Maravi

Rupiah will meet Chibombamilimo in the Mpulungu by-election

Rupiah will meet Chibombamilimo in the Mpulungu by-election
By The Post
Thu 12 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

LAMECK Chibombamilimo was a politician and he died a politician.
And there’s no way politics will be removed from his death. The death of a politician is a political event. All that Lameck did in his political life will be brought up and remembered by our people.

All that was done to him as a politician by anyone will be brought up and remembered by our people. Those who did good things, those who shared good moments political or otherwise will talk about them. In this regard Jonas Shakafuswa shares something very profound, very interesting with Lameck – they were fired the same day at a rally by Rupiah Banda. Both of them were deputy ministers.

And both Jonas and Lameck were also expelled from the party at Rupiah’s instigation. Up to the time of his death, Lameck was keeping his parliamentary seat on a High Court injunction he had obtained to stop Rupiah and his friends from expelling him from the ruling MMD until the legitimacy or lack of it was determined by the court. And this is also the case for Jonas.

To date, there was never any effort by Rupiah and his friends to withdraw the expulsion of Lameck and Jonas from the MMD. Up to the time of his death, Rupiah and his friends still wanted Lameck and Jonas to remain expelled from their party.

They didn’t want them; they were undesirable elements in their eyes who were not fit to be part of the so-called MMD family that Michael Mabenga is talking about. Today, now that Lameck is no more, Mabenga is saying “his death is untimely and tragic. Naturally when such a death occurs, it is a loss to the party because MMD is like a family. We have been robbed of a valuable member”.

How can the death of Lameck be said to have robbed the MMD of a valuable member when they had expelled him and were not in any way prepared to withdraw this expulsion even after many months of it being challenged in court? How can someone they have expelled be said to be a valuable member? This is a lie.

This is hypocrisy. They are simply trapped by their own words and actions against Lameck. It is said that “you will have to live with the consequences of everything you say” (Proverbs 18:20).

Lying and hypocrisy are ugly blots on a person’s character, but unwise people do it all the time. And probably this is why it is said that “a thief is better than a habitual liar, but both are headed for ruin”. A liar has no honour and lives in constant disgrace.

The man they cursed is today said to be a valuable member of MMD! How? And since when did Lameck become their valuable member? Anyway, “when a wicked man curses his enemy, he is cursing himself” (Sirach 21:27).

And “foolish people are always contradicting themselves” ( Sirach 27:11). Truly, liars and hypocrites deserve to be cursed, because they have been the ruin of many people.
Today in death, Lameck is being praised by those who had expelled him from their party.

Those who didn’t want his company and friendship are today claiming to be his friends. Anyway, anyone can claim to be your friend, but some people are friends in name only. Some people will be your friends as long as things are going well, but they will turn against you when trouble comes.
And in eulogies of the departed, the works of the living sometimes bear little relation to reality.

The man they condemned to isolation, loneliness and the depression and death that accompanies it is today being eulogised as a valuable member of their family, of their party. But when he was alive, nothing of this nature could be said about Lameck by them.

In fact, no regard was ever had for his commitment and loyalty to their party. They simply left him to die without putting in much effort to save his life as they do to those they hold dear in their ranks, in the family, in their party. On his death, all sorts of good things are being said about Lameck by them.

Anyway, all men must die, but death can vary in its significance. The ancient Chinese writer Szuma Chien once said, “Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather.” To die while telling the truth is weightier than to die with lies and hypocrisy. And to die working for dishonesty, telling lies, crooking people is lighter than a feather.


Soon Lameck’s friends, or rather false friends, in the MMD will soon have to meet his people in Mpulungu campaigning in a parliamentary by-election to replace him. What are they going to tell Lameck’s people? Are they going to continue the lie, the hypocrisy that he was a valuable member of their party when they had expelled him?

Politically, Lameck’s death may appear to be a good riddance of a bad member, one they had expelled but refused to go. This truth they will not be able to say. And knowing them, they will continue the lie Mabenga has started and claim that they were very good friends with Lameck and they should vote for their candidate.

There’s no doubt Lameck, like Jonas, was a victim of intolerance to criticism, to divergent views. Lameck, like Jonas, were very close to Levy Mwanawasa and had to go in the purge. Today, no one who was reasonably close to Levy and who remained loyal to him even in death is still occupying a reasonable position in Rupiah’s government and in the MMD.

They have all been flushed out. The intolerant and the corrupt today reign in the MMD and in Rupiah’s government. Their cruelty, their intolerance can in one way or another be said to have killed Lameck. And this they will have to account for when they meet Lameck’s people in Mpulungu within the next 90 days.

We hope they will learn something from this: that it is always better to treat others in a fair, just and humane way because although we know where we are coming from, we cannot know with certainty where we are going. The bells of Rupiah’s cruelty and insensitivity will one day toll on him and all his friends.

Lameck is gone, but the injustice, the cruelty, the inhumaneness with which they dealt with him still remains to haunt them. And in the Mpulungu by-elections, they will meet Lameck alive wherever they go. And moreover, Rupiah had pledged to follow Lameck “wherever he goes” and defeat him. We don’t know how Rupiah will follow Lameck wherever he is now.

But we are sure that they will meet somewhere somehow – and one of those places they will meet is Mpulungu parliamentary constituency. We hope Rupiah will still speak the same language about Lameck when they meet in Mpulungu!

Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, LAMECK CHIBOMBAMILIMO, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 4:30 PM