Justice Minister and Attorney General Ralph Kasambara jerked delegates to the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting into wonder when he pronounced that he was less qualified than some of the Members of the Malawi Parliament.
Kasambara was responding to a contribution from a delegate who said the country is failing to progress because among many challenges, the Malawi parliament is full of uneducated parliamentarians who cannot make laws as their duty demands.
“It’s not fair to say that Members of Parliament are not educated,” Kasambara said.
“We have very well educated politicians, but again Professor [Thandika]Mkandawire [of London School of Economics] said at one stage that the problem with very educated people when they join politics is that they become worse than uneducated ones.”
He said in the Malawi Parliament, while the qualifications of one or two legislators might be questioned, the majority of them have first degrees, masters degrees and PhDs.
According to Kasambara, if there is a problem with the country’s lack of progress in development, and if the problem is leadership, then the contribution is not lack of adequate education only.
The debate was prompted by a presentation by University of Malawi lecturer Blessings Chinsinga titled ‘Malawi’s Contemporary Political Landscape: Marching on or Simply Moving in Circles?’ which among other things acknowledged that Malawi has no shortage of talented people.
The conference was themed “Time to Restore Democratic and Economic Governance”. It took place between October 30 and 31.
