By Burnett Munthali


I was travelling on Friday afternoon, 8 March 2024, in a taxi to Waka Waka. I was answering a phone call at the time I boarded a taxi. The driver was discussing the drought and hot weather at the time during 2024 rain season as I continued having a conversation on the phone after which I concurred and suggested that indeed rain season and hot weather go together.

Malawi has two main seasons, namely the cool dry season between May and October with mean temperatures of around 13°C in June and July and the hot wet season between November and April with temperatures between 30°- 35°C.

Then a passenger in the front seat connected the rain season discussion to politics. He said some people would also blame the erratic rains on Chakwera yet the President was delivering.

The debate

Although I couldn’t see the connection between weather and politics, I understood this man quite well that he simply wanted to bring in a political debate. Therefore, I decided to join in and say something.

I wanted to understand what President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera has achieved for Malawi ever since he won elections in 2020. I just wanted one or two specific examples but he couldn’t give specific examples.

He said Chakwera has delivered everything he promised without specifying. After I repeatedly asked him to give one or few examples he ended up asking me to express my opinion. I insisted that I needed to understand the success story of President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera with specific examples.

After noting that he would not give specific examples I cut the debate as it was a waste of time because my question was not being answered. I therefore asked how much it would cost from town to Waka Waka after which I paid and I realised that I had arrived my destination. But my question was not answered and at parted ways.

Conclusion

Drawing on stories of citizens who voluntarily participate in the viral marketing of electoral candidates, as well as developments from the presidential campaigns, is a complex intersection between traditional top-down electioneering and grassroots political promotion that emerges from popular culture. It considers how a fanlike cultural engagement with modern political brands fosters participatory forms of candidate promotion that extend far beyond a campaign’s official digital media outreach. Here, citizen marketers take on the role of cheerleaders for their political “teams,” seeking to model enthusiasm and rally their like-minded peers.

This dynamic is becoming particularly important for outsider and insurgent candidates who depend on groundswells of grassroots momentum on social media and elsewhere to achieve electoral success. Unfortunately, President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera and the Tonse Alliance are not the type of government Malawians wanted and voted for. They have dismally failed to perform and deliver their own promise. Chakwera has failed his own appraisal !