“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” — 1 Timothy 2:1-2
God is not man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent (change His mind): hath He not said, and He has not done it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good (perform it)? – Numbers 24:19
I remember all the things you taught me; I learned how to laugh; And I learned how to cry; Well, I learned how to love; And I learned how to lie; So, you’d think I could learn how to tell you “Good-bye.” – You don’t bring me flowers anymore, Neil Diamond song
In the year 2024 some good things unfolded upon us; some bad things also occurred; and of course, with the good and the bad were some so very ugly occurrences that we are fuming about, crying over, and sometimes extremely hurtful things that have left many of us scarred for life.
A vice president tragic fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of eight others (that includes the former First Lady), public demonstrations that are not resulting in any good but has led to several arrests; and on the international platform the United States for the second time in eight failed to elect a woman to the presidency, opting instead to elect Donald Trump, with America set to re-define the meaning of democracy.
Commentary will be limited to the uglies of the events of Malawi. At the outset, my deepest prayer is that Malawians, especially those with a platform that has a megaphone, to make their voices and opinions known and heard that will bring meaningful and life-changing (for the better) of Malawians that they claim to care about, or they exist to uplift the livelihoods of vulnerable Malawians.
It is every Malawian’s right to demonstrate against their leaders, however the entities calling on Malawians to demonstrate must ensure that the actions Malawians are called to take must lead to meaningful results such as food on plates, houses to live in, and clothes to wear.
In the past year, Malawians have been called to flock onto the streets by leaders of non-governmental organizations, with some of them calling for the president to resign.
There is no constitutional clause to force presidents to resign. This is a citizen-to-citizen information alert to demonstrators, advocates, and other angry Malawians, our country entered into democracy mode in May 1993. As a democracy, Malawi drafted and passed a new democratic Constitution in 1995, which spells out the government positions, duties, terms, relationships, and etc.
Among these are that every five years, Malawians go to the polls and vote into office leaders such as a president/vice president, parliamentarians, and councilors. This is about the only time voters chose to retain by re-electing him or her to be the president along with a vice president; the voters can also choose to “fire” the president by not voting him or her back into the highest office in the land.
The only other time is through an impeachment through the Parliament. Currently the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has the largest number of parliamentarians; the discussion about impeaching President Chakwera is a non-starter. Telling or asking the president to resign is also a futile exercise.
It is understandable that many Malawians are on the “We Are Angry Avenue” as far as the tragic accident that snuffed out the lives of a very promising and energetic young leader, the late Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight other Malawians.
It is understandable that as Malawians, the anger sometimes has led during the demonstrations for some citizens to vandalize or cause property damage, and that the Police, accompanied by masked thugs carrying panga knives to threaten the demonstrators and some of the demonstrators were hurt. This caused the three former presidents to condemn the unwelcomed mob-justice aided by police development.
To top this, the report of the special commission of inquiry has not given the answer Malawians wanted or expected. Indeed, the wishy-washy report has raised concerns about wasting time and funds at a time when the country has limited financial resources that could be used on other emergent issues. Again, Malawians are as angry as they were with the wastefulness of the Mwanza Commission of Inquiry of 1994.
The report did not meet the expectations of many Malawians, the civil, religious, and ordinary Malawians are annoyed at the waste of time, waste of money, and waste of intelligence of the enquirers. It is the sort of report that angers both sides with reactions and counter-reactions. And the tears endlessly continue to flow.
As onlookers watch, what comes to mind is ‘what type of action or reaction would or did SKC teach Malawians about correcting the wrongs others do in this democratic climate?’ Etched in my mind’s memory is the quiet demeanor SKC exhibited; a demeanor that resulted in a court case, later joined by the incumbent President Chakwera. The success was resounding; a resounding that brought in the Tonse Government. Regrettably this is a non-existent entity; however, the takeaway is the process taught by SKC: the only person in Malawi to have quietly, and patriotically served as VP in two very difficult administrations, and lost his life serving Malawi.
Most of all, the takeaway must be “why are we doing what we are doing, calling people to do, or asking the government to deliver on this or that?” Is there any way that Malawians, the agents and captains of change, and the participants can craft the agenda for invigorating the mantra that the former Vice President taught Malawians? For a start, is there a place where Malawians can reach where ordinary citizens, after the elections can return to normalcy, accept the winning president and other leaders, accept, respect him or her as the head of state? As Malawians, there is the need for the citizens to move to a level where they are all Malawians; they have leaders from different parties, but they are all the country’s leaders, serving the constituency and country for the benefit of all citizens. Party leaders, on their part, must be bold enough to keep in check their followers from uttering or allowing divisive rhetoric.
Please let all Malawians join hands to stand united and stamp out the uglies like those of 2024. The very unfortunate and the ugly scar of our hurts and wounds can only heal, when we resolve to solve them together.
United, Malawi shall stand, divided, it will fall.
