The main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cadets shielded former President Peter Mutharika from public scrutiny at BICC in Lilongwe, during the submission of his nomination papers 13 days ago. It was a classic case of what these overzealous security people say, “Cover the boss!”. Tight security and intimidation of some journalists defined the order of the day.
However, it soon became crystal clear for all to see; Mutharika’s frailty and weakness were in the spotlight for all Malawians who were watching Television to bear witness. He couldn’t even use walking steps due to the said illness associated with old age. Nevertheless, unforgiving as the likes of Namalomba are, they still dragged him to present his papers.
Truth be told, he was visibly weak, disinterested, tired, and detached from the situation. Many people observed with sadness that it was pure abuse of the elderly people to parade an old man such as APM to such colossal public shame. However, cadets, senseless as they are, are still convinced that the octogenarian Peter Mutharika is the future for Malawi. My foot.
Many Malawian voters are arguing that Peter Mutharika does not represent the future of this country. Today, they have another evidence to present before the court of public opinion. Today, DPP launched its shallow party manifesto. The shallowness of their manifesto is not the occupation for today. The issue at hand is the fact that candidate Mutharika did not attend his own party’s manifesto launch. He delegated his running mate Jane Ansah. Why? Inside sources indicate that the party leader needs enough time to recuperate by spending more time sleeping than to spend more time on the campaign trail.
Despite all these signs of weakness from Mutharika, DPP supporters still believe that their leader will win. The question is: how will this be possible? There is just no path to Mutharika’s victory in this election.
“Malawians will punish DPP once again by extending Chakwera’s governing mandate. The reason is simple, DPP continues to take Malawians for granted by presenting an old and frail Presidential candidate Peter Mutharika as their candidate as if there are no other better candidates who would have given MCP and his presidential candidate Lazarus Chakwera a good run for his money,” said Shire Times senior political commentator John Masina.
Meanwhile, the DPP operatives have become a laughing stock as they still managed to drag Mutharika to make an appearance at the Njamba Freedom Park. However, due to the same old age illnesses, he did not manage to disembark from the car to be on the podium. Reportedly, it is said that he failed to control the call of nature and ended up not only soaking his trouser with the liquid contents from the bladder but also soiling himself right in the car.
