Panel beating Malawi

Panel beaters are essential workers. They repair wrecked vehicle bodies back to their factory state.

This is what the independent judges in the High Court and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal have done to Malawi’s democracy lately.

The country needed panel beating from way back.

By nullifying the shoddy 2019 presidential election and ordering a fresh poll, the judges put our democracy back in shape without fear or favour.

The requirement for the winner to get over half of the votes will make Malawi one. No one should pretend to be more Malawian than the entire citizenry.

The new Malawi does not need a super-tribe with more rights and entitlements than any other.

For years, some tribes, regions and foreigners affiliated to governing parties have enjoyed a monopoly of State-sponsored business.

That was an accident and the new panel beating should help those in power to be at the service of the nation, not political masters and executive looters.

The governing party should also stop abusing MBC because the State broadcaster is funded by taxpayers of different political creed.

The panel beaters in Judiciary will have laboured in vain if the verdict does not bring peace and order after protracted unrest caused by electoral irregularities.

Their labour should liberate overzealous civil servants to realise that appeasement of ruling elites is not a qualification for promotion.

They should jealously protect their academic qualifications and professional experience for that is what matters.

The court outcome will forever be remembered for reshaping the way politicians run State business, a wake-up call to stop taking Malawians for granted.

It was sad that some people formed a super-tribe because of sheer numbers.

The constitutional definition of ‘majority’ in favour of the 50+1 electoral system has corrected past mistakes and added value to our democracy.

This should overwrite intolerable bigotry like “we can do without the Northern Region” and “the President will freeze development projects in the North because voters are not grateful”.

What a shame!

The panel beating should halt the business-as-usual mentality of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration.

It will uplift Malawi if right people take jobs benefitting their qualifications, a shift from entrenched placation, cronyism, nepotism and bootlicking.

Certainly, some people are not happy with the hammering by the court because they cannot continue to take Malawians for granted and sustain unwarranted financial trappings from looting public wealth.

It is a wish of well-meaning Malawians that this healing process should continue until the country is dignifying and rewarding for all.

By the time the hammer crashed to the table for the audience to stand, the court had rescued the nation from vultures who captured our democracy with their curved beaks. The neglected State capture has to end because it benefits few greedy politicians and their bedfellows.

It is quite disheartening to hear some misguided souls denouncing the courts for panel beating Mother Malawi.

To them, let it be known: What Malawians are witnessing is not death of democracy, but a delayed renewal that must continue even though it pierces like a thorn in the flesh of those who benefitted from  the status quo.

The news from the courts has brought enormous joy to Malawians who wish this country prosperity, not political stunting.

However, this exuberance is a huge warning to politicians and public servants who take Malawians with contempt to stop taking the nation as their personal estate.

Let us enjoy the new Malawi created by the court and those who stood by rule of law while remembering that no one is above the law.

Independent courts deserve respect.