CALLISTA MUTHARIKA FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE

For many, Callista Chapola Mutharika is an elegant and socialite former first lady, while to others she represents a crème of opportunistic women who always get what they want in life by all means necessary.

Callista has recently been dominating media headlines for simply clinging to vast wealth left by her deceased husband Bingu wa Mutharika.

She sought court relief so that she is made administrator of Bingu’s property which also has imposing structures like Villa Casablanca and Mpumulo wa Bata both located inside the vicinity of Ndata estate.

The past weeks have seen Callista finding herself in very awkward position by publicly tussling with her step children.

The latest meanwhile, is that the warring sides saw it fit to finally listen to voice of reason and they agreed to settle the matter out of court.

Barely days after announcing the truce, it was discovered through the media that Callista is not part of Bineth Trust which owns all the billions of wealth of the fallen leader.

The new twist of events according to some legal experts is a blow below the chest of Callista as her argument that Bingu was about to co-opt her as a trustee cannot hold water in any compete court of law unless the late president comes back to life in order to back up the claim.

I, for one, came to know Callista during my early days in the media when she was Tourism Minister.

I still remember as young journalists, full of excitement, how we used to throng to the Central Office of Information (COI) everytime she was holding regular interactions with the media just to get a glance at her sexy legs as she was fond of putting on exposing outfits.

It therefore did not come as a surprise to me when news started to make rounds that the former cabinet minister, who went on to lose her parliamentary seat years later, was enjoying some bed time moments with the then ‘Big Kahuna’.

The rumor turned to be an otherwise gospel truth as months later the two exchanged engagement rings followed by the tax payers witnessing what could be billed as wedding of the decade [yes, because a decade ago the same tax payers were onlookers to another presidential wedding, the first of its kind actually, involving former president Bakili Muluzi and his beloved wife of five children Patricia Shanil Muluzi who ended up severing marital ties at one of the magistrate court yards in town in years to follow, yes such is life]. Please don’t bother to ask me why the two agreed to go separate ways because I’m equally in the dark but what I know is that the two had ‘irreconcilable’ differences, whatever that means, but it is what Magistrate Mangawa ‘Ngiwi’ Makhalira told the world. Anyway it’s not the point of discussion for today.  

Back to our subject matter Callista, now that the rat is out of the worn out bag, I see the former first lady throwing all her might into the battle field just to have her way because history has taught us that she turns out to be a dangerous vampire especially when she is forced to face the wall.

On this I’m reminded of a story of how Callista paid back our leader Mrs. Joyce Banda who had used her connections to-help-her-friend secure lucrative job as Country Director of Hunger Project, a brain child of the president.

There are so many stories told about how the camaraderie between the two ambitious ladies soured as Callista reportedly used her influence to bad mouth JB to donors and she finally got her way because the president, who by then was a women’s rights activist and politician, got booted out of the project she initially helped to establish.

Whatever took place between her time at Hunger Project to National Assembly, back to the streets before a-catapult-effect landed her to state house, is something Callista will be able to tell the world whenever she decides to write her memoirs, definitely the country deserves some sort of an account of her life.

However, what I’m aware of is that while swimming in corridors of influence Callista became intoxicated by power and reignited her fight against JB who by then was the serving lame duck Vice President of Malawi.

She used her tricks to force her husband to fire Banda as Safe-motherhood and Maternal Health Ambassador only for her to assume the role but for a price as she was carting home some millions in salary and allowances combined for a voluntary job which the then vice president was doing for free.

That is where she lost the fight, the war and the battle against JB all at once, because by accepting to be paid lump-sum of money she automatically widened the battle field.

This was a miscalculation of highest order because instead of focusing on Joyce Banda in her fight, Callista now had the civil society, media, clergy and international community to deal with as they, in their respective regard, came so hard on the former first couple.

Today, as we’re speaking, history is repeating itself, Callista has fallen from grace; she is now a common citizen loitering around town.

It has to be well said that the talk making rounds in corners of town that she is intending to make a political comeback is not just a fallacy and that her fighting with Bingu daughters is not coincidental either.

She could have miscalculated her moves on one or two occasions previously but one thing I know for sure is that she is not yet finished. In fact she is more dangerous now because she has the financial stamina.

Her claim over the Bingu’s property is enough demonstration for the world and all her adversaries to acknowledge that the woman is in fighting spirit.

But the only difference, this time around, is that she is playing second fiddle and no longer in commanding position to pick up another fight against a woman she has chosen to hate to the bone.

In the next presiding days, weeks, months even years will be for us to see how Callista, now squeezed to the wall courtesy of natural events, will pick herself up.

In such regard, i'm optimistic that her fight against the Mutharika family will not end in her favor just like the previous one she waged against JB, she lost it big time.

Maybe it is time she changed the game plan to suit her present predicament, otherwise she has more home work to do!!!!!