Is the aid-dependent neocolonialism in Malawi what would be in store for Zimbabwe under an MDC government?

by Chido Makunike

New Malawian president Joyce Banda has wasted no time in trying to undo as much of the legacy of her late predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, as possible. Her main thrust can be quite simply summarized as: bend over backwards to do all that is necessary to appease the Western 'donors.' A deep practical and psychological donor dependence on the West is nothing at all new in Africa. It is a major, tragic hallmark of relations between post-'independence' Africa and its former colonizers. But in recent years there had begun to be a stirring of  African interrogation of this debilitating disease. It is therefore startling that in 2012, there is an African president who appears to almost proudly put the dependence of her country on foreign 'donors' as the cornerstone of her plans for her country's future. Would a similar fate befall Zimbabwe under Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party if they came to power?

READ MORE - Is the aid-dependent neocolonialism in Malawi what would be in store for Zimbabwe under an MDC government?

Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy and how Bingu wa Mutharika’s World Bank experience didn’t seem to be of much help to Malawi

The death of Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika at 78 of a heart attack seems to have been met with very little public sorrow. Yet he came into office in 2004 on a wave of popular support, tremendous goodwill and with his country folks’ very high expectations of what he would achieve for Malawi. One key reason for those high hopes was that he was formerly ‘a World Bank economist.’ What are we to make of the fact that such an impressively pedigreed ‘technocrat’ has left ‘the warm heart of Africa’ with such cold feelings towards him?

READ MORE - Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy and how Bingu wa Mutharika’s World Bank experience didn’t seem to be of much help to Malawi

More examples of how donor dependence compromises African sovereignty

By most accounts, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is a nasty fellow. This alone wouldn't be enough to earn him being distanced by most of Africa's rulers, few of whom can be considered cute and cuddly fellows. But that al-Bashir is welcome in the company of African leaders is still odd because of the particular nature of his alleged badness. Arab al-Bashir is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's ethnically African Darfur region. One would have thought this would be one reason to make African leaders at least avoid al-Bashir like the plague, but that hasn't been the case. What gives?

READ MORE - More examples of how donor dependence compromises African sovereignty

Zimbabwe, speed up paying back Malawi its $20 million

There was a time not so long ago when Zimbabwe thought of Malawi as one of its poorer cousins. A decade of extreme economic decline and hardship significantly tamed much of of Zimbabwe's sense of superiority towards many of the neighbors. During that time US$20 million in food was borrowed from Malawi and the Malawians loudly want it back.

READ MORE - Zimbabwe, speed up paying back Malawi its $20 million