I
remember a time as a child growing up when my friends and I, would mock the
neighbourhood mad person. We called him 'chofunta'
(mad person) and we would laugh at him as he roamed the streets in tattered
clothes and picked food from the garbage while
he talked inaudibly to himself. We teased each other that we would be
like 'chofunta' when we grew up. I
think of that time now and shudder in disgust at the naïve, insensitive little
boy I was. I did not understand what mental illness was, and did what everyone
did and some still do. Laugh it away. This is why when I see the way Alex
Muliokela is being paraded for our entertainment, it brings back memories.
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| Alex Muliokela |
This
whole fiasco initially began as a joke, when Alex Muliokela was the 'president'
of the Poor Peoples Party and would contest the by-elections that resulted from
the death of president Michael Sata. His campaign strategy was to give every
citizen K1,000 and how he was going to do this was to print more money. It was
then revealed that the Poor Peoples Party was neither a registered party nor
did he have the finances required by the Electoral Commission of Zambia. He was
not on the ballot paper. This is where
this Alex Muliokela drama should have ended. Instead it only grew stronger.
Muvi
TV had him on their The Assignment programme, people took photographs with him and
posted on Facebook, vendors cheered for him in the streets. He had developed a
false celebrity status. People where not celebrating him because of his achievements
or a hit song he had released. No, people did so to see how far his ridiculous statements
could go. And he duly obliged asking people to write his name on the ballot
papers and mark X. The elections are over but still Muliokela continues to
garner unnecessary attention. He is claiming that the UN told him he won the
elections.
Alex
Muliokela has become everyone's laughing stock like a man at a circus for our
amusement. We know the right buttons to push to get the responses we shall
share on Whatsapp. He is the living comedy show that entertains us. We have
selfishly turned this man's woes into our daily dosage of enjoyment. We have
filled him with the false impression that he loved, and yet as soon as he is
done making us laugh we shall move on with our lives. Where will that leave
him?
There
are many like me, who believe that rather than fuel this Alex Muliokela
theatre, he should be helped. I am not a specialist, but Alex Muliokela may
have a mental problem. He needs to be treated and assisted. Rather than people
finding more ways in which the man can humiliate himself, they should be the
hand that help him to recovery. The government, social workers and
non-governmental organisations should look into this matter. We cannot allow
Muliokela to continue being paraded for our pleasure. This is a human being for
crying out loud, and he deserves to be treated with dignity. This brings me to
another aspect of our current society, we do not consider mental problems as illnesses.
We do what we have always done, laugh it away. Until we begin to realise that
mental illness is a serious problem, we shall always think that it can be waved
away with a wand. He may need to be
helped to ascertain whether he is mentally ill or not. If he is, the right
medication or assistance to be provided. Alex Muliokela is a joke that isn't
funny anymore. He should never have been a joke in the first place.
