By Falles Kamanga
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Madame Mary Chilima, wife of the late former Vice President, has publicly called for a Commission of Inquiry into events that happened on the 10th and 11th of June this year when her husband died in a plane crash.
While a Commission of Inquiry is an important initiative, and I support it, I have concerns about how Madame Chilima has chosen to address the matter.
Madame Chilima and her family advisers are aware of the legal framework surrounding this issue.
According to Section 89(1)(g) of the Constitution of Malawi as read together with Section 2(1) of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, the President has exclusive authority to appoint Commissions of Inquiry into matters of public interest.
This means that the correct procedure would have been for Madame Chilima to formally write to President Lazarus Chakwera in private, requesting the appointment of such a commission.
If her goal was to involve the public to give the president some pressure, then she should have leaked the letter to social media after submitting it to the President.
However, by opting to mobilize “Okhudzidwa” through a Facebook post and urging them to take action on an issue that is the sole prerogative of the President, Madame Chilima’s action is a challenge and confrontation against President Chakwera.
One wonders whether or not her approach is just a declaration of her readiness to join politics considering that some have been inviting her to join frontline politics on the account of her husband’s death.
I would advise, however, that Madame Chilima should recognize that she still needs the goodwill of President Chakwera.
If she disrespects and confront the president, and politicizes the whole inquiry thing in the manner she has done, then she must understand that she is dragging herself into the political arena where she will no longer be considered the grieving widow but a political adversary. And as a political adversary she will be treated accordingly.
Nkhani ya miliro itha and only politics will prevail. In politics, there are no morals, no sense of shame, ndipo mulibe namfedwa.
It just gets ugly for everyone involved.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author not necessarily represent those of The Maravi Post or Editor
