MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-It is an open secret that everyone in this life wants the best for themselves. Be it at work or in business, people want to earn and live better each passing day.
It is the more reason economists say always try as much as you can to make more outputs with the least inputs possible!
In politics, the rule of the thumb is: if you cannot win by ballot, then win by bullet. Whatever that means is a topic for tomorrow.
But for now, let focus the lens on the probably youngest kid on block, Atupele Austin Muluzi, of the defunct United Democratic Front (UDF), who has now joined hands with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Arthur Peter Mutharika in the fresh presidential election slated for June 23, 2020.
Hats off to Atupele! The gentleman has given it his all during this campaign period! He has gone even flatter than last year and 2014, when he campaigned for himself as a presidential aspirant under the banner of Ung’onoung’ono Generation.
It is as if he is the presidential candidate himself. Nonetheless, it is well understood; he has a fat resource envelope to cushion all his spending. After all, a goat feeds where it is tethered!
However, the saying goes: the fool speaks and the wise listens. So, let us speak for some wise one somewhere to listen to the message.
Atupele is such a young man who joined politics probably because his father introduced him to it. Were it not for his father, he would surely bring bread and butter on his table through other avenues.
Since he joined front line politics in 2004, he has served both as a parliamentarian and as a cabinet minister. Political as they are, the positions he held might bring a value to his career but the impact he has made to the nation as a political leader is quite negligible!
When he was just joining the popularly called ‘dirty game’ then, just as a member of parliament, people only wanted to hear about him simply because he was a son of a former head of state. But not that he was a force to reckon with.
If memories still serve us right, we all remember that when he was becoming leader of UDF, it was his father who bulldozed his succession as president of the party. Otherwise, we all well remember that there were more able people in the party who could lead it even better than the senior Muluzi; only that he wanted the son to inherit it.
Now, during his first campaign in 2014 as a presidential candidate, his major promise to Malawians was that as soon as he was voted into power, he would introduce free secondary school education.
According to the politically pampered young Muluzi, his father introduced free primary school education; and so, he was convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that the majority of Malawians were educated because of such a system. Whether that is genuine or not, only he and his father know.
But an honest question here is: are most Malawians educated because of free primary school education? More so, what is the value of education in Malawi at the present; due to that windfall system?
The open secret is: it is not automatic that when secondary school education is for free, then everyone will receive it. There is more that needs to be done.
It goes without saying that because of the senior Muluzi’s idea of free primary school education, its standards were too below par because both human and material resources were scanty and that left the learners with limited options in as far as quality education was concerned. To date, Malawi’s education system is heavily doubted in terms of quality.
To that far, Atupele Muluzi really missed a point. Because like his father then, he never explicitly explained how manageable free secondary education would be in terms of operationalisation
Such wishful thinking might have caused Atupele to gradually start to lose his political sphere of influence. Some well rounded Malawians began to think twice about his wit insofar as presidency is concerned.
Probably, such unrealistic promise statements were the ones that made his own constituents at Kapoloma to begin to doubt the credence in him. No wonder when the five year parliamentary cycle elapsed people at his constituency revoked their constitutionally granted powers from him and that might be the beginning of his end!
Fast forward to 2019. When he lost his parliamentary seat, Atupele left for the Republic of China for God knows what business.
Upon his return from China, after the loss of Machinga East Constituency seat, which he served for three parliamentary terms in a roll, he bounced back by displaying his pomp in the tabloids.
He chronicled to the nation how China rose from grass to grace. Perhaps this was to announce his comeback to Malawians but also to register his political relevance; after all, politics is a game of numbers and politicians crave for publicity!
No sooner had this penmanship gotten fully established than we had heard of his meeting with Dr Lazarus Chakwera on possible political deals.
He went as far as touting Dr Chakwera as a sage the nation needs for a leader. When things did not bend towards his interests at Chakwera’s side, we only heard that he went to meet the Head of State, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika certainly for the obvious reason!
Thank Allah he made it at Mutharika’s side. This time around as he is trying everything possible to find a job for himself; since he no longer has a seat at the August house, and as he is also aiming at shielding his father from the wrath of the law as regards the MK1.7 billion case that has stalled at the court for over a decade now, he has gone so blatant with falsities to the extent that his and DPP government will distribute free laptops and free internet data to over 5 million Malawians when their government wins come June 23, 2020.
Like seriously?! Is this worth the salt? Why don’t they just start implementing such a white elephant development since they are already ruling? This might seem a clever and powerful campaign strategy, but trust me, Uncle Atu, this is a flop and it has a very protracted negative political boomerang on your career.
Still on education, despite the free primary school education his father’s government introduced in 1994, Malawi is still reeling from high illiteracy levels. Then who will mind the receipt of computers and free internet data whose use and purpose are but a luxury to many a Malawian?
Atupele is still using the campaign approach his father used two decades ago. His father used to promise Malawians free pairs of shoes; which he knew he would not give them because he never knew what size their feet wore.
Atupele jas to realise that times have greatly changed now. Malawians are now better off in terms political civilisation. They have had enough falsities from politicians. They want to be told real stories that will change their lives for better at the end of the day.
Really, there is no point in using religion, region or ethnic grouping of Malawians as a tool to convince them to look at you as one of their own.
To them, that is a campaign gimmick, an attention seeking technique to canvas for votes. Such a tool is not only outdated because if Malawians begin to look at one another using the three parameters, then the end result is civil unrest.
The young Muluzi needs extra carefulness as he is fighting against political relegation. He is still young and fresh blooded in politics but without vision and decisiveness, he might be digging his own political grave because most Malawians have realised that he is not fighting for them but for himself and his family line; being the political opportunist that he is.
Besides, the political party with which he has tied knot is critically ill and may die a circumstantial death any time soon. Should that happen, Atupele’s dreams in politics may automatically become obsolete.
Zaziiiiiiii wasting your time kulemba zimenezi ????? atawineyo ndiyemweyo basi