Is it right or not for President to get angry?

A couple of days ago, President Mutharika got emotional while addressing a press conference and vented some anger which prompted some members of the faith community to accuse him of becoming a dictator. This assertion has ignited a debate which is mainly about whether the action of the President is justified or not, considering that he was clearly reacting to a seeming provocation.

Mutharika: Angry
Mutharika: Angry

My general view is that the President is not supernatural. He has the very human feelings that each one of us has. He can get provoked and vent some anger. That is a normal human behaviour.

However, the problem is that when you are a President, you need to rise above simple human weaknesses and blunders, and behave a little more extraordinary. That is why the president has on the pay-roll, a lot of advisors, locally and internationally apart from Ministers who also serve as advisors, and even other advisors, not on the books, who can advise him through other informal channels.

This is why the President told the public that it is George Chaponda, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who forces him to travel against his preference. What the president meant here is that, as a Minister, Chaponda advises the President to travel even when he could otherwise not have travelled.

The idea of advisors is to eliminate the ordinary-being of the President so as never to give room to human errors which are inevitable of any human President. The many advisors that the president has, makes him an extra-ordinarily stronger human to cope with the pressure and loads of stress that his office endures. This means that just like Chaponda does on Presidential foreign trips, somebody ought to have advised the President not to vent his anger on TV and this individual or individuals deserve their own full dosage of the Presidents anger for this mistake.

Therefore, the anger of the President cannot be justified just by the mere fact that humans get angry or that he has the right to be angry. The president has all he needs to keep his temper down and make decisions that do not compromise his leadership and damage his reputation locally and abroad.

The President might sometimes succumb to the urge of unleashing his fury publicly just to prove that he is not weak. But this is a temptation that every leader must resist at all cost, because venting anger is not a sign of strength, on the contrary it is a weakness that opponents can exploit so easily.

Therefore, the answer is simple. It is not right for the President to get angry publicly, not even privately. The Presidency is a delicate political office, and everything the President does or says, has serious political implications and consequences, even when the he has the right to do them.

Does the outburst make him a dictator? My answer is no. One does not become a dictator by getting angry and banging some tables. But surely, getting angry and banging tables is the behaviour of a dictator which Presidents of a democracy must refrain from, unless they idealize dictatorship.

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levelheaded
8 years ago

Sibande, ngati ukutenga kuti mtsogoleri safunika kuonetsa kuti wapsya mtima pamene zikumupweteka ndiye mwina mutiwuze kuti dziko lake ndi liti lomwe mukukhala inu. Kupsya mtima ndi chilengedwe ndipo kubisa kuli ngati munthu oti afuna kuphwisa ndiye akuchitsinira mapeto ake umangodzipweteka wekha. Kwa ine ngakhale means wanga wa 4 years amatha kulankhula mopsya mtima chinthu chikamunyasa ndipo kwa ine sindiwona cholakwika. Chofunika ndikuwona chifukwa chomwe chamupsyetsa mtima in this case a president athu anapsya mtima chifukwa cha atolankhani omwe amalemba nkhani zosinjilira chomwe chili chifukwa chowona. Momwe zikuwawawira anthu ena poganiza kuti president anawononga ndalama ndi momweso zinawapwetekera a president kuti… Read more »

chingolopiyo
8 years ago

Mr Sibande, are you from planet earth or a certain planet that has not been discovered yet. If God can be angry with his own creation, who is man. Jesus got angry with people who were making trade in the synagogue, who is Mutharika not be be angry. How many times have you been angry with clients, and more especially with your family members including your wife and children, Please, please, stop being silly, we all get angry, even the most powerful president Obama, he get angry.

Keen Observer
8 years ago

Mr Sibande the writer of the story, having a lot of advisers etc etc can not stop one from being angry. Anger like laughter or crying is just a reaction of a situation nobody can plan unless if you’re an actor. The advisors can only advise him after he has reacted angrily in a given situation. He is just a mere human being but he must learn to control his emotions NOT to stop them cos he can’t. Someone has already said that if God The Almighty gets angry what about Peter Mutharika okudya nsima????????

MaKopa
MaKopa
8 years ago

Don’t be angry now wait for the DEMO DaY. When we are going to show you our anger on corruption, nepotism, etc etc

Nyg
Nyg
8 years ago

If God Gts Angry Wat Abt The President? If U Dont Believe Me, Then Y Do U Think Some Pple Wil Go 2 Hell?Chakwera & Friends Shud Not B Gvn Bragging Lights Simply Bcoz We Expect Da Presdnt 2 B Tolerant. Time Wll Come When God Can No Longer Tolerate Us & Av 2 Burn In Hell. If Dat Tym Comes 4 God, Hw Often Does It Come 4 Mutharika?

ODALA
ODALA
8 years ago

DPP USELESS

Khwantha
Khwantha
8 years ago

its normal. Malawians it will take time for us to learn and realize that to be angry is a thing which a man seldom control. In our country we are surrounded by people who call them selves educated but they lack understanding. If people who heads the CSO get to understand thing we malawian an one nation we are going to have a government which is well balanced political system. where the opposition will be coming with ideas to develop malawi other than talking thing which will not help us……………..

emmanuel kalimona
emmanuel kalimona
8 years ago

pitala u must step down zisanafike povuta zedi….asaaaa nyamasaya uyu watisuzyenge uyo ntchindele just like his late bulutu brother

kumangoni
kumangoni
8 years ago

A man is not an anthill

Funso
Funso
8 years ago

The problem is that, even if he listened to his advisors, I doubt if they are giving him good advice because a weakness of the education system is that it does not promote critical thought.

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