“Politicians and diapers
should be changed frequently
and
all for the same reason”
José Maria de Eça de Queiroz
As I write this, it is almost an unassailable fact that Prof. Peter Arthur Mutharika will be the next His Excellency the President of the Republic of Malawi by this week. Of course Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera still has an outside chance to turn the tables.
In such a tight race, analysts often hide under an oft abused phrase – too close to call.
What is without doubt, however, is that Ama and Bebe are out of this contest. Joyce Banda fought a good fight but the odds were just not on her side. Fare-the-well Ama, there is life after politics. After all you just have to go back to your philanthropic ways.
As for Atupele, some of us have been saying 2014 was too early for the young man. He should have juggled his cards well and struck a vice presidential deal with one of the big guys, preferably Ama. That was his most realistic route to State House.
But some people fooled him that he was ripe enough for big league politics. Now his CV will be tainted with the unenviable accolade of ‘a young man who lost an election to an old man’.
I know Amai and Bebe still believe these elections were compromised and were tampered with. Allegations that in some areas more people voted than those on the voters’ roll must not be taken lightly.
But I guess we just have to move on. Whether it will be Tate Peter or Abusa Laz Malawi will still be there for all of us. Ama tried her best to take Malawi from the precipice Peter’s brother took us. She should be congratulated for that. It is up to Peter or Lazarus to continue from where Ama has left off.
Unless there is tangible and provable evidence that Team Peter played some hanky-panky games with the vote, I would urge President Joyce Banda to take it on the chin and move on. After all, she is only 64; she still has at least one more chance to prove she is the real deal.
I know she is quoting Section 88 (2) which reads: “The President shall provide executive leadership in the interest of national unity in
accordance with this Constitution and the laws of the Republic.” But this will only succeed in plunging the country in a constitutional crisis for that section does not say anything about elections.
Look, Section 76 (4) of the same Constitution says: “The Electoral Commission shall exercise its powers, functions and duties under this section independent of any direction or interference by other authority or any person.”
So the President may be in a dilemma here for I am not sure whether the law empowers her to stop the electoral process. I know results in some 19 stations have been ‘quarantined’ because the number of voters does not tally with those in the verified voters’ roll. Let MEC go to work; it can either disqualify everyone in these suspicious centres or call for a re-run.
So Ama should take heart and avoid soiling her legacy.
As for Atupele, by 2019 the dude will only be 39, most of her challengers will either be dead or too tired to soldier on. So do not shelve your ‘Agenda for Change’, young man, dust it up and improve on it, ung’ono ung’ono will still be a factor five years from now, trust me.
If truth be told, Atupele’s campaign was the most organised and well structured in these elections. I do not know how many MPs he has bagged but this is time for Atupele to re-build his dad’s pet project.
Now let us muckrake the possible presidents-in-waiting, Prof. Peter Arthur Mutharika and Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
Let us start with the Washington State University constitutional law professor. (By the way, Peter took issue with the muckraker after I described his university as a ‘community college’. He said in fact the university he taught was prestigious, among the best not only in America, but the entire wild world.)
Be that as it may, if Maxon Mbendera certifies him as the real deal, Peter walks in State House with the baggage of his brother. From Day 1 he has to prove that he is his own man, not his eccentric brother’s brother.
Some view – fairly or unfairly – Peter’s presidency as actually risky for Malawi for people will always judge him on his arrogant brother’s record. He has to work hard to prove that he is his own man.
For instance, donors – who bankroll most of Malawi’s budget – may cautiously give him the benefit of the doubt. His brother’s frosty relationship with donors will remain an albatross around his neck.
Besides, if truth be told, his record as a government minister is not exactly encouraging. His worst performance was in Education where, as a university don himself, he could not have let his brother escalate the needless academic freedom saga for a good eight months. (With Jesse Kabwila now in Parliament, Peter will constantly be reminded of this.)
At Foreign Affairs, he also failed to stop his brother from embarking on a kamikaze mission as the Big Kahuna took the foolhardy decision to expel a British diplomat, a slap in the face of the very Brits who are Malawi largest donors.
Since he campaigned on his bother’s record, donors will be extra cautious how to deal with him.
So Peter has to hit the ground running; there will be no honeymoon for him. Any misstep that will link him back to his brother will be met with “I told you so.”
So Mutharika has his work cut out for him.
But if the scales tip for Chakwera, the cleric-turned-politician is an untried and untested hand in politics. He is going to Parliament for the first time. He is, therefore, untainted with the fraud and corruption that have characterised Malawi’s post-one-party state politics.
But his ‘greenness’ to politics may be his unmaking for some people may take advantage of his inexperience and corrupt his politics.
But he just might be the transformational leader Malawi has been thirsting for. And he has been making all the right noises so far. “I am glad I am not a billionaire politician and I don’t intend to be one,” he said after declaring his assets.
And donors may give him the benefit of the doubt. Chakwera has no track record for donors to base their decisions on.
But then MEC still has to unshackle us as to who is the next Big Kahuna. Is it Peter? Is it Lazarus? Or Mama Joyce will pull some trick? And indeed Bebe…?
All said, this has been an interesting election. Often elections in Africa are predictable – it is not the business of governing parties to lose an election.
For now, let us wait for good old Max to tell us who we will be muckraking for the next five years!
