Opinion: Chilima’s political career is in its unprecedented twilight

In this article, our political analyst Joseph Kanyenda argues that vice president Saulos Chilima is a political giant who light is flickering and a political career drifting towards complete end.

It is not only the DPP that has not made peace with the fact that President Lazarus Chakwera’s support index in the Southern region is fast-arising.

From what the paid-up lieutenants of vice president Saulos Chilima appear to suggest in their posts, the Chilima affairs boardroom came out equally bothered and brainstormed on how to react to the situation.

A pattern of choreographed messages from the Chilima social media lieutenants such as the 49 year-old Julius Mithi and avatars bearing names of Bashir etc, the fundamental meaning that discloses itself from examining the underlying fabric of their discussions is that UTM is a completely battered entity that has been rendered impotent and useless for any ballot competition. That is a true observation and we can only sympathize with their dead political organization.

They are suggesting that their SKC should be granted an offer by either DPP or MCP to be a torchbearer of either of these two parties. That, in itself, is the latent admission that indeed, UTM is dead and buried and not fit for any election contest.

What remains baffling, however, is their misguided conclusion that SKC is still eligible to be a candidate for any presidential race. They seem to live in denial of the fact that the current leader terrain as it stands, their SKC is a complete non-fit for candidacy except as a Member of Parliament or Councillor if his life cannot exist outside politics.

Otherwise, it helps no one except these lieutenants living in denial to reiterate that different legal experts have weighed in and concluded that a 2009 Concourt ruling interpreted that the constitution confers a bar on SKC candidacy beyond 2020 elections.

In case it may help those living in denial, the 2009 ConCourt ruling, which was delivered on May 16 2009 by three judges namely Justice Edward Twea, Justice Healey Potani and Justice Michael Mtambo, stated as follows when addressing a question of Vice President’s eligibility for presidential candidature after serving two terms as Vice President:

“Ordinarily, a Vice-President would be eligible to contest for the office of the President when the President’s tenure comes to an end. However, our Constitution bars this. If this were not so, one could, in ascending order, be a Second-Vice President, then be a First Vice-President and then the President, or, in descending order, be the President, First Vice -President and then the second Vice-President. This, in effect, would have permitted a person to serve the presidency for 30 years or more. In this respect the phrase: “in their respective capacities,” bars an officer even when he changes capacity between the offices. Section 83(4) of the Constitution clearly demonstrates this, as we have seen earlier.”

Experts have stated many times without number that in order for this court-established meaning of the constitution to be set aside, there has to be another case where the Court of proper authority can state otherwise. Otherwise expecting MEC to accept the candidature of SKC while the Court made it clear that a person in his fate is ineligible is expecting a pig to make somersaults.

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