Sulking APM should deflate his big ego
Former president Peter Mutharika’s no show at the funeral of former first lady Annie Muluzi shows something is not right about Mutharika. Annie Muluzi was not just a former first lady, she was Atupele Muluzi’s mother. Atupele Muluzi has been Peter Mutharika’s buddy since the campaign period in the run-up to the court-sanctioned Presidential elections in June 2020.
The two campaigned together in an electoral alliance that would have seen Mutharika retaining the presidency and Atupele becoming the Vice-President of this country had they won the polls. Not only that. Both in and outside Parliament, Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the United Democratic Front for which Atupele is president have won and lost battles together.
Only two weeks ago Atupele sat side by side with Mutharika at a political rally at Njamba in Blantyre where the two political leaders spoke the same language as they poured cold water on the Tonse Alliance administration led by President Lazarus Chakwera. In short, Mutharika has deserted Atupele when the latter most needs him.
Long short, Muthariaka’s failure to attend the funeral of his closest political ally shows one thing. He has not accepted that Chakwera is the President of this country. His no-show at the funeral speaks volumes about his big ego. He is incapable of taming his big ego and humbling himself before other people. Remember Mutharika has never accepted that he lost the elections. To that end, he has consistently kept saying the presidency was stolen from him and the Democratic Progressive Party by the Tonse leaders in an unholy alliance with the courts. And logically, to date, he is yet to congratulate Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima for coming out victorious in the polls. Naturally it goes without saying that Mutharika is still sulking and not ready to see Chakwera being given all the honours befitting the office of State President at a function he is in attendance and is not the one being accorded such honours.
Mutharika should have shown true statesmanship by deflating his big ego and accepting that someone else is sitting on the chair he warmed for six year.
Funeral ceremonies of prominent people in society usually unify people from diverse political affiliations. During such events, people put aside their political differences and join hands to mourn and bury the departed person.
It is at funerals that we see sworn political opponents who usually throw tones of venom at each other during political rallies sitting side by side, talking to each other and sharing jokes. What more with the funeral of a close relative of a political ally? Annie Muluzi dies and Peter Mutharika is contented in just sending his wife and a member of the party’s NEC! Very strange.
It is either Mutharika has very bad advisors who mislead him on many issues or the man takes no counsel from anyone. What we can say with certainty is that Mutharika is living a lie. He is no longer President of this country. His proper title since June 2020 is that of former president and that position has a place and honour in the country’s Constitution. Locally Mutharika’s status is the same as that of Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda and hundreds of others globally. He should therefore gracefully accept this title for the rest of his life and learn to live as a former president. Unfortunately over 18 months after losing elections, Mutharika is still sulking. It is time he went over the defeat. Only his illness or of a close relative could be accepted as a good reason for not attending the funeral in person. Delegating his wife and a party cadre to represent him when he is at home on his two feet and enjoying his whisky hardly cover up for his absence.
