Mutharika must demolish the wall of tribalism with action: One Malawi, one nation
People say African presidents love power too much that they don’t resign no matter what.In times of socio-political and economic crises, a typical African leader would rather have all people kill each other for him or her and burn every property down to ashes than resign from office even if that was viably the last solution to save lives and bring lasting peace and progress.
Factually, that is true about African leaders. They love power more than their people. But I have an exceptional African President just a few miles away from home who had resigned from office just because his people and mostly his own government and party officials were practicing rampant tribalism. This president was Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia.
In the evening of 4th February 1968, President Kaunda surprised his top party and government officials when he resigned during the party’s Convention at Chilenje Welfare Hall in Lusaka. Unknown to the President, top party officials had been practicing tribalism which had led to the creation of several tribal camps in the party and government. The tribal camps were constantly fighting against each other. At the Convention, their fights erupted as they argued over equal tribal representation in the elections of officers into party committees and offices and in government appointments and the entire civil service.
President Kaunda was so shocked. The tribal camps and fights had been so concealed from his knowledge that he had no idea that he was leading a political party and nation that was so fragmented along tribal affiliations. He did not hesitate but resigned right there because, as a matter of personal principles, he would not lead a party and a nation that were fighting and divided among themselves just because of tribes.
After the President had resigned, the top party and government officials were very ashamed of themselves. Knowing what was at stake, they quickly mobilized religious leaders, army generals and commanders, relatives and friends of the President and anyone from any tribe with enough brainpower to help persuade Kaunda against his resignation. It was not easy, but after some time and enough talks, Kaunda withdrew his resignation. The government and party officials repented and from that time, they all embraced the idea and ideals of ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION.
Kaunda’s resignation came to my mind when I heard about the beautiful speech that President Mutharika gave on Sunday at the Mulhakho wa Alhomwe cultural festival. The President spoke against tribalism in favor of national unity.
But then I asked myself if President Mutharika really understands how the tentacles of tribalism have spread in this country right from his ruling DPP to the very core of government and the entire national politics. Or maybe, just like Kaunda, the real truth is concealed from him except for a few lies from his top party and government officials who perhaps wrote the very cosmetic speech he gave?
Under different circumstances, I could have joined praise-singers and worship that speech. But this is not the time because Malawi has reached a point where we don’t need speeches against tribalism but a decisive and very bold action against this evil, and the President is the one to take that action. I mean a historic action which could instantly evoke repentance of the evil doers and transform not only the DPP but their entire political system and landscape. Mutharika must stand up and refuse to be president of a tribally fragmented nation and act, not speak, on unifying the country.
As far as I am concerned, even the post-May 21 elections’ demonstrations and violence, and the public anger against Mutharika and the DPP administration stem from the arrogance of DPP and the institutionalized tribalism which has become the fabric of party and national politics – it is not about Jane Ansah but about a system that is perpetually rewarding a minority in a certain tribe and region while continuously punishing a collective majority in other tribes and regions. It’s about a system that deprives more than 60% of the population a chance to form government but allows less than 40% of the population to overrule majority vote and form government due to tribal numbers.
This must be fixed by allowing all Malawians despite their ethnic affiliations and regional background to feel co-ownership of this nation and co-manage its resources. Just like President Kaunda, Mutharika must make a decision that he shall be a President whose people will have to remember him as the leader who united them and inspired them to pursue the dream of ONE MALAWI ONE NATION.
Otherwise, he will be remembered as the president who watched his country burn and his people die just because he was too weak to demolish the wall of tribalism.
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I sencelly apologize for the mistake I have done on the top comment which,instead of writing if you eat fish you won’t fail your exams.
You fool,nobody steals the so-called MAYESO.Do not blame others for you own foolishness.If you eat fish,you won’t fail in class but,when you eat RATS,you will not fail your exams,and do not blame the Northerners,it is your foolishness for eating MBEWA as your FOOD Guile!!!!!!!!!!
APM HASTO GO.
WE SERVE A LIVING GOD WHO SEES THE PLIGHT OF MAJORITY MALAWIANS PERPETRATED BY APM. APM HAS
PLANTED SEED OF EVIL WHICH WILL BACKFIRE IN JESUS NAME. ALL NON-GOD FEARING MALAWIANS YOU ARE GONE- TRADITIONAL LEADERS; POLITICAL LEADERS; RELIGIOUSLEADERS, BLOCK LEADERS
FOR VERY SHORTLY THE GOD OF PEACE SHALL CRUSH YOUR HEAD UNDER MY FOOT IN JESUS ALMIGHTY NAME.
The article is to the point. However this is a president who can’t read the serious situation the country is in. Running this country is to huge a task for him. We all know he failed to run almost all ministries his late brother tried to assign him to. He is a failure unlike his late brother.
Crap writting! How many years did kaunda stay in power?actually he was a dictator. From there the comparison is wrong! U say people R demonstrating koz of DPP tribalism not Ansah. Really? So u know the truth hey? So where is good faith? & u don’t care about that as long as it serve u,right?Thus hypocrisy. You have nothing to write.Go to hell! There’s no tribalism here but the group that used to practice tribalism in Malawi no longer have a chance.They were Xposed and now have wedged war against govt. Thus the bottom line. Mwabelabela mayeso / mwawuzikidwa mayeso nkumati ndinu anzeru.Game over! APM will not be Kaunda.Never!
APM cant resign. He knows very well that this survival lies in tribalism. He was planted and ferlitised by Lomwe tribe so he feeds and rides on it. So asking him to resign is non starter. It is like asking fish to come out of pond and live on land. A clever fish wont accept such request so wont APM. He is now digging his feet deep into the presidency by surrounding himself by tribal men and women. His removal from power will be sacrifice for so many. unfortunately. Already we have seen seen loss of property and lives which hasn’t moved him in any way.
As for me the president may not be the rght person to talk about this topic he has done more than enough to show who he is. Let him stop it;
Mtambo more fire!! Munthu okonda dziko lake,pitilizani man palibe angakuombeleni inuyo akunama kwambiri.Kwangotsala nthawi yochepa yeliko kugwa.
Worse president ever!!!! Mau ndilibe koma munthu yemwe ndimalephela kumumvesta maganizidwe,ngakhale kuipako osaona mmene dziko lafka???? Zotsalatu izi……One day is one day chonde musaiwale.
Peter Hitler Mutharika is the godfather of tribalism. We thought we have moved away from tribalism but this murderer has entrenched it so deep and making sure his Lomwe tribe and the Southern region becomes the ruling people. We call all Malawians to stop this mad man who is already 80 years and who doesn’t give a damn about Malawians regardless where you come from. The only solution in Malawi is to introduce FEDERALISM where everybody will be equal and be proud to be called a Malawian. We rejected the one party rule and introduced multiparty system but we never abolished a Unitary system that can see Malawi splitting into three countries if we don’t act now. We need a federal system that its presidency will be rotated among our three provinces. Each province will be allocated points according to its population. The southern region will be allocated 35 points, Central region 30 points, and the Northern region 25 points. In order for a political party to win the presidency it must go above 50 points. If the political party only wins the Southern region and failed to win the Central region or the Northern region that party cannot be in power. Therefore there would be requirement where a coalition government must be formed the presidency being in the province where it should be. The Vice president number three must be of that region. For in case the president dies the second Vice president cannot take the power because the presidency is still in that province. This happened in Nigerian where the presidency was supposed to be a Muslim and he was in power for few years and died before completing his term. Goodluck Jonathan who was from the Christian side of Nigeria became the president. This caused a lot of problems in Nigerian. So, we have to make sure that in our federalism regardless of the death of the president the presidency must remain in that region. The governorship in each province shall be rotated among the indigenous tribes of that province. No tribe shall dominate others but everyone must be equal. Peter Hitler Mutharika want a federal system that will make sure the Southern region dominate others. In his proposal he said the districts shall be empowered. Those districts in the USA are called counties and in South Africa are called municipalities. In South Africa they have a federal system. Their government starts with National government, Provincial government, and Local government. In the USA its start with the Federal government, States, Counties. In Malawi its start with Unitary government then districts. The main decision maker is Peter Mutharika and his Lomwe thugs. They have power to impose sanctions on any district that never voted for them, they have power to discriminate any province that they hate so much like they do with the Northern region. In the FEDERAL system a federal government is compelled to allocate money to our three provinces whether they voted for DPP or not because that is their constitutional rights. Why Peter Hitler Mutharika want to make every district as a province is because a province with many districts will be giving a lot of money on the expenses of the other province. The Southern region is more populous than other provinces and still being under the dictatorship of the Southerners. The FEDERAL system that we have been long proposing rotate the presidency among our three provinces which Peter Hitler Mutharika doesn’t want—-he wants the Southern region to dominate and be the ruling region. Unitary system gives the Southern region advantage because of its population. The Southern region to dominate the presidency will always try to divide the Central region within itself and also divide the Northern region within itself. That is the reason you will find that in their cabinet they have injected bootlickers like Vuwa Kaunda and others. The Vuwa Kaunda are not the cream of Malawi. They have been cabinet ministers before, and they have failed and what makes you think this time they will do much better by recycling them from one department to another. They don’t have brain to think out of the box. FORWARD WITH FEDERALISM AND ALLUTA CONTINUA
I think this Peter Mutharaka is deaf and other thing he think that! He is best leader we have than all leaders we had in malawi. We must let him know that! He is worse and weak leader we have than all leader we before.
Tribalism is defined as the state or fact of being organised in a tribe or tribes. Over the recent years, each malawian tribe has organised and celebrated their cultural traditions. That has been viewed as a positive development. During elections one of the promises MCP made was to end tribalism. I wonder if MCP wants to stop the celebration of cultural traditions by each tribe. Is this what this article seeks to achieve?
Iwe chindere chakufikapo chomeneeeeeeeeeeee!! Who is the driving seat of this nation and should be listened to? Is it MCP Government or DPP Government? Why ask about the obvious? Is your party waiting for MCP to do what it said before they do theirs? Why have you chosen to deliberately ignore the straight forward message? Is it becoz of the benefits? Awansoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Cultural celebrations and tribalism are two different things.We are talking about national equality here.
Kkkk moti inu simunamvepo asikana akuti one CHIMTUMBUKA ayi
Dr K Kaunda never practiced tribalism that’s why he hated and resigned. Here is different story actually it starts with big people here in Malawi there so many things which have fueled tribalism starting from the strategically appointments quarter systems and so on. So don’t expect that happen in Malawi as of now.
Makape mukufuna muyanjane ndi yani,muyisova.Ziyang”anani ku court,zakuvutani basi
Who on Malawian soil can waste time kuyanjana ndi tribe yanuyo? Awansoooooooooooo! What are people missing? Time is continuously ticking and we’ll very soon who know amene asovengeeeeeeeeeee!! Si zija Kaphale anatangidwa nazo dzulo mpaka kuwaletsa kubweletsa zosabvomelezeka mu court!! Munya muona, its this year 2019, no less and nothing else but to deal with idiots and pompous tribe, people whose vocabulary doesn’t have the phrase “coexisting and or loving other tribes”!! Ndi izi chifukwa cha gondolosi mumagawana ku mulakho uja, ma cadet anu akagwirila amai ndi atsikana kwa Msundwe kufikila eni akazi akong’onthako 4 of them!! Chikanakhala chimanga ka mtundu kanuko tikanakazinga chonseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee osasungakonso mbeuuuuuu!
You are not a judge
Umuuzeso chakwera kuti apange resign walephera kutsogolera MCP , kunali John tembo anayitsogolera bwino bwino kamuzu ndiyemwe anapha achina ganama..nde mukamati resign mukafuna ndani apange resign? APM ? Mmmmmmmm nwawuponda kapena mwadya manyi .Apm sakutula pasi udindo mpaka 2024 Woooh zitukuko nde ndi mbwembwembwe.
I doubt if you are true Malawian or you thrive from tribalism. I personally have daughter inlaws who are not from the north and they are wonderful. What is wrong with you? You are like the type of people who would join in singing, but deliberately singing out of tune.
Some people talk of Banda that he was killing people. Let me agree with you. Banda is long dead, is President Mtharika killing those people who are being killed now?
It is sad that as human being we think we can change a killer or a criminal by giving him/her high position. It has never worked this way. The frog thought the scorpion would not sting it if it helped it cross the river. It never worked. Who knows you, could be having hit men of yester years who are now killing people. The are still scorpions, remember.
I love you.
Iwe palibe cha nzeru chimene umalemba.Chakwera has never failed apart from DPP kumubera ma vote with MEC.It happened in 2014 and now thus why he says let the truth prevail you idiot.
What more evidence does Malawians need to conclude that nepotism and tribalism forms the back bone of the DPP govt. All top govt positions are in the hands of lomwes, our police has been infiltrated by the DPP cadets.
The lomwelised ,Malawi police is failing to arrest the DPP henchmen who attacked protestors in BT and almost hacked Mr Mayaya to death in the presence of the police.
Video footage of the unprovoked attack was awash on social medial but apparently the police are still investigating the case to date…… whatever that means.
This is why President Trump called Malawi and all other African countries as shithole countries and on this point alone I agree 100% with Mr Trump.
I don’t understand how Malawians as a country tolerates this impartiality from the police that uses tax payers money to operate.
Malawians are so docile and that is why politicians takes them for granted…………….just look at what is happening with the MBC, how on earth does parliament approve funding for such unprofessional, political DPP mouth piece?
This why most white people here in the west do not believe that black people are humans just judging from how we worship our political leaders and condone their impunity to use the police and public broadcasting houses to abuse the very same people who pay taxes to run those institutions.
Most white people stil believe that black people are still anyani wanthu……….not yet at human level.
Malawians more especially Chewas shame on you!! that you can allow Lomwes the very same people that you gave land to as refugees when they were running away from the Portuguese in Mozambique in the 1800s to abuse you.
Today Lomwes have grown so big to the extent that they have their on paramount chief though they do not have land.
These Nsundwe chewas have been locked up for three days in prison without food and yet the Lomwes who hacked innocent people in Blantyre are walking scot free…….
Chewas are really unorganised and unintelligent people, why not take your land back from the lomwes and send them back to their homeland in Mozambique? For how long are you going to tolerate this abuse?
Chewas Chewas Chewas have I not called you three times
It all started with the general TUMBUKA tribalism. This is the worst tribe to have lived in this country..
This is a stupid article written by Chakwera brothers. You cant see the tribalistic tendancies perpetuated by the Nyau dancers in the Central Region who even block people from attending the President rallies. People being ferried from all the way Dedza , Ntchisi and Kasungu to block the Mchinji Lilongwe Road just because the President is holding a developmental meeting in Kawale. You cant see Mtambo being used by Lazaro to destabilise Malawi ife Ma minibus athu kukanika kuyenda kuti tipeze school fees ya wana atthu pa Lilongwe . Start with Chakwera to break the walls for regionalism and hate. Advise him to preach peace as APM is doing . For 31 years baba Kamuzu Banda did not break the barriers of regionalism . Ife anatinyamula kuchoka kummwera kupita nafe ku Dedza poti ndife o chewa and alomwe once anapitsidwa kwao. so regionalism ukuiona lero. DPP has united people of Malawi than ever before . Am a chewa from LL and i can attest to that .
Am so surprised that you do not know Lyson Sibande. He is your own DPP cadet. How are going to reconcile what you are saying if your own has written this article? Am not surprised that the house of Beelzebub has turned against itself. This is very laughable. This is an article from the DPP Camp.
Bozatu mwalemba apa APM is tribalistic, am a son of Chimbeta Village, TA Changata but I likedon
t Muthalikas policies because even in Thyolo people are crying heavily ask Dr Alfred Chanza BT City CEO kwawo mwa Mkunda Kuli umphawi ooopsa moti iye amakopa anthu ndi ndalama poti akuzembera uphungu wa Thyolo ThavaI thought you would write about Kamuzu Banda in our own country. You blind people, you think what Mtambo is doing is good. Also be telling Mtambo, Trapence, Chilima and Chakwela that every person has rights to be respected. Some malawians think that HRDC rights are supreme to any body.s right? Umbuli basi. If you do not understand human right issues go back to school. Your rights and my rights are equally important.
Are you insane?What has Mtambo?Mtambo is fighting you idiot who does not think where our country is heading with this tribalism,corruption you name them.Had it been there was no corruption in our country these MEC people could not have been corrupted to favor your stupid APM.It takes strong and fearless person to denounce such and we are even blessed to have such courageous young man Mtambo to speak for us the voice of the voiceless.
We have made the mistake of following the American political model: politics is business. Unfortunately, we forgot that business exists to make money for its shareholders and to take money from those to whom it makes sales or provides services. Our political system works well for the owners of the ruling party. However, the rest of us are left to dream dreams of a better life – or change the model.
Zambian Humanism was a much more appropriate socio-political model for us. Unfortunately, even the Zambians dropped it.
Hitting the nail on the head, excellent article. Cry my beloved country! Who brought the curse of Mutharika’s presidency on us???????
Muntharika ndi munthu osamva za anzake
Mutharika ndi Munthu omva maganizo aanthu, akukulorani kupanga MA demo osalimbana Nanu