the anarchy

[Published in the Malawi News of 2 July 2011, and the Weekend Nation of 7 January 2012]

It started one hot afternoon. There were about 200 youthful protestors when a thousand of the much feared guards moved in and started to beat them up. The protestors were out numbered and started to escape, scattering in all directions in the process. The notorious guards hotly pursued them, and ended up in clobbering and arresting any youth that they came across. The youths were enraged. Almost every villager was enraged; and the fear of the tyrannical authorities they had harboured for years melted away. Their simmering anger boiled over. They joined the youth in fighting the guards. What followed was an unprecedented outbreak of rioting. Hundreds of disgruntled villagers took to the streets denouncing the dictatorial rule of Asilo, their chief, and fought his infamous guards.

The authorities’ action however, was quick and heavy handed. They called for reinforcements who joined their counterparts. Together they rampaged through the village. They beat up the demonstrators with heavy clubs, and arrested many. Anarchy descended on the village as mobs of people battled the guards and clouted the authorities’ supporters. And around evening, it was particularly violent. The guards overreacted. They started to use machetes. Hollowed cries and shouts, and blood, became order of the day. Many people lied injured. There were also many cases of death.

However, this was Mgwabulu village very different from the one of 20 years ago. Enjoying agricultural produce year in and year out, and savouring peaceful successions to the throne, things, by and large, lacking in the other surrounding villages, Mgwabulu was a haven of peace.

Things started to change just two years in the line of Asilo’s rule. Surrounding himself with bootlickers, and greedy and corrupt advisers, he stopped listening to advice and sound reason. Those who opposed and criticized him and his policies, or were perceived to do so, paid heavily. He would heap a diet of abuse on them or the ruthless guards would beat ‘sense’ in their heads.

Irene, a local journalist, was beaten up at a political rally of the authorities for being critical of the government. Even local leaders were not spared in the mess. Village head Alina was paraded half naked by the guards for attending an opposition political meeting. And many such cases were reported. People of Mgwabulu village walked in complete terror.   

And as years progressed, rampant corruption and nepotism spread. It became a regime full of praise singers. Those aspiring to reach the top had to take the uncompromising approach of singing praises for Asilo’s ‘achievements’. Battle lines were drawn. If one was deemed as to be on the opposition camp, he was not to fraternize with the other side. Mysterious deaths of opposition members became common; prominent opposition members such as Atate, Vibula and Bulakikobulo all mysterious died. Food production began to dwindle as farms were confiscated from rivals of the officials and at times given to incompetent staunch supporters. This saw agriculture based industries crossing down and consequently grappling poverty spread among ordinary villagers, as the gains of the previous years deteriorated.

However, at one time Mgwabulu village sought a crimeless and competent person to be its representative at the Paramount Chief’s headquarters, when the former passed away. Mbwandira, a businessman, and Patikalimbwe, Asilo’s son, emerged the hot contestants for the position. The majority supported Mbwandira.

“We can’t take someone who the previous year embezzled our money meant for development, but went scot-free.”  The majority could be heard vowing.

But Patikalimbwe had the support of the authorities though. In the following days he was paraded at his father’s almost daily political meetings, where in a series of confidence boasting exercises, his praises were repeatedly and publicly sang. On the other extreme Mbwandira faced nightmares. They ranged from being lampooned and vilified by the authorities, being barred from holding meetings for undisclosed reasons, to the meetings being disrupted by the notorious guards when he had the sheer lucky of holding any. But that did not deter people. His support soared. The authorities moved swiftly to impoliticly ban him from contesting for having an unsubstantiated criminal record.

People wriggled and writhed in opposing. Nothing happened. In despair they also called for Patikalimbwe’s removal from the contest on the grounds of misusing development funds. That was also laughed off.

On the day of voting the authorities stifled the calls for Patikalimbwe’s removal by packing the village hall with aggressive flunkies and barred suspected dissents. The winner needed a 60 percent majority of the occupants to sail through. Inside the hall heavies shouted, “Mgwabulu village for Patikalimbwe, Mgwabulu village for Patikalimbwe!” No participant dared dissent. With anti-Patikalimbwe campaigners kicked out, Patikalimbwe won with a ‘thumping’ 100 percent majority. Furiously the villagers, especially the youth, consented to strike. The authorities paid no attention. The villagers refused to give in. The youth staged the protest.

So that protest that afternoon provided the spark that unleashed an explosion of chaos after 18 years of simmering political tensions. And although the guards slashed the demonstrators with machetes and bludgeoned them with heavy clubs, the people were not dissuaded. For them enough was enough. Asilo was to resign or be dethroned. They torched the houses of the authorities and their henchmen, as they chanted, “Down with Asilo!” Asilo could not stand the unrelenting mounting pressure. He fled the village.