#Why The Voice Of Ordinary Malawians
Has To Be Listened To On The Lockdown Saga
By MARISEN MWALE
Amidst
this impasse on whether to implement Lockdown as part of intervention measure
to curb the spread of the Corona virus in Malawi, I strongly believe that
listening to the plight of the ordinary Malawian is critical. As public health
mitigation and preventative measures like the Lockdown become popular, it is
pertinent to also appreciate the voices of ordinary people whose socioeconomic
livelihoods might be severely affected in unprecedented ways. Not heeding
their grievances expressed through demonstrations by mainly those in the
vending career who represent the view of the majority of grassroots Malawians
might culminate on the grievances having deleterious impact against prevention
and awareness gains already being registered on the ground. Not only that, the
timing was also skewed and not in the best interest of the average Malawian
civil servant. Implementing a Lockdown mid-month would have meant civil
servants who are already struggling due to poor wage bills going home without
receiving their April salaries further compounding the essence of the public
health preventative intervention. Further to that, ordinary people might begin
construing the prevention measures as punitive or retributive or even
infringing on their rights and not in the best interest of protecting them from
contracting the Corona virus.
My take on
the matter is that circumstances of ordinary Malawians need to be taken into
consideration. Perhaps modification and departure from the one fits all
Lockdown measure in consistence with our socioeconomic circumstances would
suffice. Of note is the fact that incidence trends in Sub-Saharan Africa of
which Malawi is part are rather at their lowest since the inception of the
pandemic. Except for South Africa perhaps due mainly to the multi-racial
populace, sub-Saharan African incidence might remain negligible even to the
fizzing out of the epidemic. Most cases being registered even in Malawi are
those of people migrating from high risk Western or Oriental epicenters. Our
argument for Malawi as a case in point is not against preventive measures or
solidarity with the global community in the fight against the Covid 19
considering that we don’t need to be complacent but rather that our
socioeconomic circumstances cannot afford that we implement the Lockdown
strategy.
In Malawi
there are strategies already on the ground that might need just a bit of
scaling up – those like hand washing with sanitizers and antiseptic soap even
among the pro-poor populations, disinfecting markets, use of face-masks and
closing or limiting influx of immigrants through our boarders. Such, and
diverse other interventions on the ground may be enough but also accommodative
to ordinary Malawians’ socioeconomic plight. Against a background of poverty
and deprivation with more than 80% of the population living below the poverty
line and albeit from hand to mouth, a majority of aggrieved citizens consider a
Lockdown unnecessary and counterproductive even on public health efforts across
the board. It is paramount to note that we should not just implement a Lockdown
for the sake of it or because every other nation is on Lockdown without
necessarily scrutinizing our own circumstances or the main rationale for the
intervention measure. As already highlighted we might create ambivalence and
apathy towards prevention measures already afloat on the ground with people
even beginning to construe measures as punitive, retributive and a violation of
their rights. Further in overcrowded communities of our major cities like
Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu; a Lockdown might even create further public
health hazards and challenges as pressure on amenities might mount with
negative effects on hygiene and other health outcomes.
Marisen ‘Maestro’ Mwale
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