From my little dark shack

Last night was a perilous night. I was arguing with myself over this and that. I could not come to agree within me over so many things. I kept on searching for answers which were nowhere to be found. It really felt like looking for a black radio in a dark room which was not there.

It may all have been because of the thought that Mr Splash Geoffrey Kapusa, who succumbed to diabetes on Tuesday would be buried today at Mkanda Village in Malosa, Zomba. Oh death, where is thy sting! Geoffrey was a celebrity of his own calibre, who brought fun from nowhere.

When you look at what were supposed to be music videos at the time, you can laugh, or shed a tear. But then, the Mr Splash presentation skills swept us off our feet. It’s a pity he is gone.

So, Dear Diary, I was turning and turning in this dark and perilous night. My mind is as stormy and pitch black as the atmosphere I lay.

Well, it could be that the gloomy feeling emanates that people love to raise a hill out of a molehill just like that. You see, in his wise and dynamic leadership, President Lazarus Chakwera decided to break the jinx and send Vice-President Saulos Chilima to represent him at the 60th Union Day celebration in Tanzania and some want to question why now?

The naysayers claim Chakwera is only doing so because we are slowly but surely going into the election year so he has to play the rat that bites your finger and soothes you there and then.

Others, in this cacophony of political jabs, claim: Why send him to mere celebrations, not the United Nations General Assembly?

But in my turning and turning, I could see even in that darkness, Chilima accompanying Chakwera everywhere in his tours and travels across the country.

That is where things got darker for me, Dear Diary. Why all this gallivanting?

Figure this, the other day Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola mentioned that the Malawi economy under the Tonse Alliance hinged upon the Sosisa notion. He indicated that the Sosten Gwengwe as Minister of Trade, Chithyola as Finance Minister and Sam Kawale as Agriculture Minister were the benchmark for the economy.

Presenting the budget, Chakwera brought a totally different notion: The ATM profile, featuring Agriculture, Tourism and Mining as the key players to the economy.

We can talk about the paradigm shif t from the Sosisa notion to the ATM principle later. For now, one would wonder how a whole week could be dedicated to forums and expos on these sectors.

In May, there will be the International Trade Fair, and all these sectors will be there to share the roles they play in their different areas. Then somewhere in August, there will be the National Agriculture Fair while sometime in September tourism exhibitions will be all over the place.

This, in the dark and dreary state I have been in, is duplication that only benefits a few people.

As I write, very soon, you will be hearing of various tribes holding their cultural gatherings, not to mention the new national unity day!

And by the way, seeing President Chakwera dancing to a strange dance masquerading as Ingoma at the Bingu International Conference Centre during working hours really made me wonder what nation we are becoming that chooses to play during working hours!

The point is, as I lay in my darkest state, the thought that bothered me the most is that there is a battle raging even within these the ATM. When opening the mining forum, it was interesting to note that the Akatsiwiri Holdings were given the floor to make a presentation on behalf of other ‘investors’.

Here is the controversy: Akatswiri Holdings have been conducting mining searches for rare earths at the Chambe Basin on Mount Mulanje. Now, this is a space tourism enthusiasts and env i ronmental i s ts would rather remain intact.

So there, instead of dancing during working hours, the government must have been sitting at the table of brotherhood to sort out this little bundle of contradictions.

The bottom line from my dungeon: Governing by dancing, for dancers and by dancers will not work. Talk-show time is over.n

‘Here is the controversy: Akatswiri Holdings have been conducting mining searches for rare earths at the Chambe Basin on Mount Mulanje. Now, this is a space tourism enthusiasts and environmentalists would rather remain intact’