Jappie Mhango and Pipe’s loose tongues

First it was Minister of Transport and Public Works Jappie Mhango who made a racist slur against Malawi Congress Party (MCP) member Sidik Mia.

At a rally he addressed in the North a month ago, Mhango said Malawi did away with colonialists—Bazungu—many years ago and that it would be retrogressive for Malawians to vote for MCP which had Mia—a Mzungu—as a member. Mhango’s reference to Mia, as someone who was not supposed to be anywhere near the country’s leadership was unfortunate and retrogressive.

This was discrimination of the highest order. The Constitution of the Republic of Malawi does not allow this.

A month after Mhango made the remarks, I am still yet to hear a senior member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) let alone President Peter Mutharika, publicly condemn or reprimand Mhango for his racist remarks. In fact what message do such statements send to DPP members who are not black? DPP’s failure to condemn Mhango gives one the impression that the remarks do not raffle any feathers within the hierarchy of the DPP.

No-one who cares in DPP can tell me Mhango’s racist slur was a small thing. And I am not creating a mountain out of a molehill. If a party can sweep a racist statement of that magnitude under the carpet just like that, what do you expect? More of the same.

That is the reason DPP regional governor for the East, Julius Pipe, made a similar remark last week.

Pipe allegedly asked people in Makanjira not to vote for MCP because one of its influential members, Mia, who is a Muslim would bring war into the country. Now this is a very divisive statement.

Maybe Pipe has a short memory. Bakili Muluzi who is a devout Muslim was president of this country from 1994 to 2004. Did he bring war to Malawi? Cassim Chilumpha, another Muslim to boot, was vice-president between June 2004 and 2009. Did he bring war into the country? Many Muslims have held and still hold senior positions in government. Have they brought war to Malawi?

The remarks by Pipe, who is not an ordinary member of the DPP, is an indictment on all Muslims in Malawi. Pipe is declaring war on Muslims and is actually the one who is bringing war in Malawi. This is dangerous. Muslims are justified to feel offended by his statement.

Malawi is a peaceful country, where people of different faith groups live together in harmony, but people like Pipe don’t seem to be happy with that.

Just to show that Muslims are peaceful people, see what two Sheikhs Yahaya and Yasin say. They are calling on the Muslim faithful to refrain from violence and remain calm. That is what Islam teaches and embodies.

I am not a Muslim myself but have many Muslim friends who are very peaceful people. In fact, some of my best neighbours, workmates and friends have been Muslims.

Calling on President Mutharika to publicly condemn his senior party official is not asking for too much. Muthrika should indeed condemn Pipe for the benefit of the country and indeed for Pipe’s own benefit for his senseless remarks.

Doing so will be inculcating a message of peace, calm, law, order and religious tolerance among people of various religious groupings in the country. Simply distancing DPP from Pipe’s statement as the DPP spokesperson Francis Kasaila has done is not enough. Especially now when the 2019 election fever is fast setting in. People should tame their tongues. They should desist from using religion, creed, race, colour and tribal differences to fan divisions among the people.

Malawi Electoral Commission also has a role to play in putting a stop to such issues. I reckon this is well spelt out in its Code of Ethics for Elections.

There are so many other issues that politicians can use to woo voters or whip up against their political opponents. But please leave religion alone. It is a very dangerous terrain.