By Chalo Mvula
MCP Strategic Director has called on all African governments and beyond to emulate Malawi as far as democracy is concerned. He was speaking on Lets Talk Africa , a radio show on Manchester UK based Radio Africana and hosted by Allan Mandindi.
Discussing a topic called “Is Democracy winning in Africa” Dr Zikhale, who is an experienced strategist and well respected across the political spectrum made strong arguments that indeed Africa is heading into the right direction as far as democracy is concerned. He went further to say , a discussion about African democracy is not complete if the case of Malawi is not made as a beacon of light for the continent. At this point, reference was made to the 2019 scenario where Malawian Courts annulled presidential elections and a rerun called on by the court, a scenerio that saw President Peter Mutharika lose elections to the incumbent Dr Lazarus Chakwera
“The scenario is 2019 shows the power of Democracy , People have the power and if they are tired of the government they will get it removed” argued Zikhale. He said authoritarian governments have no room in Africa and if anything, they irk the common people who have the power in a democracy. Several governments in Africa have attempted to be authoritarian, being oligarchy and capitalistic but many of them have failed which is a big sign that Democracy is winning.
Dr Zikhale who is also a member for parliament for Nkhatabay South highlighted that the current situation in Malawi should be emulated by all . He pointed out that Malawians chose Dr Lazarus Chakwera as the president , a choice that is proving to be a good one as the president has been at the pinnacle of good governance and promotion of democratic values. “ Dr Chakwera is the most democratic leader I have ever come across, Look at the way he is letting the three arms of the government, judiciary , parliament and presidential powers operate independently but all for the good of Malawi” . Zikhale said this should be a lesson to other leaders on how to lead a country
He argues that Malawians are blessed to have a capable leader in Chakwera describing him as so accommodating and the first president to run a government of several political parties smoothly . He said he was sure that if Malawi leader can be emulated, Africa and the world will see no wars , No greed by those in power and people will prosper together . Zikhale went further to argue that President Chakwera is running an accountable and transparent government as evidenced by the recent Covid19 funds report and that he is effecting the rule of law, as those found to have been involved in malpractices are being fired , highlighting that no one is above the law in the country.
Zikhale also talked about the need to have Values that help govern governments giving example of Chakwera’s flagship Super Hi5 Agenda that was central to his election campaign and has already started being fulfilled. “ Chakwera’s super Hi5 of ending corruption , prospering together, servant leadership, respect for rule of law has already started Manifesting , we have seen nepotism and regionalism now dying slowly , we have seen equal distribution of wealth through infrastructure distribution such as plans to construct roads in Northern Region that were bad and often abandoned by previous regimes”.
Dr Zikhale however, had a warning for Governments , with lessons learnt from Malawi political scenerio in 2019 that in a democracy, Politics can be dynamic and the people, who are the real bosses should never be taken for-granted as they have the power to turn against you . “ DPP and Peter Mutharika learnt it the hard way that you cannot take people forgranted , when they are fed up , they have the power to send you packing “ said Zikhale. He advised governments to acknowledge the role strategists play and have them handy in the governance structures saying all strategist do is say the truth without sugar coating and its up for the leaders to listen or not .
