‘HOMEBOY’ CHIEF JUSTICE TELLS PRESIDENT TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS

In the past I have mentioned the problem that most Malawians have with the President’s habit of appointing his ‘homeboys’ to the top positions in Government. I am also critical of tribalistic and nepotistic practices. My criticism is of the President – not of the persons appointed. In fact, many of them are highly respected and well known figures who are perfectly capable of doing the jobs that they have been given.

One of those is Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo who has impeccable credentials most recently as an international jurist. He and President Mutharika both spoke at a ceremony yesterday, Wednesday, to mark the establishment of an African Court on Human and People's Rights. Munlo was outspoken in the presence of his ‘homeboy’ President when he adjured African Presidents to respect human rights and the rule of law.

Mutharika has spoken publicly about his determination to ignore the laws when they threaten to frustrate his nefarious intentions. Given the reluctance of other African institutions such as NEPAD, African Union and SADC to censure their own, it is not surprising that our President stated quite clearly and with an eye to his shaky future that the determined International Criminal Court (ICC) should not indict African Presidents but, instead, the new African court should be left to do its job. Clearly he expects that it will be as remiss in disciplining its own as other ineffective continental bodies.

My understanding is that the ICC acts only when national bodies fail to do so. I would expect, then, that the ICC would still act if it could be demonstrated that the African court is unwilling to act against incumbent or former presidents.

You have to be thick-skinned to be a politician anywhere in the world. Our President seems to be pachydermally blessed. A man who has so flagrantly breached our Constitution and who has demonstrated a complete disregard for the law, has the audacity to take part in a ceremony that can only draw attention to his failings and his crimes. This is the same man who has just released his book: From Poverty to Prosperity in which he advocates exactly the opposite of what he himself practices. Hypocrisy of the highest order!

We expect, in fact we do not doubt, that Chief Justice Munlo will be a defender of our rights and will ensure that his companion judges do likewise.

In the case of that other ‘homeboy’, Inspector General of Police Mukhito, we may as well give up hope. He is the slavish and obedient pet ‘poodle’ of Mutharika. Will he one day face the African court?

Shame on you, Mukhito, and shame on the whole of the Police Force. Are there none of you in that institution prepared to uphold the Constitution? It is time we held official criminals personally to account. With a little luck and some determination by African jurists, let us hope that the new African Court of Human and People's Rights will make justice sure and swift when national bodies fail us.