So it was the whole commander of the Malawi Defence Force that went to complain about some document that was published by Mneneri. Few quick lessons:-
First politicians have decided to ignore the so called offensive document. Why? They understand that false statements and public insults come with the territory of being high placed politician.
Second they understand that under the umbrella of democracy lies open and brutal debates some of which borders on defamation and offensive statement. Once someone withdraws a statement and acknowledges that She/he is in the wrong that closes the chapter.
Parliamentary debates are good place to learn this spirit of moving on after acknowledgment of a mistake.
Third politicians understand that criminal cases are not only time and money consuming they can also distract you from your focused goals. Fourth criminal cases can end up dragging you into other matters where you may not be very clean.
Thus inadvertently you may swing from being a witness to ending up as a defendant. You might wish to watch again that epic movie Afew Good Men.
From the witness box the good old colonel was led to a holding cell awaiting his own trial. I pray our good General has also read the biography of Oscar Wilde. That famous English writer instituted criminal proceedings for defamation.
After extensive cross examination and discovery of documents the State decided to actually prosecute him for sodomy. He was duly convicted. After serving his sentence he migrated to France where he died peacefully but not honorably.
Why do we learn history? One reason is to avoid past mistakes ie learn from our ancestors mistakes. Am sure the police are done with investigation and the trial will start very soon. Am sure speedy trial will be guaranteed so that the good general can vindicate himself once again a fact that Mneneri already acknowledged.
I only pray that there won’t be a mischievous Defence counsel that will raise extensive questions of discovery and unrelated issues that might only have value of embarrassing the good general. As they say if you live in a glass house don’t throw stones.
Disclaimer: Joshua Chisa Mbele is my good friend. Loyalty is priceless.
