{"id":3712,"date":"2021-08-08T08:27:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T08:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?p=3712"},"modified":"2021-08-08T08:24:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-08T08:24:21","slug":"chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india","title":{"rendered":"Chakwera\u2019s former aide Pastor Thom dares critics on his official trip to India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\">Malawi<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The recently fired Executive Assistant and Special Advisor on Church and Religious Affairs, Pastor Martin Thom, has dismissed rumours swirling around social media platforms that he has fled the country following his arrest on Bill smuggling allegation.<\/p>\n<p>Thom, who has travelled on errands to New Delhi, India, through Doha in Qatar on a business class, challenged that he is ready to face justice as a man. He is travelling on E-ticket no. 1576369644375 and is expected back August 24, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>His trip, coming barely a few days after his arrest and release on police bail, raised eyebrows, with some Malawians suspecting that he could be fleeing the country for fear of being jailed.<\/p>\n<p>Yet others suspect that his arrest was just a smoke screen because \u201cthe real culprit in the Bill smuggling saga\u201d is still a free man walking the streets of Malawi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is surprising to see someone who was arrested last week is on bail, but he is able to fly out. Thom Martin, as a suspect, was supposed to surrender all his travelling documents, but he is free to fly out under Tonse administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll what Chakwera promised Malawians were false hopes. He promised rule of law but he is the first to break it while Martha Chizuma is just watching,\u201d reacted one social media fan yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>The fan alleged that Thom\u2019s firing was a calculated move to suppress public anger. But in epistle in reaction to social media reports about his questionable trip, Thom challenged that he is ready to face justice as a man what come may!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are rumours flying around that I have ran away from the law or that I am still on duty abroad for President Chakwera. These are lies being pushed by people who have made it their business to tarnish the President no matter what the truth is. So, I want to set the record straight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Chakwera is the finest President Malawi has ever had, a man of great integrity. The fact that he terminated my contract will never change my love for and devotion to him and his success. As my God is my witness, there is no ill will in my heart towards him or towards Malawi. As for the charges levelled against me, I will face these in court and answer them like a man.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough I have temporarily travelled abroad to attend to private matters that were long overdue but have nothing to do with my case or my former employment, I have every intention of returning and the authorities already have this assurance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Thom went on to dare inquisitive Malawians that Chakwera will succeed in executing his vision to transform Malawi and he wishes him nothing, but success even though he is no longer serving him as Special Advisor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a fact. My devotion to him goes beyond and deeper than politics and government work. This is also a fact. No amount of lies people spread about him, no slander people believe about him, and no arrest of people close to him changes these facts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lord is with him, and though his enemies attack him with great force and devilish venom, they will be scattered in shame in a thousand directions. As it is written: \u201cWhy do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain against the Lord\u2019s anointed. He who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs and scoffs at them,\u201d he narrated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo this is my prayer: Ambuye, put those to shame who propagate lies about your servant and bless all those who mean it from the heart when they sing these words: \u201cM\u2019dalitse mtsogoleri nafe ndi Mayi Malawi,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Malawi. The recently fired Executive Assistant and Special Advisor on Church and Religious Affairs, Pastor Martin Thom, has dismissed rumours swirling around social media platforms that he has fled the country following his arrest on Bill smuggling allegation. Thom, who has travelled on errands to New Delhi, India, through Doha in Qatar on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[233,371,234,835,1606],"class_list":["post-3712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi","tag-martha-chizuma","tag-new-delhi"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chakwera\u2019s former aide Pastor Thom dares critics on his official trip to India - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The recently fired Executive Assistant and Special Advisor on Church and Religious Affairs, Pastor Martin Thom, has dism ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chakwera\u2019s former aide Pastor Thom dares critics on his official trip to India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The recently fired Executive Assistant and Special Advisor on Church and Religious Affairs, Pastor Martin Thom, has dism ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-08T08:27:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2021\/08\/img-610f94724fc75.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1215\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Chakwera\u2019s former aide Pastor Thom dares critics on his official trip to India\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-08T08:27:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\"},\"wordCount\":633,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2021\/08\/img-610f94724fc75.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Malawi\",\"Martha Chizuma\",\"New Delhi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/chakweras-former-aide-pastor-thom-dares-critics-on-his-official-trip-to-india\",\"name\":\"Chakwera\u2019s former aide Pastor Thom dares critics on his official trip to India - 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