Africa-Press – Malawi. Malawians received resignation news of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) with jubilation and ululations. It is a wake up call to our failed political leaders in Malawi to honorably step down too.
It is a sign of statesmanship for leaders to resign if they lose public trust. In South Africa, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were forced to resign amid loss of public trust.
Recently here in Malawi , Honorable Atupele Muluzi shocked the nation when he threw the towel and stepped aside as the president of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
He once also resigned from a ministerial position during Dr. Joyce Banda’s reign. So resignations are possible in Malawi. There are gargantuan reasons why President Chakwera and his Vice President must resign.
The first one is that they too have lost public trust. There are allegations that these leaders have been implicated in a syndicate of corrupt practices.
Indeed there are serious allegations that they have accumulated unexplained massive wealth within a short period of time. Vice President was named in the suspected corruption scandal by UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
President Chakwera consequently withheld all delegated duties from Chilima. Vice President later reacted by holding a press conference where he advocated for the removal of presidential immunity from President Chakwera.
This implied that the Vice President insinuated that President Chakwera needs to be prosecuted too. He should not hide behind the presidential immunity.
Malawians have therefore lost public trust in the leadership of Tonse Alliance. The Constitution of Malawi demands that the office of the president and vice president are executed upon public trust.
Criminal allegations are enough for the general public to lose trust and confidence in their political leaders. There are some myopic minds who think that one should only resign when found guilty. This is wrong.
If you are holding a public office, and there are serious criminal allegations, you need to step aside to pave way for thorough investigations. Then there is the second reason why President Chakwera and his Vice must resign. They have dismally failed to deliver.
President Chakwera is on record promising Malawians that if he doesn’t change people’s lives for the better in two years, he would graciously resign. Two years down the lane, there is completely nothing, zero, on the ground.
Poor public service delivery. No essential drugs in public hospitals. No non-expiratory driving licenses. No free water and electricity connections. No one million jobs. High unaffordable cost of living. Rising cost of fuel, water and electricity. Nepotism. Cronyism. Tribalism. Regionalism. Rampant corruption. Selective justice. Courts interfering in the operations of National Assembly, Office of Ombudsman and ACB through stay orders.
In his address to the nation, the Vice President admitted that the Tonse Alliance government is busy campaigning instead of providing solutions to the economic problems rocking Malawi.
It is pathetic that there are paid mercenaries in the social media platforms who think that Malawi’s economy will grow by sitting phwii while blaming Russia-Ukraine war and COVID 19 pandemic. This is retrogressive.
In the absence of the President and Vice President, the current cabinet can elect an interim president. This can also give room to ACB to independently and expeditiously conclude the alleged criminal practices. Fresh elections must be conducted within three months. Even if found not guilty, the culprits will still need to seek fresh mandate from the electorate. It is high time politicians became serious to honor their campaign promises. Malawians should not be taken for granted.
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