In the 21st century, it is sad and unfortunate that Malawi has attorney general who is against the wind of progress. Just to remind one another, on Thursday youthful activist Charles Kajoloweka together with other Civil Society Organisations obtained injunction asking the court to suspend Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda to pave way for smooth investigations on the maizegate scandal.
Typical of Malawi politics, Kalekeni Kaphale has made it clear that discarding the hard earned public respect does not matter as long as you are serving the ruling party. As many Malawians are suffering due to corruption which has taken centre stage in the government departments, Kaphale has chosen to play a good boy to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by challenging the Mzuzu High Court decision to suspend the minister Chaponda who is also the pillar of DPP.
One thing Mr. Kaphale must know is that people are tired with corruption and his action has left most of us with more questions than answers. Corruption is killing our country big time and it has made our country to stick in the mad. Interestingly, curbing it seems to be as simple as catching a broiler chicken, but this mainly depends on the executive, one of the three arms of governemnt. The fact of the matter is that siphoning and plundering of public funds is always initiated by the ruling party, and that’s more reason People’s Party (PP) also had their share in the two years they were in government. Now we have DPP, a party blessed with all characters: crooks, thieves, tricksters, gangsters and of course some innocents though more patience is needed to see them.
With the issue of K26 billion maizegate scandal, the judiciary and the citizens have showed their seriousness to curb the malpractice but the executive which is comprised of the president and cabinet ministers, has made it crystal clear that they are in love with the evil practice. If the government and their attorney general are honest they could support the patriotic citizens’ move.
And now,as Malawians are feeling the pinch of corruption, it is funny to learn that the learned lawyer Kaphale is frustrating efforts of the patriotic citizens who are genuinely concerned with the vice. That is why I say the attorney general’s action is a foolhardy sense of homour. His action is demonstration of archaic politics which has seen Malawi stuck in the Dark Age.
When it was revealed that some cabinet ministers were implicated in the K577 billion cashgate scandal, president Peter Mutharika said he could not implement policy decision based on rumours. With that statement in mind, the citizens tired of the evil practice decided to seek the court of law direction and you are still against it. Your tendency baffles most of us with well flame of mind.
Mr. Kaphale, I shed unfeigned tears when I see people like you taking orders from the above shielding corrupt individuals because that night APM was declared as a winner, I slept like a little baby because I felt that a responsible, incorruptible and courageous leader had finally emerged in Malawi in my lifetime to lead our country out of the precipice.
Mr. Kaphale, corruption is evil, corruption is victimizing innocent ordinary citizens, corruption is making Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) ineffective, corruption is what makes civil servants receiving peanuts; corruption has made Malawi to be an evil forest for ordinary Malawians- always in perpetual battle against the evils of leaders.
As a learned lawyer, I hope you would want to leave a good legacy that will stand the test of time. The ball is in your hands.