Thursday, February 23, 2017

President Peter Mutharika's 'Tortoise' Pace

President Peter Mutharika, victor in Malawi's May 2014 Presidential Election, hits one as an individual not at ease with himself.
Many are the times he has, riding on the wave of anger, makes a statement he reverses the next day.
Take the case of beleaguered former agriculture minister, Dr George Chaponda.
The media wanted his (Chaponda's) head on the chopping board but President Mutharika stood his ground.
Which is understandable because, in all fairness, Chaponda might not have gone to Zambia on his own volition.
There was a Peter Mutharika in the background, pushing him on.
But when the courts granted civil society organisations an injunction stopping Chaponda from serving in his capacity as Cabinet minister, the president's silence, and inactivity, on the issue raised more questions that answers.
It, surely, pointed to a president who was out to trample on the very constitution he vowed to protect. What hypocrisy!
Well, the injunction was listed but, instead of being a source of relief, things have only gotten worse for Chaponda.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau pounced on his offices and house in the Capital City, Lilongwe, and came back with wads of cash amounting to millions.
Now, the wads of cash symbolise Chaponda's burden.
He was failing to take them to the bank because that would have been a physical burden
Today, in his heart, he has another burden: To convince an otherwise suspicious public to believe in him.
What a tall order.
But the President is the real loser.  

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