Emily Mkamanga

The humiliation of Vice-Presidents

The more things want to change, the more they remain the same.  A typical example in Malawi is the presidency.  It is very clear that despite the provision of a Vice-President in the Constitution, most Presidents have shown that they prefer not to be deputised and go it alone just like Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

When Malawians were fighting for democracy in the early 1990s, greed for power is one of the things they were fighting against.  As it were, Kamuzu did not fancy the idea of having a Vice-President and, indeed, throughout his three decades rule he was not deputised.  There was nothing much people could do as Kamuzu was an absolute ruler.

Meanwhile, experience in the democratic Malawi has shown that, though the Malawi Constitution allows for the existence of a Vice-President, the Presidents seem to indicate that do not need a deputy.  This tradition has been passed down from one President to the other.  Whether this is by design or not is anybody’s guess.  The only time would-be Vice-Presidents enjoy a cordial relationship with their bosses is during campaign time.

Without doubt, they even discuss how they would rule Malawi to make sure they bring development.  Surprisingly, even if they win the elections, their relationship starts getting sour.  Surprisingly, the grape vine is full of stories about the President complaining that his Vice-President is not up to the task. This is very unfair.  As running mates during elections, they were just equal to the Presidential candidates. Therefore, the Presidents just show their greed for power by demeaning their deputies.

The current Vice-President is Saulos Chilima, who has so far had his own share of humiliation.  He has been stripped of all the duties to the extent that he has nothing much to do for the country.  Probably, the idea of taking away all the responsibilities is to show to the people of Malawi that he is irrelevant.  It is even naïve for people to ask Chilima to resign.  No one under normal circumstances can do it because it means forsaking your salary and pensions for no cause of yourself.

To say the truth, it is so disheartening to see a President and their Vice-President at loggerheads.  This hatred includes the President using demeaning and derogatory words on the Vice-President to the amazement of his sycophants and hero-worshippers, while leaving the rest of the people wondering about the type of leadership the country has.

Furthermore, the culture of silence has even legalised the hostile behaviours between the top most leaders.  Normally, the executive committee of the party in power should be in a position to settle the hostile situation between the President and the deputy.  This is not done. Instead, the Veep gets all the blame for unknown reasons.  To be fair, the blame should go to the President for behaving like a dictator.

By extension, the President ignores the deputy in the line of duty, then it goes without saying that he finds the voice of the Cabinet members too irrelevant.  The members are just there as rubber stamps. This might be contributing to the reasons Malawi can hardly progress. People with good ideas are being suppressed.

As Malawians are desperately waiting for the 2019 elections, one can only appeal to Presidential candidates to choose proper running mates, who are as good as themselves.  In every situation there is a breaking point.

For the past 25 years Vice-Presidents have received all manner of public humiliation for not being liked by the Presidents.  It is time, this has to stop.  It is not good to just like a running mate for getting votes then after winning the elections, they are irrelevant.

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