Dear Manager of Times TV,
I trust this correspondence finds you well.
Two days ago, via your social media channels, Times TV released a poster soliciting evaluations of President Lazarus Chakwera’s performance over the past four years. Similarly, assessments were requested for Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima.
The message on the poster read: “Rate the Performance of Dr. Lazarus Chakwera on a scale of 0 marks to 10 marks with 0 marks as the poorest score and 10 marks as the highest score. SMS LMC followed by space and put your score. Send 1895.” You indicated that the results would be broadcast on Times TV.
Firstly, commendations are due for facilitating this initiative to allow Malawians to appraise the performance of their elected officials. Citizens entrusted President Chakwera and Vice President Chilima to serve their interests, and thus, possess the rightful prerogative to evaluate their performance.
Just to help me make my point, it is common knowledge that even within your Company, Times TV, performance assessments are conducted to gauge employees’ job performance against set benchmarks. Your Human Resources department can attest to the value of such assessments in measuring individual and team performance, identifying areas for improvement, providing constructive feedback, and facilitating professional growth.
In conducting performance appraisals, your HR professionals undoubtedly adhere to established parameters and criteria. These parameters may include assessing job knowledge and skills, the quality of work, productivity, communication abilities, teamwork, leadership capabilities, attendance and punctuality, professionalism, and ethics, among others.
However, in the absence of specified parameters for assessing the President and Vice President’s performance in your poster, the credibility and effectiveness of such an appraisal are called into question.
Allow me to provide an analogy. Imagine if Times TV were to evaluate its employees without clear criteria or benchmarks. How could you ensure fair and objective assessments? It would lead to confusion, ambiguity, and ultimately undermine the integrity of the appraisal process.
Similarly, without delineating specific parameters for evaluating the President and Vice President’s performance, your call for assessments risks being misguided and lacking in substance. It is akin to conducting a performance review without a rubric or evaluation framework.
Moreover, the absence of defined parameters leaves room for subjective interpretations and biases, rendering the results arbitrary and unreliable.
Consider this scenario in buttressing the point above: In the era of Peter Mutharika, frequent blackouts plagued our nation, but under President Chakwera’s leadership, such power disruptions have become a thing of the past. This significant improvement alone might prompt some to assign a perfect score of 10/10 to President Chakwera. Additionally, during Mutharika’s tenure, our country suffered from deep divisions, fueled by disparaging remarks directed at Malawians and specific regions. However, today, under Chakwera’s administration, such divisive rhetoric has been replaced with a sense of unity and peace. It’s evident that Chakwera’s efforts have fostered a more harmonious national atmosphere. This would again warrant one to give a score of 10/10. Furthermore, his successful negotiations with Israel have opened doors for Malawian youth seeking employment opportunities abroad. On this count, one would also give him 10/10. Yet, despite these commendable achievements and you come live on TV announcing these results to say Chakwera has gotten 10/10. Would that be a true reflection of his performance? The honest answer is a big NO.
Likewise, there are those who might argue that the economy is faltering, warranting a dismal rating of 1/10. Others might point out additional shortcomings, also assigning a score of 2/10. But can such a simplistic evaluation truly encapsulate President Chakwera’s performance? Certainly not as well.
Therefore, I urge you to reconsider your approach to this performance appraisal exercise. Either provide clear and transparent parameters for evaluation or reconsider the initiative altogether. Otherwise, the credibility and legitimacy of the results will be called into question, casting doubt on the integrity of Times TV.
In the final analysis, your station should exercise patience and await the decisive verdict from Malawians in 2025. Proceeding with this assessment without proper parameters risks undermining your credibility with viewers, regardless of whether the outcome favors President Chakwera or not.
You may contact me on the below email address if you need credible suggestions on how best you can conduct the exercise in question. Never say you were never warned when this boomerangs.
Yours sincerely,
Franklin Jumbe [ franklinjumbe@gmail.com]
Resident of Balaka District.
