It’s all about eating, sex, thuggery

It is hard to find any evidence supporting the rumour circulating in several African websites claiming United States of America Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made a host of racist remarks at an unspecified event in Indianapolis.

Numerous Af rican websites allege Donald Trump described black people as ‘lazy and only good at sex and stealing’.

The first version that lacks a date, context and the name or type of event at which Trump purportedly spoke further ‘quotes’ Trump as, among other remarks, saying: “From the government to opposition, they [Africans] only qualify

to be used as a case study whenever bad examples are required. … I hear they abuse me in their blogs, but I don’t care because even the Internet they are using is ours and we can decide to switch it off from this side.

“These are people who import everything, including matchsticks.

“In my opinion, most of these African countries ought to be recolonized again for another 100 years because they know nothing about leadership and selfgovernance.”

But whosoever created this satire surely had an accurate image of African leaders, Malawi inclusive, in mind.

No wonder the political history of Africa is replete with absolutes, sultans and opportunists who had or have turned government into personal fiefdom a leader uses to accumulate wealth for themselves, their family and their clan.

Such self – seeking politicians and their cronies, ironically, have amassed millions and billions in wealth while the poor sink deeper into poverty, living on less than a dollar a day.

It is not surprising that the type of leadership that has emerged in Malawi since the dawn of the new democratic dispensation has been committed to democracy in rhetoric only.

In practice, it has baffled the masses by being unpredictable, unprincipled and obsessed with personal gain, even more than that of the previous autocratic era.

How the country ’s leadership perceive ‘elective office’ and ‘public service’ has everything to do with our sorry state of affairs.

Malawi is fast and irreversibly becoming a society believing anything is acceptable as long as there is no explicit law against it.

It seems Malawians, especially politicians, would happily eat their own offspring if there were no laws explicitly

forbidding killing even if the cannibalism does not serve the country’s collective good.

I s t h e c o u n t y ’ s leadership’s—Executive, Legislature and Judiciary— scornful indifference to the suffering of Malawians and the myriad of problems buffeting the country not the same as eating own offspring?

It is a frightening development that an equally important pillar of a functioning democracy, Parliament, through

Speaker Richard Msowoya and Leader of Oopposition L azarus Chakwera, whose party is notorious for flashing its fangs at government’s recklessness, and two deputy speakers Esther Mcheka-Chilenje and Clement Chiwaya – who are entangled in yet another scandal of having been fraudulently drawing millions of kwacha in rental allowances – blew over

K300 million on four top of- the-range vehicles.

The purchase could be in line with the four’s conditions of service, but it was ill-timed as Malawians are going through hell due to tough economic climate.

Some of the money whose purchases only the four against about 15 million Malawians are enjoying could be used for improved delivery service in such areas as education, health and road infrastructure or alleviate hunger for some individuals in their constituencies.

The problem is the  country ’s presidents, vice-presidents, Cabinet ministers, members of Parliament and top government officials take it as a matter of right to live an expensive lifestyle.

And Trump-satire creator could be right that all they know perhaps is about eating, lovemaking and thievery.