Crumbling pillars

Something is terribly wrong in the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and it’s not something you can blame on one man, no matter how powerful he may be. It’s something that has the characteristics of the chaos of 1992 and 1993 when Malawians fought for democracy, except that it lacks class in some aspects.

Last week Thursday, a dubiously named ‘MCP Taskforce on Leadership Change’ demanded the party’s leader John Tembo retire honourably or risk being dragged to court for the mysterious disappearance of K150 million from the party’s accounts.

The taskforce’s demand has rings of blackmail to it and the last time I checked, blackmail was deemed criminal in the laws of the country. And the way I know the typical African politician (whom Tembo typifies), he will just give them directions to hell.

But that is another matter. My thoughts lie elsewhere.

For starters, the taskforce’s name, for all its intentions, is a gross misnomer. It is not advocating for change in leadership per se but the departure of Tembo. ‘MCP Taskforce on Tembo’s Exit’ seems more like it.

Change in leadership would require the likes of Betson Majoni, Ishmael Chafukira and company to thrown in the towel and admit to the party’s rank and file that they, too, have failed them.

These people have been Tembo’s cheerleaders all along. During times when Tembo’s character was called to question, these are the people who leapt to his defence. Aren’t these the same people who sponsored the abdication of reason in the party when they endorsed Tembo as a presidential candidate, without him being subjected to a public scrutiny through a vote?

Worryingly for the party, these voices of discontent are not fighting from within its system but have taken their war into the media. And that’s a big problem. Either the party’s leadership (read Tembo) is so dictatorial that voices of dissent are not entertained, with the threat of death hanging over their heads should they attempt to do so or the people are just cowards, afraid to let their feelings known within the party.

But the problems in MCP won’t end with Tembo going away. Rather, it’s the thinking that must change — this thinking of doing everything by the four cornerstones. The four cornerstones served their purpose in the environment in which they were conceived but in democracy, they seem anachronistic.

They have bound people to a life of political servitude where internal dissent is equated to subversion. Free speech, on whose spirit our Republican Constitution is founded, is incongruous with blind loyalty, which is what the party encourages.

If, indeed, Tembo mismanaged K150 million, removing him won’t solve any problem. Another leader could exploit the same loopholes and leave the party in an even poorer state.

Besides, K150 million is no pocket money. The alarms bells should have started ringing a long time ago when even K1 of the party took a walk. Not now. How could one man be left to handle all that money? It smacks of carelessness on the party of the leaders — Chafukira, Majoni and the other members of the taskforce included.

There is no unity in the MCP; loyalty is gone; obedience and discipline seem like the toast of yesteryears. And that leaves the party vulnerable.

And if the pillars on which the house rests crumble, can it survive even a breeze?