After making noise on social media, this is my last take on Vice President Saulos Chilima (SKC). I hope.

Let me start by saying that whoever advised SKC to stage whatever you would call what happened yesterday made a very big mistake. Uncalculated gamble that exposed him.

Yesterday, Malawians saw a different Chilima. Not the SKC who would do 20+ pushups. Not the SKC who would carry a bag of fertilizer. Not the SKC who would die for the Malawi flag. But the SKC who is in government, and eager to remain in power for himself. A selfish Chilima.

A Chilima who, as previously feared but confirmed with the Act of 1 July, is as faster as the speed of light at shrugging off any responsibility over any mess he creates. When cornered, Chilima’s only way out is to point fingers.

For the first time, we saw a lost Chilima. One without any throttle of strategy. We saw the ‘khoswe wa padzala’ sort of Chilima.

The Angry. The Bitter. The Bruised. The Lost. Above all, we saw the Selfish Chilima.

With his display yesterday, there was only one take home message that stood out at the core of his undertakings. That message has already driven other people to allege that SKC somehow confessed to being an accomplice to the Sattargate. That he indulged himself in the looting of public funds only that he does not want to face the music alone when other accomplices are basking in the gory of their spoils with Mr Zuneth Sattar. It is suggested that someone who he should face the music with is protected by certain constitutional provisions, hence his call to remove the presidential immunity. The rest was noise. But one wonders, where was he 2 years ago? Ohh, one president at a time – unless when there is a hurricane approaching.

He played this card with DPP. Chilima successfully convinced us DPP had corruption as its lifeblood, doing so only after being denied the opportunity to serve as its 2019 presidential candidate. A recipe for disaster, he called it. He saw corruption in DPP only after 3 years – remember what happened in July 2018? UTM was formally formed and DPP was formally corrupt. Do you recall why he convinced you to being an IT guru on elections?

After 2 years as bedfellows with MCP, his prospects of ever leading the Tonse Alliance is predicted to follow on the same footpath that DPP walked ‘with’ him. Undoubtedly, Chilima is re-animated. His ‘eyes’ opened. He can now see which Constitutional provisions needed changed in August 2020, because there is a slightly bigger fish that swallowed a similar bait Sattar dangled before Chilima.

The NCA (UK’s National Crime Agency)…see what you have done to us.

Let me digress. I know there are no permanent enemies in Malawian politics. Would DPP offer SKC an olive branch. I strongly doubt that possibility? Both DPP and MCP are without doubt aware of the cloak that Chilima now wears.

Also, I think the two parties know they can go to the polls alone without UTM – placing their hopes on the possibility of a return for the top two presidential contenders should no candidate manage to score 50%+1 vote. I know most pro-Chilima supporters tend to say we don’t have money to stage reruns after the first run of voting. But if SKC has managed to convince himself (and his group of supporters) that termination of the Tonse agreement invalidates Chakwera’s presidency. He said Malawi would require a snap presidential election just like we did in 2020 following the nullification of the 2019 Presidential Elections. If there is money for such a snap election, then clearly money for a rerun does exist.

As for SKC, I wish I could advise him to find refuge in the catacombs where he can silently fight his looming fraud and corruption case. I think he has already assembled a strong team of lawyers spiced up with some few rogue names here and there. Unfortunately, it is too late for such an advice – especially for one who hungers for the spotlight.

He now faces more than one front of war that will accord him that spotlight. Be warned, however, that the Art of War is never fair on any general who forges multiple wars. The first war SKC faces is his eligibility having served two terms as a vice president and  owing to the 2009 court ruling against Bakili Muluzi’s third term bid which bars a third term for those who occupy the sear presidency – even if Chilima convinces himself of one president at a time, an argument I believe will be his basis when he fights his eligibility war. It’s possible he is eligible. But, there are others, legal minds even, who believe SKC, much as he has convinced himself (of one president at a time), he can’t have a third term in the office of the presidency. May be MEC will side with him. May be not. Time is cruising fast. We will find out in 2025.

The second front of war is his looming corruption case (which may also impact on his eligibility if the first battle is won where this second war is lost).

Lastly, he has declared a third war against President Laszarus Chakwera, Malawi Congress Party and nearly the whole of Tonse Alliance. How many wars can a general forge on one go?

Who the cap fit.

MCP is the best – Chakwera: Ignoring Tonse agreement is a recipe for disaster, warns Chilima!