Dear Diary,
Very fond greetings from the Munda wa Chitedze Farm where I relocated from the hustle and bustle of your city. Peace, and only peace, reigns on the farm and we are happy.
It is not like in your city, where people are suffering in peace as the economy continues to spiral down at a roller coaster speed.
You see, since I attended a few political rallies in so many years, on September 8 2025 I was at one of the spots in Blantyre where former President Peter Mutharika was scheduled to address the people about what the future holds beyond the General Election.
I dare not add that before that particular stop over, the people waited for close to four hours and at one point it rained, but the people were all engulfed with patient expectation.
Some of them were complaining that they had spent a few hours at a queue spot selling fuel on the black market because the illegal supplier had run out of stocks! They were lucky to have bought at least 15 litres at K75 000.
Some of the women were worried that the maize price, at K60 000 over 10 kilogramme bag was way too much but all that ended when Mutharika arrived. The faces were beaming with joy! Somebody even called him the messiah.
You see, APM enjoyed prime time in this tour, as jubilant supporters cheered him as he spoke against the socio-economic ills Malawi was facing. His speech also highlighted the ‘persecution’ DPP officials were facing. DPP Southern Region vice-president Joseph Mwanamvekha, national organising secretary and legislator Sameer Suleman were arrested on some charges, while there was a warrant of arrest hanging over the head of director of youth Norman Chisale.
Former presidential adviser on economics Collins Magalasi, former Secretary to the President and Cabinet Lloyd Muhara and former Secretary to the Treasury Cliff Chiunda and ex-Green Belt Authority Company Secretary Jimmy Kusamale were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the K447.5 billion fraud at Salima Suga Company Limited.
APM’s point was that these were politically-motivated arrests aimed at distracting people’s attention from the woes Malawians were facing.
Dear Diary, it has always been said that Malawian politicians use the law as a rod in a fight. When they are in power, they will always use the rod to whip those who have been ousted. Nothing good to write home about this sad situation.
It is a fact that those involved in such heinous crimes have to face the long arm of the law. But where such arrests are seen to be political ploys, they are just a useless drain on the resources.
Look at this, only this week the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court committed to the High Court a case involving UTM President Dalitso Kabambe and others for misappropriating Covid-19 funds when he was Reserve Bank of Malawi governor.
And while we are at it, Aford president Enoch Chihana, UTM Party presidential hopeful Newton Kambala and former Chakwera’s adviser Chris Chaima Banda were also in court for alleged deals at the National Oil Company of Malawi.
The coincidence that all these cases involving opposition leaders should be revived here and now is surprising! Why the clamp down on opposition leaders.
Yet, other cases involving MCP officials did not go beyond a mere probe as far as a normal thinking person in society can see. So you see, right now there is a shady government-to-government deal on fuel. We are told 51 million litres of petroleum products will be arriving in the country to ease the fuel-shortage pressures.
The question of when that will happen is a matter of little consequence. But then, what are the pricing, terms and conditions of this procurement arrangement?
We needed proper documentation on what the deals are all about. Otherwise, creating emergencies and bringing in fast-tracked solutions has always ended up in oiling corruption. Remember how Sam Mpasu said the Fieldyork exercise book deal was done since there was an urgency to cushion pressures from the free primary school education? Remember what George Chaponda said about a house being on fire when some shoddy deals were conducted in the Ministry of Agriculture?
Unfortunately, any culprits in the Chakwera administration may face the music if, God forbid, the MCP government is booted out at the September 16 General Election.
