“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
? Napoléon Bonaparte
When President Peter Mutharika and Vice President Saulos Chilima were embroiled in ill-conceived Salary hikes and faced such an outcry that they deferred the controversial pay rise for themselves, one Lazarus Chakwera chose to keep his.
Here was an opportunity for him to separate himself from the misguided policy. No wonder when he was forced to address the issue he was not effective as he was trying to defend his pay raise and accuse Peter Mutharika of greediness in the same breathe.
Peter Mutharika came out of that controversy looking better that Lazarus Chakwera as he decided to forego the increase to show solidarity with Malawians.
Lazarus Chakwera’s defence was that the new salaries were “in line with the budget” which was passed by parliament. A budget that included a deficit of $205 million after Western donors suspended aid worth $150 million.
When Peter Mutharika was on the defensive with bloated delegation to the United Nations, when the country is undergoing hard economic times, The MCP leader Lazarus Chakwera was defending buying an expensive car for himself and the speaker of the house.
Human rights activists In Malawi are asking government to launch an investigation into who approved money to buy luxurious vehicles for parliament officials worth 300 million Kwacha.
Malawi Government purchased four vehicles for leader of opposition Lazarus Chakwera, speaker of parliament Richard Msowoya and his two deputies, Esther Ncheka Chilenje and Clement Chiwaya despite the country going through economic challenges and Opposition Leader Chakwera accusing Government of squandering money while Malawians are facing tough economic times.
The same Lazarus Chakwera who many MCP insiders accuse of relying on people from outside Malawi as his top advisers has taken autocratic measures to remove opposition to himself from within the MCP leadership.
He has surrounded himself with Yes people. Yes people don’t tell the truth. They will only tell Lazarus Chakwera what he wants to hear. This doesn’t help a leader, who needs the whole story, good and bad, to lead the country. It only serves to increase his vulnerability.
President Lazarus Chakwera reshuffled the National Executive Committee (NEC) which saw Felix Jumbe (Salima Central legislator) re-deployed to strategic planning directorate as its deputy director from the position of campaign director while Joseph Njobvuyalema (Lilongwe rural-Mapuyu South lawmaker) as the deputy director for international affairs .
Some quarters of the society speculate that two portfolio’s reshuffles was a move to silence Jumbe and Njobvulalema who are seen as competitors to the party’s leader Dr Lazarus Chakwera while others back these moves as the way of positioning party ahead of 2019 general elections,
“A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”
? Baltasar Gracián, the Art of Worldly Wisdom
It is by no accident that when Peter Mutharika wanted a raise he made sure to include Lazarus Chakwera knowing full well that he would be forced to defend his own raise. Who can forget the Jessie Kabwila plane ride from Zimbabwe with Peter Mutharika?
Peter Mutharika is indeed blessed to have opposition led by Lazarus Chakwera who can never get out of his own way
