they could air their grievances in times like these while politicians are free to have their peace of mind broadcast in the many radio stations in the country. In such times, it is the duty of the church to stand between the gap and become the voice crying in the wilderness to speak on behalf of the poor. The church which fails to defend the poor is not a true church at all because a true church is the one which sides with the voiceless poor.
The church can not afford to remain silent in this political madness going on in our country because it is the very voice of God, the kind of God who gets involved in the lives of the poor when they are suffering and are oppressed. Throughout Old Testament and New Testament politics, we have God full time involved in the lives of his children when they were oppressed in Egypt by Pharaoh. In Egypt, God came down and redeemed his people from autocratic rule of Pharaoh. God sided with the voiceless poor in Egypt and he came down to redeem them. Now if God get involved in the lives of the poor then what will stop the church from doing likewise and who shall stop it? This is the nature of God and the very model the church follows even today. The church in Malawi even in the current scenario can not remain silent but become the voice of the voiceless and stand between the gap to protect the poor from being any economic abuse by the opposition. Someone asks how is the opposition economically abusing the poor? They are directly abusing the poor by undermining the budget and openly declaring that their number one priority is section 65 and not the national budget. Therefore, opposition politicians should realize that by undermining the budget, they have undermined the very lifeline of Malawians, the national budget.
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