When Ken Zikhale Ng’oma complained that MCP was favoured during the first running mates debate organised by Zodiak Broadcasting Station in Lilongwe, I thought the former kwasa kwasa promoter was just being himself – a kwasa kwasa guy.
Look, I was there in the Bingu Conference Centre. Yes, Richard Msowoya got the loudest cheer for all the little things he said.
But that was to be expected. The debate was in his party’s territory for crying out loud! No matter how hard the organisers could have tried to give each participating party equal number of official invitations, chances were the MCP could still have an edge since the likelihood of other non-party invitees having an MCP slant was inevitable.
So when the whole Secretary General Paul Maulidi announced that the governing party was pulling out of the follow up debate because of the same Zikhale imaginary bias I went ‘Argh? Are these guys cry babies?’
Look, if truth be told, Gwengwe held his own despite the supposedly hostile environment. Despite being the youngest among the quartet, the Dedza parliamentarian spewed out facts and figures with disarming ease.
In fact if you listened or watched the second debate Saulos Chilima and Godfrey Chapola took a leaf from the young man and researched their facts and figures.
By giving the debate a ‘no show’ PP scored a needless own goal. Look how packed Comesa Hall was despite the absence of the governing party. In fact scores of enthusiastic people were returned because of lack of space.
This means the absence of the governing party was not felt…not good for a party facing its first test at the polls.
PP strategists should go back to the drawing board. Dising the debate was a strategic blunder. Not many people will buy the yarn that the organisers were biased against PP. Why was only PP complaining and not DPP or UDF if indeed MCP was being favoured?
Government, as Atcheya famously said, is serious business…not for cry babies!
