Dear Judge Mbadwa,
My Lord, the People’s Demagogic Party (PDP) has officially resumed its role at the helm.
And Mapuya wasted no time in reminding us this won’t be a walk in the park though judging by the size of the entourage, it certainly began as a lavish, blue-draped victory jog.
In true original Simbi Yamoto fashion, (by the way Mapuya has now installed Simbi’s son as Nyasaland’s second vice-president) Mapuya asked the nation: ‘munipeko nyengo’(to give his administration time. A noble and almost reflexive request, but one that political history rarely honours.
Time, my Lord, is not a neutral arbiter; it is a ruthless, accelerating companion to governing parties. It speeds up precisely when policy promises stall and crawls to a frustrating halt when citizens are forced to queue for fuel, sugar, forex or for forgotten vital reforms.
Mapuya may not have noticed, but the political terrain has shifted dramatically since his last reign.
Social media now functions as a perpetual 24-hour tribunal and the court of public opinion is more unforgiving than your own bench.
Every policy decision, every visible pothole and every presidential pause is dissected in real time.
It would be an act of folly to assume that policies from 2019 can be recycled in 2025 without accounting for this new, digitally demanding reality. What worked then may now be as outdated as the Cockerel’s tired campaign jingles.
And speaking of the Cockerel, my Lord, let us not forget how it pecked itself into irrelevance.
Mapuya must resist the urge to repeat that fatal flaw: picking unnecessary political fights purely to appear relevant. The applause of the inauguration day is short-lived; it can quickly dissolve into the sighs of disillusioned voters.
The euphoria of victory is fleeting. In Nyasalandese politics, a week feels like a year and the same citizens who cheered your return will soon demand receipts. If they do not see the systemic changes they voted for, a strange nostalgia for the Cockerel’s chaos; yes, even that chaos, may creep back in.
Blaming the previous regime will only work for so long. Lazaro’s team tried that tired tactic and it collapsed faster than a campaign promise on a gravel road. The people want solutions and not scapegoats.
So, my Lord, if “hitting the ground running” feels too cliché, perhaps Mapuya should consider the wisdom of the early bird. After all, worms don’t wait for manifestos.
It is time to govern, not to politick.
Your esteemed civic friend,
John Citizen.
