Dear judge Mbadwa,
My lord, I am getting used to the political drama that is played in every election calendar.
By now, my lord, you should be wiser by now to understand that wisdom is one of the qualities that elude politicians who are intoxicated with power.
My lord, in case you are wondering where I am trying to drag this conversation to. Well, have you noted how veteran politicians are making a fool of themselves and of their party, too, for selfish reasons in this time of primaries?
Political leaders are ready to help their party lose a seat or two because they want to show that they actually call the shots and have more influence than their political rival within their camp.
So, this kind, with their inflated ego, is ready to impose candidates that the electorate would not vote for in particular constituents or wards.
Usually they court bootlickers who will be forced to pay allegiance to the kingmaker who ‘raised them from the dust and the dung hill’.
Sometimes they impose a candidate that belongs to their old club on the basis that he or she holds a senior position in the party regardless of their dismal performance at constituency level.
My lord, this madness of imposing cuts across all parties in Nyasaland as we have come to acknowledge that primaries are usually a fixed affair.
Parties in Nyasaland are basically cartels that pretend to have the welfare of the people at heart.
In fact, most independent members of the Nyasaland Legislative Council are candidates that support parties that frustrated them either at primaries or even before that process on the account that they do not dance to sad tunes of the party’s ‘king makers’.
I was not, therefore, surprised to hear the machinations in the Cockerel Party to deal with a newcomer who has now stolen a shine from veterans.
From People’s Demagogic Party to the least of them all, you get an impression that political parties are exclusive clubs with the right of admission reserved.
The Cockerel Party is failing to face its demons now and some primaries matter is the subject of the court of law now and, of course, not your tribunal.
My lord, I always say that politics happens in a fast-paced world; hence, those overzealous politicians who burn bridges in their quest for power always find themselves lonely.
Be good to the people on your way up because meeting them on your unsanctioned way down is not always a pleasant experience.
Whether at the national executive committee or at branch level, all party members are just servants.
The true owners of the parties are the voting masses who will seal the fate of your imposed candidates.
Regards,
John Citizen.
