After the Polls

It is a wonderful Friday. This is one Friday that is so full of peace in weeks as the elections dust has settled. Well, seemingly.

As we are counting the days since the president and his sidekick were sworn in ad counting down the hours to the inauguration of the duo and our lawmakers, there is already so much political activity which has led some to start yet another countdown to May 2024 when Malawi will go to the next polls.

In last week’s piece, I talked about how tensions were so high with the electoral body not releasing the results. There were fears of riots across the nation and we had to leave work for the safety of our homes before midday. The good thing was that nothing significant happened on the day we thought could breed violence. The weekend passed with a lot of madando and repeated press conferences which didn’t give the citizenry what they desired the most; the election results. Some injunctions and court hearings later, we had our results. Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika had won. Power of incumbency? Not too sure. Paja amati boma sililuza. Whatever that means.

Throughout the electoral processes, there were a lot of rumors of rigging with some electoral officers doing some clearly questionable things. Journalists and political parties brought all those to the electoral body, breeding the word madando, as said by the electoral body chair. Whether the complaints were resolved to ensure the credibility of the elections is still an unanswered question to the many of us. All in all, I know that I have a President, a member of parliament (Noel Lipipa aka mfana Noxy) and a local government representative (Chimbanga; this time I remember who I voted for).

After the announcement of the results of the presidential poll, there were a lot of mixed reactions. There was disappointment from those of us who sided with the opposition and for some time we got to endure some I told you so jabs from our blue friends who have maintained the top seat. Despite having to endure the insults, there were bigger concerns as to what the country would be like in the next five years. Then there were those who had reservations with the occupant of the seat of the country’s second in command. I quickly switched myself back to work mode when I realized that thinking about the elections and crying over them would not bring any bread on my plate. After all, Jane Ansah had already put it to us that auditors audit. I am a researcher and I needed to switch back to research as that is the thing that brings the bread on the table.

Despite my efforts to ignore the results of the elections, I have been bombarded with constant reminders of how things are with rumors that conditions may worsen. I understand that tariffs for some utilities may go up and we may ge back to the days of inconsistent power supply. Need I say something about the rumor of the impending fuel hike? Well. All those things led people into accusing those who “played different roles” in ensuring that the current president maintains his seat. 

Others went on to quote to the manifestos as drafted by opposition parties, reminding us of what we had missed by not electing the opposition candidates. That left me wondering as to whether positive change was guaranteed with the election of an opposition candidate. Your guess is as good as mine.

Moments after the blue victory, rumors started circulating that security officers from certain parts of the country were going to be transferred from the State House and true to that the social media got its fair dose of pictures of police lorries ferrying officers from the state house. According to reports, the people were given hours notice to vacate with and they left with little preparation and foreknowledge of where they were going to stay after the impromptu transfers. It is alleged that the reason for the transfer might have something to do with their region’s general political affiliation. These things have always been far from me but they got closer when the transfer wave hit the Mudi State House for the vice president. In a bid to keep Bwana Chimulirenji secure, they are transferring almost every police officer from that side to any station from Kanengo through Nthalire to Chizumulu. Mudi State House; someone I know works there and he has to move. One can only wonder as to what thing will have to be changed radically.

It is day 3 since the new mandate officially started and the president is due to deliver his inaugural speech. While the ceremony was happening at the stadium, the leader of the Malawi Congress party which came second in the presidential polls was addressing a presser. His point? The elections were not credible and he will make a legal challenge to nullify the results. The first question I had was on the timing of the effort. You surely cannot wait for someone to be sworn in before starting all that. Little did I know that he would give a response to my worries; he wanted government to keep on running. Huh? Government to keep on running? Okay. Fine.

What the MCP president finished with was to call on all Malawians who wish their country well to a march when he will be delivering his queries to the court and during the court proceedings. He went on to say that this was not a bid to make himself president of the country but to free the Malawi from leaders that have been imposed on her.

Upon listening to the whole address, there is yet another division of opinions. Some obviously like what Dr Chakwera is doing and are willing to go march. Others are saying the timing is not good and he should drop the whole thing and others are for the drop for yet a different reason; the court will not yield anything positive. My guess? He will go to the courts and people will go march (enanso awedza gule oti adapange nawo ma demo), but things will remain the way they are. The whole thing may make Malawi a bit hard to govern for the president for a short time, but that will be it.

It is ten days since we went to the polls. I am yet to get the ink off my finger nail. Perhaps that is the reason the elections dust is failing to settle. I hope it does so that we can go to our normal lives where auditors can audit.

There are some of you that are saying that the push for the federalization of Malawi should have succeeded and that Vincent Wandale's secession would have been a good thing for the country. Can we get over that and follow the president's appeal for unity, please? How hard can that be? Musayankhe.