As usual, there is a lot of drama whenever elections are around the corner. Some may say that 2025 is a long way to go and that it is not time for campaigns yet, and as such, we should be focusing on something else as we wait.
But that seems not to be the case with our politicians. They can feel the heat and it is making them uncomfortable in the fluffy seats of their fancy homes.
Politicians are already out to make cases for themselves and find ways of tricking us into giving them the power to exploit us come 2025.
One notable face that has come out of darkness is that of comrade Timothy Mtambo. This is a man who put in all the work for the Tonse Alliance to be ushered into power in 2020.
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Mtambo, then leading the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, led massive demonstrations that set the country on fire and eventually ousted the Peter Mutharika regime.
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From there, he went on to establish his own political organisation – the Citizens for Transformation–and he was eventually rewarded for his efforts when he was made Minister of Civic Education and National Unity.
At that time, the comrade
was making a lot of sense when he spoke out against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration. Malawians had had enough of the impunity of that regime and all they wanted was change.
But when change finally came, most citizens became disillusioned as the Tonse Alliance administration proved not to be very different from their predecessors.
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They continued with the same politics of favouritism, appeasement and disregard of the masses. Those who campaigned for them were rewarded with positions that others questioned.
And when we asked those questions, we were told that we knew nothing about merit. The comrade and others who we thought stood with the people had suddenly become silent and were eating in peace.
Months down the line, the comrade was booted out of the ship and he has since been swimming in some obscure waters until recently.
A few weeks ago, he came out to proclaim that the Tonse Alliance has failed. He then mentioned some gurus he believes can redeem us from this mess.
We laughed. And just last week, we heard that he has been chosen as a vice president for Alliance for Democracy (Aford). Everything is happening too quickly for our comprehension but one thing we know is that this man and others like him have nothing new to say to us.
It will be very difficult for those who campaigned for the Tonse Alliance in 2020 to convince us that they have now chanced upon solutions to our problems. They said everything in 2020 and they have done nothing. Those who gamble will tell you that these people are out of aces.
Unfortunately, it seems like the electorate itself may also be out of aces. In 2025, Malawians are most likely to struggle over who to vote for as there seems to be no hope for change.
People on the streets will tell you that they do not intend to vote at all. Such is our predicament. The untrustworthiness and incompetence of our politicians has led us to a dead end where people have just resigned to their fate.
People look at the Malawi Congress Party, DPP, UTM, Aford and United Democratic Front and wonder what new ideas these people have to offer.
Time has proven to us that these are one people and they have the same agenda – to benefit from the power that ordinary Malawians entrust them with. Over the years, our politicians have demonstrated a lack of patriotism that is just defeating.
As Malawians, we need to be asking ourselves bigger questions – the most outstanding one being: what do you do when you are out of aces? There is no simple answer to this question.
As a people, we did not wish to find ourselves in a time and place where we have no promising options for leaders. It is easier for politicians to jump from one ship onto the other when they are out of aces.
Jumping ship and changing tunes is what puts food on their tables. It is their business. But we do not have that option for this ship is our country. Going into 2025, we must show these politicians that this is our country.
