Malawians are laughing — and not politely. They are laughing because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has managed to turn something as basic as paying salaries into a national joke.
While the DPP works tirelessly to invent new ways to tax everyone from house owners to street vendors, the same government cannot do the one thing citizens depend on: pay civil servants on time. It’s almost poetic — except for the hunger, the bills, and the mounting frustration.
Social media is ablaze. Memes, sarcastic posts, and belittling comments pour in, painting the government as selfish, incompetent, and cruelly punishing. And Malawians know the pattern: delayed salaries, rising hardship, and excuses only appear when the DPP is in power.
A letter — possibly fake — has surfaced online, apologizing for the delayed January salaries and promising payment by 6 February. It cites “administrative and technical circumstances” and politely asks hungry civil servants to remain calm. Calm. On the 29th of the month, after rent, school fees, and food money are long gone. It is absurd. It is tragic. It is laughable.
Compare this to the MCP, which reliably paid civil servants by the 21st of every month. Today, teachers, clerks, nurses, and public servants are cashless, struggling, and forced to explain to landlords and shopkeepers why the government has failed them yet again.
And yet the DPP preaches austerity. But austerity is only for ordinary Malawians. Allegedly frozen government employment does not stop the ruling party from quietly hiring friends, relatives, and political loyalists. Nepotism is alive, well, and deeply offensive. One wonders if this country is only for DPP insiders.
Here’s the cruelest irony: the government’s tools for efficiency — taxes, audits, and new electronic systems — move faster than the salary process. Vendors and petty traders are targeted with new tax measures while civil servants starve. The DPP wants obedience and sacrifice — but only from the wrong people.
Government is serious business. Paying salaries is not optional. It is a duty.
Yet today, the DPP is not being attacked by opposition politicians. It is being laughed at by the very citizens who put it in power. And in politics, ridicule can sting far worse than votes lost.
Malawi is watching. And the jokes are not funny.
