Congratulations to all winners

Dear judge Mbadwa,

What a week it was! The campaign, the voting, the waiting and the heart palpitations that followed the waiting of the announcement of the results; it was a worthwhile marathon.

As I was writing this letter to you, results of the tripartite polls which Nyasas participated in had not yet been announced.

But I had to congratulate the winners and losers, anyway.

As I stated in my previous entry, My Lord, it is now your turn to do some work in your chamber.

We heard of Team Tippex, the Port Herald Central Constituency altercation and many more rigging Madando; how are you going to deal with such issues so that they do not recur in the future polls?

As you become busy in your chamber this week, I want to congratulate you, too, on being a very calm team leader of the Nyasaland Electoral Commission (NEC).

You held the entire nervous citizenry of this country in your hands as everyone from Chitipa to Nsanje patiently waited for the moment f truth at the press conferences where you gave out nothing.

My Lord, the race was not for the fainthearted as we noted that it was not all about the hype, the paraphernalia and accoutrements otherwise the Baby Atipatsa with his popular Thupi lonse Malunga should have been sweeping the votes but alas! his party has been obliterated at the same rate the song gained currency.

My Lord, Sauli put up a gallant fight within the few months that he launched his party and campaign.

Lazaro and Mapuya provided the entertainment that almost caused heart attacks to some watchers. Forget about the democratic vote and all that nonsense. These two have demonstrated that most African parties are built around a base of some kind be it ethnical or otherwise.

As long as the party’s ideology goes beyond massaging the parochial egos of a tribe that dominates it, the tribal base becomes irrelevant when the parties accommodate the interests of everyone, something that has not been the case if you look at what has been happening in Nyasaland.

My Lord, it is my hope that we will now start practising inclusive politics for the betterment of the country.

But the real job is on how the winner will unite this polarised nation.

My Lord, I believe you will manage to convince these outdated leaders who are sticking to obsolete technology that they need rebooting as well.

Congratulations all losers and winners.

Regards,

Nzika Yeniyeni