Citizens dismayed with materials meant for the independence day celebrations

"This 57th independence celebration cloth. Wow! We really voted for change."

As Malawi paints the town red with Independence Day celebrations today, most citizens have expressed dismay with the materials meant for the celebrations of the day; part of which being cloth materials with the face of the President imprinted on it.

Making different remarks their various platforms, some Malawians have described the development as rot, saying the current administration has turned the event into a political one to be used as a campaign tool.

One of the renowned social media influencer, who is a good governance commentator, Idriss Ali Nassah, described the move, through his Facebook page as ugly.

Nassah said: "The first smell of the rotting fish was when they wanted to spend an outlandish K244 million on the July 6 shindig. 

“But when furious public backlash left then with a sizeable omelette on their face, they said they could not cancel outright because of already paid for expenses, including printing the celebratory cloth. The cost of the cloth to the taxpayer, I have been informed, is K42 million. They took poor people’s money to print something that is not only inappropriate for what should be a non-partisan Independence Day, but is also hideously ugly.

"Dear God, may we please have leaders who take the business of running the country far more seriously than we are seeing here. Amen."

Another good governance expert, Wonderful Mkhutche, wrote briefly but connotatively, "This 57th Independence celebration cloth. Wow!We really voted for change."

The Independence Day celebrations come amidst criticisms from Malawians who fault the government for initially paging the budget for the day at K244 million and later on making a U-turn by trimming the budget to K50 million. The general opinion from Malawians is that this budget is but a waste of taxpayers money at a time the country economy is in bad shape.

Every year, Malawi observe 6th July as the day she gained self rule status from the British colonial rule.

This year marks 57 years since 1964, the year the country got the independence.