OPINION | “Mumba is the best thing that happened to our politics in 2025”

Personally, I nominate Hon. Vitumbiko Mumba as the best politician of 2025. I have followed Malawian politics faithfully, and since the return to multiparty democracy in 1994, no politician has stood out like Mumba—not because he was polite, popular, or politically correct, but because he was angry enough to confront the rot choking the lives of ordinary Malawians.

Mumba took ministerial responsibility personally. Painfully personally. He worked day and night as though he were running his own company, often dipping into his own pocket to execute duties that others would conveniently postpone “pending funding.” He did not knock off. He did not hide behind protocol. In a political culture addicted to allowances, workshops, and ribbon-cutting, Mumba’s work ethic was an embarrassment to his peers.

He reminded us that a minister’s job is not to sit behind a polished desk next to a flag and issue press statements. Real work is dirty. It is confrontational. It is done outside the office. As Minister of Labour, Mumba went to the ground—tea estates, industrial sites, warehouses—and confronted abusive employers face to face. He fought for Malawian workers when it was unfashionable to do so. He demanded safe and hygienic working conditions. He pushed for better wages. And most daring of all, he challenged the quiet but rampant theft of jobs meant for Malawians by foreigners protected by money and connections.

At Trade, he took on cartels at ground zero. No theatrics. No fear. He imposed import restrictions where local supply was sufficient—protecting local producers and conserving forex. That was not populism; it was economic patriotism. It was radical. It was brave. And it rattled powerful interests that prefer a weak state and a submissive minister.

Mumba did not smile at corruption. He did not manage it. He confronted it.

And for that, he paid the price.

While Mumba fought for Malawians, Malawians—politicians, bureaucrats, and armchair analysts alike—worked tirelessly to frustrate and destroy him, both within MCP and outside it. He was isolated. Undermined. Starved of institutional support. But he endured. Resilient. Defiant. A typical Ngoni warrior.

Let us be honest with ourselves: Malawi will not change through politeness alone. We need confrontation. We need aggression. We need forceful leadership. Even Jesus, confronted with exploitation, picked up a whip and overturned tables in the temple. He did not negotiate. He did not issue a communique. He drove the nonsense out.

That is the spirit Mumba brought into government.

Yes, by September many Malawians were hurling insults at him. Yes, he made mistakes—who doesn’t? But his real sin was not incompetence or arrogance. It was timing. Belonging to MCP at the wrong moment. Rising too fast. Becoming too visible. Becoming the running mate too soon. In Malawi, we punish speed, courage, and clarity—especially when they threaten entrenched interests.

Mumba is the best thing that happened to our politics in 2025. We may not appreciate him now because our judgment is clogged with political bias and cheap partisanship. But history is rarely kind to cowards. One day, our children will look back and see clearly: that the anger Mumba carried as a cabinet minister was exactly what this country needed. We needed uncomfortable solutions. We needed confrontation. We needed someone willing to pick up a whip.

Happy New Year, Hon. Mumba. You are my favourite politician. And I hope—truly—that one day you return to the frontline of the battlefield.

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