Africa-Press – Malawi. Malawi’s President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera is in many ways like Spanish International football star and Liverpool’s marque signing central midfield maestro, Thiago Alcantara.
When the multi-trophy winning footballing wizard signed for the Merseyside based club and the current English Premier League Champions, Liverpool from Buyers Munich, last year, the football world, particularly Liverpool supporters went crazy.
Understably so, it was a justified frenzy, Thiago Alcantara is one of the best middle-of-park best footballers. There are not many like him. He is so agile on the ball and his pin-point ball passing is exceptionally exquisite and out of this world.
At 29 years of age, Thiago Alcantara is a player any big football club would love to have in their team. He is a proven special player who has thus far plied his game with Barcelona, Buyern Munich and the Spanish national team as a key player.
His reading of the game is by far the best in the business at the moment. He is a mixture of Pirlo, Luis Figo, Paul Scores, Claude Makelele, Ernest Wire Mtawali, Christopher John Banda and Chiza Nyirongo.
Similarly, when President Chakwera, an eloquent evangelist and one of the smartest politicians in recent history signed up for the presidency last year with Dr. Saulos Chilima as his runningmate, Malawians, especially those from MCP and UTM plus the others went crazy since in Dr. Chakwera, Malawians, like Liverpool fans found a renewed hope, and change for the future.
Dr. Chakwera, is to say the least, a fine gentleman, mannered, educated, wise and above all else humane and humble. He is a proven leader in all aspects of life. He is a good looking man and looks every inch like a president.
Every country in Africa and beyond, would love to have him as their president. President Chakwera like Thiago Alcantara is so fluent on the political ball. He has a special way. His demeanor is so exceptional and exemplary. He is a family man, a real (Malawian) in every sense of the word.
But, despite his brilliance, mental agility and top-notch and apt above-average classy and distinct style of play, Thiago Alcantara has not yet found his light to brighten his shine at Liverpool.
He is not even half the player that he is known to be and he is now being blamed for his dismal performances and many a football commentator have opined that he is the reason Liverpool is not doing well at the moment.
Thiago has now fallen on the pecking order-from hope to despair. But what these critics are now forgetting to remember is that Thiago came to a wounded Liverpool and he doesn’t have a good system.
Football, to say the least, is team game and requires every player to do their part. Individual brilliance is an added advantage but not overly necessary. Good team work is vital and an important ingredient.
Solely roasting and hanging Thiago Alcantara for all the Liverpool’s woes is folly. And very unfair. President Chakwera, who of course has nothing to do with Liverpool as he is an ardent Arsenal fan, is like Thiago Alcantara. He took over the reigns to a morally broken and wounded Malawi.
Just like Thiago, President Chakwera has found himself in a fix of things. Things looks to be going so slow and Malawians like Liverpool supporters are becoming frustrated and dejected. President Chakwera like Thiago is now getting the stick for everything that is going wrong in the government.
Again, Malawians like Liverpool fanatics and zealots, are remembering not that government like a football team and needs all the players to do their part if things are to go the best and right way. President Chakwera can only do as much. He needs to be supported by each and everyone in order for him to shine his light.
Blaming Chakwera for everything that’s going on in the government is not right because for the government to run smooth, all the players, in this case citizens needs to be actively in participation. And this is where the comparison between President Chakwera ends.
On the one hand, Thiago is lucky because he has a coach, one of the best football managers of this generation, the German gaffer, Jurgen Klopp, to plan and prepare him for the next game in a bid to try and help him get back to his best.
If Thiago is having a bad day at the office, not ticking the boxes during a match, his manager would most likely substitute him and have someone else to carry on.
On the other hand, President Chakwera does not have a coach to substitute him if he is having a bad game. If things go wrong, he must carry on and right the wrong.
Perhaps, the only person, President Chakwera looks up to when ‘the government lorry’ seems to be loosing air in the braking system is his able ‘Sisitansi,’ the Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and then some of his trusted ministers – but the bulk stops with no one but President Chakwera.
Overall, let us not blame President Chakwera alone for everything that is going wrong because we, as citizens are all responsible to make Malawi free of theft of public funds, corruption and abuse of office.
As citizens, we need to change our mindset and be honest people. If we were honest people that K6.2 billion that has been stolen from the Covid funds should not have been ‘eaten’ like Lizulu tomatoes.
That some Malawians love to steal public funds, is, and should not be President Chakwera’s fault. It is our fault as a country. President Chakwera became a president of a country where the people are corrupt-minded and morally bankrupt. A country where people love stealing public funds.
We must change our mindset if we must change our country for the better. If we don’t, we will remain as we are forever. Truth be told, President Chakwera is a very good man. He is a definition of a modern democrat and a listening politician. He has the passion of the Ngwazi Hastings Kamuzu Banda and vision of the earlier-days Bingu wa Mutharika.
President Chakwera is more. He speaks well and his diction and vocabulary in both English and the vernacular is so rich. When he speaks, everyone, listens.
President Chakwera unlike Thiago Alcantara has big decisions to make, people to fire and people to hire. He has a responsibility to ensure that the country is running smooth on economy, health, education and all faculties of the state.
Chakwera is the executive head chef of the Malawi kitchen and it is now time to make omelette for his clientele, the citizens, the people who hired him to be their servant through the ballot with 52 percent of votes.
But if President Chakwera is to make the omelette then he will have to break the ‘eggs’ otherwise if he doesn’t break them, we surely will only end with boiled eggs.
And you know what boiled eggs do to people. Malawians, let us stand up, roll our sleeves put on our gumboots and work-gear on and get down dirt to work, support President
Chakwera and his trusted lieutenants build a better Malawi. A better Malawi is possible. The power is in our hands, and in our unity of purpose to transform this our ‘Warm Heart of Africa.’
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