Daison Kadango argues why DPP, UDF and MCP should only hope for the second prize as Joyce Banda will sweep the elections.
President Joyce Banda tipped decisive victory on May 20 when Malawi goes to the Polls. All indications are that she will be declared and confirmed the winner on 21st May.
Bare truth can be sour, Banda will leave the competitors humiliated and licking their wounds after the decisive defeat.
If truth has to be told without self-deceit or self-grandiosity, Joyce Banda is way ahead of her armature political competitors. She is facing contenders with no agenda, no vision, no relevant proven experience and no charisma.
Joyce Banda is competing with men whose speeches are hugely hollow, nothing exciting. They are coming from the political wilderness hoping to land into a prestigious job of a Head of State by some heavenly miracles or divine intervention of departed souls.
They are coming to the Presidential Polls riding retired horses left behind by disgraced founders who terribly failed to uphold their own political ideals for the benefit of the masses trapped in abject poverty. All of them left Malawians poorer; or they delayed the journey to prosperity. Their parties evoke bitter memories of yesteryears.
None has so far confidently articulated how they would transform Malawi from donor-dependency to self-sufficiency through basic economic principles built on reality prevailing on the ground.
Malawi is the poorest country in the world enjoying the highest unemployment and illiteracy rates. Very low skills base. These men would have catapulted themselves by articulating such challenging legacy and demonstrate how they will turnaround the current situation. Instead, they are singing the obvious with cash-gate as a chorus.
Metaphorically, Banda’s opponents would be likened to political dandruffs. Dead dry skin on the scalp add nothing to life and vitality.Empty paragraphs with no better alternative story to tell.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is standing on a very shaky ground since the Party President Professor Peter Mutharika and other senior party members are answering treason charges arising from events that followed when President Bingu wa Mutharika suddenly died of cardiac arrest. Senior members of the DPP attempted to conceal death as they conspired to execute an illegal and unconstitutional take-over of the government with Peter Mutharika to be sworn in as the care-taker President.
DPP history speaks for itself. It offers very shallow reading. It was not established out struggle to curve a better Malawi but rather one man’s personal greed. Dr Bingu wa Mutharika was picked from the street by President, Bakili Muluzi, who was reluctant to step down when his term of office was coming to an end in terms of the Constitution. Twice he had tried to introduce the Bill in Parliament that would allow him serve the third term. On both occasions the stratagem failed.
Bakili Muluzi then sought to govern the country from behind the curtains. He bypassed bona-fide successors within his Party, UDF, and went to pick unknown somebody from the dusty street and made him a party presidential candidate for the looming elections. He campaigned relentlessly to convince the nation that the unknown candidate was the best thing that would happen to Malawi because the man was well-schooled on matters of development and economics. He would be an economic engineer. Muluzi preached.
On the 24th May 2004 Bingu wa Mutharika became the President of the Republic of Malawi on UDF ticket to the displeasure of many executive members in the party who felt betrayed as their aspirations to rise within the party ranks were thwarted.
Few months later, in February 2005, Bingu walked out of the party. He bit the hand that had fed him. He dumped UDF and established DPP. In short, he stole the Presidency from the majority that put him in power. He claimed that he partied ways with UDF because of corruption. The nation, regional and world leaders believed him.
There were mass defections as UDF members jumped ship to a newly formed DPP. Bingu partially succeeded in paralyzing the Party that spent so much time and resources to put him in power. The character that would emerge again few years later when he dumped his Vice President, Joyce Banda who had campaigned so hard and delivered overwhelming majority vote to DPP in 2009.
This is the first installment of Daison Kadango. Follow him as he argues why he believes Malawians will forgive Joyce Banda on Cash-gate and give her overwhelming vote on May 20.
