Thousands of young Malawians marched in Lilongwe on Friday to protest against impunity and deteriorating of living conditions, racket and corruption which have become apparent in the Lazarus Chakwera’s led government amid a heavy presence of security personnel.
The protesters, who included young ones, marched in old town streets and converged at District Commissioner’s office to present their grievances mainly over impunity by himself, the DC and those who sent him to stopping the planned demos which were scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
One protester, whom Malawi Voice managed to talk, said: “We are demanding prices of basic needs to go down, fuel prices to go down, and sent all corrupt ministers, state house senior officers and many others to go on trial and face the law,”
Social and civil rights activist Silver Namiwa has backed the demonstrators saying Malawi is heading towards wrong direction with President Chakwera, who promised to end corruption and impunity, but it’s clear he has paid a blind eye for reasons one can strongly conclude he is part of the corruption syndicate.
“We need to prune their impunity now and reform the whole government machinery by first arresting all those who are in involved in corruption. We need to sanitize our country with a veil of decorum and honest minds and not these wolves who come in the name of the lord only to find that ‘gentiles and Pharisees’ inside their hearts,” said Namiwa
President Chakwera has come under fire from religious organizations, civil rights activists, academia and local voters for ‘aiding and abetting’ corruption in the country by protecting his state house officers and cabinet ministers who recently were involved in land and other related corruption scandals.
It is really a shame and very disappointing to note that Malawi has no leadership. The figurehead we have at the helm is as good as a dead. One wonders as for how long will he learn to listen to commonsense, although it is believed that though commonsense is as common as it is, to some it is not that common. From the look of things, we are moving backwards at a supersonic speed, in the process leaving the masses on the wayside. Their inclusion on these unplanned sojourn will come to bear.
The recent demonstration turnout depicts the degree at which Malawians are tired and have lost hope in the mediocrity of business as usual malaise. Chakwera has disappointed big time, it is doubtful if he really walked through the corridors of excellence in terms of his academics. There are very simple directives he is failing to execute which could even be handled better by an MCP ward branch chairman. The moment we were told that he congregated his children’s children at the state house we knew the man was not serious enough. He basically walked into Plot # 1 solely bent to steal as his gateway to a lucrative pension. This fraudster is literary embroiled in all the dirty clandestine thievery allegations making rounds today. He stooped so low to even start negotiating for Fuel tendering right from the state house offices, by collaborating with the Zuneth Sattars of this world, by pocketing allowances on useless foreign trips etc etc and yet all along warning bells unceasingly continued to ring.
The demonstrations he just saw are a tip of the the iceberg. There are massive upheavals coming which will be an eyesore and difficult to contain. His and Mtambo’s infrastructure demolition he masterminded were dress- rehearsals for yet very bloody skirmishes to come as orchestrated by MCP. At least that time those demonstrating were mere fanatics, but this time around it will be a combination of fanatics, unemployed youths and miserable hungry/angry Malawians from all the 4 regions of the country. That coupled with the disappointment created by cheating the Tonse Alliance parties, things won’t be that good. Chakwera has created a situation which will haunt him the rest of his life. When the clergy start to chip in with an administrations hiccups and oversights, know that you’re crossing red lines. If you choose to cover your eyes and ears with cotton wool then calamity of the highest order ensues. Chakwera’s administration has reached at an unprecedented crossroads. Only time will tell!!