Bakili
Elson Muluzi is no simple politician. He comes with many faces and he masks
himself in them so well.
The
first time I saw Muluzi in person was during my secondary school days at
William Murray Secondary School. Two days before he visited the Nkhoma Mission,
some delinquent chaps sat down at a tea-forum and debated on whether the
President had more powers than any other human being.
To
curtail the winding debate a way was devised to prove if Muluzi was just human
as all of us. (This comes from a background that Muluzi’s predecessor, Kamuzu Banda,
was treated as a semi-god and let’s face it, our presidents struggle to accept
that they can fall sick. No wonder we hide their physical frailty)
We
agreed that when the President visits our school, we should all line up to
greet him. Not only that; we had to spit in our hands and rub gently. If Muluzi
was going to shake all our hands without being suspicious then he was just
human.
The
day came. He came to our school and we lined up. We had not forgotten the rule
so we spit as agreed. In his dark glasses, the President walked while smiling;
greeting us and making jokes as well. “Kumalimbikira
school eti” (Work hard in class okay?), he said when I squeezed my hand
into his. It was threatening to look him straight in the eye but my salivated
hand and his met diplomatically, and then he proceeded to the next saliva-greased
hand.
Done
deal, Muluzi is human.
That
night we celebrated our assignment triumph with a dish of hard nsima and boiled
meat (I am not sure if it had some drops of paraffin to control our libido)
It
therefore did not come as a surprise when seven years ago I learnt that Bakili
was struggling with his back. The first days he used to tell us that the back
problem had come about because of his tight and long schedule in campaigning
for Bingu to become President.
Ironically,
it was the same Bingu who made Muluzi a hopeless patient as his discs kept
falling apart due to repeated threats and arrests from the DPP government.
The
court proceedings commenced for Muluzi to prove his innocence in the K1.7
billion case. The first court sessions drew huge crowds to the High Court but
as time went by, people abandoned Muluzi such that his trips to court were
ignorable even in a busy trading town of Limbe.
Muluzi,
the statesman, was really human. During court sessions his lawyers would always
ask for 30-minute breaks for him to refresh and relax.
Then
during the Easter weekend this year, things changed suddenly. Muluzi’s discs
came back in place and the pain was gone. He ably attended Bingu’s burial at
Ndata and weeks later he went to Lesotho as an Election Observer.
Some
days before his Lesotho trip he even had time to go on national TV to beg Blantyre
residents to stop throwing sugarcane molasses on the streets (Of all things Mr.
Muluzi? Seriously?)
Muluzi,
the human, is really healed. Last week he also attended two functions in quick
succession; The Independence prayers at COMESA Hall and the 100-Day
Celebrations of the new government at Sports Complex.
Within
the same period of time, the new Director of Public Prosecutions indicated that
the configuration of Muluzi’s 7-year long case has changed so the prosecution
team should go back to the drawing board.
Who
really has healed Bakili Muluzi? Did I miss him visiting the famous young and
charismatic prophet Shepherd Bushiri or Nigeria’s TB Joshua?
Did
Bingu’s death heal Muluzi’s back? And if that’s the case, have funerals become
medication of back problems?
Let
it be said loudly and clearly that Muluzi has been using taxpayers’ money to
visit his doctors in United Kingdom and South Africa all these years. And
during the same period of time some poor Malawians have died due to lack of
medical care that is only available outside the country.
Had
Muluzi told the truth about his problem, some common person from Madetsa or
Saimoni or Wajingo or Mzanya or Kamteketa villages would have been airlifted to
South Africa or India for proper and genuine treatment.
If
Muluzi is innocent, he must let the law take its due course. There is no need
to aggravate bodily pain or always ask for an extension to the process of justice.
Now that he has asked for 6 months to recuperate and stand trial, nobody knows what will happen afterwards. Months will turn into years again.
Now that he has asked for 6 months to recuperate and stand trial, nobody knows what will happen afterwards. Months will turn into years again.
One
thing I know is that people who are innocent do not exploit the law. Take John
Zenasi Ungapake Tembo for example; many Malawians used to say that he has blood
in his hands but when he faced prosecution and got acquitted his image was
cleared (somehow)
Muluzi
is human. He can get sick and has all right to seek medical treatment using our
taxes by virtue of being a Malawian and former head of state. But all this
should not be done as a way of hindering the cases that are hanging over his
head.
Your
Excellency Dr. Bakili Muluzi, take heed.
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