Emily Mkamanga

Malawians gripped with fear

If people are under a failed government, as is the case in Malawi, what follows is the fear for their survival.

It must be mentioned that the genesis of a failed government is by having a clueless leader. All they care about is their survival in power.

It is sad that even if the curriculum vitae (CV) of a President shows that he/she has never been successful in running anything, he/he still bribes his/her way into power. There is no hope for such a man to suddenly change and be successful in running a country.

In fact, one can achieve to be a President, but if they do not know what to do with it, the end result is dragging the country into perpetual poverty. Probably, it might be by design to make people poor so that they can easily be manipulated or cheated.

Apart from the fear created by the failed Peter Mutharika government, Malawians are in another fear mode—about the outcome of the election case at the Constitutional Court. Political party leaders and other leaders are being advised to ask their supporters to behave properly regardless of which way the judgment goes. Honestly speaking, this is easier said than done. Malawians will likely take their future into their own hands.

The ball is in the hands of security agents to prove their worth and control the situation. Most people are aware that the situation would not have reached this stage of having a nail-biting trial if President Mutharika resigned after the big demonstrations. These were the very demonstrations which had never happened to Malawi against a government. In fact, Mutharika would not have been the first one to give in to the demonstrators and stand down. Recently, Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri resigned after two weeks of demonstrations by protestors. Also, not long ago, Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned amid poll protests.

Since President Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah have not considered resigning, this has triggered all manner of demonstrations which, in the process, have soured the relationship between the police and people. The police’s behaviour in reacting to protests has left a lot to be desired. Instead of protecting Malawians, most of them have behaved like they are a wing of the ruling party.

Just imagine, in Msundwe, Lilongwe, police were alleged to have been raping women and girls instead of stopping the chaos that they went for. In this case, Malawian women will always fear their police as they have been vulnerable to rape. Overall, Malawians have lost trust in the police whereby reporting cases to the police is just a formality as no action is likely to be taken.

In this country, now nothing seems to work. There is so much hunger in rural areas and one wonders where the maize is that the President has been talking about. In addition, there is no security worth writing home about. Performance of the government is at the lowest ebb.

Above all, the question that most people ask is about where the country is heading to under President Mutharika. Honestly speaking, neither the President nor his Cabinet can give a convincing answer to the question. People have no choice but to continue fearing for their future.

Most Malawians want change of government as a solution to their fear. They tried to do it through the ballot and, unfortunately, they have been fraudulently denied; hence, the current watershed election trial.

Putting people into a perpetual fearing mode is the worst thing the government has done. The future looks bleak and any sensible leader would feel guilty and resign.

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