Copied from Helen Buluma wall!!!
Some of the darkest hours of our life were experienced under these very people who were once very powerful and entrusted with offices to serve the people of Malawi but instead blatantly encouraged & participated in corruption!
Ati “ Osaopa tapangani za Chief inu, yakwana nthawi yoti tilemere …” Big lady boss would say whilst smiling at the opportunity to plunder tax payer money!
The quest for integrity was before some of us, and amidst the pressure to loot, we made a choice to speak out! Silence was no longer an option !
We chose integrity over ill gotten wealth & survival, truth over silence, and paid the price for it!
Humiliate with tramped up cases with so called human rights fighters cashing in to tarnish our names… government institutions used to deal with us akuti illegal recruitment blaa blaa lol! 😝
But still we refused to partake in destroying Malawi’s economy, even when such participation would set us free from the persecution!
When they arranged for us to fly to Dubai in business class flight paid by Malawi tax payers; to sign documents with fake suppliers, trying to use us as conduits for looting and externalising taxpayers money – millions of US dollars for that matter – we said NO and boycotted such trips recognising this as a high level betrayal of public trust.
Our refusal made them more angry & marked us instantly!
Doors that once opened began to close!
Whispers replaced conversation!
Surveillance replaced dialogue!
The machinery of persecution moved swiftly and without mercy- controlled by those that were then at the highest echelons of power – the untouchable but now to be held accountable !
Still, we did not retreat.
We knocked on every door we could find, carrying evidence, testimony, and a belief—perhaps naive, but deeply held—that exposure could deter further abuse and looting. We reported malpractice wherever it led us: regulatory bodies, oversight agencies, and ultimately to the then President himself …but alas to no avail!
Instead of accountability, we met indifference!
Instead of protection, retaliation and persecution!
Each report we filed tightened the net around us!
Our actions, meant to shield the public from fraud and abuse, became the very reason we were targeted.
Those days were defined by fear and exhaustion!
By late nights weighed down with uncertainty;
By the constant sense of being watched;
By the knowledge that doing the right thing had made us vulnerable.
We were isolated, dismissed, and portrayed as troublemakers rather than whistleblowers.
The cost was personal, professional, and profound.
And yet, despite everything, we did not regret exposing the truth.
Those were the most brutal chapters of our lives—but also the clearest. In those moments of persecution, we learned exactly who we were, and what we were willing to lose to remain so.
Today… by the grace of God, we are alive and well and rebuilding our lives!
There is an opportunity to see justice prevail !
It seems there is a light at the end of the tunnel! May justice prevail for Malawi 🇲🇼
Power may delay accountability, but it cannot repeal consequence.
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