Born again political activist Bon Kalindo: Whose cause is he fighting?
Comedian-cum-politician Bon Kalindo attained sudden popularity and fame following a wave of demonstrations he led to force the Tonse Alliance government to implement its campaign promises.
In one of the interviews with journalists, the former UTM Party Director of Youth, citing failure by President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera to appoint him to any position in government as one of the reasons for holding demonstrations.
Kalindo said he was struggling to make ends meet yet he fought for the current government. In fact, at one time, he wondered why his then Malawi Congress Party (MCP) counterpart, Richard Chimwendo Banda, had been appointed to a ministerial portfolio leaving him aside.
And this was the genesis of a series of nationwide protests heightened at the pretext of fighting for the improvement of the social and economic livelihoods of poor Malawians.
At one time, Kalindo successfully moved the government to reduce the toll for motorists on the country’s two gates at Kalinyeke in Dedza and Chingeni in Balaka. What was surprising though was that the comedian never accepted a proposal to engage the government, which had already opened up to dialogue.
This notwithstanding, unsuspecting Malawians rallied behind him, thinking he was fighting for the welfare of all until somewhere around 2022 when he announced that he had resolved to cancel all the planned demonstrations in order to give dialogue a chance.
On 17 April 2022, the comedian-cum politician Bon Kalindo gave President Chakwera a seven-day ultimatum to remove the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General Martha Chizuma or face nationwide demonstrations.
He flooded the social media with messages accusing Chakwera and Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima of failing to uphold rule of law, especially on the issue of ACB Director whose leaked audio has been sanctioned to go under investigations by the court.
“Some people think when we do this we are against the ACB Director’s case to fight corruption, but no, this issue is not about corruption, this is about integrity and violation of oath of secrecy. Chizuma is not untouchable. She is there to protect the law and if the court has given a go ahead for investigations into the audio to commence then if she is a person of integrity she must abide by that. She must resign and the President has to fire her,” he emphasized.
He then went into oblivion after addressing journalists in Lilongwe that he had decided to give dialogue a chance.
But just as Malawians were about to start reorganizing their lives, Kalindo sprung from his hibernation and announced another wave of demonstrations.
This time, Winiko says he is fighting for the reversal of the interdiction of ACB Director General. This begs a question: What should Malawians take from the comedian?
What is it that Chizuma has done now that has endeared her to Kalindo? Does Kalindo have any integrity as a political activist?
Should Malawians trust the so-called human rights activists? You are best judges!
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