Fare thee well Dr Luke

Dear judge Mbadwa,

My Lord, I am writing to you to express my worry at the departure of the head of Kanani Vimbundi merchants otherwise known as Nyasaland Aiding Corruption Bureau (NACB).

Why am I moaning his departure and not necessarily mourning over his decision not to renew his licence to head Kanani Vimbundi?

My Lord, we had some unfinished business with Dr Luke and as you remember, I had at one time asked your honourable tribunal to grant a permanent injunction against the NACB boss; stopping him from speaking against people he claimed they were politicising corruption for personal gains.

Now that he has left before the court had a made a ruling on the matter, what will become of the case?

I can provide some background to the matter, My Lord.

Dr Luke had told the Nyasaland Parliamentary Committee of Legal Affairs that it was just perception that his organisation was used as a tool to oppress the opposition. He said his body was professional and never faced any undue pressure from some quarters in executing its mandate.

But in his exit interview, the media friendly and jolly good fellow that he is, Dr Luke admitted that he had had “pressure from many stakeholders,” most of which originated from the “media, the international community and the public.”

That is exactly the reason I thought he missed the point on people’s perception of the institution he was heading.

My Lord, he should have been more worried about the perception from the larger group than that of the appointing authority he was supposed to please anyway.

My Lord, Dr Luke should have stayed to see Maizegate cases to their logical conclusions and several other investigations that were initiated during his reign.

I am worried about the legacy that he is leaving behind because it was during his time that the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International rated Malawi as slowing down on corruption fight.

My Lord, as one of his main detractors, I want him to show evidence to the media, the donor community and the public that during his tenure, NACB won the corruption fight not only by the number of arrests made, but by successfully investigating and persecuting cases, and as I said that time, through measures that will make Nyasaland a corrupt free country.

His appointment was greeted with a lot of fanfare; hence, let the works of his hands testify that he was the rightful man for the job. After submission of such evidence, My Lord, will your court rule whether detractors should respond to his departure with either bon voyage or good riddance? I fail to ascribe the right adjective save from saying it was like he was just bidding his time for the next move.

Adeus amigo

Yours,

Kolaapa Sono. n