MCP’s Chakwera cautioned over ‘power obsession’

Malawians have taken up on social media to caution Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera over the obsession of power after he attacked the police for blocking thousands of his supporters ferried across Lilongwe to welcome him at Kamuzu International Airport from Mexico recently.

Writing on Facebook, many Malawians were of the view that the tendency of ferrying party sympathizers to a focal point where they would dance and praise shower a political party leader was archaic.

“I thought this was gone with Kamuzu. I thought this was gone with Bakili, Bingu or JB. I never expected that LZ (Lazarus Chakwera) can be into it. This is bad for our democracy,” wrote one.

The police blocked thousands of Chakwera and MCP supporters clad in party attire as they pushed to enter Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to welcome their leader, and the police sited security as the main reason for their refusal to allow the MCP sympathizers.

Of late, President Peter Mutharika also seems to be obsessed with power, the power of numbers at his political rallies.

In Nchalo, Chikhwawa and during the opening of tobacco market in Lilongwe, Mutharika boasted of huge numbers of people attending his functions, saying this was a sign that his party was powerful.

He ordered the state controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation to beam the people so that Malawians know that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party was still powerful and relevant to Malawi politics.