Africa-Press – Malawi. Politics. This is a term that most Malawians are yet to properly understand. Most of us have understood politics as ndale – a dirty game whose end is to see the downfall of the other. And from that perspective, we have gone on to approach this otherwise noble affair with savagery, gluttony and deceit. We have not yet realised that politics is something that is meant to uplift our lives and to change the circumstances of our nation for the better. For most of us, politics is war.
Just last week, some members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were hacked by machetes and axes in Lilongwe for exercising their democratic rights. The group was about to venture on a street parade where they wanted to recruit members for their party. We are approaching the campaign period for the next elections and this is something that is expected.
We have been witnessing other political parties holding rallies across the country, recruiting members, some of whom with questionable character as they end up failing to recall which leader they are paying allegiance to at that moment.
What happened to those DPP members in Lilongwe must be condemned, for it is not something that we would like to see in this country. Political violence is something we have experienced before, and we know how ugly it gets. Those who are victims of these acts are people who are not even benefitting from politics – people who rally behind big men and women in the hope that their lives would one day be better. The real beneficiaries of politics who live in Area 10, Nyambadwe, and Area 43 just watch as the poor kill each other out of their ignorance and folly. As such, those who have the power to put an end to political violence will never stop it.
When we see ugly scenes like these, our first question has to go to the authorities who are supposed to protect citizens of this country. We cannot have thugs harassing people at the centre of the city and yet nobody is held accountable for such acts. Why then do we spend a huge part of our taxes on security agencies that fail to protect us? Considering the number of annoying roadblocks and police checkpoints that one is tortured with when driving around Lilongwe, it is unimaginable that a lorry full of masked panga-wielding thugs would make its way to the crime scene unnoticed. Or have we become that lawless as a country?
Maybe we should not be surprised at all as it seems that there are certain sects of our society that are allowed to commit crimes without facing consequences. Remember that we had a case where some thugs terrorised Nsundwe – raping women and children – and they were never arrested. Their victims were compensated, but the perpetrators never faced the law. Even some women lawyers, who were pretending to fight for justice in that case, disappeared. This can only mean that whoever sends these people to commit crimes must be some god up there – untouchable, even by the law. As such, we must not expect to see justice for the DPP supporters who were hacked in Lilongwe. It was an act of the gods.
The thing with political violence is that it defeats the whole project of building the nation. As poor as we are, we could use unity to work together in improving ourselves in the best way we can. But our politics is so toxic that it stops us from thinking. We cannot build a nation when tribalism and regionalism are at the heart or our political (dis)organisation.
During the reign of the DPP, we saw thugs waving machetes in the air, declaring that the Southern Region was a no-go-zone for other political parties. We also witnessed similar scenes when the United Democratic Front (UDF) was in power. Now that the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is in power, we are yet to see whether they will do things differently during the coming campaign season. The MCP is known to have its stronghold in the Central Region and we hope that the party will not repeat the savagery that their predecessors were known for. At the end of the day, we must realise that we are all Malawians and not some beasts of no nation.
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