What was supposed to be a thank-you rally at Ntandire ground in Lilongwe turned out to be a mockery to our hard-earned democracy in this country.
In the first place, the introductory remarks made by the Deputy Minister of Homeland security, Norman Chisale, were soothing when he well articulated on the independence of the Judiciary and the Executive arms of government regarding the handling of the allegedly Malawi Congress Party (MCP) sponsored machete armed assailants.
However, drama took the centre stage when he instructed the Malawi Police Service (MPS), on the podium, to arrest the suspect who hacked a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) woman official.
Unfortunately, one critic lamented that even though the arrest may be deemed genuine but as long as a politician like Chisale is calling the shots to arrest the suspect, such action may be interpreted as being politically motivated.
As if such overboard remarks were not enough, Chisale went further to instruct the police to use force when a suspect shows any resistance.
Another critic said that such statement is very unfortunate because currently there are already reports that police brutality is rampant in our police cells and therefore police may abuse this instruction to escalate brutality further.
It must be appreciated that Malawians expect the MPS to be service- oriented when its nomenclature changed from ‘Malawi Police Force’ to ‘Malawi Police Service’. One wonders if our democracy is regressing instead of maturing.
It was as if I was watching another episode of drama series when the youthful Alfred Gangata who doubles as both Minister of State and DPP Vice President for Central region took to podium too.
It is mind-boggling that Gangata who is supposed to serve all Malawians regardless of their political affiliation, being a minister of state who draws tax payers’ money, declared that beneficiaries of fertilizer subsidy must prioritised to DPP zealots.
Let us be frank. Time of campaign is over and it is high time that government officials served the citizenry with impartiality, integrity and professionalism.
After all, the 16 September presidential election results were unique. The victor, Peter Mutharika overwhelmingly got votes even in the MCP stronghold central region.
It is also important to appreciate that some MCP sycophants voted for APM just for a change of their excruciating livelihood.
Therefore, to discriminate against MCP followers is very inconsiderate, unfair and inhuman.
Going forward, Gangata went further to declare that he can send his boys to remove a professional from office because he suspects that some people deceived President Mutharika to appoint such professionals.
He added that such professional jobs must awarded to DPP die-hards who fought hard for Mutharika to ascend to power.
It must be known that powers of appointing people to public positions rest on President Mutharika.
Additionally, Gangata’s advice to the President cannot override Mutharika’s powers.
Therefore, it is a display of open defiance to challenge the appointment of President Mutharika by threatening that he will send his boys to manhandle a professional appointed by his boss.
In conclusion, both Chisale and Gangata are cordially advised to follow the rule of law thereby upholding our democratic values.
Voters are expecting to hear how the Mutharika government will solve their economic and social problems. Time of politics is over.
Lastly, it is highly advisable that intra-party squabbles must be resolved within the party without washing dirty linen on the podium.
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