By Burnett Munthali
Malawians are analyzing and discussing Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and the incumbent President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera and his government everyday out there as campaign period gets close. This article takes us back to the campaign period in 2019 tripartite and 2020 fresh presidential elections respectively and sightly peeping through into the coming election year 2025.
Chakwera’s Hi-5
First, President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera promised servant leadership. You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It’s a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership. Servant leadership also aims to develop leadership qualities in others. This leadership style requires an individual to demonstrate characteristics such as empathy, listening, stewardship, and commitment to the personal growth of others.
Secondly, Chakwera promised to unite Malawians. There are several factors that can unite people, including shared values, common goals, and mutual experiences. For example, a shared cultural heritage can unite people, as it provides a common identity and a sense of belonging. Uniting a divided people can be a complex and challenging task, but there are several strategies that can help. Here are a few suggestions: Foster open communication: Encourage all members of the group to listen to each other’s perspectives and concerns, and create a safe space for open and respectful dialogue. If we don’t unite, if we don’t learn how to mutually, consciously, purposefully integrate within Humanity in order to integrate into Nature through similarity of form, we won’t survive as we remain incompatible with Nature’s “iron laws” that sustain the balance and homeostasis life depends on. Some of the areas that unite us such as dance, food, art and music, bring us together in harmony. Many are celebrations of life with the power to unite. Collective interests, hobbies and leisure pursuits are good examples of ways people pull together within likeminded fields.
Thirdly, the President said he would ensure that Malawians are going to prosper together under his government. Prospering Together. There are many firsts with Reverend. Lazarus Chakwera, the President of the Republic of Malawi. In his HI-5 Agenda, the ‘P’ is for “Prospering Together”, meaning that not only a small section of Malawians should prosper, but everyone. Never before have we seen a statutory corporation calling for separate bids in equal measure, from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the youths, women and the disabled. When someone is prospering, it means being successful or fortunate to be successful or fortunate, especially in financial respects; thrive; flourish. President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera wanted Malawians to be or become successful, especially financially: Lots of microchip manufacturing companies were mentioned that they would be established at that time.
Fourthly, Chakwera spoke strongly about ending corruption in Malawi. To end corruption, we promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society. A lot more can be done to fight corruption in this country. Where do we start? Expose corrupt activities and risks. Keep the public sector honest, transparent and accountable. Stop dishonest practices. Ensure public sector employees act in the public interest. Undetected and unchecked corruption in the public sector can cause serious damage including: undermining public trust in government. Wasting public resources and money. Causing injustice through advantaging some at the expense of others.
Fifth, Lazarus Chakwera preached that there would be rule of law under his government. The rule of law is a political ideal that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. It is sometimes stated simply as “no one is above the law”.
The 1994 Malawian Constitution is unique in that it, among other things, recognizes administrative justice as a fundamental right and articulates the notion of constitutional supremacy. This right and the idea of constitutional supremacy have important implications for Malawi’s administrative law, which was hitherto based on the common law inherited from Britain. This article highlights the difficulties that Malawian courts have faced in reconciling the right to administrative justice as protected under the new constitution with the common law. In doing so, it offers some insights into what the constitutionalization of administrative justice means for Malawian administrative law. It is argued that the constitution has altered the basis and grounds for judicial review so fundamentally that the Malawian legal system’s marriage to the English common law can be regarded as having irretrievably broken down as far as administrative law is concerned.
*Section 43 -* of the constitution provides: “Every person shall have the right to: (a) lawful and procedurally fair administrative action, which is justifiable in relation to reasons given where his or her rights, freedoms, legitimate expectations or interests are affected or threatened.
2025 Elections
Malawians will decide again who should be their next President in 2025. Already, a tough contest is predicted between the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and the ruling Malawi Congress Party and it appears that it will be Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika versus President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera. Is APM going to win in the coming election or has Chakwera delivered his promises to retain government ? The voters will decide.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in July 2023 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to solidify their partnership at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Homeland Security Boardroom in Lilongwe.The MOU marked the second of its kind, reinforcing the relationship between the two institutions as the country prepares for the upcoming General Election scheduled for 16th September 2025.
