It is my pleasure to hear that the two political giants, His Excellencies former president Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM) and incumbent President Reverend Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera will battle it out neck to neck in 2025 presidential race.
Those people who follow my articles can testify that I predicted some two years that the tough bout would be between APM and Chakwera.
In fact, the recent Mutharika’s speech at Njamba Freedom Park and Chakwera’s statement at Kamuzu day function in Blantyre have confirmed that the road to 2025 presidential race will be pregnant with bumps, windings and dribbles.
It is against this background that an attempt is hereby made to explore 10 similarities between President Chakwera and his predecessor, APM.
First, both Chakwera and APM were once in the teaching profession before joining active politics.
Coming from a humble background, both Chakwera and APM strove academically to shake off the odds. While APM ended up lecturing at Washington University in the United States of America, Chakwera pursued the same profession and rose to the rank of Principal of Zomba Theological College.
Theoretically, it is expected that the experience and transferable skills they gained from undertakings may be wisely employed in the management of this country.
Second, Mutharika and Chakwera are party leaders of strong political parties in Malawi.
Previous electoral results confirm that both Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) led by APM and Chakwera respectively are two strongest parties in Malawi.
Frankly speaking, DPP is much stronger than MCP on the basis that the former won 2019,2014, and 2009 elections alone without going into a political alliance.
On the other hand, it is widely believed that MCP grabbed the reigns of power in 2020 because of the Tonse Alliance.
Third, both Mutharika and Chakwera do not play politics of castigating each other.
Those who have closely worked with APM testify that he is a likeable, industrious, objective and visionary person who rarely gets distracted by petty issues. This is why he had no time responding to insults during his time of power.
Likewise, President Chakwera has a clean record of not directly attacking his political opponents.
However, it is highly likely that massive exchange of counterarguments between APM and Chakwera will intensify during the campaign period. This is normal in as far as democratic political campaigns are concerned.
Fourth, both Mutharika and Chakwera are theists.
In a country where over 90% of the population believe in God, it is not surprising that both APM and Reverend Chakwera are both theists.
Unfortunately, many Malawians now have lost trust in political leaders who sell themselves to the electorate as God fearing saints.
Fifth, by the time Malawians will go to the polls, both Mutharika and Chakwera will have officially served one presidential term.
Objective Malawians can easily compare the performance of these two presidential candidates during their first term.
For instance, who performed better, between APM and Chakwera during their first 5 years of reign in the following areas managing economy, fighting corruption, uniting Malawians, food security, public service delivery, infrastructural developments and many more?
Sixth, both Mutharika and Chakwera’s regimes have been accused of perpetrating tribalism and regionalism in appointing Malawians to top public positions.
Truth must be honestly told that our democracy is not yet mature. Most Malawians purely vote for presidential candidates on the basis of their tribes and regions of origin.
It is therefore not surprising that once ushered into power, the President usually fills the top public positions with people from his tribe and region of origin.
It is interesting to see a list of names of senior public officers, circulating in social media platforms, who were allegedly appointed by both MCP and DPP regimes on the basis of tribalism, appeasement and regionalism.
Presidents are therefore implored to follow meritocratic procedures in appointing Malawians to senior public positions.
Corollary, caution must be taken to ensure that deserving Malawians are not disadvantaged, marginalised and discriminated against on the basis of their tribe, district of origin, political affiliation and relationship with a prominent politician.
Seventh, both Mutharika and Chakwera were once seen to take their time in making crucial decisions.
For example, it took time for APM to fire the then Agriculture Minister Dr. George Chaponda over the allegations that he corruptly and singlehandedly procured maize from Zambia.
Malawi public service regulations demand that public officers who are suspected of committing a crime must be interdicted to pave way for thorough investigations. Such interdiction does not preclude that the suspect is presumed innocent till proven guilty by a competent court of law.
Likewise, President Chakwera is equally slow in making crucial decisions. For instance, Chakwera took the whole one year to honour his promise of reshuffling his first cabinet.
Furthermore, he found it difficult to fire from his cabinet some MCP untouchables such as Secretary General of MCP, Eisenhower Mkaka, who has been allegedly implicated in a bribery scandal.
Eighth, both President Chakwera and former president Peter Mutharika have been accused of being direct beneficiaries of cronyism.
It is widely believed that APM took over the DPP leadership by virtue of being a brother to the founder of DPP , Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika.
In the same vein of happenstances, incessant allegations confirm that the son to the incumbent MCP president Chakwera married the out-of-wedlock daughter to former MCP president John Tembo.
Ninth, both Mutharika and Chakwera’s regimes have been accused of perpetrating corruption.
When Uladi Mussa, DPP presidential advisor on parliamentary affairs was banned entry into the USA by American government over allegations of corruption, APM was bitter about it.
Recently, President Chakwera also lambasted American government of tampering with the course of justice because it banned MCP corruption suspects such as former Inspector general of police, George Kainja from visiting America.
In an attempt to promote corrupt practices, Chakwera government is replete with implementing absurd decisions.
For starters,President Chakwera promoted former Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Steve Kayuni to Principal Secretary for masterminding the unceremonious arrest of Director General of ACB, Ms. Martha Chizuma.
As if that is not enough, President Chakwera personally pardoned corruption suspect, Bakili Muluzi, corruption convict, Uladi Mussa and recently high profile corruption suspect, Dr. Saulos Chilima.
It is therefore not surprising that corruption during Chakwera regime is more rampant than during the APM’s reign.
Lastly but not least, one unique striking similarity between Mutharika and Chakwera is that Dr. Saulos Chilima served as Vice President in their regimes.
There are times when people have concluded that Dr. Saulos Chilima has played a pivotal role in the political future of both APM and Chakwera.
In fact, other people have labelled Chilima as a king maker who has failed to make himself a king. Without the support of Chilima, can APM or Chakwera make it to the State house by themselves? Let’s wait and see.
In conclusion, much as Malawians do not expect political leaders to be saints, they are cordially advised to vote wisely by putting in power leaders of high integrity. Voting for the lesser evil is sometimes regarded as wisdom.
