Professor Kanyongolo faults Chakwera’s disregard of Covid-19 guidelines

August 12, 2020 Nyasa Times Reporter 39 Comments

Renowned legal scholar Professor Edge Kanyongolo of University of Malawi at Chancellor College has faulted President Lazarus Chakwera for disregarding COVID-19 regulation of limiting funeral services to 50 people.

The funeral ceremony of Mai Dinala

Chakwera attended the funeral of Mayi Dinala—one of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) longest serving member—and reports show that thousands of people also attended.

Writing on his Facebook post, the Chancellor College law professor underlined that one governance challenge that has often eroded the legitimacy of Malawian governments has been their failure to uphold the principle of the rule of law.

“One of the central pillars of this principle is ‘equality before the law,’ which may be restated as ‘no one is above the law,” he said.

He added that the feeling by some—often encouraged and condoned by Presidents—is that they are above the law or immune from its reach is what gave this country the brood of miscreants who could drive on public roads without number plates, Cashgaters who felt entitled to dip into the public purse at will, Young Democrats who could assault citizens with impunity.

“If the Covid-19 Guidelines are applied selectively by this government, especially in favour of the political elite, it will vindicate the Marxist theory of law, whose central thesis is that law is a tool in the hands of the elite who use it to benefit themselves and keep the poor in their place,” he wrote.

Kanyongolo also noted that it will be a troubling indicator of the beginning of the fraying of the edges of the fabric of the rule of law which is often the only fig leaf behind which we can safeguard our country’s limited endowments.

“For a government which came into power on the strength of the principles of legality and constitutionalism, its disregard for the ‘equality before the law’ principle will be the supreme irony,” he said.

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39 replies on “Professor Kanyongolo faults Chakwera’s disregard of Covid-19 guidelines”

  2. Better comet what you know please and the best you can do is to contact Chikosa about the number of people gathering in Church. Covid-19 is very real and kills. This is what we call out bounce because this is not your way of handling matters of concern. Discuss law with Chikosa and not this one, Sorry Baba. What is wrong with you or perhaps you are becoming too old? Oh! sorry I forgot that there is school there due to Covid -19 and you have nothing to do.

  3. I dont think that Chakwera could have stayed home after the death of late Mai Dinala like Nkhuku ija yamikolongwe ili ku Mangochi. Baba Kanyongolo mwakula and better go home ife tisachite ukupangitsani manyazi apa. School iyo ndiyanu ndi ana anuwo. The same gathering if done by Nkhalamba izanu ija pano mukuomba m’manja . Please better go home and open Madimba kumudzi.

  4. Mr Kanyongolo stop writing rubbish now even if you hate MCP. Better join Kondwani if you are bitter with MCP party Or wakutumani. I am one of them who used to respect you but now Alas!!!!! time wasteful.

  7. Edge Kanyongolo and I call again Edge Kanyongolo. You are one of the most senior lecturers in Law and I am not a lawyer and I am far from being one. Please go to section 11 (3) of the regulations and I quote ” (3) Subrule (1) shall not apply to a (a) a funeral, (b) a meeting of the National Assembly and 9 (c) a meeting convened to discuss Covid-19 interventions. Please stop faulting the president and start reading things. I know you are still bitter about MCP following your detention in the 1980s for being childish and critical of the government that day together with Mcwillie Chiusiwa and Tubby Chibwana. I rest my case. Nanunso Pumani Mwakalamba.

    1. Poti ndi Chakwera, nde Edge Kanyongolo walakwitsa koma akanakhala Peter Mutharika bwenzi mukuwombera M’manja.

  8. Not an issue Covid-19 is going whether u like it or not. Bwana Kanyongolo, izi zitayeni kaye izi ndi za ife a chiptala. Inu tamuuzeni Chikosa kuti ku tchalichi anthu 10 zukhala bwanji?

  9. Do we seriously believe that covid is really serious or just lip service. What Kanyongolo has said speak volumes of our attitude as regards covid. When HE travels he has top security and plus loads of policeans eh even soilders around enforcing the restrictions couldn’t have been a problem but the policy of appeasement was the order of the day. Somebody said that he moves with security plus other which was already 50% of the mouners good and nice then he should have just delegated to avoid being seen as a leader who breaks his own regulations it sucks

  12. Malawian politicians will always preach the theory – “Do as I say and not as I do*. If told to jump, just ask “How high?” As a common person, you stand no chance to make decisions and lead an independent life. The politician is bigger than the country and its nationals.

  13. This recverend can not be trusted.
    1. H3 said he will appoint people on merit but all we have seen are his relatives, families and retirees.
    2. He said he will reduce his convoy but he hasn’t and police men were lining all his route.
    3. He said they will share 50 50 cabinet post with alliance partners but not at all because he had loan sharks to appease.
    4. He said he will have a cabinet of 20 but now he has 31 because he had lots of families to appease.
    5. He said he will create employment but all we are seeing is hiring of grannies from retirement. He claims they need to help him in reforms but how does he expect grannies who have never uses a computer to help let alone deal with the young generation.
    6. He said he will create employment but all we are hearing are stupid things like roadmap and job centres. All what we need is to be told where the 1 million jobs are.
    7. He said he will introduce universal subsisidy. Just like he defined merit to mean families of the Mias, kadzkos and Kandondo..to him universal means 4.9million people.

    2. Exactly this Tonse government is Nyenkhwe
      Have lied so many things to nation
      On run they say we are clearing the rubles
      Eish malawi.

    3. Zio ine
      Has nothing to write here and truly very useless. The President cannot appoint you or your relatives to be one of the Cabinet Ministers as the case is at hand.Him and Chilima have not even spent 100 days accordingly. If you work out correcting your errors you will probably come with 40+ and he already eroded the number of cars,cabinet ets. Mind you this is a listening government as compared to your party which refused everything good or bad. Please keep quiet you will be appointed like your uncle. I want him and Chilima not to create any employment as of now because its too early to point a finger at them yet. There are many issues to handle and I dont even hesitate why AGOGO took time sleeping. There is nothing you gave in to the struggling party MCP up to others who at least did something.MWACHEDWA NAZO IZI. Leave Mr Mia alone. DPP WILL NEVER COME BACK.

  14. Leader leads by example! Is this a good example Mr President? I read in a news that police arrested people for not putting on mask
    at public place it was sounding like good but today the president is counted among one breaking the rules and tomorrow you will arrest locals attending a a feneral at the village because they’re more than fifty (50).

    To me I will put a very big ? to the current regime. EVERY ONE IS EQUAL…When it comes to the law and any law is important to a nation.

    Please don’t hate me hate the law breaker kkkkkkk.

  16. Interesting protestations from the learned scholar except thatfor I’m not too sure if President Chakwera was responsible for inviting the thousands of people who came to attend the funeral? So if President Chakwera decides to visit a Shoprite store he is supposed to be responsible in making sure that there are no more than ten shoppers or fifty inside there before he enters? Wow! Malawi must have the most democratic and superhuman President in the whole world and he must also be somekind of a god who has supernatural knowledge of all kinds of situations everywhere he goes and must therefore have foreknowledge of circumstances surrounding every event. In fact soon others will be demanding that the President must vacate the state house in the name of equality for all Malawians. Just my thoughts.

    1. Inunso ndiye achitsiru eni eni, kupepera. When ka Chakwera kanuko authorised the stupid COVID rules made by SAPESA wanu wokawa K7bn uja, mumati wopanga enforce ndani? Why not enforce the rules that this function? You thought running government ndi phada?

  17. I have so much respect for professor kanyongolo and I cannot believe that he can write such travesty……

    First of all the president went to the funeral as a president and not as a policeman to enforce the law…..so if anything mr kanyongolo should know better that it is not mr Chakweras responsibility to enforce the covid guidelines at the funeral.

    Secondly mr kanyongolo would have known that when a president travels, he does not travel alone…….his entourage alone would have taken 50% of the number required to attend a funeral per the new guidelines and it would have been unfair for the real mourners at the funeral to be chased away to accommodate the president entourage.

    Thirdly, if the head of state attends a funeral it means that the funeral is not just any other funeral so there will always be some exceptions……..just as we allow our presidents to order stuff from abroad duty free although they get paid more than everyone working in the civil service.

    I think just because the Tonse alliance government has given us all the freedom to criticise everything that we think is not going well, I think on the other hand, let us use this freedom maturely and use common sense before start pointing fingers.

    1. It is not the Tonse Alliance that has given us the freedom to criticise. Freedom of speech is enshrined in the Malawi Constitution, that was why FDC, HRDC, MCP, UTM were able to criticise previous governments before.

    2. Defending stupidity of presidents is what destroys them. Any sane person knows Chakwera has broken his own laws.

    3. If there a stupid and insane people who frequent this place,its you and everytime u talk nonsense. I have never read anything u wrote that is with sense, everything is just rubbish.As the President, he should lead by example and being present at such a ceremony justifies how he is offending his own rules. In the first place, if he knew 50 was a small number, why did he do it. The Professor is and its stupid people like you who elevate leaders who do the opposite after establishing the guidelines for Malawi.

  19. yet you want to restrict our much needed CHURCH GATHERINGS ONLY MAX OF 10???
    In fact we do not even have to have a maximum, but simply do some social distancing and masking up

  20. Ine nasiya kalekale kunvela chakwera chifukwa he doesn’t walk the talk. He is careless and just as bad as anyone before him. Useless cows

  22. As a leader he was supposed to set an example. So now that the president has farted. The whole community will shit.

  23. While I do not want to dismiss Comrade Edge’s observations entirely , I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that “all animals are, unfortunately, not equal, some animals are more equal than others. While respecting the regulations laid down, it should be acknowledged that Mayi Dinala was no ordinary Malawian. Those who knew her would attest to this. Even laws, regulations, principles and principalities had to bow down and accept that a giant had fallen. The president could not do anything to stop people paying their homage to the great daughter of Malawi .
    I fault you not , President Laz.

    1. Usandichimwitse. If we were not equal sibwenzi ena akufa. No life is more important than the next. The only difference is who the person wad in your life. The president has goofed basi

    2. My friend no life is more paramount than the other.We are all the same no matter what,whether the poor,the rich,the educated,the uneducated but in life we are all equal.So according to this current health crisis of coronavirus pandemic that has hit the whole world,we are all striving together to uphold all the neccesary precautionary measures to fight against this disease.Law is law and it is not only for one person.when a law is made,we should all abide by that law and a person in a position should be a good example of pure deeds.But when we compromise everything into politics,it is a sign of being too frail.

  24. Komatu, it has been clear from the beginning that Chakwera is arrogant and a hypocrite. Am surprised people are slowly opening their eyes now.

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