As individuals, we think differently. We have different life experiences, we are different ages and we have different genetic compositions. All these make it imperative that we will be thinking differently. Someone says that they don’t like chicken (as food), while the other thinks that (and depending on how much resources they have) they can’t go for two days without eating the almighty drum stick or the gizzard or finyangi (others call it finyambe or nthutumba).
Some like to watch tennis and others like to play tennis. I could go on and on trying to illustrate the differences that exist in society. Maybe the last one would be religious denomination. You see an individual singing the loudest in their church which you, who do not belong to that group, is in no doubt that the church, its clergy and God, are all destined for hell. Yet, your neighbour does not miss a church service and holds a prominent position in that church. Last week, you hardly slept as believers visited your neighbour’s house, making joyful noises as they praised the Lord.
Differences aside, I was mortified when I learned that some people were waiting to see the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development not travelling to Germany. These same people were thinking that if the minister indeed went to Germany, then he would land at the Kamuzu International Airport, be arrested for contempt of court and be transported to Lumbadzi Police Station before being referred to Maula Prison. The following day then, the headlines would be: George Chaponda arrested! Chaponda to appear in court soon: police investigating.
Are you willing to admit that the people who were thinking that this would be the train of events had misled themselves? I am not saying that they were mad or anything like that; only that they were unreasonable, and nursed delusions. In this country, we do not arrest important people. Period.
Yes, there were times when President Muluzi was arrested the other day accusing him of treason. But we all know that we were shocked the same way we are when you see your parent naked. How could Muluzi be arrested? Were it not that the answer we ended up having was that the arrest was political, we could not have understood what was going on. If Chaponda was to be arrested, which political reason would we end up having? It just doesn’t make sense. Personally, I would not spend time trying to get Chaponda arrested for anything when I know it won’t happen.
I also want to be clear that I should not be seen as saying there is anything wrong or there is nothing wrong that Chaponda has done. I have not spent enough time looking at that; so I feel incompetent to give any judgement on this issue.n
