Why are cadets being disowned?
Court clerk: All rise! (as judge Mbadwa enters the court room) . You can now sit as the Honourable judge Mbadwa’s court is now is session.
Judge Mbadwa: The Nyasaland Police Force Lord-ndine Tonse despite having the Attorney General as his legal representative, he has decided to represent himself in this matter. This tribunal does not waste energy on unnecessary court decorum as such we feel the defendant has a right to represent himself as long as he understands how the court operates. His right to represent himself is respected just as he can always enjoy a right to legal counsel if he so wishes. Now can the applicant Timoteo Cloud address the court?
Timoteo Cloud: My Lord, I want to ask this court to jail people who are denying that they are cadets when they have been operating like them for as long as we can remember.
My Lord, we have seen senior public officers such as the Nyasaland Police Chief distancing themselves from the popular Cadet tag, saying they have never been cadets and they don’t intend to join the grouping. Even tycoons such as Mulibwanji said they do not subscribe to the cadet ideology.
My Lord, much as we cannot question the sincerity of the likes of Mulibwanji, we have reservations with Lord-ndine Tonse’s claims that he is no cadet. Why do we have issues with Tonse’s outbursts at a recent press conference?
We have every reason to convince this court to charge Tonse with dishonesty by public servant and a related crime that is bordering on moral turpitude for shocking the conscience of the public by not saying the truth in claiming the truth that he is not a cadet.
My Lord, in as far as the police set-up is concerned, one cannot become a commissioned officer without going through police college in Zomba where they commission officer cadets.
It is my view, my lord that Tonse cannot claim to be a competent police chief without being initiated in the cadet cult and without knowing the cadet dance. Unless the chairperson of the high command tells this court otherwise but we in the civil society organisations believe that Lord-ndine Tonse is a cadet to the boot.
If he insists that that he is not a cadet then he should be charged for fraudulently ascending to the summit of the high command without having the requisite qualifications and training. I rest my case.
Mbadwa: This is your opportunity to respond Mr Tonse.
Tonse: My Lord, I have in the past few days become the most vilified chairperson of the high command for trying to steer the ship amidst demonstrations. But I maintain that I am not a cadet though I was once a cadet officer. My Lord I cannot be a cadet because I am too senior to be a cadet. I also wanted to alert everyone that a cadet is a name that fall under Protected Names, Colours and Emblem Act;hence not everyone you meet in the streets can be labelled a cadet.
Mbadwa: From the submission of Cloud, the tribunal is convinced that Tonse is a seven-star general in the cadet fraternity. An affidavit he has tendered in court also shows that the police chief has been supporting cadets from his force by providing transport to them. He also runs a school that commissions cadets in Zomba. Is there something wrong with being a cadet? Why has everybody disassociated themselves from cadets like the likes of Mulibwanji? Thus court knows several decent professionals or businesspersons who are cadets. Before I make a ruling , I want the defendant to explain the reasons why he doesn’t want to be identified as a cadet. Is there something wrong with that? I am not convinced. n
With Emmanuel Luciano
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