Can't Blame A Dead President For This

The president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika,  has died after suffering a heart attack. 

This is the kind of news that would put any country in a state of shock and mourning, but instead an air of uncertainty hangs over Malawi as government ministers have neither announced his death nor described what arrangements have been made for the Vice-President, Joyce Banda, to be sworn in and given the reins of power as the country's constitution clearly stipulates. The delay in the announcement is causing unnecessary anxiety in every home, every office, every street, every city, and every village in the country. The fact that two days after Bingu died, state media house, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, has yet to mention the president's heart failure and demise, is just one of many signs that a deliberate effort is being made to keep information under heavy guard and Malawians in the dark. And while President Bingu could be blamed for many things, he cannot be blamed for this.

Adding to the confusion have been disturbing reports and rumors of a high-level emergency cabinet meeting being held somewhere in the country's capital, Lilongwe, without the Vice-President and with neither explanation of the meeting's intent nor justification for such an illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of the presidential prerogative of convening a cabinet meeting. It raises the probability that these ministers were really the driving force behind  President Bingu's clinging to power in the face of country-wide unpopularity, for now that the president is dead, they no longer have the luxury of hiding behind him and masking how desperate they are to stay in power. One would think that the presence of several qualified lawyers on the cabinet would alert them to the dangers of having a cabinet meeting that hasn't been called by a Head of State, but it seems clearer now than ever that Malawians were right in suspecting that cabinet is littered with ministers who treat the constitution more as a suggestion than as the highest law in the land. And while President Bingu could be blamed for many things, he cannot be blamed for this.

Most telling was the panic with which the ministers are reported to have left the hospital where doctors failed to resuscitate the president after his heart failure. The constitution clearly states that "whenever the President is incapacitated so as to be unable to discharge the powers and duties of that office, the First Vice-President shall act as President." Most Malawians feel assured that this clear provision in the constitution means that while it is natural to feel saddened by the death of our leader, there is no need to panic as if the country is now in a state of emergency, lawlessness, or free fall. So in the absence of a constitution, such panic would be understandable, but in the presence of the constitution we have, such panic is suspect. And when the leaders of government begin to panic, the citizens who remain calm begin to see clearly that none of these ministers, including the president's brother who serves as foreign minister, are fit to lead Malawians through turbulent times. And while President Bingu could be blamed for many things, he cannot be blamed for this.

If the intent of the inner circle that President Bingu has left behind is to find a loophole in the constitution that can be manipulated to prop up the president's brother as the one to take over the running of the country, they will not find it, for such a loophole does not exist. If their intent is to find a legal means of hanging on to their cabinet seats or convene cabinet meetings without the knowledge or consent of the Vice-President, they will not find it, for such a legal means does not exist. To find ways of transferring presidential powers to anyone other than the Vice-President, finding loop holes in the constitution and consulting crooked lawyers will not be enough. They will have to burn every existing copy of the constitution; they will have to dissolve parliament; they will have to declare marshall law and fill the streets with armed gangs; they will have to burn down the magnificent house of parliament and declare it obsolete; they will have to imprison and execute me and every citizen who dares to protest against it; they will have to assassinate the vice president and declare whoever they appoint president a dictator and emperor for life. And while President Bingu could be blamed for many things, he will not be blamed for this.

I am not a Joyce Banda supporter, for I do not know her. But as a Christian, it is in my best interest to care whether or not government officials are respecting the document that guarantees that the Vice-President will assume the presidency in the event of a president's incapacity or death, because it is that same document that guarantees me the freedom to worship Jesus Christ as Lord according to the dictates of my conscience. And if today those officials are trampling on what the constitution guarantees Vice-President Joyce Banda, tomorrow they will trample on what it guarantees me and the flock of Christians I shepherd. And as a shepherd, my duty is not just to feed the sheep, but to also fight off the wolves. So as far as I am concerned, these ministers are only delaying the inevitable and running the risk of committing sacrilege in the process, not to mention treason.  And while President Bingu could be blamed for many things, he cannot be blamed for this.