* Bingu was a great man and visionary president next to late Kamuzu Banda
* He was the president that Malawi wanted but people called him arrogant instead of helping him
* I wish he was here to lecture the current leadership on how to govern the state without donor funding
By Duncan Mlanjira
Today, April 5, which happens to be President Lazarus Chakwera’s birthday, is also the day former President Bingu wa Mutharika died of cardiac arrest.
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In his memory, a lot of people have paid their fond tributes on social media that was initiated by MIJ Online.
MIJ Online posted on Facebook: “Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika died today in 2012 at the age of 78. He is well known for his pan-African policies and the fight to end poverty and corruption in Malawi.
“May he continue resting in peace. What is your opinion of Bingu and his leadership style when compared to the leaders this country has had ever since his death? How do you remember him?” said the message.
To which Elias Kadyakale responded Malawians “didn’t believe him when he said we can make it without donors and now Tanzania is practising what he preached” to which Barnett Kathumba agreed, saying Bingu had said “it’ll be painful in a short time but productive in long term.”
“That’s why first he wanted us to be self-sufficient in terms of food and he bought those tractors so that smallholder farmers should no longer use hoes. He provided irrigation equipment system to have farming all year round (winter cropping).”
Davias Kanjele eulogized Bingu as “a great man and a visionary president next to the late kamuzu Banda. I will remember him forever and in Malawi we had only two [good] president’s Kamuzu and Bingu”.
Christopher Mwandira opined that Bingu could probably had been one of the best leaders in Africa after Nelson Mandela and “he is equal to none of these current leaders of ours”.
“A visionary leader, a patriotic leader — so many adjectives to discribe him. A leader who could not listen to gossips but rather maintain his decision. A great son of this soil. Bingu RIP.”
Bexter Nthulula commented that he was a president that Malawi wanted but people and his fellow politicians called him arrogant instead of helping him.
“Shamelessly, some well educated Malawians also followed what politicians were saying against him!”
“Malawians will never find a leader like Bingu,” said Gift Prince. “Today’s leaders are not leaders — they just want richies and make Malawians cry. Indeed abwino sakhalitsa — respect Bingu.”
With Barack and Michelle Obama
Vincent Gama believes Bingu was way ahead of everybody — that he was already 20 years ahead and had an actual plan for the country.”
Trassizio Makwanda said if it had been well done his vision of Nsanje inland port could have become a second largest project in Africa. He also said under his regime, Malawians were able to access fertilizer at a drastic subsidized cost which led the country to export maize.
“His implemented programs were based on merit,” he said. “In addition to that, men and women of old age in public service were able to realize that they could go back to school regardless of their age which later improved literacy and effectiveness of service delivery.”
Kenneth Kalinga fondly and believes in Bingu’s belief that ‘Malawi is not a poor country but it is the people who are poor’. He used to say a dreamer shall die but dreams shall stay alive and indeed his dreams live.”
With Robert Mugabe
Akim Mwakalenga loved his dynamism — “the ability to switch leadership approaches from democratic to autocratic. Trust me, you can’t yield significant results in a political framework such us ours, where the opposition holds a majority stake in rulership but with different motive, by always listening to what others say.
“One visionary leader who was not just a dreamer!” he said while Ted Mwale said he had the welfare of poor Malawians at heart and that he “didn’t want to praise his party gurus who were busy looting the resources everyday at the expense of poor Malawians”.
“He left UDF and formed his own party with new faces in the cabinet who had no background of corruption, whatsoever. We’re talking of the likes of Goodall Gondwe, Martin Kansichi, Glean Malunga etc.”
Pacharo Chapasi wished he had lived longer to lecture the current leadership on how to govern the state without donor funding.
He was succeeded by his Vice-President Joyce Banda
Maza Godie opined that Bingu was only good his first term and thereafter “he was totally out of track, too nepotistic, tribalistic” to which Ronard Madondolo said “he was passionate about development. He cared about the less privileged though in his second term things were becoming tough but he defended the country with all his heart.”
Nicholas Chirwa also believes Bingu’s five years were good “but became arrogant, selfish, tribalistic and corrupt in the second term. I can mark him 60 out of 100.”
During Parliament seating last month, President Chakwera defended his administration’s decision to move the Immigration Headquarters to Lilongwe in honour of late Bingu and that it was already being implemented by former President’s Peter Mutharika administration.
“This is an example of a good idea conceived by a previous president that needs to be implemented by my administration,” he had said. “I assure all Malawians who loved Bingu’s vision that this is one dream of his that I will bring to fulfillment.”
