Last week, President Paul Kagame had a three-day state visit to Malawi where, together with his counterpart Bingu wa Mutharika, inaugurated Paul Kagame Road in the southern African country’s capital, Lilongwe.

There could not have been a more deserved visit by the Head of State than the one to Malawi, a country that shares much in common with Rwanda. 

With both countries being landlocked and experiencing high population growth rates, at least 90 percent of their respective populations are agriculturalists.

The visit provided an excellent opportunity for the two nations to share experiences to help overcome obstacles that still dog their economies.

"Rwanda and Malawi have similar challenges.

They are both least developed and fall under HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries), and as such they need to defeat challenges facing them and move on,” Dr David Himbara, President Kagame’s Advisor on Policy and Strategy, said of the problems both nations face.

The advantages from such a visit are wide-ranging and can fit within the contexts of African Union, the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (Comesa), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad); organisations of which both countries are members.

Voted into power in May 2004, wa Mutharika, a former UN expert and economist by profession, is credited for transforming Malawi’s economy. Under his rule, analysts say, the country has turned from food importer to food exporter.

After the visit it was announced that Rwanda would begin to import sugar from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) nation.

Over the past three years, Malawi has made spectacular gains.  The country also exports tobacco, tea, cotton, coffee and maize; although it still imports most of the other commodities.

As sister nations, the two countries also have other issues of special interest. For instance, Malawi hosts hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees.

Predictably, the two presidents discussed the refugee issue, agreeing that a tripartite commission comprising of both governments and the UNHCR be instituted and immediately devise means to having those Rwandans repatriated home.

This is in line with Kigali’s desire to have all Rwandan refugees in as many countries repatriated home to help rebuild and develop their motherland.

Therefore, the decision to return those in Malawi will ultimately supplement the ongoing efforts to build a knowledge-based economy – one that thrives on the skills of Rwandans themselves.

More importantly, Kagame’s entourage must have borrowed a leaf from their colleagues in Lilongwe in especially implementing government’s programmes and making regular follow-ups.

Whereas most government policy papers have been recognised internationally, the kind of bureaucracy and inconsistencies continue to bog down the pace at which results are realised.

It is extremely important that whenever the President goes on such important visits, those accompanying him should be able to fetch new ideas on how to better carryout out their duties.

For instance, the commitment of Malawian leaders in developing their country should provide a lesson to some of our leaders.

Interestingly, President wa Mutharika is at the same time the country’s Agriculture minister.

Perhaps, he was motivated by his rich personal expertise in economics. He has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Delhi, India and a PhD in development economics from Pacific Western University in California, US.

However, it does not mean that Kagame or other presidents must also award themselves ministerial positions lest all other officials fold their arms and wait for the Head of State to do everything.

It would be ridiculous and highly disastrous if ministers picked up the habit of performing only when they are under the watchful eye of the President.

One thing that the President has always decried about is the country’s dependence on the taxes from the citizens of other countries.

Such a problem can only be overcome when everyone, particularly leaders, execute their duties with a sense of responsibility other than with an "I don’t care” attitude which reportedly characterises a number of our top leaders.

Ends