EDITORIAL | The Forum
When an engine coughs smoke and loses power, you don’t change the spark plugs, you rebuild it. Malawi’s civil service is that broken engine. And President Peter Mutharika says he’s ready for an overhaul.
He’s right about one thing: service delivery has collapsed. From hospitals to passport offices, citizens are paying the price of decades of political interference and corruption. A system once known for discipline now runs on connections and kickbacks.
Mutharika vows to restore professionalism and end nepotism. He promises not to interfere with the Anti-Corruption Bureau. But Malawians have heard that tune before. The last administration sang it while quietly silencing those who tried to clean up the mess.
If Mutharika is serious, he must prove it, not by speeches, but by stepping aside and letting institutions do their work. The ACB and the Director of Public Prosecutions, key players in corruption cases, have their marching orders. Now, they need protection, not praise.
Rebuilding the civil service isn’t a campaign slogan. It’s the hard, unglamorous work of dismantling the rot. The president has started the engine; the question is whether he has the courage to keep his hands off the wheel.
