August 7 2025
Greetings from the Munda wa Chitedze Farm where I relocated from the hustle and bustle of your city. Peace and only peace and tranquility prevail here and we are living in harmony, in spite of dirty reports of political violence.
You see, this year’s Independence Day celebrations happened without the usual fanfare and pomp. People are not able to go to the toilet on empty stomachs as there is no food to keep them afloat. Where did the Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda’s dream that his people should not sleep in houses that do not leak when it rains?
The people here are going against the odds, with or without violence and they were set for the launch of the campaign that started on Monday, July 14 2025 and will end on September 14.
Dear Diary, at the moment the voice of Botswana President Duma Boko is still ringing in their ears. What he said at the Independence Dinner is resonating well with the people. Without mincing words, Boko said it was only proper that those who feel they have already made it in the coming elections should stand aside when they lose.
Very wise words. He reminded us all that in October he ousted the Botswana Democratic Party, which ruled the country for 58 years. All contestants go to the polls with a win in mind, so like the Botswana leader, losers, including the ruling party must be ready to accept the results even when they go against their wishful thinking.
As we speak, the Malawi Electoral Commission has approved 17 presidential hopefuls for the September 16 election. As we speak, it appears Malawians will just have to follow the Roman Catholic bishop’s advice of choosing the lesser evil among the leaders on offer.
At the Munda wa Chitedze Farm, we can’t agree more. You see, the current Malawi Congress Party-led government has shot itself in the foot by looking the other way when people have been reminding them of their promises in the run up to the Tripartite Election in 2019 and the subsequent Fresh Presidential Elections in 2020.
Regrettably, the Tonse Alliance dream shrunk to a Tonse Are Liars governance.
But then, does the opposition offer a better appetite for Malawians to look at the next election with eagerness? Not sure.
Look, President Lazarus Chakwera’s hottest contender seems to be Democratic Progressive Party’s Peter Mutharika. It is clear that some are using the age card to discredit Mutharika.
They are not totally wrong. Of course, it all rests on Mutharika to decide whether he will contest or not, but it is all clear that age has caught up with him.
It is not surprising that while other contestants, like Joyce Banda of the People’s Party, UTM’s Dalitso Kabambe and United Democratic Front’s Atupele Muluzi, were on the road daily to woo voters even before the official campaign period was launched!
Mutharika is still in a cocoon, and with the way Munda wa Chitedze is cold, it is not clear if he will pay us a visit for a vote or two.
You see, the worry is that the situation appears to be like that of Dr. Banda who was forced on a campaign trail when all cards were stacked against him, especially in terms of age.
I don’t know what the Malawi Network for Eldely People Organisations (Manepo) would say if Malawians voted Mutharika to power, given that that would be some kind of violence against the elderly.
At the Munda wa Chitedze Farm we believe in inclusion, but we also hold common sense to be the drive. There are some forces pushing for Mutharika’s return. It is these hands that people may look at with suspicious eyes.
Truth hurts. But, as they say, lies kill.
Dear Diary, let us face it that it was with a heavy heart that we received the news at the farm of the demise of Juliana Mwase, the disability rights activist. She died a couple of weeks ago of high blood pressure at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre and was laid to rest in Monkey Bay, Mangochi on July 6.
Malawi has lost a fearless fighter. She had multiple disabilities, but that did not stop her from keeping on fighting. In fact, she was the councillor responsible for people with disabilities at the Blantyre City Council.
She had hearing, speech and mobility impairments, but she was always jovial. The other day, she had to ‘ambush’ a church service at Mthawira Parish just to raise the point how people with hearing problems stay at home from churches because they get nothing!
Her role as chairperson of the Malawi National Association for the Deaf cannot be overemphansised. She led the fight for the national broadcaster MBC-TV to engage sign language interpreters! She was influential in setting up district branches of the association across the country.
As she lies buried, I remember how she told the story of being beaten up by a nurse because she did not hear her commands as she was expecting to deliver her first child. Slapped just because the medical personnel could not communicate to her properly.
To honour her, can’t someone pick up a fight to have sign language on the school curriculum as a subject every pupil must learn from Standard One to Eight? This will help them in whatever profession they will grow into.
Dear Diary, my heart is with her and I must pose till it comes back to me when this fight is won.
