I have, just as many of you, followed with keen interest the
unfolding events of the past week in regards to Malawian politicians being on
the move both internally and externally for both personal and political
purposes.
As one politician left the country for the USA another was
consolidating his stand in one of the country’s most populated regions. We
thank God for diversity in political personalities and their varying views.
It however becomes an anomaly when a foreign politician
peeps into our political room more than necessary.
I am bothered with how America’s President Barack Obama is always
intervening in the affairs of our country; our politics to be specific.
Some of our politicians are always using him as a reference
point to whatever they do. While one is saying he is Malawi’s Obama, another
one is deliberately letting Malawians know that he is travelling to the US to
meet Obama. Why we are being told I don’t know.
There is nothing wrong with aspiring Presidential candidates
in any country visiting other countries to add energy to their cause.
Without claims of friendship, President Joyce Banda, has still found an official opportunity to interact with the world's most powerful man.PIX BY NYASATIMES |
Even Obama himself visited Eastern Europe and key countries
such as Germany and UK during his 2008 campaign. However, these sojourns were
not from a blank view. He had taken Foreign Policy as one of the key aspects of
his campaign.
Let us however keep in mind that politics in Africa creates
little room for opposition personalities to conduct explicit deliberations with
other statesmen lest they create a diplomatic rift in one way or another (Remember
the Michael Sata deportation on March 15, 2007)
To him a visit to Europe was to mend fences after George
Bush had antagonized the two blocs through his wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.
Eastern Europe had to come into play because Bush had used Eastern Europe states
to create a buffer zone to alienate Russia militarily. He had to relate to what
was going on in as far as FP is concerned.
In short, Obama had a reason to visit Europe on political
grounds. Simple.
As articulated earlier herein, I have no problem with one
visiting the US and meeting Obama. However, I am bothered with the cohorts of
this politician who are blowing his visit and impending meeting with Obama out
of proportion.
If you choose to politicize his visit and try to instill a
sense of political pride in it, then you have your left foot in the right shoe.
Even if a Malawian Presidential hopeful spends five months
in the White House as a visitor to the Obamas, that would not move a single
vote from elsewhere to his side.
A wise aspirant will labor to make merry with countries
within the bloc such as SADC and COMESA. A wise aspirant will see Mr. Michael
Sata, Mr. Armando Guebuza, Mr. Jacob Zuma, Mr. Jakaya Kikwete and Mr. Eduardo
Dos Santos (you must know where they come from) as key elements in his
political life among others.
Is his adulthood 'friendship' with Obama as strong as he wants Malawians to believe? |
Furthermore, a smart aspirant will not tell Malawians that
he owns a firm of 200 lawyers somewhere in the First World when he has nothing
to show back home besides his residences. This egoism either by the candidate
or his supporters is shallow and destructive.
As a country, we are surely dragging ourselves into this
unnecessary attachment to America’s first black President without realizing how
irrelevant he is to our politics, save for our diplomacy with USA. (Please don’t
ask why I supported Mitt Romney toe-and-shoe in the November 6 elections)
Fellow politicians and your cohorts, you might fool
yourselves that putting Obama at the core of your campaign is going to
intimidate your opponents. Nevertheless, what you are forgetting is that
Malawian voters are decoding your emptiness in black and white as you fail to
resonate with what they know and what is closer to their hearts.
Your fellow Malawians are the heartbeart of your political life not me |
Surely, this whole talk about Obama is cheap and getting out
of hand. The American President is becoming an annoyance to Malawi but it is
not his fault. It is just that some of our politicians have chosen to hide
their fears behind him.
I always have had doubts why some of these politicians will
not win in the 2014 elections, what I lacked was concrete proof; I think I have
found one and that is poor calculation of thinking that Obama means everything
to their political career.
Don’t even talk about John Kerry lest you elongate this
post.
Merry Christmas!
Are you conservative in your politics? Just wondering because of your non-enthusiasm for Obama or Kerry? Are you based in Malawi? I could have asked privately if I could but I guess it's no big deal to ask.
ReplyDeleteGood observation 'Anonymous'..I will however wait for you to inbox me for the answers to your questions. I am denied by principle to divulge information to "Anonymous" persons. Thanks for your comment. Keep reading. Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteYou are not balanced if at all you are non-partisan
ReplyDeleteYour definition of balancing might even expose your own affiliations. Let us learn to take in the truth even if it affects those we cherish so much. However, your opinion is highly appreciated. Thanks, keep reading
ReplyDeleteDalitso,if in the very beginning you were bent on trying to justify the flaws in the JB government, you can not be corrected. This forum is partisan and do not think that the fact you originated the ideas you are presenting here does mean that you are balanced. Though the source of your page as you are your affiliations are also exposed. Partisan! byeeee!
ReplyDeleteAffiliation is a subjective matter but I can not deny your the freedom to think otherwise. Bye..or I mean Byeeee
ReplyDelete