The filth that is Malawi’s ruling PP media-mill
I do not in any way support whatever political party between the struggling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its shoot-off, the Peoples Party (PP). For all I care, they both have two P’s in their acronym and a lot of nonsense across their politicized agendas.
For starters, the DPP is an off-shoot of the United Democratic Front (UDF), which itself can be called a direct off-shoot of the once mighty Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which is a transformation from the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC).
So whatever we have today bears the same Bri-shit (sorry, British) hallmarks into their agenda. One that strives to make riches for the ruling or elite few over the poor and vulnerable masses. The colonial Brits did that, as far as Malawi’s history is concerned, as Nyasaland, them whites made people work for no pay at all.
They created the feudal and Barons, owning our very own ancenstral land and making the natives work it to death – for nothing in the end.
Am not sure what they called that system, but some history books call it, natively, as Thangata (meaning ‘support’ – perchance?). We as blacks were just there to ‘support’ their economy by sweating its progressive wheels. Tea, tobacco, and other fields.
By the way, we also helped them white by being modern slaves of that time – sent to Northern and Southern Rhodesia, and also down South Africa, to dig and dig for stones that would never help in uplifting the lives of the Nyasa citizenry.
If anything came back from the mines rich in gold and diamonds, then it is the straight hair-do’s our grannies spotted when they alighted from those United Transport of Malawi (UTM) buses at Wenela (provide us with the full name here, anyone?) under the so-called THEBA initiative.
Whose ever an initiative it were, God forbid! No wonder late Bingu wa Mutharika had some bone to grind with them – the Lomwe belt being one that was greatly affected under the Thangata.
Ask the history behind the national icon, late John Chilembwe and you will learn it all and burnt bells.
And that is exactly what the ‘mighty’ MCP borrowed from them colonialists. Asamunda (none-farmers?) who said they were bringing development before our very suffering eyes when they were simply, but cleverly enough, exploiting the lot of us.
The MCP brought Youth Week. A good initiative that helped youth and all become self-reliant or realize their own potential. Self-help projects these were, kindly replaced by the now so-called ‘Work for Money/Food’ project, where innocent souls are lined up on each side of gravel roads to dig drainage ways and smooth the road surface for a mere MWK500 or thereabout.
Often a cash bait that is often never paid to them at all or is paid in bits (oh my God!) or, you know else …… (fill in into the dotted lines).
MCP then became more cleverer and created the ‘zopeleka’ initiative, where poor Malawians competed at dishing out cash, livestock, and sometimes even their wives to the late Kamuzu Banda and his leadership cohorts. At meetings, ‘wise’ dudes would announce which district or area was the most generous to give to the Ngwazi against all others regionally, and then nationally.
That was the trophy gained – poverty – giving to an already rich man from American universities as a thank you token. That was crap, listening to the old stories (true accounts) that married women would be paired with some regional or area governors for the night during conventions and other party or so-declared national indaba.
That is why I pity the men-folk when women to date, yes us women, still say we have been victimized by men, when we used the party powers under the MCP to have our husbands locked up for good, to go and bed other affluent and influential men in the ruling single mighty party, and indeed even to kill or abuse our men.
All we had to do is scream – and we say ‘gender equality’?
That is an issue for another day.
Well, then we moved to the UDF which its new found glory to plunder and steal all that Malawians had struggled to build under the oppressive MCP regime for 40 years or so. In less than ten years, the yellow party gave Malawians all the freedoms, including those to steal en mass, to be corrupt (for the first time Malawians learned the word corruption; to kill and to break the law in the very eyes of the law enforcement agencies.
Only the army remained sane as the rest of the Malawian social fabric descended into self-made hell. The UDF was tactical, but Malawians through God were even ‘tactier’ (do we have such an English word?).
As God rescued the nation from the bludgeoning claws of the MCP, God decided enough plunder had taken place and gave pressure to Bakili Muluzi to bring in an outsider in the name of the economic engineer (May He RIP). Muluzi did not trust all the yellow guys, since as the late Davis Kapito declared, they were all Madeya (maize husks), and believe me you or not, maize husks are none-active in the progressive sense, unless badly prepared to cause a running tummy.
So entered Bingu on a rather clean slate, dumping the corrupt UDF and creating the blue wagon. That, including myself, argued was wise, not until the man from ‘across the globe’ decided he was the only voice aside God’s. Practically declaring if Jesus would give you another cheek to slap, he would infact deny you that other cheek, and punch you in the face for size.
So he remembered the Asamunda and the suffering Malawians went through. Using tobacco auctions, he tore them apart, and found a great opportunity to show them who was boss after that media leaked memo to Downing No. 10.
That was the last straw. To show the world he owned everything, he begun to abuse the economy by being selective in all government awards. Only one home fellow had it all, creating a business empire that will take ages to ground, no matter what. He also brought archaic laws, which Muluzi failed to take advantage of under his leadership and Kamuzu had the unfailing trust of the paramilitary Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) to rely on in fortifying his autocratic rule.
Kamuzu had no time for amending the Constitution – he did not need any laws to brave it through. The MYP and a few tough-skinned police-slaughter-agents were good enough.
Bingu decided on the law as much as Muluzi decided on the Young Democrats, with equal size of collateral damage, but without order or caution, which Kamuzu’s machinery was master in itself.
Bingu stuck onto using the law, ordering the shoot to kill, and of course, threatening a few human rights activities, torching their homes and arresting some.
“Smoke you out!”
The economic giant but soon lost it, and the economy plundered, courtesy of Asamunda and their payback war through the IMF and others and the World Bank (WB). He fought them at every opportunity and they silently hit back at that largesse too.
The poor Malawian continued to suffer – no fuel, no maize (despite a heavy bumper harvet just years before that sounded like Malawi was to be a food donor for ages), and everything grounded to a halt, excluding Bingu’s and Kaliati’s and Ntaba’s mouths. And again, excluding the national television beaming in the name of the ROAD TO 2014.
God had other ideas and 7th April, as should mainly be 5th April 2012, will be strongly remembered by all Malawians and the world.
And I see no difference between all these political parties and the current PP. Mama JB sometimes talks sense, but who needs talking sense and not doing sense?
She still is adamant about declaring her assets. Bingu did declare? What??? Did Kamuzu do that? How about Atcheya???
And Amama is quite a globetrotter, Muluzi was and at a time Bingu was master at that too. In just one year, the PP has equaled all the nasty elements exercised by the MCP, UDF and the DPP and seems non-relenting.
The PP, which is most annoying, also does not seem to have control of its propaganda machinery. Kamuzu reigned it to public media houses and Sanjika alone. That is where from great and sensible/murderous issues were made public. Muluzi added the newspapers in the private arena and that had a deep negative kick to his propaganda network.
Bingu had the ‘big mouths’ well paid to make noise, and now Mama JB seems to have a pack of jesters talking gibberish.
As Moses Kunkuyu, the man that Malawians are paying to communicate with and civic educate the masses is saying one thing, the ‘media-untrained’ biggies in the names of Cassim Kaka Chilumpha and others are busy saying the opposite. And one wonders what happened to Mr. Mwenye and ask how did he lose out to Hophmally Makande and the other ‘media-jesters’?
Damn, comes 7th April 2013 and Malawians start to wonder if the PP leadership will ever make a binding statement in its directions. Every time they say one thing and the next moment, including even just behind the same wall, they mutter exactly the opposite.
For instance, PP through Mama JB and external affairs minister Ephraim Mganda Chiume said Malawi has had enough about the African Former Leaders Forum to the Lake – Malawi struggle and are taking the issue to the International Criminal Court (ICJ) for final resolution, in the next breath he and Mama JB are saying ‘relax, we have the trust in the African former leaders forum. We are respecting their process’…. so hold it, no ICJ yet.
Next, the celebrations – 1 year for JB in power. On Sunday Kunkuyu says no-one under government is celebrating, and the next moment, JB and Kaka are busy championing the same at Masintha Grounds.
If PP is not sick upstairs, then its media-mill is a great filth that needs to be swept away even from under the leadership carpet, and now!
PP is all these parties put together, with just different names, same stupid tricks, and nothing better to offer poor suffering Malawians.
Whatever the case, RIP Bingu wa Mutharika, and congrats JB for your 1 year in power.
Kikikikikikiki!
