If you believe Peter Mutharika, our good immediate past president, Malawians are already having a bout of nostalgia about his reign’s ´glory days’.
See, speaking on Facebook, the good professor this week spoke, confidently about his party’s high hopes of returning to power in 2025.
The 80-year-old even sees himself back on the campaign trail campaigning in 2025 writing: “I have good news to you all the DPP followers; I will never leave you and I will always fight with you till the end.”
As that sink in, try to understand why the good president has such hopes that his party will eventually be vindicated and considered a better devil for Malawians: According to the former president, Malawians are already disillusioned by the Chakwera presidency.
We need to laugh at these things, really, because this is comic.
Look, folks, Chakwera his successor, is yet to even receive his first salary as President of the country.
Of course, Chakwera goofed big time when he staffed his Cabinet with some dubious folks and littered it with some appeasement for some well-connected families but truth be said, Chakwera has provided the most assuring start to presidency we have had in a long time.
Truth be told, Chakwera is many things Mutharika was not. When he goofs, like when he illegally appointed Police Deputy Inspector General and MRA Director General, instead of acting as some arrogant big Kahuna, he accepted responsibility and reversed course.
Chakwera doesn’t issue threats when he should negotiate, he doesn’t talk down his rivals all the time when he is supposed to be building the nation. He has appointed many sensible folks across the civil service and State enterprises.
Under Chakwera, the police and ACB are arresting criminals who terrorised the public purse and fellow human beings alike. Under him, a serious audit of the State enterprises and reforms is being mooted. Under him, the basic principle that our government is a criminal enterprise, as was certainly the case under the outgoing leadership, is being challenged.
Of course, Chakwera will make mistakes, as he has already showed us he’s well capable of. But the same sons and daughters of this country, including those in his Tonse alliance and those outside, will stand up to him just like they did when mediocrity and corruption became the order of the day in the bygone era headed by our good professor.
Yes, the same Malawians that braved teargas and intimidation to demand election justice, and voted out an increasingly corrupt and autocratic regime, will meet the challenge and oust Chakwera if he dares loses track.
But save your breathe sir, they will not do it because they think DPP is a better devil. The whole country today can see that the DPP was a cancer that had to go. That it is still an option is just a shame but only necessary for survival of our democracy.
Just like when he was president, Mutharika has opted to hold on to the fantasy that his party has a birthright to rule us while ignoring the myriad of revelations on a daily basis that clearly exposes all the rot that happened under his watch.
Instead of resigning from the leadership of the party in shame of the economic genocide whose complete picture we are still yet to get, Mutharika is giving DPP supporters false hopes that his party doesn’t need any introspection and, worst still, he thinks Malawians are too gullible to vote back a party that seems not to care about its atrocious record in government.
Ultimately, the message Mutharika is sending is that he doesn’t care. It’s the same message his laid back style leadership gave us when he was in power.
As his appointees in various offices are being rounded up for criminal charges, instead of confronting reality and addressing Malawians with a message of solidarity for the ongoing fight against corruption, instead of backing long overdue reforms that will bring genuine change to the country, instead of acknowledging the disillusionment of Malawians that lead to his party being voted out, overwhelmingly so, he is still playing the proverbial Ostrich. How lucky for him, Mangochi has so much sand to bury his head!
But the serious take home message here is that Mutharika has no moral ground to wade in on the current affairs of the country because his administration is the worst the country has ever seen. The gist of the argument here is that Mutharika, at 80, simply has to retire from politics and enjoy the goodwill of being a member of the small elite club of former presidents and give DPP a chance of survival by supporting genuine renaissance. For now!
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