A Eulogy For Chafukira

The Bible in the book of Proverbs says that “Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough. Good men must die, but death can not kill their names.” Living might be meaningless if out of one’s life there is nothing that is left behind apart from the mound of earth beneath which their body lies. Death overtakes us all; no one is spared. Even those that kill are in awe of death.

On Sunday September 20, a dark cloud of sorrow descended upon the family of the late Ishmael Chafukira as his family excruciatingly learnt that their beloved dad, husband and pillar had died in mysterious circumstances in South Africa from where they expected him to return with three vehicles which he had informed his wife just a night before that he would bring. They never anticipated to receive a gleaming casket from South Africa; let alone one bearing the remnants of a man who had confirmed that he was safe and sound just a night before.

Chafukira’s death followed hot on the heals of his quest for change in the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), a party from which he had been fired soon after the elections for his confident criticism of the party’s leadership which he deemed to have been behind the poor performance in the 19 May elections. He was the first lone voice to rebuke his party’s president John Tembo. He condemned Tembo for failing to put into place strategies that would allow his party to perform ‘substantially’ in the elections.

Afterwards, he proposed that the post of leader of opposition in Parliament should not automatically go to the president of the largest opposition party as had been the case before. Chafukira was also behind the implementation of a taskforce that was agitating for the resignation of John Tembo to pave way for fresh blood that could take over the mantle of the party leadership.

His taskforce wanted to get rid of Tembo because he “is a tired and intolerant man” who at a certain point in time admitted that he would never change. But it was Chafukira’s initial defiance which cost him the post of party spokesperson because “he failed to adhere to the fall pillars of the party.”

Then afterwards, the courts endorsed the MCP’s decision to fire the late legislator. Ideally, Chafukira knew that that was what would happen to him in the wake of his pursuit. He knew that Tembo and his sympathizers would never assimilate with him as cordially as before after his ‘defiance’ even if the courts faulted the party’s decision to fire him. So it is obvious that even if he was not stripped of the spokesperson position, he would still give it up.

He had a desire for change and the faced facts head-on because he wanted change by all means, and this did not amuse Tembo and other MCP loyalists who continue worshipping obaba even though they quite well know that the old politician is fast approaching the end of his usefulness in Malawi politics.

By all means, Chafukira’s death was mysterious. Even if he died in a road accident, or after a short illness or by committing suicide, still more it would be a mysterious death. Why? Because he died while fighting for change. Fighters ‘normally’ die mysterious deaths.

This brings into the picture the late Evision Matafale, Dunduzu Chisiza, the Mwanza four and many others who died while fighting for some truth. Even if death be the only ‘true’ way of silencing opponents, still more the fighters never lack conviction, for it is the destiny of every man; even the killers themselves.

Chafukira died while being hated by John Tembo and other MCP loyalists, even though Tembo can claim that there were no personal differences between him and the late parliamentarian. He died while he was being applauded by many who saw leadership change in MCP to be a very significant aspect.

He died when he was once the centre of attention more than ever before. Above all, he died fighting. People’s attention was shifted from Tembo to Chafukira and he became a household name. He had massive support and it was obvious that if he decided to form his own party or succeeded in ousting Tembo from the leadership position, he would command a great deal of support.

That is why dying while he was in pursuit of a great achievement, his death should be mysterious. Even natural deaths are sometimes mysterious; but nobody knows what killed Chafukira. Tembo was quoted as saying death is death and that Chafukira was never part of them during his death. He never uttered any sentiment that tended to extend a condolence message.

That is why Chafukira’s death should be mysterious. Death is supposed to unite even sworn enemies where everything that separated them should be buried. But when an enemy never expresses any feelings of sympathy, death becomes mysterious. It is ‘unMalawian’ for someone to fail to console the bereaved family just because of differences that were there between them and the deceased.

So far, there is no clear conclusion as to what killed Chafukira; hence Malawians have numerous questions without legitimate answers, with misguided conclusions. This is just because Chafukira’s death was mysterious. And Malawians fail to accept that Chafukira died of natural causes. They fail to accept that there isn’t a silent invisible hand which groped for Chafukira’s heart and snatched it when it was most powerful.

They feel so just because of the mysterious circumstances in which the youthful legislator died. Concerned about Chafukira’s mysterious death, the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation remarked that such a death has rekindled memories of three decades of darkness in the country under the MCP.

The organization was just stating the political history of our country which is already known. This is the truth that will always remain so with the passage of time. And Tembo got offended. He said his reputation is greatly injured with the CHRR remarks.

Is it because he was there during the 30 years of his party’s autocratic rule that he feels his reputation is at stake. Or is it because he is now the torchbearer of the party that is being put into the ‘deserved’ dark picture? Or does he mean there were no mysterious deaths during his party’s 30 years of office? Perhaps he is just concerned about Chafukira’s mysterious death that he feels he might be taken to be the killer people are seeking.

Maybe he believes that even deaths that have been said to be natural can be precipitated by some individuals. Otherwise it does not make sense for him to take umbrage at remarks that are only aimed at recounting the much needed history that should never be twisted. This is a kind of Malawi’s past that will never be wiped out of the country’s history even if the archives are burnt to cinders.

The human memory is the best keeper of information whose prospects are vividly horrendous. Thus, we will not forget MCP’s atrocities. And any mysterious death of any high-profile person will remind us of the 30 dark years from 1964 to 1994. Just as Martin Luther King observed, our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

The killer of Chafukira may not be known now, tomorrow or any time in the future. What killed him may not be known. But his death will never be forgotten, more importantly because he died while fighting; just because he died after getting rid of fear and being in awe of death no more.