By Lord Denning
The essence Chilima’s Press Briefing appears to have been an effort to divert public attention from his alleged corruption involvement with Sattar. His claims that the Press Briefing would be on matters of national interest have come across as a brazen lie. At best, they were matters of personal interest
If anything, Chilima’s Presser was simply designed TO DIVERT PUBLIC ATTENTION from the narrative of his alleged involvement in corrupt deals with Sattar.
Without knowing, Chilima statement is full of content that contradicts itself within itself. For example, he has stated that according to the Agreement, nothing would be done relating to the alliance, by any of the alliance partners, without consultation with the partners of the alliance. Last week the Alliance partners met and never resolved to address the issues that he has raised today. This is a clear violation of the very alliance principle that he has talked about. And he stood with the audacity to claim that someone is violating the alliance at the very time that he was actually violating the alliance terms. This is insanity of a hugely dishonest man.
It is on record that President Chakwera was questioned during the campaign period by Brian Banda in a TV interview as to whether there is an Agreement that (the running mate) Chilima would be the torch bearer in 2025 election. Chakwera clearly said “there is no such Agreement”. Therefore, we have a situation whereby one Alliance partner (Chilima) is claiming a thing and another partner (Chakwera) is claiming the contrary. The only way to resolve this contrast is for him, since he has shown the need for the public to know the contents, to publish the Agreement in its entirety so that members of the public should read for themselves.
Chilima is not brave. Is not even half the wits his members attribute to him. If he was brave enough and had the wits that be, he would have actually ended the alliance during that press briefing unlike crying that “it’s better the alliance should end”. Why not just end it already? He claims to be brave but actually not brave at all.
I have expressed my serious doubts about the existence of the Agreement that Chakwera was to support Chilima as torchbearer in the 2025 election. Even if that was to be in the Agreement, it does not mean that the Malawian people should go along with this Agreement which Malawians were not consulted in the first place – especially now that we know that such a potential candidate is facing criminal charges. If this is what Chilima thinks is a matter of national interest, I think he is gravely mistaken because that has all the fragrance of his personal interest.
If that Agreement is in existence, now that he is facing accusations of defrauding Malawians through corruption with Sattar, certainly this should be one of the components of the Agreement that should not be honoured at all, if the public interest is what should be guarded always. Having said this, the requirement for him to publish the Agreement in its entirety for all to read for themselves remain asserted.
It is funny that Chilima (or perhaps his legal advisors) really sat down and thought that the so-called Alliance Agreement can reign supreme over the Constitution. The Constitution clearly provides circumstances when a Presidential election can be held. The constitution does not recognize violation of political agreements between political players as a ground for holding an election. Thinking that the Constitution can be dethroned by the power of a political Agreement that places him as the next torch bearer is a thinking of self-centered illusionist. Chilima is an illusionist who has, for so long, overestimated his political calculations.
