Some dishonourable events happened in Parliament on Wednesday, where two lawmakers nearly physically fought over a proposal to cap the age at which someone can vie for the seat of president.
The proposal goes further to prescribe an age limit for those aspiring to become or seeking to continue as members of Parliament (MPs).
It is clear that the proposed bill which, if finally brought to Parliament, will most likely get through because it obviously enjoys support from the government benches, is in the meantime targeting Peter Mutharika.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader has shown interest to contest again at the 2025 presidential election. He will be 85 that time.
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Mutharika has been endorsed by his party’s topmost committee, which has maintained that anyone wishing to challenge the former president at DPP’s next elective convention should think twice.
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The party’s fired Southern Region vice president Kondwani Nankhumwa, whose case is in court, once charged that wherever the convention would take place—in trees or rivers—he would be there to challenge whoever would seek to be DPP’s torchbearer next year.
How everything will pan out will depend on whether Nankhumwa still holds such ambitions and whether the courts will reverse his dismissal from the former governing party.
One thing is, however, very clear: There are camps in DPP and the fight for supremacy is far from being over.
Each camp will use every opportunity to thwart the prospects of the other, including blocking the leader of the rivalry camp from standing at the 2025 presidential election.
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MP for Chitipa South, Werani Chilenga, who intended to move the motion that would eventually result in the tabling of an age capping bill, is rooting for Nankhumwa.
He has even shown some veiled awe for governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and would not feel guilty of championing or being seen to champion a law what will bar Mutharika from standing.
In politics, there often is nothing and sometimes everything to lose.
The existence of the so-called camps in DPP means fights will be there until the differences are ironed out. It is unlikely they will anytime soon.
In fact, MCP might eventually turn out to be the biggest winner in the whole DPP higgledy-piggledy progress.
Still, looking at the larger picture, it is only necessary to posit that Mutharika and others of his age should be allowed to be home resting, and not burdened with taxing campaigns for political positions.
It is true that wisdom often comes with old age— even though even fools have the right to grow old—but beyond certain ages, one’s capacitation does not remain the same.
Naturally, as one grows older, certain capacities decline, and that is just normal. You do not remain ‘fit’ forever.
The most public element about ageing is that a person’s mobility and dexterity will certainly decline, thus making some physical tasks impossible.
Experts say more support is needed to enable elderly people not only to live independently through products and programmes which focus on safety, balance, fitness, and mobility but also to ensure they can continue to thrive as an individual.
That would be difficult to achieve if such individuals are made to oversee crucial government businesses which not only require their presence but their attention too.
In some people, growing old also results in loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with their daily life and activities.
Yet, we all know what is required of a president.
They are supposed to make important decisions on their own, of course, with the advice of their aides, but not necessarily just rubberstamping anything that comes on their tables.
There are those who argue that the world still has several presidents who are aged 80 and above, but the question remains whether such presidents really govern to the very best of their abilities.
Again, countries have unique governance structures, such that in some instances, even an ‘incapacitated’ leader can continue holding the position because there are others who control other sections of government affairs.
So, there indeed is politics at play in the whole age capping saga, but it would be in the best interest of the country to have such a law.
Running a government is serious business that should be given to energetic people who are not yet too tired to be concerned about what will become of their country in the next 20 years.
It is just unfortunate that the proposal is coming at a time Mutharika is showing interest to re-contest for the seat of president next year.
There is a high probability that he is the target of the proposal, because of political happenings that we have been witnessing, but collateral damage always appears in most important public-interest decisions.
