By: Dr Qeko
Research has proved
to be the main engine to the development of any nation. Nations that are
currently at the top of development have achieved such because of their
investment in research. Nations like the United States, Britain, Germany,
Russia, China, France and many other developing nations have managed to upgrade
themselves because of their massive investment in research. In this brief
article, the researcher is advocating the notion that its about time that
Malawi must have the National Research Fund which would be the body to
coordinate all funding and activities of national research. But before we add
more there are some few key points that must be noted.
Firstly is that nations that do not invest in
research in the modern times are on their way to economic doom.
Secondly is that Africa is the least developed
continent because leaders even though have been to many western nations, they still
got no idea as to how they can put to action what they have seen overseas.
Thirdly is that some African leaders are not
able to think outside the box in terms of utilizing research in their
operations.
Fourthly is that for as long as African leaders
put research aside and not make it part of the development process, the people
and nations in Africa shall remain a shame for the rest of the ages to come.
Finally is that Malawi remains the poorest of
all nations on earth and this has come about because of the type of leadership
who invested little into research and still care less about developing this
nation.Before the
researcher unpacks the question of instituting the National Research Fund, it
is important to briefly look into the research efforts if any done during the
different political dispensations in Malawi politics.
Kamuzu the foundation stone
The late Dr
Kamuzu Banda and the MCP government laid strong foundation for the development
of the nation. Every department in terms of development was laid down and there
was great political will from Kamuzu himself whose goal was to see Malawi
prosper and become one of the self sustaining nation. That’s from education,
health, agriculture and others research was part of the major activities and
this is evident in the creation of the many research centres across the country
where various kinds of research activities were done. It was during the days of
the first Ngwazi that Malawi education system and the economy itself was the at
its best and greatly appreciated globally.
Bakili Muluzi the foundation stone breaker
Bakili Muluzi
whom many accuse of masterminding the breakdown of all the good development
that Kamuzu instituted in the country. The
foundation that the late Dr Kamuzu Banda laid for the 30years of his reign
was dismantled during the 10 years of the UDF rule because during that
difficult time, there was literally nothing that the leadership did to promote
development and research. During that time social, political and economic
decisions were made with not tangible basis and with no proper research to
guide the thought process and direction. Others have said that during that time
its was a chaos and a disaster store to mention the least.The lack of research
even in the UDF party led to the many political blunders which were committed
which at the end made the entire leadership unpopular.
Ngwazi Prof Muthalika the development minded
President
The Ngwazi
Prof Bingu wa Muthalika took over the mantle of power from Bakili Muluzi at a time when Malawians were frustrated of
the UDF rule due to its effort in trying to rape the constitution. The coming
of the Ngwazi Muthalika brought about some hope due to his passion for
development. The one thing about Prof Ngwazi Muthalika was that he took some of
the well superb development ideologies and experiences during his long stay
abroad into the development line of the country. The face change of the capital
city and Blantyre with nice road network shows how passionate the late
President was to develop Malawi. If the Ngwazi Prof Muthalika never came, the
cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre could still have been in that pathetic and
dilapidated state. All achievements was due to his belief in research. In one
of his letters to this researcher the late President indicated the value he
always has put in research and how he would love to see Malawian upcoming scholars
focus more on research.
The Joyce Banda brief reign
Joyce Banda
became the nation’s state President to fulfill the requirement of nation’s
constitution after the sudden demise of the Prof Ngwazi Muthalika. Her reign
was what other have called a political accident that happened in Malawi because
a lot took place just within the two years of her reign. During this era, no tangible
progress took place in terms of physical infrastructural development apart from
just bringing back the new stadium to Lilongwe which the late Ngwazi Muthalika
took it to his home area. Although research was part of what was said in the
political life their political party, in reality nothing of that kind happened.
There was no research and no wonder even in their political maneuvering things
were tough for them because they lacked a well formulated think tank to
generate political victory for their party during the election.
The Prof. Arthur Muthalika’s reign
The coming in
of Prof. Arthur Muthalika has brought a little hope into the country in terms
of research. Its during this rule that the question of investment in research
continue to dominate the academia and other institutions that care about this nations.
The President himself at the University of Malawi fundraising dinner in the
capital lamented that there was a need that Universities do more to promote
research so as to put the nation on a map and on a good ranking. All these are
indicators that Malawi is getting into an era where finally sanity is getting
into the nation that the need for research is slowly being recognized. This
political will according to many must be translated into dan action for
nation’s research where all levels of people must come to a point where they
begin to recognize the fact that its only research which when done and properly
funded would help the nation progress. The government would achieve its goals
if all what they do are research based and not just coming from peoples’ heads
or desktop research. The other government failed to give Malawi hope because
all policies and programs they had were merely a creation of people who didn’t
even involve research in the process. Others have argued that almost many policies
in Malawi do not come out of research but from political pressure hence their
success has always been questionable. on the same nations that have succeeded
in terms of policy formulation and implementation has achieved all that due to
their focus on research and the value they place on such.
The National Research Fund the only hope for
Malawi
Having looked
into the predicaments that the nation of Malawi is facing, the only hope will
come through the creation of the nation’s research fund (NRF) which would be a
body to coordinate all questions of research in the country. The fragmented
instruments in the country that handles research does little to add value in
nation’s development and now wonder all efforts in research in Malawi are never
appreciated. The National Research Fund would be the body to provide leadership
in terms of financing and promotion of all research in the country in addition
to helping government getting more focus in utilizing the research generated in
the previous dispensations. What we are advocating is that there has been some
research with well articulated findings that have not been taken on board by
the state and this has been due to the fact that within the state machinery
there are no well articulated individuals who can help to have such brought on
board. Now the NRF of Malawi would be that instrument to add that value in the
implementation of some research findings within the operational systems of
government and the private sector. The functioning of the National Research Fund
of Malawi would be through the Act of Parliament so that they get their own
independent funding and vote every year to implement in nation’s development.
