The Man Who Averted Chaos

Patriotism often means much more where one exercises it when he knows he has power to discount it. Its fruits stand the test of time where one rose above personal interests to serve a country on whose soil he was born.

Malawi Army General Henry Odillo had two significant options which would have prevented Joyce Banda from ascending to power. Thank God he was not as confused as those Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators who want us to believe their illegal meetings were decided out of confusion.

If he were to choose, first, Odillo would have liaised with the DPP officials so that at least one of them would become Malawi’s president following the death of Bingu wa Mutharika. He had another option on his hands: he would have gone a step further to direct that Malawi should be under military rule as ‘proper arrangements’ are being made about when we should have the next presidential election.

But Odillo did exactly what the constitution of Malawi stipulates. Or, he did not attempt to do what he was not supposed to. The first vice president is supposed to occupy the office of the state president the moment the president gets incapacitated or dies. The VP then was Joyce Banda, and she was legally bound to ascend to power.

Odillo quickly organized his boys to offer JB the required security for he pretty sure knew that she would be his next boss. That is the point chaos was averted. He laid aside the conviction that Bingu is the one who put him on the top-most seat of the Malawi Defence Force, and decided to exhibit the greatest level of professionalism.

He could have easily supported Peter Mutharika’s ascendancy to power, but he knew that that would create chaos in Malawi. Matter-of-factly, he knew that that would mean contravening the provisions of the constitution. Yet, if he must, he would have really contravened them. Only that he is a professional army officer who – or so it seems – does not subscribe to any party’s ideologies.

Now, let us look at the nature of the chaos that was averted. The two options that Odillo had would certainly lead to disorder in Malawi, and that goes beyond any reasonably doubt.

If he allowed the DPP to go ahead and circumvent the constitution, the public outcry against such a development would surely lead to nationwide protests. By 5 April, it was common knowledge that the Mutharika administration had lost its popularity and credibility, and people were eagerly waiting for the day they would thrust the DPP onto the opposition benches in Parliament. Fate quickly came in and intervened.

From the people’s dissatisfaction with the DPP administration, it is clear that any move to prevent any sort of necessary relief from taking place would be seriously contested. That is where chaos would erupt. In fact, the civil society would quickly come in to mobilise Malawians so as to protest against an administration that had been created illegally. I bet these demonstrations would have been more adverse than those of 20 July.

In the case of the other option that Odillo had, chaos would still erupt. If the army got charge of Malawi, there is no guarantee that people would keep quiet, especially considering the fact that the constitution is very clear on what should be done if a sitting president dies.

Even if Malawians would gradually be driven into submission by the army, it is very probable that the international community would intervene. Take this instance: as early as 6 April, the US government informed the world that it was keenly monitoring the situation in Malawi. They even advised us to let the constitution be applied in its entirety regarding who should succeed Mutharika.

If anything were to be done against the provisions of the constitution, the US and other countries that were monitoring the situation, would have immediately come in. Now, if the illegal administration resisted, perhaps military interventions would have been sanctioned on Malawi. That would be the kind of chaos from which it would take forever for the country to recover.

But, thank God, Odillo sided with JB when Malawi needed that most. He is the man who has shown what it means to be patriotic. He is eager to protect his country at all times, and defend government only when it deserves it.