By Suleman Chitera
One does not need a microscope to see the difference. Under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ministers are working — visibly, aggressively, and with urgency. Their actions are not accidental. They are driven by fear of accountability. Reports must be submitted. Performance is monitored. Positions are not guaranteed. The axe is permanently poised at the root of every tree that fails to bear fruit.
This is what governance looks like when consequences exist.
President Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM) is not playing games. He has returned with one clear mission: to repair a legacy that was dented and to reassert seriousness in government business. Ministers know this. CEOs know this. Directors know this. Comfort has vanished, and excuses are no longer tolerated.
Contrast this with the MCP era, where visible performance from ministers was the exception, not the rule. Many knew that whether they worked or slept on the job, their positions were secure for years. Loyalty mattered more than results. Noise mattered more than delivery. Failure carried no penalty.
The system rewarded mediocrity.
Ministers, CEOs, directors and senior officials operated under the protection of powerful godfathers. When citizens or civil society spoke the truth — that some officials were clearly failing — defenders rushed in, not to dispute the facts, but to silence the critics. Truth-tellers were branded enemies. Incompetence was shielded.
For five years, individuals occupied strategic offices with no measurable impact, no reform, and no results. Yet they stayed. Worse still, these same faces positioned themselves to block new talent from emerging, ensuring proximity to power remained a closed club reserved for loyalists, not performers.
This is how nations stagnate.
What we are witnessing now is not magic. It is accountability. When leaders know they can be fired, reshuffled, or exposed, they work. When monitoring is real, delivery improves. When positions are earned, not gifted, public service regains meaning.
Malawi has learned a painful lesson: governance without consequences breeds laziness, arrogance and failure. Performance under pressure, however uncomfortable, is the only antidote.
The choice is simple — protect friends or serve the nation. History will not be kind to those who chose comfort over country.
