Op-Ed: Malawi democracy under capture

When a significant section of a society is quiet in the wake of hullabaloos and nonsensical verbiage, and in the wake of the state of capture that the Judges, Civil Society and, alas parliament ( especially the current Speaker) as well as media and some mainstream churches find themselves in, it does not mean that that group is inconsequential and stupid. It is utter rubbish to ask our president to apologise when he has been victimized himself.

This trample on the president’s and our democratic rights by a conspiracy through the courts runs the risk of setting ablaze the beautiful mother Malawi because we have the desire and capacity to defend him and ourselves. Tatopa nanu. You are courting chaos.

Like many Malawians we are peace loving but you are pushing us to the cliff and when we react it will be a sorry state of affairs.

Perhaps a reference to our Malawian wisdom and philosophy that, “Chati chubwi sichinaolaka” would be a best reminder that there is unfinished business lurking in the dark water pool. What we mean is that we have been watching and certainly our patience is running out as we watch ripples of unfairness cascade the pool of the media, Judiciary, some civil society and church leaders.

What you are forgetting is that ‘when you live in a glass house don’t throw stones’. We shall reply by equal measure because we have an arsenal of private life skeletons of Joyce Banda and other rogues masquerading as democrats, human rights defenders, judges and parliamentarians.

For quite a while now, we citizens of Malawi have watched quietly but with disbelief, anger and awe the oppostion’s capture of the media, the Law Society, the Judiciary and some civil society, in particular,HRDC and PAC. The situation is so bad to the point of aligning these groups to anti-government and anti Mutharika viewpoints even when unfair and non-objective. And these institutions and individuals have mischievously played ball.

Our president has exercised extreme restraint in the face of unwarranted attacks, slander and slouth. We have suffered equally with our president and can no longer afford to keep quiet.

A litany of incidents and utterances have come from the opposition that do not represent democratic values and or positive freedom of speech. These have gone unscathed or with what we can term tacit approval from the media, some civil society organisation’s and churches.  The attitude has been as if nothing has happened.  The Law Society looks away, so does HRDC and its cousin Manifesto for Women and others.  Even the churches keep quite.

A whole senior police officer is killed, they stay mum. A whole well-meaning and hardworking police woman is undressed in the line of duty, these stay quiet as if dumb such that one would be led to think they are oblivious or blind. A whole respectable Justice Dr Jane Ansah, SC is harassed before MEC’s case is heard in the courts, the so called Manifesto for Women keep quite.

Not the least. For, once the president makes a mere remark as a rejoinder to an attack on his personality, the whole battalion of opposition, the media, civil society wakes in arms stooping so low as to ask the president to apologize.

What democracy is this? What fairness is this? Is one-sided censure democratic?

“Kumanena chatsitsa dzaye kuti njovu ithyoke mnyanga.” What provoked the president to exercise his right to speech and self defence and right to reply? In addition what is wrong with self-defense?

Are the other arms of government, like parliament and the Judiciary, in particular judges, which have been taken capture along with the media sacrosanct? Of late these have been trampling outside their mandate, throwing to the wind the very democracy and freedoms they ought to protect. This is chaos and Justice Mwaungulu in his recent posting on the ruling of the Supreme Court on the elections case, agrees to thi characterization.

Since these  arms of Government run on taxpayer’s money they ought to be admonished and censured without fear. Justice must be done and also be seen to be done. When these have erred, a spade must be called a space without fear of backlash or unfair boos nor editorials. And the Law Society has no mandate to protect an errant Judiciary from its employers, the citizen.

It is unfair and it is hypocrisy of the highest order to admonish one side of the political divide.

When Joyce Banda loosened her tongue and uttered words of slander and disrespect about the president and a fellow quiet and cool woman, the media, the Law Society and a fellow woman, civil society organisations and some church leaders claiming to be championing the cause of women rights all stayed as quiet as a mouse.

Yet, when the president replied in the same measure and mood, it was as if he ‘had set a church on fire’ as they say. Where were Timothy Mtambo and his merceneries when Joyce Banda disrespected a fellow woman and the presidency?

Why is HRDC not pursuing and raising a finger of reproach at the death of a police officer at the hands of MCP thugs at Nsundwe? This ought to have been rebuked in the strongest terms. But sorry! They decided to invest their energy elsewhere, clearly showing how one-sided they are.

It is as if some sections of the Malawi society constitute untouchables in the eyes of the media and these so called rights groups.

Malawians are tired of the selective civil society and media. It’s time we voiced loudly against this unacceptable conduct; behaviour that is devoid of objectivity and fairness required and expected of these institutions. When MCP kills they are on their heels with tails between the legs.  They turn and look away as if nothing has happened. Are they scared of them? This is why we correctly say they are in a state of capture. They are unable to react to any of their myriad of wrongs towards fellow Malawians and the leadership.

Which rights and whose interests are they standing for? Rights are never selectively applied as we are all equal before them. As such, these groups have no moral ground to castigate the president as they are morally bunkrupt where justice is concerned.

Besides, where the judiciary operates in a manner that smacks of conspirancy, it only means democracy has gone to the dogs. In such a situation there is no rule of law.  Because the very courts that are supposed to protect become the transgressor’

Justice, fairness, objectivity and balance are the pedestals on which the activities of parliament, judiciary, Civil Society and media are supposed to be advanced from.

These institutions are the cornerstone of pluralism so once they abdicate by choosing to side with one side as they have done they cease to be relevant and only continue as a mockery to our hard-won multiparty democracy. You can never have human rights only for the opposition side.

The consequence of such an approach is divisive hence not constructive; a recipe for anarchy. We cannot talk about building one nation or nation-building when there is systemic opposition supremacy orchestrated through taxpayer funded institutions and their allies.

We citizens of Malawi, now want to warn CATEGORICALLY that we shall respond pound for pound, blow for blow any rubbish thrown to the president of the republic.

Stop this nonsense and for all there is no moral ground for asking the President to apologise. Apologise for what? He has the right to hit back.

Mutharika has a right to freedom of expression and self defence. We shall stand by him against the conspiracy and self defence. We shall stand by him against the conspiracy of the courts, CSOs, media al held in capture systematically by the opposition.

We shall defend our mother Malawi by all the means and resources at our disposal. So watch out.

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