When you are poor, you must tread carefully, especially when making decisions that could affect your economy. Every move counts and missteps can be costly.

There was a time when President Lazarus Chakwera appeared to take a subtle swipe at our donors, not in their role as financial benefactors but in their capacity as supporters in other areas such as the provision of Covid-19 vaccines.

Their response? Indifference. They simply turned away, recognising that the remark held no real weight.

This is the reality of poverty: when you lack economic leverage, you become a playground for the powerful.

Others can afford to toy with you, knowing full well that you have no means to respond meaningfully.

We have already witnessed the damaging ripple effects of decisions made by United States President

Donald Trump, particularly the suspension of aid.

That single act, made with the stroke of a pen, disrupted our healthcare system—a disruption that continues to be felt and will likely reverberate for years to come.

As if that were not enough, Trump also placed Malawi on a list of countries whose citizens would face tightened visa restrictions when seeking to enter the United States, the so-called “land of diversity”.

Admittedly, this move might inadvertently work in our favour.

Many of our officials, who seem to derive inexplicable satisfaction from flying to irrelevant conferences, may finally be grounded.

Perhaps then we could save some much-needed foreign exchange that would otherwise be wasted on frivolous trips.

In fact, without these needless flights by ministers and senior government officials, the limited foreign currency circulating within our economy could go a long way.

But instead, we find ourselves with a President and a Cabinet who seem to prefer operating from hotels and conference centres in distant cities rather than from their actual offices.

I digress slightly, but the point ties in. We cannot continue to make careless decisions, particularly those with implications for our foreign relations and national image.

Consider the recent diplomatic tension with Tanzania, following Malawi’s directive to ban certain imports, some of which come from our north-eastern neighbour.

Tanzania, in typical fashion, has threatened retaliation. But let us be honest: the trade imbalance between our two countries is already significantly skewed in their favour.

Should they impose their own restrictions, we are unlikely to feel the pinch as harshly as they might expect.

Besides, Tanzania has long been a problematic neighbour. At one point, they even threatened war over the Lake Malawi dispute, erroneously calling it Lake Nyasa.

Though efforts have been made by the current administration to mend ties, the relationship has historically been rocky.

If they choose to ban Malawia