Mr. President, forgive and let go: Economist Kachaje tells Malawi leader Mutharika
I would like to humbly applaud the State President, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika for allowing citizens of this country to ask him questions on issues of national interest.
Having seen a promotional video clip on the program “Talk to The President” last week, I eagerly waited for days to watch my President respond to the questions people would raise.
Unfortunately, we had no power in our area due to the usual load shedding, so I had to listen to the program on radio.
Mr. President, I was happy to hear you say in that program with confidence that anywhere you have laid a foundation stone, there is construction taking place.
I and many Malawians can’t wait to see progress pictures of Mombera University and many other projects.
I was however disturbed to learn that Mr. President you still harbor deep bitterness against the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
In your own words, Mr. President, you said, “As long as Peter Mutharika is alive, Malawi Congress Party will NEVER rule this country, because it’s a party of darkness, a bunch of murderers and I will never let them rule this country again. I am very bitter about this.”
Mr. President, watching the promotional video clip, I could tell that indeed you are still very bitter about what happened to your family more than four decades ago.
Mr. President, I can relate as my own direct uncle, the late Hardwick Adam Kachaje spent years at the infamous Dzereka prison. He was one of the Members of Parliament who were detained without trial for years after the 1964 cabinet crisis. He was not as lucky as you to have escaped the country and lived in America.
But Mr. President, I am proud to say that few years ago, my uncle died peacefully and a very free person not only because he witnessed the coming in of Multiparty democracy in 1994, but because he believed in Jesus Christ whose teachings call on us to forgive those who trespass against us.
I believe that to forgive is to set the captive free and to realize you were actually the captive.
Mr. President, I had the privilege to visit Robben Island, the notorious prison where the legendary leader, Nelson Mandela spent more than two decades of his life. Walking through that prison changed my life. Mandela had every right to hold bitterness and anger towards the whites in South Africa.
However, Mandela resolved that he would not let anger hold him prisoner but led his country into a healing process. He will forever remain a hero to both blacks and whites because he chose to let go of bitterness and walked the path of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Ahmed Kathrada, a former prisoner at Robben Island for 18 years and a very close ally to Nelson Mandela said; “While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid, we will not want Robben Island to be a monument of our hardship and suffering.
We would want it to be a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil. A triumph of wisdom and largeness of spirit against small minds and pettiness.
A triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness.” That is the spirit of great leaders, Mr. President. They do not let the past suffering become a monument, rather, a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil.
Six million Jews were mercilessly slaughtered in gas chambers in Germany and other countries such as Austria under the evil rule of Adolf Hitler. If there are people that can be allowed to hold bitterness on earth, it would be the Jews.
But they have chosen to move on and let the past be history. Today trade between Israel and German is booming. Israel exports to Germany are over US$1.5billion while its imports from Germany are nearly US$4billion.
They realize that the current leader of Germany is a lovely lady called Angela Merkel, not Adolf Hitler. Angela Merkel can no longer be said to represents a country of “darkness and murderers.”
Mr. President, during the 2014 tripartite elections, 1,904,399 Malawians wanted you to be their leader, while another 1,455,880 Malawians wanted the MCP you hate with passion to lead then under the new leadership of Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, a pastor who has spent decades preaching the gospel of love and forgiveness.
Mr. President, you are, therefore, not only a leader for the few Malawians who voted for you, but for everyone, including those who still love MCP and other political parties.
Mr. President, be a Statesman and lead our beautiful nation without bitterness. Don’t be the architect of hate speech.
Being a democratic nation, Mr. President, it is not up to you to decide whether MCP or any other party will rule this country again or not. That decision is the democratic right of the free Malawians, and not an executive decision of the President.
- Henry Kachaje is a socio-economic development commentator, economic rights activist and entrepreneurial life coach and trainer based in Malawi’s Commercial City, Blantyre.
On christian perspective Mr Kachaje you are quite right and true nevertheless, let differ on your piece of guidance. You should understand that APM is a politician and whatever he says, does is to deal with his enemies. So other than forgiving MCP but he can not do so on political podium but in a church yes. Let me give you an example of Chakwera; can ou believe in all fairness that his statement regarding the construction of Kasiya road claiming has just wasted money for this construction is that justifiable? So you can see from this angle that Chakwera was not blaming APM wholeheartedly but rather he said this on political grounds. Thats why ppo sometimes say ndale ndi kupemphera siziyenderana you can see here from this very good example of Chakwera. Therefore it does not mean APM has not forgiven MCP no! but politically yes they are there to fight each other hence such bickering.
You judge a true statesman by what he says when angry. Peter is leading this nation in bitter mood and no wonder his boys are always in zikwanjelisation mood!!!!!!!…. another tonne of bricks falling on some innocent souls.
Touching & Great Piece Of Advice Mr Kachaje! If Mutharika has ears to hear, let him hear this free advice from Mr Kachaje, otherwise afa ndi maganizo. APM should also read this: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give unto wrath; for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Romans 12:19. APM should also take a lesson from what happened to King Saul as he was prepared to kill David to prevent him from becoming king in his place coz of greed & jealousy not knowing God had already anointed David to take his place as king. Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for no sin of His but all He said was & quote: “Father, forgive them; For they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. APM can die with pride & & greed for power but must know that it is God who puts up kings & shamefully brings them down because of pride & not taking heed of His word.
Munthalika you can not decide for the beutiful citizens of malawi who to and not to lead our country… You rigged the votes to get that position but your time is over dont feel too much comfortable
If the President is so bitter with MCP for “being a bunch of murderers” even though none of his family was murdered…..I wonder how the families of the July 21 Massacre victims, the families of Chasowa and Njaunju think about the DPP regime??
His father was murdered by the party of darkness and blood apparently
It is not true that his father was murdered. He is lying. He says that his father died in the 60s. His brother, Bingu, told us that their father died in 1973 after retirement. He only lamented that his retirement package delayed and he died before he received his pay. Who should we believe, Peter or Bingu?
By the way, where is his father’s grave and what have these two boys done to honour their father’s resting place? They have been mute about it. What is MCP? Is it an organisation that brought about colonial freedom or human beings? Who rules? Is it an institution or individuals? Between Peter and Chakwera, who is better placed to rule in all fairness?
Good advice although seems has fallen into deaf ears. It it healthy for the head of state to harbor grudges and bitterness like that? Anyway to choose a president is in the hands of malawians not the head of state.
Those who forget their past are condemned to repeat it
Mr Kachaje your History should not be one sided. APM is crying for what the party did during its reign. If you can check the Jews still remembers the days of the Holocaust. On the other point, the parties which committed atrocities in the areas Kachaje mentioned were removed. We do not have the Nazi party and that showed forgiveness to the party? again a the people who killed the Jews were charged with crimes at international tribunals. Yet, here in Malawi nobody who committed such an activity was tried. In the case of South Africa, the Nationalist Party was abolished. And the ideology of apartheid was removed. This ideology was fair to the white minority however, its removal did not symbolise forgiveness. Please let the President express his views on this issue which he finds it affected his life. He has not mentioned of removing this party, but I think its high time MCP must change its name, no matter what the party is associated with torture and killings like the Nazi party of Germany and the Nationalist Party of South Africa.
@AUBRIEN
Well stated here.
Indeed, it has been suggested, in the past, that in most countries MCP would (and should) have been abolished or even criminalized when democracy was introduced. And it’s proprietors taken to account in competent courts (in today’s environment, Kamuzu et al would be at the Hague facing the music): that failure will forever be a blotch on Malawians, and future generations will not judge us kindly on this matter. THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE! Where is the accountability? And no wonder current MCPers, even those who are alive and were part of the “genocide”, have no remorse. Some of the young MCPers can’t even read and comprehend the history; and those who can read simply dismiss the authenticity of the accounts and or say “… look, no current MCP leader was in position then, and moreover, many of the known oppressors and criminals are alive but in other political Parties …” But, that is beside the point. And Is that argument alright?
Apparently, justice will never be served on that regime.
Without remorse, reconciliation is hardly tenable and never sustainable.
And the deniers often get emboldened, because they see no adverse consequences even in the horizon.
Kachaje is missing a point on forgiveness, the president is not talking about killing someone here.
So why the president says as long as hes alive ? Thats bitterness .. as leader he was not to habour such hatred. More ove we have new MCP. Anthu amene mumayankhula zopusa kuku fufuzani ma banja anu sada zunzidweko olo pangono
ngati dpp ikutizuza pano makoponi kutipatsa koma feteleza osatipatsa .kudzaika mwala wa nseu mpaka pano nseu palibe. kuno ku lilongwe ku chibubu school tamanga tonkha .kwa kalumbu mseu watala kulibe mpaka kwa bisai .nde tivotere mbava ife kaya.
That’s liking drinking hoping that the other person dies; that’s what harbouring hatred do people. Hatred should never be in the psyche of a head of state….not at all. Its unhealthy for the president to carry such burdens. I can understand now why he is busy castigating and vilifying the opposition and his family (Callista Mutharika). Love conquers all and that’s what he preached at the just ended ceremony with the Ngonis. Practice what you preach if you’re to be believable.
Mr Kachanje, you have to know that someone can forgive, but cannot forget what the trauma they went through. We may portray ourselves as people who forgive because we believe in Forgiveness f those who transpasses against us, but everyday we have something that we remember. People grieve in different ways. All those that ent through the hard times of MCP era may not go on the same thought line as you. We still have issue of Chasowa, Njunju which is always on media, do we forget? Yes your uncle might be imprisoned and came out , but Mutharika’s father was murdered or killed. Our uncle was not killed , he had life. You can’t be on the same page. You as a person you have people who have offended you , you forgave them but you still remember them. To forgive is divine. It has nothing to do with the new leadership of MCP who you say spent time preaching forgiveness. It is the image of the of MCP that is still In people’s mind. It is lucky Mutharika and you can come on platform and express your feelings, but be reminded that there are others who don’t have the same opportunity to express their feelings, or who until now they don’t know the graves of their loved ones who were meat for crocodiles, or brutally killed and their remains never returned to their loved ones. By telling us the story of your uncle, you still remember, you may have forgiven or your late uncle but you never knew what was going inside him.
Who are these people who do not know the graves of their loved ones? Don’t exaggerate things.
@Cognitive …
Koma inu funso limeneli lanzeru eti?
Think again. Please.
Or go read or re-read the Malawi history during that dark era.
Thank you Napoleon for the master piece.
But all of you are contradicting yourselves because mcp was not an elephant trumping on everyone, but bad people in that party who gave it a bad name. Unfortunately those people are now in dpp together with the same president who is complaining, that means he forgot and forgave them. So is there any sense to hate the party but love the people who killed your father because they are killing someone’s father today on your behalf? I think the president is just stupid and he wants undeserving sympathy.
most of those people who were master minding killings in MCP are now is DPP. You talk of NTABA, DAUSI, MULUZI, HERNY MUSSSA and so on and so forth. Deal with them first.
Peter’s father was not killed. Bingu said that he died in 1973 after retirement. Peter is lying.
@ Napoleoni
It appears you are not informed . Mutharika’s father was not muredered . Get your facts right . Shame on you . Kungoyankhila zilizonse in the name of supporting DPP . Sillly
powerful mr kachaje,,wish hd Malawi hd a leader who cn sit and think as u hv done,vengeance cant go with a leader,,its a shame to our country,,may the LORD help us to choose wisely in the fourth cmn elections
graet piece mr kachaje
While the theme of forgiveness is thrust to the writer’s argument here, it should be pointed that it is democratic, in the broadest sense, to let every person deal with grief in the way they feel. And it should be emphasized there is no standard formula or Rx recipe; nor is there even an X+Y = Z.
So we should let the President deal with his personal loss, during Kamuzu and MCP dictatorship in his own (personal) way, and within his own comfort zone; and as long he’s not criminalizing his feelings. As did Mr Kachaje’s uncle deal with his experiences in his own way too. Nothing wrong here or there.
But Mr Kachaje is absolutely wrong in his argument, by example, when he refers to the holocaust/Israel, and racist South Africa/Robben Island political prison.
Specifically, most historians, and even non-professional astute observers agree that
(a) it is sacrilege for Jews, worldwide, to remember the holocaust, and never forget nor forgive the atrocities committed on the Jews by the Nazi machine. Jews are always reminded of this everyday, through prayers and even their newspapers. And here thinks that is good, for many reasons. There have been, and there still are, (Jewish) organizations dedicated to hunting down Nazi perpetrators and collaborators, even today.
(b) re South Africa: among the bid three – OR Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela – it’s really only the latter who has openly expressed the strict sentiments of forgiveness. Tambo and Sisulu were often dodgy on this issue; and it doesn’t mean they were right or wrong. It’s simply reflects their beliefs and sentiments based on their experiences and personalities. It is also evident that the majority of Black South Africans will NOT forgive, let alone forget. No people want to forget relevant history. Ever.
So, it is not too much to let the President deal with his experiences regarding the previous dictatorship whichever way he feels comfortable with. It’s his own way of grieving. And by doing so, he is not belittling, in any way, anybody else’s experiences, or that of their families’.
And, does it occur to Mr Kachaje that the President might have been engaging, in the main, only in political rhetoric?
It is apparent that many commentators click with Mr Kachaje’s arguments here, principally, only because they are strident opponents of the president (they don’t like him, his Party and it’s policies, or more likely, all the above); and they feel the article re-enforces their beefs against the President. .”.. yea, Kachaje, get the “TRIBALIST” Presiden…” – when the article has nothing to do with tribalism, for example!
Some people will always always infer something in an argument beyond the logic on which the argument is based.
ps. It stands out that whereas in the past, many MCPers strongly have denied the atrocities committed on their behalf by Kamuzu and their Party, there are no deniers here today, in the comments. This re-enforces the belief that, in life, there is a strong tendency for the truth to finally come out! A sort of anti-entropy.
But he should not swear that as long he is alive MCP will not rule the country. He was voted by people and its the same people who will decide.
But the president is doing it publically and it is not even true that his father died because of MCP, Bingu told a different story, unless these two had different fathers.
Thank you Mtengo wa Keshia. You are a genius. Henry Kachaje is pro-MCP and he is always critical of the President.
Peter’s father was not killed by MCP. He is lying. Bingu told us that his father died of old age upon retirement in 1973. Does Peter perhaps have a different father? We can not have a liar for president. He lies too much!
Kudos Henry, kumenewo nde kulangiza kwa mamfumu amene ndimadziwa ine madala!! Lets hope the message will get home!!
Suffice to add that based on most of his acts he has adequately proved to be full of intelligence but almost zero on wisdom and Christianity!! Its high time he had “right” advisors and intercessors I suggest!!
Very good advice Kachaje and hope that Mutharika will read, digest and take it to heart. However, I know deep down that Peter isn’t a man who is known for letting go. In fact he’s sick at the moment due to too much hatred for many people who are perceived to have wronged him. From Kamuzu, Bakili, Joyce, Chakwera, Callista, Chilima and the lost goes on and on.. The man has no iota of love for any one making it difficult to forgive. He’s so consumed by hatred, he even hates himself. This is a man who doesn’t love the people who he governs because of he did Malawi wouldn’t have been in the state it is in. He has single handed Lu open doors to looters (local and foreign) and he doesn’t care. Your advice Kachaje is well meaning but will fall on deaf ears. He hates MCP to the core and if it means punishing MCP through cheating in the next elections, he will.
komatu sizitheka,,we r cryn to the Lord day and night,him is not God watch hw God is goin to intervene for the nation
Well do sir. I am sure u love maĺawi president for this advice and u love the country (malawi) too and the people of Malawi
Very good advise Mr Kachaje, ali ndi khutu amve
Ndikukaika ngati amvedi izi muona mawa achitanso. Ambuye chilitsani dziko lathu.
Pitala wasokonekera…like all those supporters who refer to darkness as if they were not the ones torturing us.
me whether tortured or not MCP represents the best option now. This is why it afraid of it.
am 100% in agreement with Mr kachaje, hatred will not help us at all. Such leaders must repent and be born again otherwise they must not be in front of God’s people.
Wonderful, inspiring, well written and thought provoking article. Hats off Kachaje for this one!
….21st May 2019….
The ballot
Malawians must learn to choose a leader not a tribal chief as president
Well spoken Henry, alindimakutu amve. Moreover, Kamuzu asked for forgiveness from Malawians before he died. But it seems our leader has not forgiven.Gwanda became MCP president after being released from prison. Du chisiza Jr served in D Banda cabinet even after his father and uncle were believed to have been killed by the regime
Well said, sir.