Which idiot signed off the designs of these horrible things?

No, seriously, out of all the designs we could have come up with, why these hideous monstrosities? They look like pig sties …

Anthu inu, we’re playing. We’re not serious. Look at what others are building, across the world. Nothing too expensive, but the intentionality, the architectural innovation, the out of the box thinking, the sheer brilliance that’s captured. Nde inu mukuti chani? Ahh, we’re playing. We are not serious.

If this exercise had been done properly, we should have ended up with something like one of these:-

Or at least something like this (below). Simple, but elegant.

We should have ended up with proper bus shelters that are fit for the 21st century. In any case, as a country, when will Malawi start building and creating beautiful spaces? Mukufuna azatimangire ndani zinthu zowoneka bwino?

It’s possible to create something simple and minimalist, but that’s still very stylish and inspired. And it’s possible to do it cost-effectively. Osati izozo, which is rather reminiscent of our airport terminal yowoneka ngati khola la nkhuku ija. We have to do better.

I hate to write about these things, I really do, because I think after all these years, and at this stage in the country’s development story, we should have much higher standards than this. Why not? The technology exists and these things don’t cost too much. In fact the Mibawa bus station is another missed opportunity. One of many missed opportunities. Pamenepopo, what they could have done was invite 3 or 4 investors and asked them to create a building, possibly with a few shops, and offices nearby, and at the base of which would have been the bus terminal. Akanapangapo zamphamvu. Something like this (GLALA BUS STATION ~ designed by Ibrahim Khalil):-

Instead, they did the bare minimum, and installed pig sties. What a shame.

I’ll repeat, those things they installed are not bus shelters. Instead they’re a sordid reflection of our visionless, uninspired and mediocre ways of thinking in Malawi, and a clear example of our idiotic refusal to learn from others. And then you’re surprised why the country never moves forward…