Former president Peter Mutharika yesterday endured heavy showers and chilly conditions in Blantyre to cheer survivors of Cyclone Freddy and console families that have lost loved ones.

The leader of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) visited the affected people being accommodated at Matope Primary School in Ndirande Township and Good Samaritan Camp at Green Corner where he also presented assorted items.

In his address, Mutharika urged the victims not to lose hope, but keep praying to God.

He said: “When God does something He does for a reason, so let us not despair. He gave us and he has taken.”

However, Mutharika attributed the calamity to lack of a National Disaster Policy which he said his administration already approved in 2019.

The former president, who was accompanied by several party officials, further urged fellow politicians to desist from politicising the disaster, saying “this is a sombre period and let us focus on how best we can help these people”.

Ironically, Mutharika immediately contradicted his call when he turned his visit into a mini-political rally reminding the people in Ndirande that they stoned him during campaign for the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election on June 23 2020 which he lost.

At Green Corner, he told the survivors that failure to appreciate the DPP administration’s contribution is what had resulted in the numerous problems the country is facing.

He said: “But I believe you have now learnt a lesson that you do not just put somebody in government because he is eloquent. You need to analyse the capability.”

Mutharika said Malawians across the country were complaining and regretting voting the DPP out of government and assured the people that his party would bounce back into power in 2025 the way it did in 2014.

Speaking on behalf of the victims at Green Corner, Yohane Chamveka, 28, from Chatha in Chilobwe thanked Mutharika for the visit and donation.

The post Mutharika consoles cyclone victims first appeared on The Nation Online.