Can you remember the first time you saw yourself in a mirror? Never mind the mirror’s surface: a polished glass, basin water, pond water or one’s own shadow (silhouette)? Can you remember your instinctive reaction to what you saw in the mirror? Did any irremediable harm come to you because of it?
It is never unhealthy to shine light (even too much light) on the shortcomings of a country’s leadership because it ‘helps the country move forward’ and, most importantly, it can never break the leadership’s ‘bones’.
No Malawian fought harder for the incumbent to be allowed to contest in the May 2014 elections without any expectation of any personal gain serve the deep desire to have a leader who can truly selflessly serve the country and its people.
I loathed and decried Joyce Banda’s leadership bankruptcy with the same vigour that I loathe and decry the incumbent’s depth of leadership bankruptcy. I looked in the leadership crucible and did not see in Joyce Banda servant leadership, sacrificial leadership, selfless leadership, stately leadership, responsive leadership, inclusive leadership, progressive leadership, and inspirational leadership, providential leadership, and incorruptible leadership, visionary and transformative leadership.
I have likewise looked in the crucible now and I do not see in the incumbent traits embodying good stewardship to employ in devoting and catalysing energies required to selflessly serve the country and its people in these difficult times.
I was shocked by JB’s purposeless leadership but I am horrified at the incumbent’s depth of purposelessness. I was confounded by JB’s cluelessness but more than mystified by the depth and seriousness of incumbent’s cluelessness.
President Mutharika has the prerogative of heavily recruiting from his tribe but the ‘recruited’ kinsmen have an obligation to strive to perform to expectation and minimize (or altogether eradicate) the risk of irreparably besmirching the image of the ‘entire recruitment population’ as irredeemable failures at statecraft.
What demonic forces or voices would push or drive one to seek the highest office on the land (or indeed any other elective office) knowing one does not have the requisite skills for running the office or will ‘not work oneself-to-death’ to succeed in the office unless, of course, the initial motivation was never to ‘serve and further’ the interests of the office and the people and country who put one in office but rather to ‘serve and further’ one’s personal interests.
An embattled ship at high seas cannot continue with a captain that is clueless about its perilous situation. The ship’s crew must choose among themselves a new captain to commandeer them to safety. The ship and the crew will be better for it (avoid a catastrophic shipwreck and save themselves from an embarrassing wrecked image). Do the needful!
Again, you can do no greater service to the society you live in than ‘examine and criticize’ it for improved outcomes!
Contribution by: Chisala, Maxwell L.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Maravi Post’s editorial policy.
