British High Commissioner to Malawi Richard Wildash has completed his three-year tour of duty in Malawi. In this interview with our Political Officer Lewis Kulisewa, Wildash speaks of his life in Malawi. Excerpts.

You leave Malawi on 8 June 2009, how do you feel?  

Personally, very sad indeed:  this is a magnificent country, with outstanding people and much physical beauty.  But also optimistic:  Malawi has a bright future.  When I arrived three years or so ago, I said I thought Malawi was a prime example of the sort of success story envisaged at Gleneagles – sound governance and strong support from the international community, mixing to deliver sustainable development and social and economic progress.  I still very much believe that to be true.  The global environment is perhaps more challenging now than it was then, not least because of the global economic crisis.  But the leadership of this country has the vision and political will to meet the challenges head on and take Malawi forward.  I’m very happy that the Presidential and Parliamentary elections went so well – peaceful and credible, with a very high turn-out.  The Malawian people have expressed themselves clearly and the political environment provides a sound framework for tackling the huge range of policy issues on which Malawi needs to make progress.  I am pleased that Britain will be continuing to support the Government substantially in this.

How would you describe Malawi’s relationship with Britain?

Very strong.  We are true partners.  We work together in the world in our mutual self-interest and in the interests of the wider international community.  We know each other well.  We trust each other.  We share the same fundamental vision.  Aid is one part of the relationship, an important part, but just one part.  There have been a number of Ministerial and other high-level visits in each direction during my tenure of office.  I believe that high-level visits serve as springboards to speed up delivery of shared objectives.  We hope that it will be possible for HE the State President to visit Britain again in the near future.  

You’re leaving almost three weeks after Malawi held peaceful elections. What role did Britain play in the elections?

We provided £5 million for the trust fund which supported the MEC.  We also ran a programme of projects designed to help ensure that the elections were peaceful; and supported a media monitoring unit in the MEC whose work was published widely in the press.  But, with our EU and other partners, we also provided moral support to MEC and pursued an intensive dialogue, which enabled exchange of ideas and, we hope, played an worthwhile role in helping MEC deliver the successful elections we saw last month.

President Mutharika and his governing DPP won an absolute majority in Parliament during the May 19 elections. This was in contract to the minority status before the elections. What would you say would be the effect of this situation on Malawi’s democracy?

Every democratic country has its own particular characteristics.  As you say, we have seen a dramatic change here in Malawi. The new era we have now entered will, I’m sure, see new ways of governing, new ways of working, new ways of delivering social and economic development.  What matters, at the end of the day, is that everyone – the leadership, Parliamentarians, the civil service and other public services, civil society, the media – believe in and want democracy.  As long as that is true, a way can be found to keep on the democratic path whatever the occasional pressures to deviate.  I think last month’s elections demonstrated that the Malawian people do indeed want democracy.

Your tour of duty witnessed a Post restructuring process that led to a reduction in the number of staff. How did you manage/cope with the process? What would you say was the impact of this restructuring process?

Amazingly, we’re still doing most of what we were before, but with fewer resources.  So we have had to focus on essentials.  For the last year or so, the elections and preparing for them have been a top priority.  Looking forward, I think we will want to concentrate a lot of effort and resources on supporting the new Parliament.  This is a good opportunity for me to pay tribute to my own staff and to colleagues in DFID Malawi and the British Council Malawi:  they are a talented and enthusiastic team, and together we are achieving a great deal.

What is your next destination?

I am not able to say at this stage.  But what I can say is that Jane and I will leave a part of ourselves behind when we fly out of Malawi next week.  It’s impossible to spend three years here without being deeply touched by the people.  We will miss them hugely.  We have met some extraordinary people, gifted people, committed people.  There have been unfortunate misunderstandings in the second part of our tour of duty; that has saddened me very much and I hope matters will one day be resolved.  It is never good to leave with misunderstandings still lingering.  But this has certainly not dampened our commitment to Malawi nor our enthusiasm for the country and its people.  For the rest of my life, I will be an ambassador and advocate for Malawi.  Malawi deserves to flourish, and I will do whatever I can, wherever I am, to help it do so.  I wish all Malawians well.