The news that our law enforcers have embarked on an anti-smuggling exercise of tobacco is good because it will ensure our farmers get fair income from their labour.

One area that has been chaotic and has become a source of discord and enmity between and among families and clans in Malawi is that of chieftaincy.

The violence by some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) followers in reaction to the arrest of some of the party's stalwarts is not only deplorable but illegal and inflicting damage to the already battered image of the party.

We are bombarded with stories of wastage of funds in the public sector on daily basis. We even lose count due to the magnitude of this unfortunate pilferage of our resources.

Something does not seem right in the story about the Ministry of Health which has disowned a health facility in Chikhwawa, where officials say they cannot send staff there as it was built at a wrong place.

Instead of being busy in fulfilling its mission of advancing knowledge and professional competencies in science, technology, commerce and communication through excellence in demand driven education, research, consultancy and outreach, some lecturers at the Malawi Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi are up in arms against some decisions which the college's management is making.

The decision by government to make a u-turn on its earlier position not to table the mid-term budget for scrutiny in Parliament is a welcome development.

The sentiments from donors about corruption fight in this country are not new.

From now onwards, civil servants will be smiling all the way to the banks, thanks to their 10-day stay away which bent government into submission, forcing it to effect a salary increment. While the highest paid civil servant gets a modest 5 percent increment, the lowest civil servant will enjoy as much as 61 percent increment.

The failure of the current administration to bring the ongoing civil servants' strike to an end is relaying different messages to different people. One of the messages being relayed to the world, in our view, is that of weak and poor leadership which is failing to professionally manage the affairs of the country.

Reactions continue to pour in on the State of the Nation Address which President Joyce Banda delivered in Parliament on Friday and the discontent seems to be far more than the compliments.

Yesterday, majority of civil servants woke up fully aware they were to stay away from work following an announcement of the same by the Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) the past few weeks.

In any democracy, elections give an opportunity to the citizenry to go to the polls and cast votes for those politicians they think would make excellent leaders. Even if the elected politicians will not make it as desired leaders as promised during campaign period, elections are still important because they are designed to create a government that is representative.

The setting up of Constituency Development Fund [CDF] by Parliament was an innovative way of spearheading development in the rural areas. We have fresh memories of how it was resisted initially because of the perception that it was meant to serve some political interests.

After all the speeches, colour and glamour at the commemoration of this year's National Anti-Corruption Day held in Mangochi, we remain unconvinced that there is progress in the fight against corruption in this country.

The advent of democracy in Malawi gave birth to scores of organisations claiming to represent the interests of Malawians in respect of the many rights that the new dispensation brought along.

Just in the past two days, the South African government has deported 211 Malawians for illegal stay in that country.

Problems dogging our public health facilities including Kamuzu Central Hospital, which are certainly barriers to the citizens' access to quality health services, should attract the attention of everyone in both the government and the civil society.

The reasons given for disbursing loans to youth in the Youth Enterprise Funds[ Yedef ] without the usual publication of list of beneficiaries in the media raises more questions than answers.

News that Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) has announced that it will carry out a comprehensive constituency re-demarcation of wards and constituencies in 2015 is very welcome.