By Suleman Chitera
There is no pain in politics more cutting than betrayal through silence.
It is the pain of being remembered during struggle and discarded after victory. The pain of being useful when power is absent, and invisible once power is secured. This is the burden now carried by many patriots who sacrificed comfort, safety, income, and peace so that Malawi could be rescued from poor governance.
I write as one among many—Comrade Jumbe—who for nearly four relentless years stood on the frontline against the ill governance of the Malawi Congress Party. Without salaries, without contracts, without protection, I fought with the only weapon available to me: the pen.
Day and night, I exposed failure, challenged injustice, and mobilised public thought in defence of the people and the nation. Together with many unsung comrades, this intellectual and moral resistance played a significant role in the victory of the Democratic Progressive Party.
But today, many of those who fought hardest have been abandoned.
No recognition.
No engagement.
No word of gratitude.
Calls to ministers go unanswered. Messages are ignored. The very voices that defended the party when it was weak are now treated as background noise because power has been secured. This is not only painful—it is politically dangerous.
African wisdom warns us: “When there is a snake in the pit, you call the people; when it is a mouse, you dig alone.” Using people only in moments of crisis and discarding them after victory is the seed of political collapse.
History is merciless on this point. Greed, arrogance, and selective loyalty have destroyed governments before, and they will destroy others again.
Let it be stated clearly: the downfall of any government does not begin at the ballot box. It begins when it abandons its base.
A party that forgets the friends who defended it during oppression slowly cuts off its own roots. And when roots are cut, the tree may stand for a while—but it will surely fall.
Power does not belong to ministers, offices, or State Houses. Power belongs to the people. Leaders must remember that yesterday’s ignored comrade can become tomorrow’s disappointed critic. And history shows that disappointed patriots do not disappear—they realign.
The same pens that defended can also expose.
The same voices that mobilised can also warn.
This article is not a threat. It is a reminder. Malawi has seen this movie before. Governments that chose arrogance over humility, and silence over engagement, lost legitimacy long before they lost elections.
History remains the most honest teacher—and it never lies.
The Democratic Progressive Party must now decide whether it wants to govern with the people or above the people. What is required is not propaganda, but a change of heart.
Victory without gratitude is hollow.
Leadership without loyalty to its fighters is weak.
Power built on forgotten sacrifices is temporary.
Those who ignore the footsteps that carried them to the mountain should not be surprised when the mountain begins to shake.
My pen remains mightier than the sword.
