* He’s winning everything that comes his way from being elected Blantyre City Mayor to president of Malawi Local Government Association and now UCLGA Southern Africa Region Caucus
* A man who may not hold a formal qualification, yet carries the kind of education that truly matters: wisdom, character and leadership
By Duncan Mlanjira
Isaac Jomo Osman came to prominence as a staunch Nyasa Big Bullets as well as when he founded football team Ntopwa United that participated in the elite TNM Super League — an achievement that was applauded by many Blantyre City residents of repute.
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When he came forth to contest as councillor of Nthandizi Ward during the 2019 General Election, few gave him a chance of winning but he did with landslide victory as very few knew that people in his area considered him as a business-oriented individual and a passionate philanthropist who cares for elderly poor people and vulnerable children.
Renamed as Bangwe Ntopwa Ward, Jomo Osman retained his seat and showed interest to contest for the Blantyre City Mayor, which he won. He has so far proved to be a leader with vision to transform the commercial city that propelled him to be elected as president Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA).
In his MALGA role, he represented Malawi at the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) Southern Regional Caucus and attended its elective meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe where he achieved a further milestone by being elected as its vice-president.
Headquartered in the City of Rabat, The Kingdom of Morocco, the UCLGA is the umbrella organisation and the united voice and representative of local governments in Africa which enjoys diplomatic status as a Pan-African international body.
According to its website, the UCLGA was founded in 2005 in the City of Tshwane, South Africa as a result of the unification of three continental groups of local governments, namely the African Union of Local Authorities (AULA); the Union des Villes Africaines (UVA); and the Africa Chapter of the Unao dos Ciudades y Capitaes Lusofono Africana, (UCCL AFRICA).
It now boasts a membership of 44 national associations of local governments from all regions of Africa, as well as 2,000 cities that have more than 100,000 inhabitants. As such, the organisation represents nearly 350 million African citizens.
Its mission is to provide a network forum of cities and local governments; promote a decentralised democratic governance in Africa; and to represent the voice of African local government at the continental and international levels.
This is how far Jomo Osman has travelled in his journey that included being a street connected child who used to sleep under bridges and business benches belonging to traders of Limbe and earning a living by being a minibus tout.
He later became a business-oriented person that led to his economic success and in his own words, the Mayor confessed that he did not hold high academic qualifications and jokingly he declared that he does not have a “classmate”.
Hands on Mayor of Blantyre
Deputy Mayor Gerald Lipikwe
But what he has achieved after been elected Blantyre City Mayor earned him some respect and this achievement as UCLGA Southern Africa vice-president has been profoundly acknowledged by Blantyre residents as a huge milestone.
Reacting to his Facebook account on which he announced the news, saying he was “honoured to achieve this milestone”, Chawa Gondwe commented: “No classmate, he went from a street kid to Mayor, then president for all the mayors in Malawi, and now Southern Africa.
“Talk about being blessed! — the past doesn’t define your future, and Jomo’s proof of that”, he said while Charles Thamani commented that Jomo “is proving that school doesn’t play any role if you just have papers and choose to be on the table having coffee in the office — what matter most is how you deliver; Jomo to the world.”
Sam Weli said Jomo “is winning everything that comes his way”, while Maureen Mebo Valle described him as “a man who may not hold a formal qualification, yet carries the kind of education that truly matters: wisdom, character, and leadership”.
A meeting with India’s High Commissioner to Malawi
However, Chawa Gondwe hinted that Jomo is extremely industrious and successful in his own right, however despite his achievement without high academic qualifications, school education should still be inculcated in learners as very important because not everyone can have that life fortune that Jomo has achieved over the years long before he joined politics.
MALGA Executive Director Hadrod Zeru Mkandawire told Times360Malawi that a seat on the UCLGA Southern Regional Caucus strengthens Malawi’s voice in shaping decentralisation and local governance policy in Africa and beyond.
