REMEMBERING JOHN ZENUS UNGAPAKE TEMBO
John Tembo: I don’t change dogma
Nobody should steal MPs right in Parliament by inducing them with monetary gifts or appointments to positions in government.
By JOSEPH KAYIRA | 27 SEPTEMBER 2023
This interview was first published in The Lamp magazine (Number 74 of November – December 2008). This interview with Honourable John Zenus Ungapake (JZU) Tembo, who at the time was president of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, was conducted at his Nyambadwe residence in Blantyre. Honourable Tembo died Wednesday, 27 September 2023 aged 91 and this interview has been republished in honour of this veteran politicians who served his constituents and nation with dignity and dedication. May his soul rest in peace.
JK: The Electoral Commission (MEC) is in the process of registering voters in some parts of the country. are you happy with the way the registration exercise is being handled?
Hon JZU Tembo: No. Registration of voters has started very badly. In a number of constituencies materials are not enough. In a number of areas, the cameras are not working. My fears are that perhaps this is deliberate because – why did they buy faulty cameras? And why don’t they tell us where they bought these cameras so that we can find out why they are faulty? We are suspicious and we suspect that something dubious is taking place. We are afraid that this election will be rigged.
What is your advice to MEC and the Malawi government?
My advice has already been given time and again. We want a free and fair general election. And my advice on the appointments of the [MEC] Commissioners was that they should be done in accordance with the law, which stipulates that the President will appoint Electoral Commissioners in consultation with the opposition parties in Parliament.
This has not been followed. Because if the appointment of the Commissioners was in accordance with the law, there would have not been wrangles between the government and the opposition. We are very suspicious and we know that something sinister is happening.
Were these Commissioners supposed to be your eyes?
No. They are supposed to be Commissioners who are not partisan; Commissioners who are for the nation not eyes for the opposition or eyes for the government.
How can you describe Parliament and the conduct of legislators in the past five years?
What is the duty of Parliament? Parliament has to discuss openly national issues. To begin with, Parliament must meet as often as it is stipulated in the constitution. We are supposed to have four sittings of Parliament within a year. Do we have them? Already, this causes a lot of friction. And the decisions in Parliament are made on the basis of majority – because they [MPs] are all elected people. And all attempts to exercise democratic principles in Parliament where decisions are made by the majority, are frustrated because government is not interested. I know where we are going – one of the major issues we disagreed was on the question of rule of law and democracy.
Rule of law says everybody in this country, including Members of Parliament, must obey rulings of the Judiciary. We are law makers in Parliament and we cannot be the first ones to break the very laws that we make. Judiciary made a ruling, including the highest court in the land – the Supreme Court of Malawi – that Section 65 in the Constitution must be obeyed… it is part of the supreme law of the land.
What does Section 65 say? People [MPs] must represent people that elected them from their political parties because this is a multiparty democracy. Which means nobody should steal Members of Parliament right there in Parliament by inducing them with monetary gifts or appointments to positions in government.
Does it mean that the Opposition in Parliament has been defeated by allowing the National Budget to pass?
It depends on what you understand by being defeated because the only defeat in Parliament and the legitimacy is the vote. And majority in Parliament has never been defeated; we have won the votes in Parliament but the Executive has broken the law, and the law did not take its course. By the way, Section 65 is not the only one that the Executive has broken.
Even the appointments of senior officials in government which are governed by the provisions of the constitution to be in accordance with the law, have been violated by the president. We believe that those in the Executive understand that the three arms of government – the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary – are all important, separate and independent institutions.
Is there a way to deal with this problem?
The only way is what we have done. We have demonstrated to the Executive that they are breaking the law. We have gone to Parliament to vote on the position of the Executive and Parliament had won all the time. This is the principle of democracy. The majority shall govern. Propaganda is useless; you cannot rule the country by propaganda. You cannot rule the country through radio and TV. Soon or later, it catches up with you.
We have had examples in some African countries like Kenya and now Zimbabwe where governments refused to comply with the decisions of the majority. We don’t want that to come to Malawi. And as you know, on Section 65, Parliament requested mediation through senior people in the country. Under the chairmanship of the most senior person, you can think of, Archbishop Tarsizio Ziyaye, their position was that Section 65 and the National Budget must be done together because the session was a National Budget session.
We had agreed; the government side too agreed. But no sooner had they agreed, they changed their mind. There are only two people must always obey – one is a doctor. When the doctor says sleep in this bed, don’t hesitate – go ahead and sleep in that bed. If you say no, then definitely you will die. The other one is a religious leader because he wants to escort you to the right place in heaven.
It seems that civil society did not fully support you; what can you say on this?
I would say civil society played its role. Those are people who speak on behalf of the people in society. Their stand has been changing from time to time. I don’t think that by supporting us they have supported the opposition in Parliament. They have supported the truth. as they see it. Surely, I cannot accuse civil society. You remember that last time government had used thugs in the name of the civil society to go and bash cars belonging to opposition Members of Parliament. In my view, that was not the best way of civil society intervening whenever there is a problem in the country.
The problem is that even chiefs have been used to castigate Members of Parliament. But I must add that not all chiefs agreed to do that; those who have you surely know them. I don’t need to tell you. I have always said that I will not and will never castigate chiefs. I have always respected chiefs and there must be reason why I do that.
Recently, President Bingu wa Mutharika was given the title of ‘Ngwazi’ by chiefs in the Northern Region. What’s your comment?
I have no serious comment on that. Everybody is just laughing. If I were the president, I would have said thank you very much but I am not worth the name.
Don’t you think that members of the MCP will be confused if Bingu decides to use the very same title during the general elections?
People in villages and towns are the ones who vote. So, they are the ones who have the final say. What do people want? People in villages need food, good shelter and not certificates. There is no food in my area and some parts of Malawi. Even government officials are beginning to agree that there is insufficient food in this country. As a party, we have put food first for the people in the villages. We have put the best interest of the people ranging from education, health, communications, roads, electricity, water and many other essentials. Currently, we have a very serious problem of water here in Blantyre and some other parts of Malawi.
But the opposition rejected the water and electricity bill?
The bills was illegally accented to and it did not comply with the law. We rejected it not because we were jealousy, but because those who brought it to Parliament did not follow the proper channel. Why should the president sign a bill that did not pass through Parliament as required by the law? Would you support illegality just because you want electricity or water?
We have seen the president being touted as ‘Mose wa lero’. What do say?
You ask the church because you are coming from a church institution. We consider the hierarchy of the church in Malawi through which divine interpretation comes through. If it’s the Catholic Church, then it’s through the Archbishop. Is there somebody who can be happy to be called Mose wa Lero? I would not love that; I am not a Catholic but I am a church elder for the CCAP.
On the economic front, they have also touted him [Bingu] as someone who has turned the economy around…
I have served this country in a number of areas but mostly in economy and finance. I was minister of finance for seven years. I was minister of finance when all the roads were constructed during late Kamuzu Banda’s era. We did our part and most of the roads were tarmacked. By the way, I was even the board chairman of the Royal Construction in this country. Did you read anywhere a statement by the Ngwazi that the work of my hands should speak for me? Mudamvapo? So, when we talk about economy and finance, I did my part. Much better than what is being done now.
We even exported maize to other countries but still people had food in their homes. In health, the government dd its part by building hospitals in most of the districts. So, nobody should deceive you. These days nurses and doctors are going outside Malawi because the conditions here are very bad. During the Kamuzu regime these things were not happening because we had one the sound economies in Africa.
Today, we have modern Moses but still people are going out in search of decent jobs. If we are to compare this government with that of Kamuzu, then I would say, Kamuzu’s government was better. We have one of the worst education systems than before; the quality of education has gone down. Lack of learning materials in schools is another problem that this government is failing to curb. Examination papers are everywhere. Where is our education going?
A road that has been mentioned time and again in all regimes is the Karonga-Chitipa Road…
What I would say is that this government owes the people of the North something – and that something is the Karonga-Chitipa Road. The Leader of Opposition will make sure that all the promises this government has made should be kept and fulfilled because we know that the money is there. As Parliament they cannot cheat us. Where is the money going? I will be very happy to see that road constructed; but it’s not the only road. There are some roads that also need serious attention from this government. I do not want to talk about the UDF because they failed in so many things.
How is your relationship with the UDF?
Very good; because we have a common cause in our approach to politics against the present government. We are all members of the opposition and nobody can separate us. We agree with the government when it does something good and we oppose when it does something we believe is bad.
If this government offers you a position, would you accept?
Have you not heard that they tried before and I said no? Chimunthu Banda and Katsonga – all these people approached me and told me to join them, but I said for what? I even told them that if Bingu wants me he should come to Parliament as we have done before. The problem with Bingu is that he does not honour his promises. He is always uncertain with his words. We don’t want to experience what other countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe experienced.
How ready is the opposition so that Malawians don’t experience the scenario in Kenya and Zimbabwe as they go towards the elections?
We are very much ready, and what happened in these countries cannot and will not happen in Malawi. I have never lost an election because in 2004 I won and in 1999 I won as well. I have the evidence but they refused it saying it was too late for the courts look into it. The law says all grievances pertaining to elections should be submitted within 48 hours which I did not do. I had to obey the law. But if they rig as they did 2004, then that will not work; and I don’t think it will happen again.
Are you ready for a coalition?
Already some parties have approached me for a coalition and as you may recall in 2004 there was also a coalition in the name of Mgwirizano, but I refused. I refused because a party must be principled. You don’t go for a coalition before the general elections. you do it after and this works to your advantage.
People have been leaving the Catholic Church to start their own, but still the Catholic Church has remained intact up to now. have you ever heard the Pope saying, please all of you who left come and let’s amalgamate? People come and go but the church still remains. This is my principle as well. I will not change my dogma.
Are you ready to retire from politics after 2009?
My retirement is a responsibility of my body and my party. It’s not a question of just me and so on and so forth. After all, I have contributed so much to this country. I was a minister in the economic and financial world for this country for many years. I have been chairman of different parastatals for many years and I have done my work successfully. I would be have retired from active politics way back in the 1990s but people said continue.
Is there a succession plan if you leave?
You know democracy is not a question of calling your brother and say after me it will be you. In a democracy, powers to are vested in the people. So, I believe that people within the party will choose.
Is there anything that this government has done worth mentioning?
Did I tell you something about Goodall Gondwe? He is an excellent economist and a very clever financial administrator. The truth of the matter is, the finance minister is very important to the development of this country. Actually, it’s not Bingu who is delivering but the finance minister. I was very important when I was finance minister. Trevor Manuel in South Africa is important as finance minister. But as government what they have done best is to reduce indebtedness – both internal and external.
The other one is the road network. The Masasa-Golomoti was abandoned by the UDF government. This government has come to complete it. For this, I congratulate them. However, even though there are donor inflows, people in the villages are starving. Where is the money going? Money meant for HIV positive people is coming in this country but still we have a lot of AIDS patients in the villages.
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