About APM’s no-show at JZU’s funeral
What did Nicholous Dausi, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson, say at the funeral of John Zenus Ungapake Tembo on Wednesday in Dedza? I heard nothing of substance. And he communicated nothing serious. Save for just making people laugh. Yes, Dausi succeeded in making a cartoon of the DPP leadership’s absence from the function.
In the first place, Dausi was introduced at the funeral service at Dedza Stadium as representing the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa. Dausi was given a blank slate to say anything he wanted and the man took full advantage of it. His eulogy, if his speech can qualify to be such, summarized the total confusion in DPP.
But that, in my view, is a small issue. The bigger issue is why Nankhumwa sent a representative. Was he sick? Or out of the country? I fail to understand why he did not attend the funeral in person. As an aspiring DPP presidential candidate, his presence at the funeral of a political luminary like John Tembo would have scored him huge political mileage. Especially after Peter Mutharika, the DPP leader and former president of the Republic of Malawi’s no-show at this very important event for no apparent reason save for his ego.
It was only two months ago when Malawi lost former finance minister Goodall Gondwe, a distinguished economist who will go down in the history of the country as one of its best Minister of Finance. And Mutharika went all the way to Enukweni in Mzimba, about 1300 kilometers round trip from his Page House in Mangochi, to bury Goodall? So why was it so difficult for him going to Dedza which is less than 300 kilometers round trip from Mangochi? I think it has to be pride. Too much ego is consuming Mutharika. He did not want to play second fiddle to President Lazarus Chakwera who was the highest ranking public figure at the funeral. But does that really matter?
Yes, for Mutharika it does. The man has not accepted that Chakwera is now the President of this country or that he trounced him fair and square at the court-sanctioned presidential elections in 2020.
Truth is that conversely Mutharika would have gained so much political mileage if he had just humbled himself and shown up at the function even for just a few hours. All the former presidents were there: Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda and their former vice-presidents. Anybody would have forgiven Muluzi if he had not gone to the funeral considering his health. One thing I presume he is well advised to minimise or avoid at all cost is travelling long distances whether by road or air. But Muluzi was there. Despite all the vitriol that Muluzi used to hurl into JZU’s face during the 2004 presidential campaign, he still had the courage, wisdom and humility to attend the funeral.
Again, Mutharika’s absence at JZU’s funeral epitomizes the height of confusion and chaos in the DPP leadership hierarchy.
Back to Dausi. Instead it is Dausi who gained in every aspect and respect. He still has the wisdom to know where interparty hatred starts or ends, and where culture takes over or overrides all of them when it comes to issues of death and giving last respects to the deceased. You don’t shun a funeral of someone you have interacted with for so long simply because of differences in political affiliation. It also looks like Mutharika has very poor or weak advisors if at all he has any.
