LUCIUS: WRITING HIS OWN BIBLE?

By Mankhokwe Namusanya

NEITHER you nor I authored the story nor did we - even humorously - contribute anything to the story; it is said that it was God the almighty (Allah) who authored it indirectly through some people who are now in paradise enjoying with Him as do most Malawians now with the food security they have in total contrast to the famine they experienced during the tenure of one Elson Bakili Muluzi, a man from Machinga district, Kapoloma village to be specific.

The story mentioned earlier is in the Bible and it is about Moses - Moses and the Israelites. It also concerns Joshua and, of-course, Pharaoh who was the ruler of Egypt then. For further reading one can consult any holy Bible that contains the books; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges, and read the said books or just consult any theologian, pastor, apostle, reverend, sheikh, etcetera.

The period 2007 saw Malawians (some not all) christening some person the title 'Moses' and therefore, by default, christening another 'Pharaoh'. The man who was awarded the title 'Moses' is the now president, Bingu wa Mutharika PhD., and his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi, was the one blessed with the title 'Pharaoh'. Some quarters then disagreed with the man who did the naming, Phungu Joseph Nkasa, but as of late it seems the same quarters are agreeing with him completely.

One guy who seemed, by all signs and symptoms, to disagree with Nkasa's observation was one Balaka-based musician, 'soldier' Lucius Banda JCE., who had his own version of Pharaoh as he explicitly announced in his hate-filled song Farao which appears in one of his recent albums, perhaps Cell 51, I am not really certain on that. But, recently, the man who was once an MP for Balaka north, has caught up with the truth and has come to agree that Bingu, the man who has heavily delivered despite being faced by an extremely hostile opposition, is indeed the latter day Moses.

Lucius, in his song Ndi Moto in which he is campaigning for John Zenas Ungapake Tembo - the one whom Muluzi said is a murderer - and therefore de-campaigning Bingu - the one whom the same Muluzi said is an economic engineer - has audibly audible accepted that Bingu is Moses. The guy cites the Bible and the very story of Moses to be painfully specific but, it is doubtful if he really cites the same Bible that is read in our churches each and every Saturday and Sunday including the one that was patronized by Crook (thus according to Muluzi) John Tembo and Katangale (thus according to Makande and BJ Mpinganjira) Bakili Muluzi that is located somewhere in the city of Mzuzu which connects to Chitipa district where Muluzi promised to construct a road which he is yet to construct.

In the same song, Lucius says that Tembo is the latter day Joshua who is to take over the mantle of leadership from the latter day Moses and lead us into Canaan - strange, isn't it? All the original Bibles on earth indeed do agree that Joshua succeeded Moses but not with the help of Pharaoh. If Lucius accepts that Bingu is Moses, then he is also accepting that Muluzi is pharaoh since it was Moses who succeeded Pharaoh in leading (is it leading really?) the Israelites.

Now, if Tembo is to be Joshua it means that he comes from the Israelite family and has no agreement with Pharaoh who in this case is Muluzi. And, Joshua was never an opposer of Moses but rather his supporter and therefore it is somehow blasphemous to call Tembo Joshua for the entire world knows how this Tembo fought against all the developmental projects that Moses Mutharika undertook including the national budget. Tembo himself is also being sponsored by Muluzi, who is pharaoh in this case, to remove Mutharika, who is Moses in this play, from power; this simply makes the whole process of naming Tembo as Joshua illogical and to say the least, CHILDISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Lucius accepts that Mutharika is Moses then he is also surely accepting that Mutharika will win the general election this coming 19th for Joshua has not yet come as he is to come from Bingu's camp that comprises of his supporters as was Joshua to Moses, which in this scenario is the DPP. As of now, we are still in the wilderness being pursued by Pharaoh (Muluzi) and his army that is being commanded by commander Tembo who is trying to cheat us that he is the savior.

I said it before and I say it now again: we did not write the Bible nor did we write the story but God wrote it through his holy ones. As they say, 'history repeats itself.' GO and READ the Bible once again, the story of Moses and the Israelites, and see how Pharaoh pursued the Israelites and how they (the Israelites) became tensed as Malawians are now. Do not stop there but also see how Pharaoh, his armies and his commanders ended.

Was it good? I ask you.