Nothing to lose for Jose, DPP

In the timeline leading to the demise of Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa in 2011, the name of the newly confirmed Inspector General Rodney Jose is conspicuously littered all over the report of the commission of inquiry which former President Joyce Banda instituted when she came into office.

According to the report, the then Police Commissioner (South) was the go between for Chasowa and his crew to the extent of driving them to Lilongwe to meet the then Inspector General Peter Mukhito and how they crossed paths reads like a poorly written drama series which ended abruptly with Chasowa’s lifeless body on the ground at the college campus.

In the convoluted wisdom of President Peter Mutharika and his advisors, Jose is a proper and fit person to run the security agency that is Malawi Police Service (MPS) and this profile presented to Parliament described him as a man who had displayed ‘exemplary’ behaviour in his police career.

Innocence until proven guilty applies to Jose as well, his dealings when he was a Police Commissioner (South) notwithstanding.

Despite protests from various quarters on his appointment, Parliament with an arsenal of government members of Parliament (MPs) confirmed the appointment using glorying terms to describe Jose.

Deep down their hearts, the MPs who voted yes to his confirmation knew that Jose was a questionable candidate for the position of IG but when partisan politics rule and functions of the brain are suspended, bad decisions such as that of on Thursday is the result.

Look, his alleged involvement in Chasowa’s death is there in black and white for all to see and if it did not blemish his career in the police service, the list of issues outlined by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in protesting his appointment, needed another look.

Since his appointment as acting IG pending the retirement of Lexten Kachama on June 30, Jose has failed to exert authority over the police who in the short period of time have left perpetrators of political violence go scot-free.

Under his watch, unruly DPP cadres have disrupted opposition political rallies to the extent of firing teargas at a seemingly innocent meeting between the MCP vice-president Sidik Mia and vendors in Blantyre.

At the time that Mutharika’s administration was being lauded for ensuring the media work without fear and intimidation, it is the police under Jose that ruined an otherwise good record in the beating of Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) journalists in Mzuzu last week.

The opposition is right to fear, as all Malawians should, that Jose is capable of leading security officers who display behaviour befitting individuals employed to protect and defend persons and property.

With the Tripartite Elections around the corner, all eyes will be on the police and how they will handle the volatile situation that comes with the campaign period.

But if the past three months are any indication, Jose’s leadership does not inspire confidence that this will happen.

MCP was right to question how Parliament could confirm a man whose short stint in the high office has been characterised by not only displays of violent behaviour from his officers, but turning a blind eye to what they term sensitive investigations.

Jose will be leading a police service that is not trusted by some quarters of society—top of the list being the media and civil society—and it is sad when those who ticked ‘yes’ to the new IG did not care about the impact that having such a man at Area 30 will have on the trust and credibility of the security services.

If Jose cared about his image or thought like a politician, he would do well to start courting the opposition, assure them he understands their position and he will be a changed man from now onwards.

Those who know the man well will disagree that Jose has such a remorseful and conciliatory bone in his body and he will do no such thing.

All in all, the appointing authority and the 95 MPs who supported Jose’s appointment have nothing to lose. His blemished past and poor track record will have little bearing on them.

Until November, 2019 when his career in the Police comes to an end, he is to hoping that the next administration will do something about this regretful action that took place this week.