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One of the social commentators in the country Onjezani Kenani has denied social media reports claiming that he has been bought by the Tonse Alliance administration and is about to stop his watchdog role.
On Friday the social media was flooded with reports that the Tonse Alliance government has embarked on campaign to silence all its critics by offering them posts in government.
This followed reports that one of the fierce critics of President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, Maxwell Ng’ambi, popularly known Mlotwa Mlotwa has been offered a job at State House.
He will be working as Director of Strategy and Public Engagement which previously occupied by late Martha Chikuni.
The reports further said the next to be bought is Onjezani Kenani.
According to the reports, Kenani is said have been offered a post of Auditor-General.
But Kenani has trashed the claims, saying he is not up for sale.
“People are right to be worried. I have always said to my friend, Idriss, that 99.99 per cent of so-called anti-corruption fighters are in it because they are not part of the eating. Throw a bone at them and they put a tail between their legs and become quiet. Worse, they begin attacking their former colleagues in the struggle.
“Those worried that I can be bought should know one thing: I am not for sale and never will be. There is no price for me, no amount of money that can buy me. No position in or outside government, no inducement whatsoever that will shake me one inch,” wrote Kenani.
Below is Onjenani Kenani response on the matter;
An interview with myself (borrowing from Dambudzo Marechera):
Question: So, we hear they want to buy you. They want to give you the post of Auditor-General. Is that true?
Answer: (Laughs) People are right to be worried. I have always said to my friend, Idriss, that 99.99 per cent of so-called anti-corruption fighters are in it because they are not part of the eating. Throw a bone at them and they put a tail between their legs and become quiet. Worse, they begin attacking their former colleagues in the struggle. Those worried that I can be bought should know one thing: I am not for sale and never will be. There is no price for me, no amount of money that can buy me. No position in or outside government, no inducement whatsoever that will shake me one inch.
But you were with the Secretary-General of the ruling party the other day. Shouldn’t we read more into that?
Eisenhower Mkaka is my friend. I want to be clear: I will not sacrifice personal friendships for anything. We were classmates in secondary school and also in college. This is not the first time he has come to Switzerland. In January of 2019 he came here. He was not a cabinet minister then. His plane landed at 6 a.m. January is winter here and at 6 a.m. it’s quite dark. I was the only Malawian at the airport to welcome him. There were no flags, no sirens, nothing. We shook hands, laughed, then he left to his eventual destination. Should I avoid seeing my friend just because he is now a powerful man? He sent me a text early on Sunday: Hey, I’ve landed, will be here for a week. Let’s catch up whenever you can. On what grounds could I say no to such a humble soul? Some people in his position turn their backs on friends, especially a friend such as I am, who is not well-regarded by hardcore supporters of the ruling party. But not Eisenhower; he reached out, we chatted, and we knew, when sharing the only photo we released to the public, that people would say many things. But hanging out with him should never mean I’ve been bought. In fact, if one day he finds himself out of power and comes to a city where I will be, we will hang out still.
We hear that you unfriend anyone who criticizes you. You, of all people, who is criticizing others every day, why are you so thin-skinned? Why do you do that?
The truth is I only unfriend those who insult me. Many people criticize me every day and I have never blocked them. Sam Dalitso the other day criticized me on his wall, we engaged each other and go check my friend list, he is there. Bright Malopa critizes me from time to time, I have never unfriended him. Even Thandie, with whom we have done great things together, sometimes criticizes me here on my wall, and I have never blocked her. But if you come to my wall and insult me, of course I will block you. It is my wall, after all. This is social media, by the way. We know each other and then we also do not know each other. Being friends with someone on Facebook is not a birthright. It is my right whom I decide to keep as a friend and whom to block. Others have blocked me before. One guy blocked me for a year, then reached out to me through WhatsApp and asked me to accept his friend request. These things happen all the time. When I myself am blocked, I never go to my wall to cry that so-and-so has blocked me. I just move on. I wish those blocked could just move on, and try not to insult other people along the way.
