By Stanley Katengeza
Dear Honourable Bright Msaka,
The mere mention of your name, Sir, once evoked visions of a potential presidential candidacy for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) if Peter Mutharika, ageing as he is, opted out of the 2025 presidential race.
Some even speculated that you might be selected as the running mate. However, for playing with other people’s future, your conduct in Parliament yesterday has shown that unless you make a U-turn, you will never—like Kamuzu decreed to someone—ascend to such heights in your political journey.
Your conduct in Parliament on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 has laid bare your true colours, revealing a vindictive streak that bodes ill for any future leadership aspirations.
If the position you took yesterday truly represents the official position of the Democratic Progressive Party as you suggested, then rest assured, your party’s lack of repentance is glaringly apparent. With the contemptuous attitude exhibited in Parliament yesterday, I can confidently predict that the DPP will continue languishing in the opposition after the 2025 elections. Mark my words.
Hon. Bright Msaka, Sir,
Your conduct yesterday left us pondering why Kondwani Nankhumwa emerged victorious over you in the leadership election within the DPP caucus for the position of Leader of the Opposition. We were baffled by Nankhumwa’s victory, considering we had anticipated the election of a leader of your stature, Sir.
However, upon learning of your colleagues’ perception of your leadership qualities, or lack thereof, it became abundantly clear why you were outdone.
Your fellow MPs do not perceive you as a leader imbued with empathy; rather, they see you as a vindictive, insensitive, pompous, selfish, and inconsiderate leader. Regrettably, we must concur with their assessment.
For the benefit of other readers this being an open letter, allow me to elucidate the matter at hand. Yesterday, under the stewardship of President Lazarus Chakwera, the Minister of Justice, Titus Mvalo, introduced a bill in Parliament that seeks to correct the injustice inflicted on law students in the country by the likes of Bright Msaka and George Chaponda in 2018.
According to Justice Minister Mvalo, the Bill he brought yesterday “seeks to amend the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act (No. 31 of 2018) in order to address the challenges identified during the course of implementing the Act.”
Bright Msaka, the DPP Legal Spokesperson in Parliament agreed with the other challenges that the Bill seeks to resolve except for one challenge.
Bright Msaka, a sadist that he is, wants poor Malawian law students in the country to continue to be poor by delaying them further to qualify as Lawyers in the country once they graduate.
Bright Msaka, the DPP Legal Spokesperson in Parliament, concurred with the various issues that the Bill aims to address, save for one crucial aspect.
In a display of sheer sadism, he adamantly insists on perpetuating the plight of poor Malawian law students by advocating for further delays in their qualification as lawyers in the country after graduation
According to Justice Minister Mvalo “One notable challenge [of the current Act] pertains to redundancy.
Mvalo expounded:
“Currently, the Act requires holders of a law degree, seeking to be admitted to the bar, to attend the Malawi Institute of Legal Education (hereinafter referred to as “MILE”) and subsequently write and pass the Malawi Law Examinations.
However, some learning institutions accredited to offer legal education in accordance with the Act already offer courses similar to those offered by the MILE, during their degree programme.
Therefore, the requirements for persons graduating from those institutions to attend MILE and pass the Malawi Law Examinations are creating unnecessary redundancy and resource inefficiency.”
The Minister concluded:
“The Bill, therefore, among other things proposes to__
(b) exempt holders of a degree in law awarded by an institution accredited to offer legal education in accordance with the Act from the requirements to enrol with the Malawi Institute for Legal Education and pass the Malawi Law Examinations, in order to be admitted to practise law in Malawi, where the Council determines that, to qualify for award of the degree, the person passed courses comparable in scope to those taught at MILE; and”
Back to you, Honourable Msaka,
Your response to the Bill in Parliament yesterday was nothing short of vindictive and misguided. You falsely claimed that the bill reproduced above in part sought to exempt law students exclusively from Chancellor College. However, nowhere in the bill does it specify such exclusivity.
The bill’s true intent is to exempt all law students across local universities in Malawi, including the University of Malawi, Catholic University, and MUBAS, provided their courses align with those taught at MILE.
Your fiery tirade against Chancellor College reflects your pettiness and lack of foresight. It exemplifies why you are unfit for the presidency of Malawi and let alone of your Party DPP.
Did you bother to understand the rationale behind the amendment and its impact on poor students? Allow me to elucidate: The law as it is now imposes an additional year of study at MILE for local university students, a punitive measure imposed by you and your DPP colleagues.
These students, predominantly from poor backgrounds, now face extended academic burdens due to your actions yet when they go to MILE, they will study the very same things they already studied and passed.
Furthermore, your hypocrisy in claiming that you will be the last person to demean Chancellor College after disparaging it in Parliament yesterday is glaring akin to shedding crocodile tears.
Your egotistical antics, Sir, have drawn disdain from the electorate. If you won’t reverse course, you risk becoming the enemy of the students and by extension, an enemy of the people in Malawi for you seek not to save their interest but your interest and the interest of the ever-misfiring Peter Mutharika.
Honourable Msaka Sir,
Should you fail to introspect and amend your ways, both you and the DPP face oblivion in 2025. This is the case because students across all universities in the country, most of them poor students, burdened by your policies, will not support a political party that stifles their progress.
Your party’s history of disregarding public sentiment only exacerbates the looming electoral defeat. Unless you repent and adapt, electoral destruction awaits you in 2025. Mark my words.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author not necessarily of The Maravi Post or Editor
