The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Sunday mocked the leader of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Dr Lazarus Chakwera by referring to him as Jonah who was immersed by the big fish in the Bible after shunning God’s command to go to Nineveh.
Speaking during a political rally at Nchalo in Chikwawa, DPP regional governor for the south Charles Mchacha said the wrath of God is upon MCP because of Chakwera.
Mchacha said the boat that Jonah boarded after shunning to go to Nineveh, met with a lot of problem at the middle of the lake because of him.
According to him, Chakwera’s background is just the same as that of Jonah and he also left ordained God’s works and joined politics.
“That’s why you see fightings in the MCP. God wants Chakwera back, unless he is out, there will be no peace in the MCP,” he said.
Mchacha further mocked Sidik Mia for patterned with MC, saying he will not any add value to the Party.
“It’s like adding two different things. A pastor by profession and a politician. Mia has been with DPP as a minister in the year 2005 during Bingu Wa Mutharika’s era. There is no new things that Malawians should expect from him,” he said.
In his remarks, former MCP Malawi Young Pioneer employee, who is also the current the minister of information Nicholas Dausi, said the MCP (which is the country’s oldest party) will not change despite the coming of Chakwera.
He then vowed to reveal the MCP evil secret soon, so that Malawians who were young or not yet born during the one party era should know the consequences they will face if they vote the oldest party into power.
Refuting the pronouncements, Pastor Phiri who ministers in an evangelical church in the Lower Shire, said that “Governor Mchacha, needs to read the entire Jonah story, which has a good ending — Jonah is released from the belly of the fish, and preaches to Nineveh.”
“He is has a teachable moment, when God shows Jonah that God has mercy on whom He chooses to have mercy,” Pastor Phiri Sai.
The man of God, who was in secondary school at the change from one party to multi-party politics in Malawi (1993), also remembers about the invincible MCP. He said all people in Malawi were members of the one Party and that there are even some that performed atrocities, but are now either in DPP, AFORD or UDF.
“The new rulers in democratic Malawi in 1994, did not want to have a Truth and Reconciliation Tribunal, so we never found out what happened, who did what, and whom we need to reconcile with.
“It is wrong to put all blame on the MCP and even tag the new MCP leadership, when there are some culprits of the evils of the one party MCP era that are prancing about as Democrats just because they belong to the ruling party,” political analyst Jumani Issac said in reaction to the DPP’s outburst.”
Isaac also challenged Minister Dausi on his promise to reveal the “evil” people commuted during the time he was in the MCP as a member of the MYP; he said Dausi should have told Malawians all this information upon his joining the DPP.
“Dausi should not use this carrot as a campaign gimmick. He should not Messi with Malawians this way – people suffers, many lost their lives and others are living in exile because of the work of the organization he was part and parcel of. His being in DPP and enjoying a posh ministerial position, does not vindicate him from the evil committed by his former employer -the powerful MYP,” Isaac said.
Isaac said he lives in exile, and still fears returning to his home because there are still wlwments at play in Malawi politics that have similitude of the one party state.