Politics has a way of unmasking people. Yesterday, Onjezani Kenani — once known as a writer — stripped himself bare and declared his colours: he is a DPP supporter. His excitement at Arthur Peter Mutharika’s arrival in Lilongwe was not analysis, not commentary, but blind cheerleading for a man long past his political sunset.
“I think APM asamatulukenso ku Page House kuja. Chikoka too much. Mpaka chigulu cha mzanga-ali-pati mu Lilongwe? Five years ago it was a different story. But when the one who has replaced you is entirely useless basitu. Now he’s having a triumphal entry.”
These are not the words of an independent thinker. They are the chants of a political cadet. Onjezani is no analyst — he is a drummer for DPP, beating hollow rhythms for a tired band. And as every Malawian knows, an empty drum makes the loudest noise.
Meanwhile, President Lazarus Chakwera is showing what real leadership looks like. At 69, he is tireless — rising at dawn, campaigning until dusk, moving from Dowa to Karonga, from Chitipa to Nkhatabay. The crowds he draws are not accidental; they are testimony to a leader who works like a farmer in the rainy season — no hour wasted, no seed left unsown. “Game iyiyi ndi wadya ntoliro,” he reminds Malawians — a vow to fight to the very end until victory is achieved.
Mutharika, at 84, cannot match this. He is a man running out of breath, relying on hired voices like Onjezani to shout for him. It is too little, too late. The central region is sealed. The north is fortified by Vitumbiko Mumba’s strategy. The south is no longer hostile but shifting. Analysts already predict Chakwera to win with 52%. Momentum is on his side; history is on his side.
So let Onjezani sing. Let him clap. Let him dance for an old man hiding in Page House. But Malawians know the truth: the future is not in recycled nostalgia, it is in Chakwera’s tireless march. A river does not flow backwards, and no amount of noise from Onjezani can stop the tide that is carrying Chakwera to victory on September 16.
