Listen to Evison Matafale, seriously

In No winner, No loser, the great reggae musician, Evison  Matafale, founder of the Black Missionaries Band, reminds us that in a political competition, such as an election, there is no loser. 

In part, the song goes:

Jah, the wise says

Well, I called you here

I want you to tell the politicians

As they contend for leadership

Leadership of Africa

The crying Africa

This is a ruling from Jah

We have no enemy within

So after the people vote, I don’t want hear  of losers and winners

Because enemies wanna use that to instigate the supposed losers

No, there is no winner (because) people have just entrusted you

No, there is no loser because even the supposed loser may make to the parliament to operate as the opposition….

Wise words. The real winner during elections is democracy; the people’s choice.  The people are the winners. The party that goes on to form government alone or in an alliance is expected to serve the people, the real winners who have invested their hopes in that party.

The party that loses an election still wins because it goes on to parliament to operate as the minority whose role is to provide alternative ideas, checks and balances. Together the parties in parliament form the government of the people.

The song is a reminder that we, Malawians, are one and there is no enemy amongst us.

Those who think those in the Opposition or Minority are not in government should think again, Matafale says.  The leader of the opposition or minority and the leader of the majority sit down in the parliament’s business to decide the agenda of the parliamentary debates. MPs are evenly distributed in the parliamentary committees.

As MPs, they draw the same of amount money in allowances and salaries. Whether one is a PhD holder and another is a PSLCE [Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education] holder does not matter.  They laugh together, dine together, wine together, swear together, curse together, and, of course, drink and get drunk together. 

What matters is that the MPs are each serving their constituents and came to Parliament through the same route—elections.

Now, if one examines what is happening in our parliament one suspects an enemy is instigating the chaos therein and is remote-controlling utterances of some members of Parliament. 

It is incomprehensible that as a response to the president’s state of the nation address, a leader of a minority can ridicule everything happening in Malawi.  Mary Navicha, in her role as Leader of DPP, perhaps under the influence of the enemy Matafale sings against, wasted her precious time and failed to impress us that she is the next ‘katundu’. Instead, she spent time campaigning for someone who told us in broad daylight that he retired from politics.

Even worse, she told the world that the Tonse Alliance government has done nothing except to change names of infrastructure.  Is that an issue? Really? 

Rangely Stadium in Blantyre, built by the Nyasaland government, was renamed Kamuzu Stadium by the MCP led by Kamuzu Banda, Chilambula Road, built by the MCP government led by Kamuzu Banda was renamed Kagame by the DPP government led by (ka)Ngwazi Bingu wa Mutharika, Lilongwe National Stadium, built by the PP government led by Joyce Banda was renamed Bingu National Stadium by the DPP government led by Peter Mutharika.

The Mangochi-Nsanama-Liwonde Road built by the UDF government led by Bakili Muluzi was renamed Bakili Muluzi Highway by UDF government led by Bingu wa Mutharika.

What was the name of the Peter Mutharika Highway before Peter Mutharika gave it his name? Is naming a hospital after John Chilembwe really bad?

Presidents have the authority to name infrastructure and we should not be spending time, precious parliamentary time, on names of infrastructure.  Madame Navicha should free herself from the enemy that is remote-controlling her so that she provides alternative ideas that will contribute to the development of Malawi. And inspire hope in us that Malawi could soon have the second female president.

And this is a ruling from Jah, the wise, as Matafale would have said.