First it was Dr Cassim Chilumpha and then, Hon. Sidik Mia. Their resignation(s) was and is, still undoubtedly, a big headache for the ruling party; the PP. I believe there are some fellas of mine who would agree that the impact of such resignations was much bigger and heavier when Hon. Mia vacated the active political grounds. Mia was from among very few politicians who had some traceable integrity. He was also resourceful, hence, I believe the approximately 2-year-old party (years calculated based on the ruling time) benefited a lot from him than from many other politicians.
Madam President, whatever happened between you – or your party – and Sidik Mia, is really none of my business. But the moment you (or some of your party members) decided to send Sosten Gwengwe and Uladi Mussa to publicly burn Mia’s image, that was a day I really felt sorry for you and your party. That was some pathetic and frustration-influenced move your party had decided to intimidate Mia. Your party could have used (in a positive way) people with some integrity like Mia. But alas, you – or your political party – did not tolerate.
Chilumpha, I agree, is one of those guys whose next plan is not easily guessed. That’s what makes him complicated and politically frightening, but he has a very good side that ought to be within each and every member of the so-called ‘Homo sapiens’ that calls him/her-self a politician. Patience, he really is a very patient man. Madam President, the birthday of your party is but recent, you of all the people needed a person of this caliber more than any political party in the former Nyasaland. Indeed, a person who would firmly stand by your party no matter how hard some political winds happened to blow. However, despite his rare quality (i.e. patience), Chilumpha was not tolerated or, maybe, this time he did not tolerate you. Still the point is; you lost a man with a force to be reckoned with in the political sphere.
Having said that, it’s very important that I make myself pretty clear; I surely don’t regard Dr Cassim Chilumpha and Sidik Mia as ‘political angels’. These people, just like you Madame, have their own weaknesses, maybe to put it, in a phrase, I should say – less performed than promised.
But to be fair, blaming you wholly will just be a straight devious act. At least, you did not fire Mia. We just assume that something very awful was happening. Whatever it may be, it is (was) so big that it sent him out of active politics. As long as he – himself – does not yearn to explain what happened, then I agree that it’s not ‘mature’ to completely blame you for his exit. Moreover, Mia is quoted to saying that he is “absolutely certain that the decision to stay away from front-line politics is the correct one”. Thus, one is compelled to guess that Mia himself lost appetite for politics, which, – I think – is a correct guess.
But when it comes to Dr Chilumpha, the case is somehow unattractively interesting. Of course, he is known of collaborating less with his comrades. However, Madam President, no matter how cornered you were, I personally think, it was not from the most favorable cup of wisdom for you or your party to openly fund or throw support behind Fahad Assani (that’s according to news coming from Nkhotakota). Chilumpha and Assani were both your party members. By ‘elevating’ Assani, you publicly and majestically denied Dr Cassim Chilumpha his services. In other words, you indirectly fired Chilumpha.
Let it be clear that I have never voted for Chilumpha (due to other complicated reasons), but to treat him like that, is just lack of moral consideration.
My words may look very contradictory, but that’s better that way. For indeed, if I wanted, I could have beautified this article by painting ‘gold’ on both Mia and Chilumpha and on the other hand, crowned you a queen of demons. Or it could have been done vice versa. However, due to your/politicians’ games, which include withholding important information, we are forced to only think or write based on the little information given, thus, a piece deprived of its pure precision.
What I am trying to say is, just as we, the mere citizens, are tolerating some of your weaknesses by pointing out what you would/could have done or should/must do…, you too would have tolerated them and tried to subdue whatever weaknesses you saw in them for the betterment of Malawians (and most definitely, your party’s).
Anyway, unless you want to run a party full of ‘angels’, I should suggest that you learn the true meaning of the word ‘tolerance’.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Malawi Muslim Official Website.
