President Lazarus Chakwera has failed to live up to expectations as a decisive and responsive leader.
The tragedy surrounding the death of Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima exposed not just a national heartbreak, but also a glaring weakness in leadership under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) government.
How could a man of such stature die cold and abandoned in the Chikangawa Forest, while the government he served under appeared helpless and unresponsive?
These questions are deeply unsettling and demand urgent answers.
Who advises President Chakwera?
Who is truly running government affairs, and does the President take counsel at all?
It is now evident that since assuming power, President Chakwera has demonstrated the weakest decision-making qualities of any President Malawi has had in recent memory.
From procurement blunders to slow, tone-deaf responses to national crises, his leadership continues to disappoint many Malawians.
The fertilizer scandal is a clear example—fertilizer bought from butcheries, pharmacies, and even from fictitious air-based suppliers.
Money vanished without a trace, and yet those responsible remain untouched.
Then there was the $6.8 billion Bridgin Foundation fiasco.
Senior government officials, with reckless enthusiasm, went on record to celebrate it, emphasizing that the money was not in kwacha, “but in dollars with a B.”
When some of us, like myself, raised the alarm about Bridgin being a potential scam, we were brushed off and ridiculed.
I went as far as warning Honorable Thyolera directly, but I was ignored.
Now, the nation is paying the price for that ignorance.
What kind of advisers surround President Chakwera?
And now we have the latest tone-deaf development: plans to hold a government-led memorial for Dr Chilima in Nthungwa, Chikangawa, where he perished.
It defies logic and compassion.
Where were these sentiments when Chilima died?
Why did the President not visit the site in the immediate aftermath of the crash?
He’s been to Mzuzu several times since, but not once did he step foot at the crash site or speak publicly with emotion about the loss.
Now, over two months later, the government wants to stage a memorial at Nthungwa—on the same date that Chilima’s family organized their private memorial in Nsipe, Ntcheu.
This is deeply insensitive and outright disrespectful.
Mr. President, were you never told that such actions are offensive in Malawian culture?
Would you, Reverend Chakwera, attend a memorial for someone from another family, scheduled at the same time and in a different place from that of the deceased’s relatives?
This is not just bad planning—it is cultural malpractice.
It shows that either the President is receiving terrible advice, or he is simply ignoring wise counsel.
If I were the President, I would fire every single one of those so-called advisors.
What is this government trying to prove with such misplaced gestures?
Malawians can see through this charade.
The President should reflect deeply, especially as a man of the cloth.
In Malawi, especially in Ntcheu where I come from, we say, “Nkonze nkonze anasupula maliro a weni,” meaning an outsider who rushes to manage someone else’s funeral will make a mess of it.
By pushing ahead with this event, the government is essentially hijacking the mourning process from the family.
What’s worse is that it’s not even being held where Chilima was buried, but rather at a borrowed venue, without the family’s participation or blessing.
This is not unity; it is political showmanship at its worst.
President Chakwera must be reminded: you do not mourn a national figure like Chilima by sidelining his family.
You do not offer empty prayers while ignoring the pain of the widow, the children, and the relatives.
Even the planned honouring of the other eight victims of the plane crash will ring hollow if it’s done without sincerity and coordination with their families.
This is not the Malawi we fought for.
This is not the unity Chilima lived and died for.
One would expect the President, as a family man and pastor, to understand these basics of empathy and decorum.
But evidently, there is a detachment—one that suggests self-interest over statesmanship.
Let us be clear: the candlelight memorial planned by the people on June 10th, 2025, in Nsipe and across the country will serve as a symbol of the truth hidden for too long.
It will be a fire that exposes all that is concealed behind political curtains.
By Allan Ngumuya
