Barely a day after a citizen from Chilobwe penned a letter to the Shire Times Editor lamenting why the country’s vice president Saulos Chilima was silent, sleeping, or unconcerned due to his unavailability on the ground to sympathize with the victims of cyclone Freddy disaster, the UTM leader and Malawi’s second in command has come out of his cocoon and cheered the victims in Blantyre today.
Below is what the citizen from Chilobwe wrote, the result of which has forced Chilima to come to the public. The concerned citizen wondered if Chilima was dead, ill, or perhaps missing from the effects of the cyclone. The letter to the Editor was as follows:
“The scale of devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy in our country is at a shocking proportion. As of this morning, the commissioner of disaster preparedness Kalemba has disclosed that the death toll has hit 500 and still counting as the rescue and search operation continues.
Everyone is shocked. The UK is shocked and it has sent us personnel to help in the rescue mission. Tanzania has sent us relief items and helicopters so is Zambia. Mozambique has supplied us with jet fuel and Zimbabwe government has also come to our rescue.
Locally, the opposition has also gone flat out. President Chakwera has not denied anyone the space to operate in order to assist the cyclone victims. Mutharika did his part in visiting the victims. The leader of the opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa is operating freely. Kabambe, Msaka, you name them; they are on the ground providing help.
Where is this Vice President Saulos Chilima? Is he sick? Or he simply wants people when it comes to him seeking personal glory through their votes? Surely, Chilima needed to come out of his cacoon at this crucial time, to assist the President in coordinating the response to Cyclone Freddy devastation.
In all this, the media in Malawi is hypocritical. No one is thinking about interviewing him so he addresses the nation as to why he is quiet. In absence of explanation, one would think Chilima is showing his selfish character of only needing Malawians only in situations where he will be the beneficiary. Where is Malawi vice president Saulos Chilima in this country’s darkest moment?
Silence and the non-availability of Chilima as if he has been kidnapped or is dead won’t help matters or is he being feared dead? His absence and silence on the ground to say the least is sheer buffoonery of an irresponsible and insensitive politician. He has not even said anything on his social media Facebook page. To his strategists, there is no tactic or strategy whatsoever in rendering himself AWOL in such a time as this. He has lost a potential voter in me. Concerned Citizen, Chilobwe, Blantyre.”
