Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha faced a backlash online after citing a Bible verse that prescribes death for anyone who curses their parents, in response to criticism of President Arthur Peter Mutharika.
Exodus 21:17 says anyone who curses their father or mother must be put to death.
Commentator Onjezani Kenani said the minister’s use of the verse was “not merely reckless” and “dangerously elevates the President to the status of a father figure whose authority must not be questioned.”
Kenani wrote on Facebook that public appointments “are not personal favours that demand lifelong loyalty,” and that criticising a president was neither “an act of filial disobedience” nor a crime deserving punishment.
“Whatever the Minister’s intentions, when a powerful politician invokes scripture prescribing death against a critic of the President, he risks giving religious justification to political violence,” Kenani wrote.
His post drew hundreds of likes and comments within a day. Many readers agreed with him.
One commenter said “God doesn’t back up nonsense,” and another called the minister “a fool.”
Others questioned whether prayer could solve governance problems.
Some readers disagreed with Kenani or said the debate was a distraction from the country’s problems.
Mwanamvekha has not publicly responded to Kenani’s post in the material available.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Follow us in Twitter