Greetings from Munda wa Chitedze Farm, far from the concrete jungle of the city. Here, peace reigns, while you endure the “peaceful suffering” of hustle and bustle. The villagers contend: we are back to square one—the tragedy of vice presidents.
Already, President Peter Mutharika and his deputy Jane Ansah are not in the best of books. Observers whisper that trimming her delegated powers in disaster relief and public reforms signals trouble. Ansah’s office insists the President is never wrong, and she will follow wherever he sends her, while APM’s spinners dismiss critics as doomsayers.
At the farm, we prefer the middle line, for history reminds us of past vice-presidential fallouts: Bakili Muluzi and Justin Malewezi’s pills debacle, Cassim Chilumpha surviving “on Fanta” under Bingu wa Mutharika, Joyce Banda mysteriously losing Bingu’s favour, APM and Saulos Chilima’s bitter split, and even Lazarus Chakwera’s clash with Chilima when ambitions collided. Only Michael Usi ever enjoyed the Vice-Presidency—no threat to MCP’s power, content to buy mandasi in markets and chat with tailors in Blantyre khondes. No political innuendos from dear old Manganya!
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Let politicians wrangle while we fertilise Chitedze crops. But newspapers reaching our villages scream in trillions—stolen, borrowed, or lost in Capital Hill corridors. One story, however, gripped us: Attorney General Frank Mbeta has revived Malawi’s $309 billion (K536.7 trillion) claim against Columbia Gem House (CGH), a Washington gemstone firm, over unpaid taxes and royalties tied to Nyala Mines Limited.
For over two decades, Nyala Mines has extracted rubies from Chimwadzulu Hill in Ntcheu, exporting them to the US under CGH’s exclusive agreement. Former AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda sought a US court order to compel CGH to release records of gemstone quantities and sales between 2004 and 2020. The staggering K536.7 trillion claim is what matters to us villagers.
Details aside, that sum could transform our lives. We at the farm stand with the AG. This case must not be lost.
Our blood must turn blue if defeat comes. With Malawi’s National Budget at K5.98 trillion, winning would equal about 90 national budgets! The K536.7 trillion is 35-times our GDP.
How better could our economy run! Bwana AG, pursue this case relentlessly—our poverty ends here. We care little for microeconomics.
We think in macro terms. One stick of matches, not a box. Light one, and the whole village shares the fire.
So when we win, let K536.7 trillion be shared equally among Malawians. With 21 million citizens, each would receive K25.5 million! In our lingua, that is 25 mita n’kanthu for every one of us!
Bwana AG, fight for us. Our lives depend on this case. Yet, dear diary, even as we dream of these trillions, new tax regimes loom: revised Pay-As-You-Earn structures, levies on mobile and bank transfers, rental income taxation, and adjustments to pension and death benefits.
These will shape our daily struggles while the trillion-case unfolds. At Chitedze, we keep faith. If justice prevails, every Malawian will hold 25 mita.
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