To defame the dead or not

October 5 2023

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning

We will remember them.

These are the lyrics of The Last Post, the solemn song often played in honour of foreign heroes. Originally meant for old soldiers who never died but faded away, this is the very song that was played as John Tembo was laid to rest in Dedza.

Accorded all military honours, including observing a minute’s silence, presentation of the national flag, a Three Volley Salute and laying of wreath, here was a seal of an era.

We will remember people like John Tembo, for good and bad and even for worse.

Born in 1932, Tembo began his political career in 1961 when he was elected Member of Parliament for Dedza under a Nyasaland African Congress ticket, before he became the first Malawian Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet and held numerous portfolios. Apart from being the MCP treasurer general and its president, he contested in 2004 and 2009. His political curtain was drawn in August 2013 when Lazarus Chakwera beat 10 other contestants, including Tembo, at a party convention in Lilongwe.

What can we make of Tembo’s death?

I am torn, as a human being to take a stand, as the death and burial can be taken from several perceptions.

On the one part, my Chewa cultural identity pulls me to the left. Never malign the dead. Ay, never speak bad about those who are gone.

Yet, on the other hand, a media law lesson tells me you never defame the dead. Your lines can’t be libelous against one who is gone to the river, nor can your spoken word be used against you as slander when they are gone. So, as a journalist, one can be free to express the flip side without fear of contradiction.

Then, in the middle of my being, I held the pastor, apostle, evangelist and preacher quote the Bible often: Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Judge not that you may not be judged!

So, in this vein, God’s judgment is far above our part to add or detract. So let it be with JZU.

It appears, from the eulogies, that Tembo was a firm supporter of family as the nucleus for society. From his children, village chiefs, relatives of his Sotho wife Ruth who passed away in 2015 and others it is clear that one of the best things Tembo held in high esteem was his family.

From the party, it is clear that Tembo was unity, loyalty, obedience and discipline in person. That is from his positions in the National Executive Committee where he rose from Treasurer General to party president and leader of opposition in Parliament

Do I need to remind how much Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba praised Tembo for his roles in government?

The issue of not defaming the dead could not have come to play here had it not been for one village headman Mphenzi who spoke to praise Tembo could not have said what he did in his eulogy. Out of the bittrerness of his heart, he said Tembo’s image was tarnished by some fellow politicians. In his words, Tembo could never harm a fly and was more respected in countries like Lesotho (where he accompanied him) than here at home.

In fact, Mphenzi said he and the family had forgiven Malawians for hating Tembo for no reason.

The thought of never defaming the dead came to mind when Professor Zimani Kadzamira took to the podium and in his grief alluded to a similar fact that much of Tembo’s cruelty was exaggerated, more so with social media.

So, as Tembo enjoyed the military honours, my thoughts went back to Makanda Village in Lukwa’s area in Kasungu in May 1983 when Aaron Gadama was denied a proper burial. There was no virgil at his home in Lilongwe as an MCP chairman, Kantogo Mwale had ordered no mourning.

In Bemvu Village in Ntcheu, home for the MCP secretary general Dick Matenje, there were no military  honours! The Last Post was not sounded at David Chiwanga’s Ndamela Village in T/A Kasisi, Chikwawa. For that matter, do you even want to know about Twaibu Sangala’s Village?

Well, Mphenzi and Kadzamira ought to remember that the Mwanza Four only got military honours in 1993 after their remains were exhumed during the Mwanza Trial, with Tembo as one of the prime suspects.

A truth and reconciliation committee should have sorted this issue a long time back, while Tembo lived.