December 15 2021
Some people are born heroes, others have heroism thrust on them. Yet others, like Bon Kalindo, have heroism given to them on a silver platter.
As events unfold, the self-styled politician, who has become a voice for the many Malawians who are groaning and moaning night and day due to the rising cost of living, is being turned into a face of the struggle against the economic woes.
Well the matter leading to his arrest, release on bail and subsequent re-arrest and release is sub-judice, so one cannot dwell much on that. But, the general feeling is that this whole action by the Malawi Police Service can easily result into some people concluding that they are just up to some witch-hunting or trying to be seen to be doing something against those offering a voice of dissent of the evils in our society today.
Come to think of it! Is Kalindo the greatest thorn in the side of the government’s flesh? Are there no worse problems that government should be sorting out than these arrests? Isn’t it time government gave us a break and arrest the prices of goods and services that are freeing to the Kalahari desert?
I don’t stand here to glorify the crime bordering on maligning the dead Kalindo is suspected to have committed. If he does not have evidence on what he said about the death of First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Clement Chiwaya, it was an unwise way of him to show us he has nothing really to offer.
If Kalindo really had evidence that he knew who was behind the albino killings, it was imprudent of him to say so, because our brothers and sisters with albinism will live in fear that there is somebody who knows who is hunting them and chooses to keep quiet. For that matter, that person hiding that most relevant information is claiming to be fighting for the rights of Malawians.
Now, Kalindo is being made a hero, not because of his persona. Kalindo is being made a hero because he has the clout. He is being made a hero because he has the charisma needed to be a hero. Like Timothy Mtambo and others before him, Kalindo is being made a hero because he is saying what the government does not want to hear. He is saying what resonates with the Malawian on the street.
Arresting and re-arresting Kalindo after he is granted bail, only shows how confused the government machinery is becoming by the day.
Talking about arbitrary arrests—the other day, Thyolo Central parliamentarian Ben Phiri was arrested for allegedly pocketing K262 million from the Ministry of Gender under his Beata Investments. We will not talk about the monstrosity and atrocity of fleecing the government of such a hefty sum for that is a matter in the hands of the courts. But let us dwell on the State’s argument in trying to convince Lilongwe Resident Magistrate Patrick Chirwa not to grant Phiri bail. Prosecution said Phiri must be kept in the cooler a little longer as police were finalising investigations. A similar argument was advanced in the case where former Finance minister Joseph Mwanamvekha and former Reserve Bank Governor Dalitso Kabambe are accused of falsifying accounting as regards the extended credit facility to the International Monetary Fund.
By arresting people without finishing investigations, it clearly shows that police were acting not on their own accord. The silent hand, probably political, engineered the arrests and follow up with the arrests later.
This is one archaic way of silencing critics.
While we are at it, the rains have taken awkwardly too long to come. The rain clouds gather in one moment and disappear in the next.
Where most of us come from, there are beliefs of people who can ‘arrest’ or ‘tie’ the rains. These are people who for one reason or the other make the rains to stay a little longer.
Well, since the Tonse Alliance administration is so bent on arresting those frustrating their efforts to be seen to be doing things, they can go around and arrest awa akumanga mvulawa. These people are really trying to frustrate government efforts for Malawi to have a bumper yield. We have been told time and again that yields have been high because of these problematic subsidies others feel are cash-cows for the rich and the elite.
Investigate later, but for now, arrest awawa omanga mvulawa. Ask me for a charge, try them for conduct likely to cause breach of peace. Never mind whose peace, just arrest awawa omanga mvulawa like you have already done with the Norman Chisales of this world.
