Back Bencher

Which way, Mr. President?

Honourable Folks,

during the campaign period APM sounded like he was ready to inject into politics the professionalism of medical doctors—who are required to treat foes and allies alike—as a strategy for ridding democratic Malawi of divisive politics that has crippled progress for the past 20 years.

He consistently championed to usher in a new Malawi in which the civil service is completely insulated from the short-circuits of political interference, a presidency which cautiously avoids the temptation to play God and, probably the most progressive of all his promises, to spare his predecessor retribution and guarantee security of tenure to government employees.

But the shake-up in government within APM’s first 100 days in office tells a different story. Many heads have already rolled—some sent home outright while others humiliated with demotions from positions of power into some arid corners of the government system—in a ruthless exercise of presidential prerogative.

It’s been a systematic purging so nerve-wrecking that you can hear heart throbs of the remnant of well qualified and law abiding citizens in government whose only crime was to be appointed or elevated to high positions by APM’s political arch-enemy, former president Joyce Banda.

Do these go to Capital Hill to crack their heads and give their motherland their best or they live in fear of inmates in a cell for the condemned, spending their time wondering when the hangman will fix the rope around their necks?

While the media has already cautioned the voter to brace for footing a multi-million kwacha compensation package, APM has tried to parry such fears by arguing that the shake-up is largely by means of transfers and is necessitated by the need to probe the Cashgate scandal without let or hindrance.

If that’s not a decoy, see who fills the gaps.

Indeed, despite assurances that vendetta won’t be in the lexicon of his administration, APM commemorated his first 100 days in office with public rallies which have helped create a context for his actions to a discerning eye.

At a political meeting in Lilongwe, APM accused the JB administration of cooking up a treason case against him and attempting to give him a lethal jab while he was in police custody. What kind of the promised olive branch is that? It’s not as if JB or anyone else smeared with such horrendous allegation can take any legal action for incumbency shields APM from being dragged to court.

So what’s the point accusing others who can’t defend themselves? The lure of power! Like all others before him—Kamuzu Banda, Bakili Muluzi, Bingu wa Mutharika and Joyce Banda—APM is savouring the succulent juices of excessive presidential powers by playing prosecutor, jury, judge and ultimately, God.

There goes up in smoke the wish to strip the presidency of too much power! If you add APM’s directive, made at a political rally of all places, that Inspector General of Police Lot Dzonzi should promote the officers who thwarted the theft of K500 million at Jenda Roadblock, you begin to see the paint-brush at work in the creation on political canvas of another Ngwazi.

In case APM is unable to see the larger picture, the U-turn on his original strategy nurtures opportunism at the expense of trust. The fact is that 64 percent of the voters denied him the vote in the 2014 presidential election.

Yet, to secure a second term and well scooped and polished legacy, APM needs to develop a strategy that inspires all law abiding good citizens to bring out their best as they strive to improve their living standards and develop their country. That strategy is centred on reaching out to those who doubt him and earn their trust and respect.

If the legion of strategists tell him that it’s okay to work with those he can trust and sideline the others, that’s simply a language of opportunists who personally stand to benefit from the status quo. The defection en masse that happened after the sudden death of Bingu wa Mutharika should teach the President that those closer to him now are not necessarily any more loyal, let alone trustworthy, than those who did not vote for him.

The current trend of reckless firing and wild talk erodes the hope that APM’s leadership will be any better than the mediocrity of the past. I suggest the President read carefully the latest UNDP Human Development Report to fully appreciate the opportunity cost of failure to provide inspiring leadership.

 

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