Hypocrisy on unity in Malawi

On his recent visit to Mzuzu, President Peter Mutharika appealed to Malawians to be united and respect one another. These are the right words expected from a head of State.
But experience has shown that this is easier said than done. President Mutharika is not the first one to appeal for unity and respect. His predecessors, too, were doing the same, but achieved very little. The reason for this state of affairs is that the leaders talk about unity yet their actions are often far from uniting the people of Malawi. Divide-and-rule seems to be the policy of leadership which shows no respect for other people. This is very clear when one listens to the speeches by Mutharika and other leaders at a political rally.
For genuine unity to be achieved in Malawi, it is up to Mutharika to make unity one of his agenda points. He must be exemplary for Malawians to follow suit. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should lead the way by showing a lot of respect within and outside the party.
Having said the above, characteristics of disrespect continue to be displayed by the country’s leadership. The most recent example is the dismissal of Malison Ndau, who was Minister of Information and Communications Technology. Everyone knows that the hiring and firing of Cabinet ministers is the prerogative of the President.
However, for the sake of respect, love and unity, the minister should have been briefed about his dismissal before it was announced in the media. It was so sad to learn from Ndau, as he was being interviewed, that he learnt about his dismissal from MBCtv. This is inhuman, torturous and frustrating. It is disrespect of the highest order.
The appointing authority might defend such dehumanising action by saying that even when the President appoints ministers there is no prior consultation. This is no defence for cruel actions. In fact, it is wrong to suggest that it is an unacceptable practice for the appointing authorities not to consult   appointees before making the appointments. It must be said that appointing people into positions of government must not be taken as a favour. Any genuine appointment, people must feel that they qualify and deserve it. Therefore, in a democracy people should always have a say on matters that affect them, including presidential appointments.
President Mutharika should know better that dismissing Cabinet ministers willy-nilly demoralises those who are still in the job. Their performance might go down because they always have a feeling that the axe will fall on them anytime. Such instability on the job creates rumour mongering and a lot of gossip. In the end, there is poor performance and Malawians at large suffer. It is needless to say that Cabinet ministers should not be treated as casual labourers!
Meanwhile, one of the things that promote disunity in Malawi is the continued abuse of Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) which is a public broadcaster using taxpayers’ money. It is so surprising that MBC can go full throttle ridiculing people who are perceived to be against government. If this is the policy of the broadcaster, then it must know that it is sowing seeds of disunity which has a very negative impact on the progress of the country.
It makes no sense that MBC should operate as a wing of the ruling party. If this has been the trend in the past, it is time to stop and heed the appeal of President Mutharika for unity and respect.
If the call for unity is genuine, Mutharika and his entire leadership should first stop practices that promote disunity in the country. Their hypocrisy is not helpful at all. n