BY FOCUS MAGANGA
President Chakwera will not have an opportunity to stand before cold bodies of his close friends, who succumbed to Covid-19, and pay his last tribute.
That’s why I expected the president to drift from a prepared manuscript that was in his hands, and speak his own words, choosing them as they come, as bereaved people do.
The president, however, chose to be driven by a manuscript, and that made the whole lot of difference.
His address was unmistakably dry, flat and emotionless. He didn’t make us feel what it means to lose a close colleague to Covid-19.
He focused on things that won’t change anything in the street today.
But clearly, Chakwera loved Sidik Mia. He appointed him and his wife in his cabinet; allowed him walk with an exaggerated security detail and delegated him at John Magufuli’s inauguration in Tanzania.
The death of Sidik Mia sent strong shockwaves and spelt seriousness of the pandemic amidst us.
Chakwera didn’t need to fake emotions to make a moving speech, he had to express them.
Apm, “its really serious and very dangerous to ignore covid19 safety measures”, end of quote.
Namalika, “come december 2019, if we continue living like this people will be forced to self quarantine and lilongwe alone will have many cases,” end of quote.
Muvi oyang’anira akulu akulu umalasa mmaso. This is one of the adages similar to the ones bombarded by our linguistics expert during campaign trail to the court forced fresh polls amidst ncov’s rampant spreading like bush fire which briefly died down. All i can see is the game of ” the survival of the fittest” with negligible human intervention.