After the cabinet crisis in 1964, Kanyama Chiume fled into Eastern Africa.

For a larger part of his time in that part of Africa, he was in Tanzania.

Until he returned after the declaration of a general amnesty in 1993, Kanyama Chiume was practically a citizen of Tanzania.

His familiarity with the political and government establishment of that country cannot be questioned.

And to confirm that Kanyama Chiume was almost their own, the Tanzania succeeding governments never betrayed him.

Instead they looked after him well and afforded him the protection that he needed.

Most of his relatives benefitted from this free rein in Tanzania. This is the reason most of them like retired journalist Chinduti Chirwa have Tanzania academic and formative work background.

That Chinduti Chirwa worked in a newspaper that had former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa, as editor before he joined politics demonstrated the fact that Tanzania was a second home for Kanyama Chiume and his next of kin.

As Kanyama Chiume enjoyed his exile in Tanzania, Dr Kamuzu Banda, then President of Malawi, kept reminding Malawians that Chiume was a cunning politician and a crook.

For a person like Dr Banda to almost obsessively talk about one person, Kanyama Chiume, of the many people that rebelled against him demonstrates the level of credence that Dr Banda gave to his mistrust of Kanyama.

Suffice it to say Dr Banda went to his grave believing that Kanyama Chiume was a crook.

He may have had a point.

By the way Kanyama Chiume served at one point in Dr Banda’s administration as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ephraim Chiume, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, was Kanyama Chiume’s nephew.

He is one of the many relations of Kanyama Chiume who enjoyed familiarity with Tanzania because of their uncle’s stay in that country and his proximity with succeeding leaders of that country.

Chiume, Ephraim, knows some of the leaders of Tanzania personally because of his late uncle.

Which makes him, ideally, the ideal man to lead, on Malawi side, the negotiating team with Tanzania over the ownership of the lake.

However cordiality with Tanzania is receding right with Chiume as the frontline man.

Which should be strange with Chiume’s vintage advantages that his background in respect of Tanzania affords him.

But this shouldn’t be strange. Dr Banda said Kanyama Chiume is cunning and a crook. His nephew has just confirmed this.

In his conduct as the leaders of the previous administration grappled with how they would forge ahead in the aftermath of the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, Ephraim Chiume proved that trusting him can only be done at owner’s risk.

As he pretended that he was pushing the agenda that his colleaques had assigned him and he gladly accepted with an innocent face, behind their backs he was passing the information to Joyce Banda.

This is the person Chiume gave his friends to unsuspectingly believe they would fight against together.

Today as fellow conspirators are being hounded by police, Chiume is safe because he was a good spy for Joyce Banda while his friends trusted him.

This character confirms quite nicely what Dr Banda feared about Ephraim’s uncle, Kanyama.

It is only fair therefore if Malawians awoke to the realisation that the man leading the effort to protect our lake from Tanzania is a capable and proven double dealer.

He has just been shown that where there is a self serving opportunity, Ephraim Chiume is ready to betray even his conscience.

With all the connections and familiarity that he has got with the Tanzanian establishment, what can stop him to act as another spy feeding Tanzanian with all the damaging information about Malawi?

If we did not realise, Judas Iscariot could be alive in Ephraim Mganda Chiume.

Watch him!

Double dealing is in him!