Partisanship and Parrotism

Politics in line with Malawian views...

I notice with gross unbelief how strangely political die-hards take political machination on social media and I do not fail to realise that the more issues are presented, the more empty their capacity to assess what is being presented gets exposed.

It is awkward to realise that debates on the capacity for a political figure to make handshakes and present themselves in distinguished houses become praiseworthy. I sometimes pose and assess the rationale behind such praise and probably justify whether there is a good cause for such praise...

Historically, Malawians are good at accolading praise to their heroes. When Kamuzu, whose profession was that of a medical doctor, came to Malawi, he quickly recognised that gap in our hearts, a gap that searches for something praiseworthy to praise. I do not get surprised to see how foreign football players thrive in our corners and how indefensible we argue to claim that such kind of athlete is indisputable... The sentiment of praise falls deep i our mental make-up and defines our happiness. We are often sentimental and irrevocable when we are in the heat of praise for some hero or anyone who could step in and demand it.

Politically, praise dominate all forums and rallies. An innocent leader would emerge with strategic goals and brilliant ideas for development, but no sooner than we know it, he will be submersed with inexhaustible praise which only serves to daunt him and realign his vision to fill the hearts of praise-givers and make them feel happy about it. All of our leaders, either in the dictatorial and democratic era have been immersed with all sorts of praise, warranted or unwarranted praise. the frenzy of praise is what blinds most Malawians and the connotation of praise is what upset others.

As a young mind, I have grown to realise that praise is a legacy that needs dealing with. Our development efforts have been partly hindered by lack of scrutiny which was substituted by praise in many angles of public policy. Just as one academic genius would at times fail to live to his or her standards, subject to failure to absorb the higher levels of praise from his or her colleagues, so have our politicians found it difficult to stick to their development goals resultant of over-expressive praise...

Praise in social media...

Much of the praise in our social media leaves a lot to be desired. It is what I would call unwarranted praised. It is presented with lack of objectivity and at times manipulated... It is aimed at creating distortion to the truth and disclaimers. What I observe from all these praises in our social media is blatant depravity of objectivity, and abject irrationality. For instance, someone is going to make a comment that some leader has arrived at some airport and it is newsworthy. Or someone will write that their political leader has called in a large number of people and another will contest with a seemingly larger number of audience. the battle rages on...

In other cases, praise come in forms of gimmicks... I would like to cite examples but I reserve a few that had been vibrating in the previous regimes... 'boma ilo'.... 'odi uko'....'wagwa nayo'....'tikumva kukoma'.... when something 'wonderful' has been done by a particular political party. Say a member has defected to your political party or your party has visited a certain hospital...

Surprisingly, when something negative has happened to your party, there is a suspicious silence, as though all hand clappers have vanished in thin air unnoticed. It is a game of 'I surface when something 'good' has happened, and I vanish when nothing 'good' or something 'bad' has happened. This is what demonstrates irrationality.

The missing gap....

We ought to recognise that our leaders are a product of our very actions... one scholar once stated that...'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for the good men to do nothing'....Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797). The praise givers must learn to even suggest and assist their respective leaders when they go wrong... the infallibility clause does not exist in politics and so does it not in football. Much as we do not anticipate any football team to win all the time, so do we not expect any political party to always be right. It sounds like the fashionable attire of political masquerades who would in one regime be at the forefront in praise of the government of the day and switch to the next political party once it is inaugurated into power... Such is what other authors call 'Politics of Chameleon'... Politics in Malawi should be metamorphosed into critical politics, in which what will matter is not the individual person, but the political agenda... What will be primary is the tenancy to preserve the political values and guard against any form of contamination...

The debate gets deeper....

The call for preservation is not what Malawians need, but rather the call for participation. The more Malawians have been on the stands watching the events unfold the more they have shouldered the blame. What this 'praise-happy' sentimentalism stand for is downfall of the very beneficiaries of the praise, especially when it goes on unchecked. We ought to take a leaf from history that most of the leaders that enjoyed unrestrained praise left off their feet from the pedals and headed towards their end... One such leader was or first president, who under the blindfold of praise was guaranteed victory in the vote for referendum and the general elections a year later. Excessive praise left some of the leaders empty of ideas and meaningful direction on where the nation ought to go... I am certain that it is only when you leave the audition room and stand outside, is when you can appreciate the beauty of the song sang by the choir... Sometimes, praise givers ought to remain silent for a little while to appreciate whether their effort is generating desired results....

Concluding words...

It is bizarre to notice how praise is becoming fashionable and irrational. The more the tin makes some noise the empty it is. Praise is not bad, but praise with minimal or little substance is much as good as non-praise, after all it will not matter the quantity of praise a leader gets, what will always matter is the quality of his or her leadership style that guarantees ultimate praise...