His overzealous supporters being the enablers
“I decided to step down in order to allow the courts do their work without peculations.” This is the voice of Joe Manduwa speaking on 15 August 2000 after resigning from his position as the deputy Minister of agriculture.
Joe Manduwa was one of the controversial politicians yet he remained honorable in some of his deeds.
Manduwa was the deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Muluzi administration. At some point he was accused and charged of killing a 21-year old Kachepa Filiasi after an argument at his premises in Mwanza in 1998 before he even became a politician
When he resigned from the cabinet, Manduwa said he decided to step down because he did not want to prejudice the courts because of his position.
It seems politicians we no longer have politicians of Manduwa’s breed who respected the office than at the expense of their lives in the face of the law.
It may seem as I am comparing two distinct scenarios here when I am bringing Vice President Soulos Chilima’s corruption accusations but today’s unfortunate utterances reminded me of that scenario displayed by that forgotten man of Mwanza.
Today, June 24, 2022 news filtered through that the Vice President was to face the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) at his area 43 residence Lilongwe where he was to be asked on his alleged involvement in Zunneth Sattar’s corruption scandal.
This follows President Chakwera’s decision to withhold delegated responsibilities to the Vice President the time he will be sorting out his corruption involvement.
When addressing his supporters who gathered at his house, the defiant looking Chilima seemed incensed by the corruption reports and he insinuated that that the allegations against him were mere political witch hunt meant to take him down politically.
This is what he said in quotes: ‘’In 2020 we were saying let’s humble ourselves and we humbled ourselves and we continue to do so but this humility should not be mistaken for foolishness”
These utterances are very unfortunate not in sync with his boss’s determination to root out corruption in the country.
Understandably the Vice President has the immunity but he is not above the law. If he has nothing to hide why can’t he allow the investigations to prevail after all he is still innocent until proven otherwise by the courts.
Malawians needs to be worried of this man’s intimidatory tact. He may use his populist appeal to manipulate and prejudice the ACB and frustrate the investigations in the process. I hope the ACB will not feel intimidated by his intimidations when carrying out their investigations on the matter.
The sad part about this issue is that the matter originated in the United Kingdom (UK) where that country’s National Crime Agency (NCA)brought the matter before the Malawi government’s attention through the ACB. The ACB just carried its own investigations which seem proved the NCA’s findings. So where is this notion of political victimization coming from?
This is more reason in civilized countries, public offers relinquish their positions when they are accused of a certain crime. This helps to protect the integrity of the office and their own image. I know the Vice President will not resign and he has the right not to after all in this country there is no culture of resignation even when you are caught stealing red handed but the Vice President should at least exercise some civility during the course of the investigations.