A DPP loose cannon
President Peter Mutharika, just like the previous presidents that ever ruled this country, has not explained to Malawians how he has exercised the prerogative to hire and fire Cabinet ministers.
As per tradition, the President did not have to explain why he fired long serving and loyal minister Patricia Kaliati and replace her with Cecilia Chazama at the redundant Ministry of Civic Education, a day after addressing a rally in Mulanje two months ago.
But inside Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sources alleged that Kaliati got the boot after he had an altercation with the then new ruling DPP secretary general Gresseder wa Jeffrey after she omitted to mention her in her salutations.
The President rendered credence to this when he warned ministers to respect others and that he would not hesitate to fire any minister who fails to show respect to those around them.
But I say this apparent endorsement of the character of Jeffrey has added a new swagger and spring into her step and the result has been a new loose DPP cannon as well as attack dog that is everywhere and causing chaos to citizens.
For whatever reason, the new DPP secretary general has decided to go to war with anybody who has got anything to do with the Northern part of this country.
She rolled the anti-North campaign into action by declaring tongue in cheek that anybody who has the ‘misfortune’ of being born in that part of the country, though no fault of theirs, will never have a chance to one day become a tenant of the State House by virtue of just that—origin.
I do not want to waste time and column space discussing what a load of rubbish this is.
My only disappointment is that nobody in DPP came out to assure the millions of Malawians whose only crime was to be born in the northern part of this country that these are not the views of the party.
And that is why, perhaps after feeling bullish and encouraged that nobody chastised her, Gresseder wa Jeffrey was at it again.
This time she challenged the Goodall Gondwes, the Jappie Mhangos, and Grace Chiumias of this world to produce a DPP candidate if they can—again from that part of the country—in 2024.
I suppose this is after the retirement of Mutharika.
It is clear that the secretary general of the ruling party in this country has gone to war against people of one region and, again, what is worrying is the deafening silence from the President in the face of this blatant and repugnant discrimination which should have no place in modern Malawi.
Does it mean the President agrees that the gods in DPP have ordained that the North cannot produce a president until eternity? Is this a tact way of telling DPP members from the North that they are second class citizens?
But instead of Jeffrey being rebuked she is getting more powerful by the day and enjoying VIP privileges, courtesy of taxpayers.
She has a fully-fledged security detail that includes police guards at home and when she travels.
The DPP secretary general has even turned our hard working policemen that we need in our communities for common security into maids that carry her handbags and she makes them distribute party cloth at DPP rallies.
Can the President look into the eye of us, taxpayers, and tell us this is the best way of using hard-to-come resources?
If Jeffrey deserves security detail at the expense of the taxpayer, why can’t the gesture be extended to secretaries general of other parties if it is indeed necessary.
This loose cannon in the DPP by the name of Jeffrey will be the party’s undoing.
She is becoming a public irritant by the day. Because she thinks she is powerful, she has gone to the extent of calling for violence in Mulanje to visit some critics of this government such as comedian and social activist Michael Usi as well as politician Sadik Mia.
The worry, I repeat, is that none in DPP, including the President, has come out into the open to stop this madness of making some Malawians feel less so in their own country because they do not support DPP.
Jeffrey is the new attack dog in DPP and we better be aware, I suppose.
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