Newspaper columnist brands Mutharika uninspiring and cold-hearted

Prolific writer and newspaper  columnist, Golden Matonga, has  accused President Peter Mutharika of being “uninspiring as he is cold-hearted”, saying as the country is facing unprecedented political crisis has been enabled by a leadership crisis.

In his column published in Nation on Sunday,  Matonga pointed out that while the post-eelction crisis  could not be predicted, there were always tell-tale signs from a long time that Malawi is facing a leadership crisis.

In his column, Matonga observed that Mutharika had previously shown his leadership traints “as detached and absent as he was Education minister during the academic freedom crisis,” and now  as Head of State.

“Only that the stakes are higher. He is President, for goodness’ sake. When the citizenry are maiming each other, the economy is being ravaged and the very social fabric is degenerating, the margins for error are much higher than when a minister is clueless.

“Mutharika has neither the answers nor the skill to solve the crisis. Or the intuition to let others, be it international community or local enablers, help him solve the crisis. That, above all else, is the reason Mutharika is dismally the right leader for a time like this,” reads the column in part.

He argues that when Malawi needed a unifier, President Mutharika projects an image unacceptable to millions. When the tensions needed a cool head of a pacifier, he drums up the tension and let everyone know he cares little about the fate of this country.

On President Mutharika’s “I am not Malawi” remarks, the columnist said he  reminded everyone who cares that he will not be the loser if the country is destroyed.

“ A President rather ought to feel the loser when his nation is being destroyed.

“A commander-in-chief mourning the death of his serviceman in battle ought to even be more sensitive. But Mutharika is not looking for peace, Mutharika is only seeking legitimacy. He is not looking for national unity, but just power,” the columnist  states.

As presidential elections results dispute case is in court and the nation is facing political tension,  Mutharika, the columnist faulted the  President for taunting the opposition for protesting against his election victory.

“That is classic leadership failure. But with Mutharika, it’s a natural phenomenon. Nobody can pretend was surprised to see the President fail to rise to the occasion.

“Here is, after all, a President who has failed to heed the message coming from the election results—that majority rejected his policies regardless of the fact he won—and the protests—that many are ready to burn the country as long as his government continues on the same path,” he argues.

In his column, Matonga  pointed out that ever since the election results were announced in May and the protests ensued, Mutharika has governed as business as usual, appointed the same advisers and ministers.

“He has not launched the war on corruption and attempted to end cronyism. And, meanwhile, he has sought to buy off people’s support through populists moves such as promised construction of football stadia for the top two most popular teams in the country.

“But the underlying causes of the season of discontent remain untouched. Youth unemployment cannot be solved in a single day but Mutharika has not spent his energy convincing the restless youths that he is still the best bet for their future.”

He continues to argue that by prolonging the crisis by failing to solve it, he has given the jobless, disfranchised and those left out of the DPP cronyism, an opportunity to vent anger, again and again.

All in all, the columnist said by refusing to fire Jane Ansah as Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson, whether out of political calculation, by failing to find the right tone and language to address the restless nation, by continuing the nation as business as usual—with the same old mistrusted ministers and advisers, as if the elections didn’t send any message, by failing to fight corruption, cronyism, and growing nepotism, Mutharika has assumed for himself the title of the “worst President to ever have entered the office. “

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