Posts

Showing posts from October, 2015

Yes, this nonsense has to stop

President Peter Mutharika needs to have a candid talk with his communication team. It is obvious that the team misled him if the anger he displayed at the press briefing last week is anything to go by. I do not see anything wrong in asking the President to explain why Malawi had such a big entourage at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). I do not see political witch-hunting, either. Gerald Viola should have known better than fanning APM’s anger with his ridiculous statements about the media. Taxpayers have every right to ask for a report on how their money was spent. Even if Malawi had sent only six people to UNGA, Malawians would be right to ask how their hard earned money was spent on those six people. At that press briefing, Mr President you were not talking to the media, but to Malawians through the media, let us be clear here. You were expected to give Malawians your report about the trip to UNGA, to which they sent. Talking to them in such condescending manner

Let’s embrace cultural, linguistic diversity

Last week as I was coming from   a friend’s wedding at Comesa Hall at Trade Fair in Blantyre, I was booed, threatened and called all sorts of nasty names by a group of men. They shouted and uttered almost every unprintable word they could. I was called hule, mfiti, chitsiru, wakuba (whore, witch, fool and thief) but that’s just the few words I can write, the rest were obscene utterances. One of the men blatantly told me that if he had a gun with him, he would have just shot me dead. Mtundu uwu ndiofunika kungowupha (this tribe should be killed). He continued: Ine kungokhala president ndikhoza kungowathamangitsa anthu amenewa. Amabowa (If I were president of this country, I would chase this tribe out of Malawi). The only crime I committed was to speak Chitumbuka which according to these men, disgusts them. I was told when in Malawi I should be speaking Chichewa which according to them is the only true local language. I was  told that Tumbukas are foreigners in Blantyre henc

Bushiri is an unnecessary distraction

News flash: Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, Major One, Papa is in town. The Major one landed at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe on Thursday to an elated crowd of people, mostly his followers—we cannot completely rule out, though, some curious on-lookers and those who simply wanted to ascertain that the Major One indeed flew on his own aircraft. Bushiri has earned himself the ‘man of the moment’ title, thanks to the ‘capturing’ sermon and a reincarnation of one of the famous Biblical miracles—Jesus walking on water. But he was sensitive enough not to let people confuse him with Jesus, so he chose to walk in air. The social media is buzzing with talk about the “go deeper” famed prophet. He is being talked about in pubs, minibuses and homes too, of course, not for the good reasons, but because of the suspicious miracles and his flamboyance. I have no problem with those who cheer or jeer at the self-acclaimed man of God—they are within their right. However, my problem with