To me on a day like this, I have my own reservations not because I dont agree that Kamuzu was the founder of the republic and deserve to be remembered but because over the years so many questions have been asked as to what extent can this go. Should he be remembered as the destroyer of the stupid (as he called it) federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland or for being the only leader who ruled Malawi for over 30 years and could not see any eligible candidate to replace him as the next leader of the country.
Well some people in Malawi do not look further than the former and they assert that he should be remembered for attaining that freedom the country enjoys today from the colonial masters, precisely the Great Britain, despite the fact that his tenure is all tainted and there is nothing good people can remember apart from his oratorical prowess.
This excuse has dragged so many Malawians to hold Kamuzu high to an extent that some Malawians never believed that Kamuzu will one day be defeated and humiliated in a General Election by those democratic pioneers who could not take any more from him and his party, the Malawi Congress (MCP).
Kamuzu should be remembered, I agree, but not as a defender of our human rights but as a dictator who had no respect towards humankind and Malawians should be given an opportunity to reflect and contrast whether freedom from the colonial masters that Kamuzu fought for is the real freedom that every Malawian would have wished for. In my view Kamuzu fought for freedom of self rule and sovereighty, we needed that, but he never rendered any freedom as in the Geneva Rights for Malawians and the country.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s,Malawi was the most dangerous place to live not in terms of security but in terms of individual liberties where every word you say was censored by the very people you are having a conversation with. People were suspicious at all times and the good way of getting attention was to sing and talk about Kamuzu.
I remember a black american guy who moved to our home town in the 80s, skinhead and always in shorts,his name was Shiuata, whatever that means. He was suspected of being a secret agent for Kamuzu, seen as causing troubles in town after he made a comment in one of the pubs regarding Kamuzu in a famous statement "who that wanted guy is" pointing at Kamuzu's portrait. Although this was an honest question as he did not know that it was a requirement by law at the time to business places and offices to hang such a portrait but to people around him, this just send a wrong message holding him as such.
I remember we did not have local media houses nor the local television and the only paper in circulation at the time people read was Boma lathu (our government), a free newspaper that carried all praises for Kamuzu and government propagandas.
Kamuzu built hospitals but on the official opening day Kamuzu went away with hundreds of Kwachas forcibly contributed by poor people in the recipient district.
Agriculture was the only subject a pupil would not pass 100 percent as this was saved for Kamuzu, Mchikumbe Number One.(number one Farmer). Besides, he imposed on Malawians his mother tongue dialect which until now is being taught in schools and spoken as a national language. This at inception appeared to be a unification tool for the whole nation but its effect is painfully being felt today, most Malawians speak Chichewa better than they do with their own mother tongue and in the younger generation is even worse.
Politicians and human rights campaigners went missing with no questions asked,therefore, in as much as we remember him, we also remember those who lost their lives in the struggle.
To remember Kamuzu indeed is to remember people like Adolf Hitler and many dictators who once lived this world, my father if he were alive would have conquered with me today because he was also the victim of Kamuzu as he spent part of his life in a maximum security jail, ZALEKA, held as a dissident for standing up against the president.
While we do remember him for showing courage towards the colonial masters but we should also not forget the relief we had on the day Kamuzu was finally deposed and his party members torn to nothing, the defunct Malawi Young Pioneers who terrorised people in the country.
I have no problem with those Malawians who see good in Kamuzu but I cannot be asked, because of him Malawi is where it is politically, people fear the government instead of being part of it as stakeholders. It is very hard to hold politicians accountable because they think they just as untouchable as the way Kamuzu was, every opportunity given to them to govern the nation is taken for granted.
Let us remember those who died in the real struggle against Kamuzu and the colonial masters instead of remembering someone who led their lives to misery before they died for what they believed in and what they stood for. What do we want be, LAUGHING STOCKS???????????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvA-vIYMlYI&feature=related
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