By Martin Madalo Katemana:

Behold! The inevitable moment is here again when the swift pace of time becomes an adversary to those who are enjoying the spoils of political office and their privileged few accomplices. The general elections are fast looming and whether it be promises, lies, chicanery or deceit these politicians cooked up during the previous campaign trail must be haunting them right now. How time flies!

The flock of politicians currently coming to roost back home after being as elusive as butterflies from their miserable constituents for some years is impeccably overwhelming. As usual, they come with their cheap rhetoric and nominal handouts to fool the voter once more. Among their deceptive avenues are budgets for coffins to be distributed to those who happen to be bereaved during this campaign period simply to make a political statement when such money would have, if used properly, saved these very lives.

The late Rafiq Hajat (R.I.P), a renowned socio-political analyst, used to compare the savagery tricks of most Malawian politicians at campaign times to the crookedness of the Greeks in the famous legendary story “The Trojan Horse”. This story depicts how the Greeks pretended to surrender to the Trojan soldier they were at war with. As if to fool and appease these unsuspecting Trojans, the Greeks further carved a very big wooden horse, filled it with heavily armed soldiers inside and presented it to the Trojans as a “gift”. It was beneath the stealth of darkness, when the Trojans were drunk, sleepy and tired intoxicated with their perceived victory, that their worst nightmare was finally unleashed. Greek soldiers alighted from inside the wooden horse, “the gift”, and destroyed the Trojans with ease-the way a child would kill a toddler.

Similarly, such has been the nightmare of the Malawian voter since the dawn of multiparty democracy over three decades ago. Remember, the first multiparty elections in Malawi happened in the early 1960s. Every time elections are pending, politicians use appetising handouts, verbosity, litanies of visions and utopias to woo the poor man, only to leave him still wallowing in the mud like a pig after the ballot is cast. This nauseating trend continues to flourish. As we speak, poor Malawians are being used to line along parade routes, ululate, sing praises, wave banners and even carry placards they can neither read nor understand, pampering the egos of politicians who are responsible for perpetuating their misery soon after every election. Once they assume office, these politicians become a nuisance, insensitive, deaf and crude arrogant- like those before them or even worse. One wonders why the Malawian voter continues to be like a bird that has not heard of fresh water and keeps dipping its beak in salty water day afte