One of Malawi’s leading musician and songwriter Patience Namadingo stole the show at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) for the Youth Blantyre edition.
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Taking to the microphone, the musician started by thanking President Lazarus Chakwera for inviting him and fellow youths to the Sanjika Palace for a conversation between the two parties.
Before he could start asking, the host of the programme asked Namadingo if it was possible for him to present in the vernacular Chichewa which he said he would do afterwards for the sake of fluency and for the question to flow well.
He started by quoting the World Bank which cites accountability, transparency and participation as key elements of good governance.
The musician indicated that many youths in the country lack a deep sense of ownership, are discontented and angry which he attributed to lack of governance.
Fondly known as Doc by his fans, he appealed to fellow youths in the room to utilize the rare opportunity to speak to Chakwera by not asking petty questions but rather tackle burning issues.
The 34 year old informed the President that although Malawi is his only home, his emotions are that of confusion, disappointment and hope.
During his presentation the award winning artist quoted the Quran which states that leaders must be able to inspire their followers.
He further questioned how politicians are amassing wealth not commensurate with their earnings.
“If we look at our leaders the crop of our leaders in Parliament, I believe that our youth are probably wanting to go into Parliament because it seems like the quickest way one gets the riches. When we talk about our Ministers, our Members of Parliament it is public knowledge that their pay is anything less that K3 million; but their lifestyles, the houses they buy, the fleet of cars they buy, how do they do this? Your guess is as good as mine”
He disclosed that through his travels to the UK and USA for his music shows, it has come to his notice that so many young people want to run away from Malawi a revelation which was agreed by youths in the room.
The award winning musician went on to say that he’s not proud to be in a country where every youth wants to run away.
Namadingo quoted the Bible in the book of Luke Chapter 7 Verse 22 which details the story of John the Baptist who whilst in prison, sent his two disciples to have a conversation with Jesus.
“And in the conversation they asked Jesus a simple question: Are you the one or we should wait? And Jesus responded he said: Go and tell John what you’ve seen. The dead have been risen, the lame can walk, the blind can see. He did not say Iam the one.
“Your Excellency if we ask you the same question; Are you the one? You should be able to just show and not explain” This was received by a loud handclapping from the youths.
He finalized his query by reminding Chakwera that having been in office for over four years, and never accorded them this kind of chance; he rallied fellow youths to be courageous and not afraid to ask the right questions
Namadingo told Chakwera that six months from now, he may not be the one occupying the seat and that Insha’Allah God willing if he retains the seat they might benefit from the interaction and that God willingly if things don’t work in his favour then the conversation will become just another talk show.
After finalizing his question, the “Mapulani” hit singer got a round of applause from the audience an indication that his query resonated with their kind of thinking.
Chakwera said his administration has put measures to fight corruption stating that funding to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has increased to enable it carry out its operations.
On forex and fuel woes he promised that government is taking action on the issues.
The President touted the over 30, 000 students on government’s university loan scheme as one of his government’s achievements.
