Pearson Nkhoma - Malawi

Somehow, I agree with Joyce Banda

2016-12-02T12:24:00.002-08:00

Joyce Banda: Eyes 2019 Malawi Presidential elections

After over 2 years in a self imposed exile, former President Joyce Banda peeped out of her hiding place. In an interview with Voice of America’s (VOA) Straight Talk, the dethroned president promised, as she has been doing for these past 2 years, that she is all set to return to home, in a Jesus fashion. With no one being in the know of that time and day.

Nonetheless, she made clear the purpose of her return:

“If Malawians want me to stand again, I shall answer that call!”

She hinted at retiring from retirement to wrestle power from the incumbent, Peter Mutharika, during the closing minutes of the programme.

There are a couple of things that she made in her interview that I agree with.

Firstly, things in Malawi are not rosy. Malawi appears to be on an autopilot. It is Joyce Banda, however, who put the country on autopilot. Her slogan, as president, was: "Azungu akuti..." She did not hide that she put Malawi in the hands of Western 'diplomats' or donors as we call them. She even bashed Mutharika for disregarding advice by the Bretton Woods institutions that force governments to implement austerity measures to the desolation of many. Lucky for her, her successor is equally clueless.

On Cashgate, Joyce Banda only arrested suspects after enormous pressure and a clear uprising from the public. She was initially shielding the suspects. I understand her intentions were to pool in funds for her candidacy. If she would argue that she wasn’t aware that people were looting under her nose until after the shooting of Paul Mphwiyo, then she concedes to being the most incompetent leader Malawi could ever employ for the presidency. Certainly, not one worthy another opportunity.

Lastly, Joyce Banda’s interest on the presidency also shows that as much as we have a hopeless President, we also have a hopeless leader of opposition in Lazarus Chakwera. Here is a person who publicly opposes government’s over-expenditure while silently accepting a multi-million Kwacha 'porsche' purchased from government coffers in a time of suffering. Do I need to add that Chakwera continues to use MCP’s four pillars, which violently safeguarded Kamuzu’s tyrannical rule, to get even with his opponents? Be very scared of his presidency if providence gifts him that.

Of course the Malawi economy is haywire! But having ruled out Chakwera as the hope for Malawi in 2019 elections, is Joyce Banda a panacea as she presented herself in that interview? My answer will always be no! She is only setting herself as competent because we have Peter Mutharika. If we had any serious President, or nearly half serious, JB would have been ashamed to even imagine that she could be a President of this country, let alone hold any meaningful post.

Donald Trump’s Victory has laid bare Western Hypocrisy

2016-11-23T09:07:00.001-08:00

Donald Trump pulled what has been described as one of the most stunning upsets in the US political history. Against all odds, from opinion polls and experts, the business tycoon who has never held any political position defeated his long time friend-cum-nemesis, Hillary Clinton with 306 of the Electoral College votes compared to Clinton’s 232.

The results did not only come to shock the world but have also, in their weirdness, revealed the hypocritical nature of the West, a civilization that has considered itself a master of democracy – dispensing it throughout the world, even at a point of a gun and an irreversible social upheaval.

Trump

Trump won on a strong xenophobic, anti-immigration stance, and outright sexism, racism and Islamophobia. Drawing from his campaign, Trump intends to ban Muslims from flying into the US ‘because they are terrorist and ISIS sympathizers’. He is also against women’s rights to choice over their lives. He preaches against homosexuality, a stance taken by other leaders in Africa such as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.

The US President-elect also plans to build a 2000-miles wall running from the West to the East Cost on the US-Mexico border because he considers ‘Mexicans who migrate to the US as rapists, drug dealers and criminals’. His position on Black people is unflattering as it is heartbreaking.

With all these promises, a ‘Love Trumps Hate’ slogan was adopted. UK politicians came close to banning him following a petition signed by 570,000 people. Despite not voting on the motion, UKparliamentarians denounced and described him as a 'buffoon, demagogue and wazzock'.

But after gaining more electoral votes to win the nomination, politicians from around the world are now biting their lips, rescinding their threats by congratulating the president-elect for his victory and a ‘hard fought campaign’.

UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, who had previously criticized Trump by calling his views as nonsense, congratulated Mr. Trump and assured him that Britain and the US will continue in their "enduring and special relationship" under his presidency.

She said: "I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.".

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who had previously said that "the only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump", also tweeted his congratulations saying he was "much looking forward to working with Trumps administration”.

I believe passionately in the importance of the UK - US relationship and am confident we can take it forward together
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 9, 2016

Likewise, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, offered the US president-elect a “close cooperation” in a phone call immediately following Trump's election victory. Unlike May, Merkel clarified that her support is on the basis of “democracy, freedom, respect for the rule of law and the dignity of men, regardless of origin, skin colour, religion, gender or sexual orientation” which she said links the two countries.

President Francois Hollande of France promised to engage “without delay” the new American administration in the fight against terrorism and on economic relations. These are the main issues.

Several other politicians congratulated Trump for his victory, committing to a stronger partnership with the US during his term in office. While the trans-Atlantic Alliance militia bloc, NATO, announced this week that it is "looking forward" to working with the Trump administration.

The message these politicians are sending to Trump is that nothing will change in the manner the US and Western countries operate even with a renowned sexist, racist and bigot (just to mention a few appalling accolades he has to his name) at the helm of leadership.

Now, reverse the tables and imagine Trump as leader of a country in Africa, say Zimbabwe’s Mugabe or Sudan’s al Bashir considering that he also plans to bomb other Muslim countries to defeat countries which is likely to result in millions of civilians annihilated. . There is no doubt that aid could have been suspended; and indiscriminate sanctions implemented.

Malawi experienced the wrath of the West when two gay men were jailed for 14 years (I am pro-gay and I personally believe no country should have laws that sets how adults have sex). When Zimbabwe ordered White people to leave Zimbabwe, he paid a hefty price, that he has survived this long is a miracle and very few understand.

The biggest question is why are these Western Countries not putting in place sanctions against the US?

It is clear that he won because of his campaign promises and the 60 million people who voted for him expect the promises to be fulfilled. Is it Racism or Colonialism, that Western countries find it okay to work with a Robert Mugabe, even a worst evil, as long as he is White?

This same question can be raised against Brexit, a vote that saw the UK leave the EU so it could take control of its borders and stop ‘muslims’ as well as take control of its laws.

Compare the reaction of the West and other International Organizations on African countries that are leaving the ICC so as to settle their issues in-house. How will the West respond in a few months or years from now when other politicians in other countries adopt a Trump/Brexit stance that: xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia are a winning card?

Surely, such politicians will expect relationships with the West not to be affected. They would expect congratulatory messages and phone calls. A Trump victory will have other governments ponder whether it is important to invest in climate change or renewable energy?

Clearly what is happening in the West should revitalize people, particularly in Africa, to oppose the West, either for double standards or showing that it is just okay to hate and staple on values of social justice. We need to stand up and guard human rights; and if it means Africa leading in this fight, then be it for the so-called world leaders have illustrated that they can’t be entrusted as before.

Giving Mutharika a news blackout is retrogressive: Mount Soche Declaration is a threat to Malawi’s democracy and press freedom

2016-11-16T01:55:00.001-08:00

The mainstream private media in Malawi have threatened to give President Peter Mutharika a “news blackout” unless press freedom is guaranteed by his administration. The media made this declaration following a meeting convened last week at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre.

Representatives from the media houses also agreed to “boycott” press conferences by the Head of State and cabinet ministers in recognition of what was described as “the highly belligerent attitude that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Government has taken against the private media to silence it from telling Malawians the truth”.

Threatened with a news blackout

In hindsight, the threats that the media have issued through what is now called the Mount Soche Declaration signed by Nation Publications Limited (NPL), Capital Radio Malawi Limited, Times Group, ZBS, MIJ FM Radio Station, Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter and Media Council of Malawi (MCM), can be deemed as welcome and in good intention if Malawi is to safeguard press freedom and consolidate its democracy as stipulated by the country’s constitution.

However, after several attempts to make sense of the decree and reflecting on its threats, in both instances I end up with the same conclusion: the Mount Soche Declaration is a threat not only to the country’s democracy, but to both press freedom which the media seek its assurance as well as the public’s right to access information. The decree is outlandish and must be opposed.

With the Mount Soche Declaration, the media joins government in ganging up against the public in the attempt by the executive arm of government and the fourth estate to square their vendettas.

It is without debate that the media plays a crucial role in any democracy. As such, press freedom must be guarded jealously particularly against attempts by those in power (politicians and media owners alike) to stifle it.

It is when the environment is not conducive for the press to exercise its duty that the public needs the media most; to be informed of government’s undertakings so that the employers (the public) can hold accountable the employees (politicians and those in public positions). It is therefore surprising to learn that instead of playing its role, the media wants to run into some dark corner operating on a ‘see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing’ maxim.

Here are questions that the media needs to answer before the Mount Soche Declaration sees light of the day: what direction will the news blackout on Mutharika, the Cabinet and government arms take? Does this mean during the news-blackout period, the press will stop investigating Mutharika? If they find some ministers engaging in corruption, will the press remain mum, or is it simply about ‘black-outing’ on positive news for the regime? If the case is black-out on positive news, how then can people trust such a media that is preferring to walk a biased instead of a balanced news path?

The news blackout is the best Christmas gift that the media can ever give the president and the cabinet to pillage public resources knowing there is no one watching over them; to blow the horn or offer the much needed checks. Through the decree, the media acknowledges that they have a duty to the public to serve as the Fourth Estate to provide checks and balance and provide information that could enable the People hold those in public offices accountable for their decisions but how will this be achieved if the media has locked itself inside a room darker than the ‘media blackout’?

It is for these reasons that I consider the Mount Soche Declaration a threat to democracy and press freedom. I am therefore pleased that Chanco Radio and TV have decided to not be associated with such a declaration. However, their reason for not being a private media to be part of the Mount Soche Declaration means that Malawi media have a long way to go to understand what the actual role of the press is.

#USElections If it were the Western Media reporting results in an an African country

2016-11-13T03:53:00.001-08:00

The drama on US elections continues to unfold. So far, reports by the US mainstream media reveal that Donald Trump is not guaranteed the presidency even after winning more than 270 Electoral College votes required to secure the presidential nominee.

The New York Post outlined one possibility that a Trump-presidency could be derailed. According to the US Constitution, chosen electors of the Electoral College are the real people who vote for the president and often pick the candidate to whom they were bound by the popular vote.

Depont Trump, one banner reads

However, the paper revealed it is possible that some electors can chose a different candidate than they were bound to elect or abstain from casting the vote altogether. This, the paper claimed, is "the one scenario that could still get Hillary Clinton into the White House" on 19 December when electors will meet to cast their votes.

Observing all the drama through the lens of the media including the denial of a Trump presidency, there is a clear contrast in the way the Western media are reporting the US elections compared to how their coverage of elections in non-Western countries, say of countries in Africa.

Here is a common snippet of how the media could have reported the elections if the US were a country in Africa.

“Supporters of the incumbent, Mr. Barack Obama, whose party has lost to the opposition, are in the streets, protesting outcome of the results. Some are rioting, breaking shops even taking whatever they can lay their eyes on.

Much as the incumbent and his-would-be-successor, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, have conceded defeat, the smoke and smell of burning tires in the streets of 'New York' have a different message for the president-elect and soon to be the US ruling party.

So far, there are calls that the Electoral College, which will officially nominate the president on 19 December, should disregard the outcome by choosing Clinton whose endorsement came from both Republican and Democrats’ bigwigs.

But how far can the protesters stay in the streets as cold nights of winter are fast approaching? We don't have an answer to that yet. Only time will tell us of their resilience.

Meanwhile, a majority of the mainstream media continue to demonise the president elect. "The one scenario that could still get Hillary into the White House" reads the headline in the New York Post, detailing how a Trump victory could still be nullified despite President Obama setting on the ignition of transition of power which started with the meeting the two had on Thursday at the White House.

'Not my president'

Over 2 million people have signed a petition backing the proposal outlined by the NY Post. The figure will sharply increase by the time the Electors meet in about 4 weeks time, a reminiscent of dissatisfied British citizens calling for a second #Brexit referendum because those backing the UK to leave the EU won the June referendum. So far, more than 80 MPs are plotting to stage a Parliamentary coup to stop Brexit.

As for Trump in the US, it is therefore clear that should he survive the protest considering increasing calls for his assassination from several members of the opposition who talked to us strictly on condition of anonymity, he has a mountain to climb. As for the Democrats and those protesting, it is going to be a very long 4 year period...”

MwanaMwa's Take: So, the West and African countries are not different from each other after all. All our democracies are immature unless the dice spins in our favour. Personally, I cannot wait to see how everything pans out between now and 20 January as to who will be officially crowned the US president. Viva Democracy!

Let there be light. Addressing Malawi's Cashgate For Good

2013-11-24T03:16:00.001-08:00

Joyce Banda said: The Cashgate was a crisis. Nothing was taken serious of her assertions. But then, when the IMF followed with claims that : The Cashgate was a crisis; that headlined all daily and weekly papers; Facebook pages and pinned in most social network group discussions. It was with no surprise that some opposition parties took advantage of IMF 'new discoveries' and...The rest is history.

But what's my take in all these. It is an open secret that Malawians know of the Cashgate as being a crisis even before JB said it. And what makes the assertions by IMF so special...? What should I expect from the IMF and everyone out there? Usual politicking, leaving the welfare of most Malawians to remain at stake as the battle of supremacy between the ruling PP on one hand, and the opposition (particularly the DPP) on other other hand to rage on. Of course with some civil societies torn between the two sides either with credible or questionable intentions.

But taking, for example, the overarching goal of these exploratory Bretton Woods institutions like the IMF; what I want are measures to address the Cashgate once and for all; and assist in the sustainable reconstruction of Malawi's economy (call it bail out if you want). But I am tired of the blame-game shifting posts...Knowing the cashgate as a crisis without proper recommendations/support is nothing more than knowing that someone has, say, 'cervix cancer' or malaria without recommending any medication.

As you may have suspected, my argument is that JB must not resign as others emotively demand. A larger portion of those who demand for JB's head have been tried and failed.

The DPP? the UDF? 'Our' self-representing MPs? Why are these politicians afraid of waiting for May 2014. Is it because of the adage that no ruling party in Africa loses an election (serve in Zambia). And their hypothesis here is that if JB remains, she can not be dislodged or they are of the view that if they, through the back door, hiding behind an interim government change their statuses into that of the Ruling.

One, this may mean they have gotten their revenge on JB who snatched the leadership crown from them when no Malawian wanted to associate with DPP after 2010; or UDF after 2002?

Or these politicians think this change in their status or on who occupies the driving seat will help them emerge winners of the 2014 tripartite elections, hence sustaining the status quo that no ruling party loses an election.
Thirdly, may be the know their monkeying businesses and are so certain that when the Cashgate hits the Revelation of its compilation, none of them will be safe. Unless, they are at the driving seat, which can only be made possible if they are part of the interim government to close all loopholes left open after that fateful 40th day in April, 2012.
For me, its a question of why are they so much afraid of waiting for next May 2014 which may, if they win, evidently demonstrate JB's lost of popularity here at home?

My hypothesis here is that all these parties have no principles whatever to be trusted by we Malawians to form an interim government. They demanded the head of who their mouthpiece referred to as Rough Kambara. When this Kambara got nicked, the same people changed colors like chameleons. I am certain that no sooner had that interim government formed than these political parties or MPs (politicians) want to jump ship; come out of their shells to show their true colors. Have we forgotten how these same guys plundered resources?

The Judges? Hehehe. T's ironic to ask the judges to take control of this sinking ship. For Judge Dingiswayo Madise in Mzuzu while presiding over the case of Ralph Kasambara revealed something which could be a tip of widespread iceberg. He said: "Hearing Kasamabra's case in Mzuzu while Judge Esme Chombo is presiding over the same case would give an impression that the applicant was engaging in JUDGE SHOPPING". This is not in verbatim. But it also casts a net of doubt regarding the credibility of the 'humen' with the white wigs (which I find quite funny and imperialistic).
Somehow, I am surprised that the media just saw the judge-shopping claims made by one of the country's senior judges as a molehill. This is an area requiring serious investigative journalism. I doubt if any media house will dare take this path; as most of them have become PRs of one or the other party; telling us the obvious.

All these said: My greatest solution to this is putting in place a transparent structural system which starts with the Assert Declaration Bill.

And of course, the RBM governor has to go. And the principal secretaries of those concerned ministries have to go. Thumbs up to the Malawi Police and ACB for rounding up those, small or big fishes, depending if you view yourself as being size of an ant or an elephant, without 'much government interference'. Nothing of this sort happened during the Muluzi and Mutharika regimes.

And the heads of the budget director and accountant general have to be brought before King Herod. Yes, CAMA and CONGOMA can also help in the winding up of all Banks which were complicit and allowed the cashgate to take its shape when it could have been prevented. RBM should withdrawal the licences of the concerned banks - It does not matter which Bank it is. Be it the National Bank or Standard bank, let them wind up their businesses in Malawi, because evidence critically demonstrates that these banks helped the Cashgate to take its course.

Allowing JB to resign while sustaining (or remaining silent about) the structural systems which made the Cashgate to grow its wings, will not at all bring anything. This will only allow the Cashgate to continue for as much eternity as possible. The chessboards might have changed, the key players will have remained the unscratched.

And it is an open secret that DPP benefited from this Cashgate-the blue bus, hammers, the WhiteHoutse at NdataFarm for someone who failed to have his minibus an operational starter motor. Paja ankachita yoduda kuti ilile.

We also know kuti mkulu wachikwama uja gain yake ya sugar inali ya unjonda; and how he managed to buy ma pickup a yellow aja, construct Keza Office Park, the BCA mansion, is a mystery.

And when I was grinning that my MCP was whiter than snow, allegations are budding that my own MCP is spinecorded on the Cashgate moneys. Apparently no one is safe. Not even me.

If DPP, UDF as well as the two parties (MCP and PP) which I lean my allegiance to are serious to seeing the Cashgate become a thing of the past, let them start declaring their asserts and source of their funding and the sources of funding for those funding them publicly. Let this information be made available to the public through the media and public libraries within a week. They should do this before even the revised assert declaration is tabled and passed in Parliament.

Let there be light by allowing transparency to take its course in the way we deal our national (and personal) businesses. This will address the Cashgate for good, without even having JB's head. All that some of us want are measures which will not allow others to take advantage of a porous system despite having JB's head on that platter.

Who the cap fit, JB or Chakwera?

2013-08-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

Stop Press: This is my confession: Congrats Malawi for the SADC chair'ship. This is "JB's moment" to demonstrate that being chair of regional blocs has huge dividends for the country development/investment. I don't remember what Bingu's time as the AU's Headhoncho yielded (sorry zigoba za DPP).

Who the cap fit, JB or Chakwera?

Today, all 'eyes' in Mw are at fixed at Ntchalachala. What does Chakwera have for Malawi that the other candidates do not already have? What will Chakwera promise Malawians from Nsanje to Chitipa, Mchinji to Likoma through Tukombo? We have heard from APM (yet we all know why he wants to bounce back and bank! We all know! Asatipake phula akulu awa). And [if] the change agenda of Atupele Muluzi was highly effective, this dude could have done lots of things when he was in government as a cabinet minister, udindo umenewu wa u Minister si wamasewera achakulungwa. ironically, I have never heard Atupele Muluzi talk about the welfare of young people in Parliament, akufuna kutibera nzeru chifukwa cha age yawo akulu awa samalani nawoni. But we are all aware what's on Muluzi's mind for constructively pushing forward Baby's name as the UDF presidential candidate. Kungomva kuti okumwa tea azamwanso, basi mukuti oyimba belo azayimbanso, tchupiti.

Regardless of what I have said above, I have respect for all the candidates. If it was anything about ideologies, my vote could have been counted null and void. Ndikanazachonga onse ndi chichongi chachikulu kuti Chongi just like Nike. And if ideologies 'was' indeed anything malawi's vote is counted on, either George Nnesa or James Nyondo could be presidents today. This should however not undermine the impact that ideologies have on influencing the castigation you get from the others (from the other camps) or gunning support among some sections of the society who are currently sitting on no man's land. In addition, without sounding too contradictory, regionalistic votes are by and by becoming an issue of the past to sorely rely on it.

Between Chakulungwa Baby and Mbwiye che Thomas, huhuhuhuhu, 'cant just be fooled by these two candidates. Nay! Not me!

This leaves my heart torn between JB and Chakwera. As I said: This is my confession. And to make it a fairground, whosoever convinces me between now and 3rd March 2014 has my vote! Y'all know why 3rd March, don't you? No blood was shed in vain while fighting for Malawi's development/progression in fairness and equalness. Thus, come 2014, this is what will influence my vote.

Dead or Alive?

2013-07-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

They ask of us not to talk about autocrat Bingu wa Mutharika because he is dead. Most people who say this are DPP supporters, and often say this when we remind them of the atrocities committed by DPP and its [current] army under the commandeer of none other than Bingu wa Mutharika. Yet, these same people have the audacity to remind us of what they claim 'achievements' of Bingu wa Mutharika when they discuss JB or attempt to gang up support for Bingu wa Mutharika's young brother, Peter Arthur Thom. Kodi chikomere mbuzi kugunda galu?

A Developed Malawi is Possible

2013-07-16T04:03:00.002-07:00

I have argued: Malawi can be a developed country within few years if we are determined to make it one. Kayelekera has soared Paladin Energy returns and you ask: Why is Malawi a begging state? Remember President Mutharika's MK61bn ([accumulated through dubious means]) which could fund priority areas of our national budget without seeking [exploitative] aid from the Global North which makes us not to believe in what we can do on our own. Let me break it down for you: the public works programmes (MK23bn), school feeding programmes (K0.5bn), public health (K14bn), or, either Agriculture (MK72bn), education (about K100bn), or the whole 2012 development budget expenditure (MK69bn). We know it's more that MK61bn. And you have the guts to question me when I talk about this dead person who exploitative my people? ‪#‎HFN‬ and now, it's b'ness as usual as if no one feels the exploitation; because we seem to have been used to this. Hey People. I am feeling the ‪#‎Egyptian‬ ‪#‎Heat‬

Malawi: Child labour and child marriage perpetuate gender inequality

2013-06-12T04:53:00.001-07:00

By Dyson Mthawanji | 12 June 13

"My mother forced me into early marriage. She did it so my husband could help her with salt and sugar. During the marriage, my husband frequently beat me. My mother always said I had to get used to that pain because that's what marriage means," recalls 15-year-old Lucy.*

Lucy's husband not only abused her, but also forced her into agricultural labour. "My husband was forcing me to do work on farms to raise money for the family. Every day I spent the whole day at the farm working," laments Lucy.

Lucy's experience not only highlights the widespread cases of child marriage in Malawi, but also the on-going problem of child labour. These two practices are, in some cases mutually reinforcing and disempower women and girls in similar ways, by denying children an education and creating a vicious cycle of inequality.

In Malawi 60% of girls aged between 13 and 18 are married. The Mpherembe district in Mzimba has the highest number of child labour and child marriage cases. This has recently prompted officials from the Zima Social Welfare Office to hold this year's Day of African Child commemoration in the Mpherembe.

"We have chosen Mpherembe because the area registers high cases of child labour and abuse through early marriages. We want to eliminate all harmful practices once and for all," explained Social Welfare Officer Zindaba Lungu.

Joyce Mkandawire, Communications Advisor at Girls Empowerment Network- Malawi (GENET), agrees that there is a link between child marriage and child labour. "Girls who are in early marriages can't make their own decisions so they listen and do whatever the husband orders them to do. They are forced to do work...and employers pay them little money on the basis that they are children," explains Mkandawire.

Child labour and child marriage are practices prevalent across the SADC region and beyond. Girls throughout SADC remain vulnerable to harmful cultural attitudes and practices that leave them at risk to violence and sexual exploitation, with no say over their bodies and futures.

According to the latest International Labour Organisation's Global Report, in Southern and Eastern Africa, 36% of all children between the ages of five and 14 years old are involved in child labour, with most working in domestic and agricultural sectors. This is the highest proportion of children involved in child labour in the world.

The report shows a decrease in girls involved in child labour but these is an increase in boys. Although boys are at a greater risk of hazardous forms of child labour, girls are most vulnerable to unpaid, domestic labour and commercial sexual exploitation. These are forms of child labour that happen behind closed doors, making them less easy to monitor and regulate.

Anti-Child Labour Programme Coordinator for Activists Networking Against the Exploitation of Children (ANEX), Doreen Gaura, says there is a great link between child marriages, child labour and child trafficking, especially in cases of forced marriages.

Gaura explains that in the Eastern Cape in South Africa the manipulation of a practice called Ukuthwala, where families are selling their daughters, as young as 12-years-old, to men often much older than the girls. These men remove the girls from their homes, often physically and sexually exploit them and force them to perform domestic work or labour outside the home.

"The reality of girl child labourers is very reflective of the reality of women workers as they are more likely to be paid less or not paid at all. Due to long existing harmful gender stereotypes in communities...girls are likely to fall into domestic work, usually isolated in households so they face a high risk of abuse, and generally limited access to educational opportunities," says Gaura.

In Malawi, NGOs are intensifying efforts to protect girls, with many focusing on sensitising families, so parents do not view the girl child as a commodity but instead prioritise her education. GENET is working with chiefs in the Chiradzulu district and Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) has established seven resource centres where girls have access to information and support.

Malawi's NGO Gender Coordinating Network (NGOGCN) has a permanent Child Rights Committee. "We are working with communities to ensure that girls are not entering into early marriages and exposed to child labour. We want girls to be in school," explains Emma Kaliya, NGOGCN Chairperson.

As we commemorate International Day Against Child Labour, we must remember that gender inequality perpetuates child marriage and child labour among girls. In turn, these practices worsen gender inequality by exploiting girls and robbing them of an education.

Malawi and other SADC states must pay due attention to the SADC Code of conduct on Child Labour and align legislation the age of marriage with other instruments such as the SADC Gender and development Protocol and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC) which defines a child as anybody below the age of 18.

We will only achieve women's emancipation and gender equality when societies no longer force girls into marriage and labour, but instead educate, economically empower and afford girls the rights over their bodies and futures.

*Not her real name.

Dyson Mthawanji is a third year Journalism student at Malawi Polytechnic, a constituent college of University of Malawi. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service that provides fresh views on everyday news.

Adopted from Gender Links: http://www.genderlinks.org.za/article/malawi-child-labour-and-child-marriage-perpetuate-gender-inequality-2013-06-12

Activists in Malawi Fight Over the Fight for Gender Equality

2013-05-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Source: Gender Links

Religious groups and civil society organisations are putting continued pressure on President Joyce Banda to reconsider the Gender Equity Bill she passed in March. Certain groups have threatened to take the issue to court if parliament does not review the bill.

The President recently assented to the draft law, which seeks to empower women to participate in decision-making and development activities, ensures equal access to education, sexual reproductive health rights and prohibits sexual harassment and violence against women.

However many religious leaders and organisations are condemning the bill for sections they deem immoral. A petition against the Gender Equality Bill addressed to the President, drawn-up by Umunthu Pressure Group also claims that the draft law does not reflect the interests, aspirations and understanding of Malawians. It further asserts that Malawians were not educated and consulted on certain sections.

The primary contention lies in Section 19, which ensures the right to adequate sexual and reproductive health services as well as enshrining the right to choose whether to have children. However, some groups see this as an indirect form of legalising abortion and feel that criminalising medical practitioners for refusing to conduct family planning methods contravenes their right to freedom of religion and belief.

Religious groups and civil society organisations are putting continued pressure on President Joyce Banda to reconsider the Gender Equity Bill she passed in March. Certain groups have threatened to take the issue to court if parliament does not review the bill.

Emma Kaliya, a renowned Malawian gender activist differs with the group arguing, "Most notable clauses in the law are not new because they are taken from regional and international human rights treaties to which Malawi either ratifies or is a signatory."

The sections within the bill are no different from those found in the United Nations (UN) International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), of which Malawi is a signatory. The section is also in line with the SADC Gender and Development Protocol, which demonstrates Malawi's commitment to reaching gender equality by 2015.

CEDAW's Article 16 states: "Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family planning relations and in particular shall ensure, on the basis of equality of men and women, the same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights."

Many Malawian cultural and religious beliefs discriminate against women since many married women seldom have any say on the number of children they bear. Some faith groups also prohibit women from practicing any family planning methods.

The 2012 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer states that Malawi has the lowest contraceptive usage and the highest abortion rate in Southern Africa. Most abortions are unsafe and contribute to the ever-increasing maternal and infant mortality rates. Although Malawi has reduced the maternal mortality, the rate is still high with 675 women dying per 100 000 live births. Abortion complications account for 17% of these deaths.

Furthermore, having no say in sexual reproduction obstructs participation in social and economic activities, leaving many rural women economically dependent on their male counterparts. Gender activists argue that this dependency contributes to violence against women and worsens women's overall vulnerability.

The Gender Equity Bill is therefore essential for protecting the rights of women and ensuring gender equality in the country. It further cements the existing legislation that guarantees equality, prohibits discrimination based on sex or gender, protects women from domestic violence and sexual harassment.

Thus it is difficult to see how this law does not reflect the interests, aspirations and understanding of all Malawians, especially that of women. One wonders whether those opposing the bill are falling trap to patriarchal tendencies by perceiving women's equality as a threat to male privilege.

On the upside, local and international gender and human rights activists have hailed the country for this progressive law. In a statement signed by the National Coordinator of Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortion, Chrispin Sibande assured citizens that "people who believe in real human rights and activists will respond accordingly to any attempts to fight gender equality and the Gender Law."

Calling on the President to withdraw her signature is unspeakable. Such attempts to stifle gender equality and the advancement of women's rights are not only retrogressive and but threaten the spirit of gender activism in the country.

I urge all gender and human rights activists to reinvigorate that spirit and start strategising on how to implement the law to ensure it benefits all women and girls especially those living in rural areas. I urge those opposing the bill to remember that there can never be human rights if women are not allowed to make their own choices.

(Not)Stocktaking the DPP’s Convention. Tracing PP's Implantation of Chimunthu Banda

2013-04-20T06:31:00.003-07:00

My colleagues and I had just finished erecting a barricade in the Biafra stands on this dilapidated stadium in readiness of the season just weeks away from commencement.

As a football diehard, there was no better news than Carlsberg Malawi’s decision to sponsor both Bullets and Wanderers FCs.

I deeply contemplated on what would happen if Carlsberg Malawi had decided to sponsor only one team. Games involving each of the two teams could have been marred by missiles. Not ones made by Pyongyang of course, but still dangerous enough to take a life, but mostly aimed at having the sponsorship taken away from the other team.

Malawi’s football does not deserve to go back to the dark ages.

My wishful thinking: Bullets and Nomads have to learn to live side by side ngati matako amene, abusa ena anati, ngakhale amapatsana ukwetche chantundu wanji salekana. I can hardly see any future in the country’s football without Bullets and Nomads.

The two teams can beat each other -by the way they could use their pint-sized allocation with sound accounting and management in order to win the sponsor's confidence.

Because this sponsorship should not be taken as the final destination to be swindled as a state-house budgetary allocation.

Rather, Bullets and Nomads should see this as ulimbo (charming glue) to attract supplementary deals. I just hope there is no clause which stops the teams from clinching add-on compacts with other companies.

While gazing at the western horizon from the Biafra stands. Further beyond the VIP stands! Lost in my thoughts! Seeing the sun coming to the grounds, slowly kissing the Michiru hills, I smiled!!

Only to be awakened by the sight of a huge blue smoke leaving Comesa. A huge uproar followed.

“Amai should brace herself! Peter Mutharika has been endorsed!” A colleague of mine, standing on my left, but packing the tools we were using for putting up this barricade, whispered to herself.

Will Malawians ever forget

I looked at her. “What? We all know what this convention was all about. Poor that Tonga boy from Nkhotakota”, she answered as if I had put to her any question! She continued with her packing, not concerned at all with the growing pandemonium!

With blink of the eye, I recalled the road to the DPP Convention which had started about three Christmases past.

I could hear my own thoughts. December 2010.

Then I remembered the ethnic charged and discriminatory attack which saw Joseph Mwale being fired as a sub-editor at MIJ in August 2011. Yet to be told why.

My mind took me away to one of my construction trips to the University of Malawi in Zomba. It was sealed with a yellow tape, inscribed: Police Line, Do Not Cross. Why the institution of higher learning and critical thinking prematurely closed for almost a year?

I then heard the wailing of over 20 innocent souls, lost in cold blooded gunshots.

Businesses like mine were closed because there was no forex for importing resources. I heard about the ambulances running on dry fuel, people’s lives being lost from treatable diseases because there was no fuel in the reserves.

Malawians were reduced to drunkards, yes, tiankwenzule, we were called by the DPP.

All this period, the junior Peter Mutharika [Thom] was being touted as the rightful heir to the throne which he took since that fateful months like this one last year.

Need I mention what could have happened if the “midnight 6”s agenda had passed?

My conclusion is that the job of Willie Kalonga, The Chief Elections Officer from MEC mandated by DPP to man electoral process at the convention was an easy job. This was one of the most undemocratic, unfree and unfair conventions Malawi has ever had largely because elections/conventions are a process. The essence of how free and fair elections cannot not just be determined by what happens on the voting day. There is more!

But also, Willie Kalonga’s was the most difficult position one would have wanted to find themselves in, if the unexpected had happened. But that was all against the odds. As I said, electoral path is a process. But this is also why Chimunthu lost to the tribalist Mutharika because he did not position himself well within the party and its delegates.

Lest we forget what some of the people elected at the DPP indaba did to us when they were in power

When the people who stood with the Young Kahuna (merely because they were denied entry into Peoples Party), Chimunthu’s allegiance to DPP was filled with many questions.
The implantation of Chimunthu Banda started with the Section 65 saga. DPP was geared to avenge the exodus of its MPs to PP. The party did not care much about the welfare of Malawians apart from catching on JB, giving her a hard time in parliament, including the possibility of her impeachment. DPP was saved by the same when Bingu ditched UDF. However, Malawians did not matter for DPP.
It was demanded and expected of Chimunthu Banda by the DPP and its seniors that the Speaker was to disregard his neutrality, the core of his job responsibilities, put on the blue party collars and whip all the MPs who had crossed the floor out of this dishonorable house. This, for DPP, was enough evidence that Chimunthu was an implant!
Yet, this is the party which today claims it has the welfare of Malawians. May be the definition of what constitutes the welfare of Malawians has significantly changed.
It is not surprising that he was thought of as an implant, something which is hardly disputable. I was told later that as others had put on party colours at this convention, Chimunthu anangokolekera ka scarf on top of his black tuxedo. A true absconder.

But, DPP needs to be applauded. They have done their part by electing a confusionist, a gossiper and someone facing treason charges to lead them. DPP likes to gamble.

Innocent Malawians slain for questioning the DPP's regime

But will Malawians forget about the atrocities committed by some of the people elected at this convention? Will my people forget the blatant lies told by these people? Will we forgive these engineers of such evils which rocked Malawi since independence? Is DPP interested in Malawi’s welfare or they are only fueled by cores of hate and vendettas against JB for snitching the throne which DPP itself snatched from UDF (all through backdoors)?

These are questions which other bloggers can critically zoom on and attempt to answer.

“Let MCP not fail Malawians”, she pleaded to herself while this time, looking at me. Puzzled as I was, she added: “Let the delegates elect Rev. Dr. Laz Chakwera. You know what? JZU stands to benefit with Chakwera’s candidacy considering that the man of God represent the values and kind of transformational leadership that Malawi needs to stir her from the seemingly vicious cycle of mediocrity, corruption, nepotism, and politics of subsistence to high levels of excellence, integrity, unity and abundance for all. A developed and prosperous Malawi is possible and Chakwera is the dawn of hope we all need”. I looked at her, my left eye dimming, my right one wide open.

I don’t believe you. “Malawians have fallen in love with substandard goods. For example, Madonna raised $18 million for the construction of a girls’ academy while using the images of innocent village girls living in chronic poverty.

“Madonna then stopped the construction of an academy saying Malawi was better suited for community based schools.

“She built what she calls 10 schools but which are just 10 blocks (each block having 2 classrooms). One school is supposed to have a minimum of 8 of those she calls schools.

Dr. Lazarus Chakwera: Is He the ONE that Malawi has been waiting for?

“And when put together, her 10 schools cannot even cost half a million dollars. Less than $50,000 has been used to construct a total of “10 schools”. Thus, despite one of the richest people in the world, Madonna has given Malawians a raw deal and we have accepted – just because we think we are poor! Anything given to us by trickery means or not is acceptable. Is this justice?

“Malawi deserves better that the raw deal Madonna has given us, using innocent poor girls to re-position oneself in the global eyes is itself against humanitarian causes! NO MALAWIAN CHILD, JUST BECAUSE IS POOR, SHOULD BE USED FOR SUCH SHAMEFUL CAUSES!!!” My voice could be heard on the other side of the pitch, this time, the ‘VIP’ section

But the look on my colleague’s face was all-over written with this question: Hey, where is the connection with what I said?

“You don’t see it?” It was my turn to speak in whispers.

As I had expected, she gave me a cold shoulder, ignoring everything I had just said. Giving me the look that I had to carry the tools she had packed, she left me while heading towards where she had put her jumbo ya Bwanoni on the eastern side of stadium, the Lalilubani stand where we had started our work earlier.

And with a snap of the finger, as I watched her protruding figure (boys will be boys), I wondered: Why have the name Carlsberg before both teams? Is that not archaic or retrogressive for commercialization of these teams? I am yet to see AON MAN U or SAMSUNG CHELSEA; QATAR BARCELONA!

I sighed, looking at a pile of the things I had to carry all the way to where I was supposed to catch a mini-bus to Chilobwe where I would be greeted by dry taps, blackouts all day every day!

Yes, the very same place where nauseating debris replaced tarmac road long time ago! To my surprise, my neighbors have internalized such an image as a norm! This is Malawi. The place I call home!

Should We Celebrate Bingu's Death or Life

2013-04-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today marks a year that fate took away the dark cloud which had enveloped Malawi. I would in this short piece to my little brother, doing his form 1 somewhere in the land, show why Malawi should never ever celebrate the life of Bingu wa Mutharika. Of course the DPP, the party he founded to instill fear in us, the Malawians, can celebrate his life.

DPP under the order of Bingu wa Mutharika, suspended a number of constitutional provisions and changed some without holding any referendum. This is contrary to what is stipulated under Section 6 and as demanded by fundamental principles of the Malawi Constitution in Chapters 2 and 3.

DPP arrested activists (such as Billy Mayaya, MacDonald Sembereka and Undule Mwakasungula) politicians (Ralph Kasambala, Atupele Muluzi) and killed dozens of Malawians in cold blood merely because they had opposing views to that of Bingu wa Mutharika.

Show me one thing which DPP did that deserves a standing ovation. I know you people may mention the universities, but those deals were entered during the first term when Malawi left Taiwan for China. The last time I checked, Joyce Banda was the Minister of Foreign affairs then. However, DPP did not implement fuch plans for political reasons. And personally I detest Malawi being a battlefield between the US and China.

Ohh, it feels like yesterday when Bingu christened us as drunkards, tiankhwenzule (i.e. wizards and witches considering what tiankhwenzule connotes in Malawi).

Bingu, during “independence” celebrations ordered his cadets and lieutenants to terrorise Malawians who opposed his autocracy.
Who butchered academic freedom?

Samva Nkunkhu Bingu Mutharika

And what is at stake here is that the people who helped Bingu to terrorise Malawians through Zikwanje are still there in DPP. Remember the saying: if a hyena leaves one jungle for another, it does not at all cease to be called a hyena. It may be called by other names such as pundu, fisi, chimbwe or a hyena, but it remains what it is.
Let us not be cheated.

Under oath, DPP lied to Malawians about the bridge at Tete when fuel queues were meandering along the highways and pumps were as dry as the Sahara desert.

During Mutharika’s time, contaminated fuel at the black-market was selling at £10 (MK1500). To get your hands on that fuel was an enormous hustle. NGO, like the one I was working with, closed projects, offices and even relocated following this fuel shortage.

Uncontaminated fuel is now selling at around £1 if at all devaluation is taken into the equation.

As one facebooker said, Bingu was a failed economist. He gave a false value to the kwacha which was 'unofficially' already devalued.

To get your hands on foreign currency such as £100 notes required a written permission from the Reserve Bank of Malawi. The inflation rate was skyrocketing. A thousand bank note was printed to blindfold Malawians.

The country's maize was donated to Zimbabwe when hunger in Malawi was looming.

The Citizen, an online newspaper in Tanzania, claimed, not in verbatim, that Bingu had on purpose reached an agreement and set up plans to discuss with Tanzania to officially give a portion of the lake to the Tanzanians but without letting Malawians to be aware of this move. According to the Citizen, his death messed up those plans.

Being someone from the Lake District, I have no problems in dividing the lake for all sides need to benefit from it either by dividing it or making gentleman's agreements. The only problem I have is keeping Malawians on the dark side.

Because of his oppression, Mutharika chased development partners such as the UK and partly the US.

He then lied to Malawians that the country was running on a zero-deficit budget which he had doctored as recently revealed by Ken Lipenga that they borrowed some little portions from the banks, which was far from adequate. The country was on its pathway to destruction.

As we are all aware, Bingu governed the country on the basis of tribalism and nepotism. He claimed that university students from some districts were being given answers by lecturers at the Mzuzu Corner.

Senior Government positions and contracts were offered to certain tribes. This aspect is yet to depart from DPP which has forwarded trabalistic arguments before. In a leaked phone conversation, Bingu’s young brother and heir to the ‘throne’, Peter Mutharika, even claimed that he spoke “better Chichewa” than Chimunthu Banda who had shown interests in opposing Peter Mutharika’s ascendance to power on the basis of his relation to the Big Kahuna. Peter Mutharika claimed that Malawians would not vote for a tonga; just as DPP senior cadets claimed Malawi was not ready for a female president.

Peter Mutharika’s remarks, in developed countries could land people into the cooler or barred from running for any public office. I am surprised that the Malawi Police have not caught up on Peter Mutharika for promoting tribalism.

Should I even mention about the dodgy deals Bingu’s government entered with mining institutions like Paladin and constructing companies? This “visionary” leader even failed to demand Paladin or other companies to set up power plans running on uranium. Malawi can hardly develop into an industrialised state with the persistent blackouts yet we have allowed our uranium to power other countries. He signed deals on the basis of kutsolala. Mansions were constructed in Malawi and other foreign lands for this departed dictator. Visionary, Bingu was, huh?

Buddies? Bingu wa Mutharika with fellow dictator, Roberty Mugabe

I may be at pains to see the rationale of having anniversary celebrations to mark the 100 days that PP has been in government; but likewise, I’m at greater pains with the memories that I have of departed autocrat that is Bingu wa Mutharika.

Even his landmark achievement during his first term came following stiff but constructive opposition from people like Aleke Banda.

I am yet to find any reason why I should celebrate the life of Bingu wa Mutharika.
When they left, along the way, they wailed, remembered and wished they could go back to Egypt; but Egypt was not their destination. Our hope lies ahead.
May his soul, if at all Bingu wa Mutharika had any, never find peace.

P/S: The Singini report claims that Peter Mutharika and co. wanted to solicit legal interpretation of who was eligible to take over the country after Bingu’s death on a day like this one last year. However, it is also reported somewhere that Peter Mutharika was among the people who drafted the country’s constitution. Are you with me?

AIRTEL GAGGING MALAWIANS

2013-03-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

TO: THE DIRECTOR, MACRA MALAWI

FROM: AIRTEL MALAWI CUSTOMER

DATE: 28th MARCH, 2013

RE: COMPLAINT ON THE UNREASONABLE TARRIFF HIKES BY AIRTEL MALAWI

The above subject refers.

As a customer of Airtel Malawi, I would like to lodge a complaint on the tariffs introduced by Airtel Malawi.

Much as I acknowledge that the economic situation is challenging for companies to make profits, I also feel that the tariff hike introduced by Airtel is punitive and ridiculous.

The hiking of the across networks sms tariff (by over 100%), the cost of an internet bundle vis-a-vis the Mbs given (hiked with almost 500%) and the hiked tariff of phone calls has not only injected much pain to me as their consumer but also has let the company cut across as one bent on stealing from Malawians in the name of offering communication services.

If indeed Airtel Malawi is here to provide services then I request that it should urgently review its tariffs, taking into consideration the complaints raised by some of its customers of which I am an integral part.

As a regulatory body, it is my humble plea that you engage Airtel Malawi on this issue as a matter of urgency before we slide back into an era of minus cellphones which, any sane individual can agree, is a straitjacket to development as the enshrined in the country's Constitution.
Your urgent response to this matter of urgency will be greatly appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Customer name (Phone number)

Revealing Bright Msaka and His DPP's Candidacy: How Did it Begin and Where Does it End

2013-03-20T13:03:00.001-07:00

Msaka is yet to confirm the rumours

It is allegedly 'claimed' that Bright Msaka will contest at the forthcoming DPP’s convention as vice president.

Msaka is facing treason charges after being implicated in the Singini Report that he conspired with others, guilt as charged, to prevent Joyce Banda, the legal heir to the presidency, from taking the country's leadership throne.

Msaka is currently on bail as the competition for positions in DPP hots up.

The bookmakers, with Peter wa Mutharika in the cooler, are pinning Chimunthu Banda as the potential candidate to get the nod among the blues.

During its time, DPP brought in retrogressive laws; changed the country's flag and forex and fuel reserves were running dry. At the black market contaminated fuel was selling at around MK1,500.

However, one commentator asked the rationality of giving back the country the dungeons of DPP, known for its archaic manner of governance.

"Would it be wise to bring back the same DPP govt that brought the mess in which we are now? Malawians cried bitterly for regime change just before the demise of Peter Mutharika's brother, Bingu wa Mutharika.

"Now we want to bring back the same team that we wanted out. Are we really serious minded people? I see lack of foresight in this. Peter is unlike his brother Bingu, [Huuh?].

"Muzakhumudwa muzandiuza...We have various candidates with sober minds and clear conscious who are standing in 2014. You and I can help shape the future of this country and Peter Mutharika is not the right person to carry us forward, just as DPP is not the party Malawians need at the moment".

Another political analyst from the University of Malawi, reasoned by comparing DPP with MCP's one party regime.

"DPP just want revenge on JB. Like Bakili Muluzi's attempts to come back, either in 2009 or now through his son, Atupere, largely to avoid the corruption charges currently on his shoulder, DPP has no welfare of Malawians at heart. They have their own hidden agenda.

"Like MCP, during the one party system, we saw how violent and vicious DPP's regime was. DPP was ruling by creating fear in people. And would do everything to get back the throne, even when it means through unconstitutional ways as reported in the recent Singini report. My inside sources also claimed that DPP even forged a resignation letter for JB to confuse Malawians."

The academician added, "This party killed many Malawians, locked people for no reasons. Activists like Billy Mayaya were locked up. Politicians were locked up. Innocent lives losts. Houses and Offices were bombed. Do we need party welding bandits back in the streets again?"

As a blogger, I will not take side. However, others have claimed that if Msaka joins DPP, it could be a huge blow to the UDF camp.

Well known blogger, Wise One from the East, wrote: "I would happily part with US$1,000 for a ring-side seat to watch what promises to be the nothing but a royal rumble, complete with the baddest men in Malawi, fighting to be the last man standing. Imagine a royal rumble where the competitors are all saints, with no allegations (proven or not to their name) upright men and women who will not cheat, and who will say 'pepa' after giving an opponent a stone cold stunner! Would it sell? Of course, noone would pay! And so Pearson, get ready for the royal rumble, Malawi style! Get on the next flight brother"

The Wise One, added: On a serious note, if Msaka competes in parliamentary race on DPP ticket, he will erode some of UDF's votes in Machinga. The "darfur" war will become even more interesting! The problem this poses for UDF is that Atcheya and UDF have been banking on Msaka being "theirs" and now if this is true, he has joined the other side. Lucky us who do not have to cheat people (to campaign) to make our bread and butter!

But another well known writer and columnists on Malawi's social welfare, Sembe Gondwe reasoned, "Msaka [could be doing] the AKB...When everybody expected AKB to join AFORD, when he was released from jail, [he] resulted into joining UDF".

What I know, personally, is that this may mean, probable convicts vying for DPP's top position. The implication is that such a move could leave DPP without candidates in 2014 if the courts find them guilty as charged. UDF found themselves in a similar position in 2009 when Bakili Muluzi was declared ineligible to contest.

But how did it start? My questions: Did the Singini Report, as well as the arrest and sharing of the same cell with Peter Mutharika change the administrator within Msaka to that of a politician? Or was he already a politician 'hiding' in the administrator's skin when he converged with DPP's bigwigs on how to prevent JB from taking the seat as alleged in the Singini Report? Was it within Msaka, the politician rather than the administrator, that he issued that press release for JB?

Dear readers, you can find different answers to these questions. Thus, I will avoid answering them as a blogger least I be found guilty.

Trappings of Power (in Malawi)

2013-03-08T04:09:00.001-08:00

On 6 April, I was in Blantyre when I was asked to immediately travel to the office of the Attorney General in Lilongwe for an emergency meeting. When I arrived, the Attorney General informed me that the President had died, and that the Minister of Justice who was present in the room had instructi...ons for us. Chiume then informed me that he had instructions from the Cabinet that the Attorney General together with me and other government lawyers should look at how the Vice President could be prevented from taking over.

Chiume repeatedly emphasized that we were to use any means necessary. Upon discussing the matter, we informed the Minister that we were not going to do anything illegal but that there was merit in trying to get an injunction against the immediate succession of the vice president to the presidency. The reasoning here was that there was already pending in the constitutional court a referral which was questioning the legitimacy of the Vice President maintaining her position in light of conduct which seemed to suggest that she had resigned.

The legal documents for the injunction were frantically put together, but astonishingly, when Chiume was asked to sign the affidavits, he declined and suggested that Goodall Gondwe, then Minister of Energy and Mining, and DPP first Vice President, should sign it. The significance of his refusal was to come to light later as he was the first Minister to defect from the DPP to the Joyce Banda’s PP. Even more revealing was the fact that Chiume now started pointing fingers at his former ministerial colleagues in the DPP, claiming that they had hatched a plot to prevent Banda from taking over the presidency in preference to the Mutharika’s brother, Peter...." [Trappings of Power- Z Allan Ntata]

Z Allan Ntata

Credits: Trappings of Power published by: Z Allan Ntata

As people talk about the report of the Cmmission of Inquiry into the circumstances of the death of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, who I personally did not fancy that much for I 'consider' the man as an autocrat; I think this piece here says a lot to what JB took aboard.

How could 'such' people move the country forward. JB is the best president! However, no matter how good the pirate ship is, it needs the best hands to paddle it at the right speed, even when the captain is Jack Sparrow. Of course, I have to acknowledge that the captain of the ship should also be innovative and visionary in his/(her) managerial skills.

No One is Safe Now! When The World's Most Lovingly Wanted Dies

2013-03-07T02:11:00.004-08:00

By Bright Malopa

New York gets busy in September. Streets are often closed because of presidential motorcades and people would crowd the streets to see presidents passing by amidst tight security. Of all the presidents, four people stood out in as far as pulling the masses on to the streets is concerned.

They would be the American President, Gadaffi, Ahmednajad and Hugo Chavez. They would also attract the most demonstrations outside the UN apart from China. Of all the four presidents, Only Hugo Chavez would go to the General Assembly on foot without the motorcade pomp and visibly armed security.

Meanwhile, thousands of people would rally behind him singing and chanting Hugo! Hugo! Hugo! He would then walk down to where demonstrators on various ills around the world ranging from Tibet, Iran, and Zimbabwe to climate change to mention but a few, congregate. All over a sudden, silence will engulf the demonstrators, and then a wave and a kiss from Hugo to the protestors would be received by a wild response of Hugo!Hugo!Hugo. This is how I remember Hugu Chavez, when I saw him for the first time.

As I go through the headlines now flooding most cables today, I think of him as a man who was loved by the poor and the marginalized. I think of a man who was toppled by the army and brought back to power by the masses within two days. Am not surprised that Countries such as Argentina have declared three days of national mourning whilst Cuba is grieving and grappling with life without Hugo. I hear a few other countries are pondering on the same.

The job of a president though enviable is the most funniest. They are never alone. The ever presence of security means they don’t have private life. Everything gets done for them including opening doors, and pulling out chairs. Before they know it, they get cut off from the people who voted them into office and the real world and suck themselves into the government machinery where they push varying interests for other people but it seems to me, that Hugo Chavez was different.

He never forgot his people, he lived with them ate their food and fought their battles .This is were leaders should be;on the side of the people and that’s why Venezuela, Latin America and the socialist community at large is in deep mourning on the passing of a valiant man. RIP Hugo Chavez

Credits: Bright Malopa had published this piece on one of the facebook forums discussing social issues concerning Malawi. I asked for his permission to publish it here. After reading this article repeatedly, I think I should go and watch the film: Once Upon a Time in Mexico, starring Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas. Or, should I wait and watch this film during the Mothers' Day (i.e. International Women's Day)?

Chikaonda, is Carlsberg Malawi Being Used as A Political Condom?

2013-02-28T04:08:00.001-08:00

Carlsberg Malawi, just like any other corporate brand in Malawi such as Airtel, National Bank, NBS, Standard Bank, TNM, is a joke. These companies claim that they pay huge taxes to the government. Now Carlsberg is threatening that they are shutting down. However, I would like to show things which these companies hardly tell Malawians.

These companies make millions of profits after tax and you wonder why they charge us, the Malawians, exorbitant costs for their substandard services. If you think I am lying, wait and check their 2013 mid-year returns after paying tax. You will see that these people skin us alive.

Chikaonda: The PCL chair claimed that Macra was
being used as a political condom. Has he turned Carlsberg into a
political condom now? What are his political interests?
PCL, which in 2012 made MK6.127 billion profits after tax, owns Carlsberg Malawi

1:- I suspect political sabotage; Someone may have politically motivated them, so that Malawians may fault JB for this. Petty Politics. We just have to examine who owns huge shares in Carlsberg or Press Corps (PCL) which also owns National Bank, TNM etc. What did Mathews Chikaonda, the PCL Chair, say at the opening of National Bank? Is Carlsberg (or any PCL baby) being used as a political condom? Search me!!

2:- I suspect '[football] sabotage'. Carlsebrg used similar reasons to stop sponsoring the Carlberg cup; when in actual sense, Liverpool still had that t-shirt sponsorship which associated alcohol and football and Euro 2002 was co-sponsored by Carlsberg (i may be wrong). And they may use the same as a scapegoat for pulling out of football sponsorship (not because BB may get their sponsorship), but because they are good at creating excuses.

All these conspiracy theories may be valid. However, let’s wait and see what they would bring us for their mid of year returns.

All in all, you can access the Carlsberg profits or that of PCL which in 2012 made MK6.127 billion profits after tax, by following this link: http://www.presscorp.com/content/reports/pcl-annual-report-2011.pdf

Karma Driving Politics in Malawi

2013-02-27T07:56:00.001-08:00

Bakili Muluzi handpicked Atupele Muluzi in his efforts to revenge against the treatment he experienced at the hand of Bingu wa Muntharika who, dumped Muluzi without saying 'thank you', ngakhale anali malonda omvuta kugulitsa just like Peter Mutharika is.

The Big and Young Muluzis

Muluzi's goal was further influenced by his hunger to remain in power, which made him to hand pick Mutharika, and then attempt to bounce back in power in 2009.

Then, Bingu died, thereby making the candidacy of Atupere redundant.

On the other hand, Bingu handpicked Peter to ensure that he avoids power being snatched away from him, just like snatched the bicycle bell from Muluzi. This would further open up room for Bakili's to revenge against Mutharika.

Bingu was also afraid of having the keys to taxipayers money being returned to the Muluzi Family.

And what does Karma do? Mutharika died, making the candidacy of Peter Mutharika redundant.

I will not talk about Muluzi, dumping Aleke Banda for Justin Malewezi, despite the former being the eligible vice president then. Neither will I claim here that Karma took the power away from DPP to PP.

It is about to get really Karmalistic now. Inside sources allege that Atupele Muluzi is about to announce that Thoko Banda, Aleke Banda's son, will be his deputy.

Does it mean Peter Thom (I don’t know why he adopted the name Mutharika which Bingu adopted for his personal reasons) and Atupele Muluzi are eligible candidates?

This is the question my ‘Road to 2014’ analytical series will attempt to answer.

Peter: Mutharika or Thom?

It is however evident that Yin and Yang, Karma, 24 Hours rota, La 40, 365 appears to be immersed in Malawi's politics, catching up on these candidates.

The more things change, the more they return to the same starting position.

Revealing Whose Chibanzi I am Eating

2013-02-21T07:40:00.002-08:00

Since March 2012, different people have been asking me something like this: Pearson, I thought you are a member of PP, why are you against PP and the President? It has been a difficult question. However, my basic and straightforward answer has been: Yes, I belong to Piii Piii (a fact I have never denied). However, I'm very different from other members of the party. I just don't support any decision which the president makes. This, in my opinion is why people challenged MCP, the reason for the latent letter by our insightful bishops issued in 1993. If we dont oppose ideologies of our respective parties, then we are not different from Kamuzu Banda. Realistically, it means we, the Malawians, are not as democratic as we proclaim. We do forward the same verdict MCP forged against Kanyama Chiume and Henry Chipembere in 1964.

But since yesterday, I have seen the question changing its color. Some people are now asking me: Pearson, akudyetsa chibanzi kapena you are seeking government favours? My answer: What do you think?

I seek for the answer which vindicates that Malawi and its people are in a democratic state, not just in theory. Show me your faith which demonstrates that we can take opposing views with a sober head. Should we also infer that amene akupanga oppose'wa, these same people who are vocal in opposing the government like myself most of the time, adyetsedwa chibanzi by the opposition? Should I argue that when I write "JB has failed us", it implies that Peter wakunja Mutharika or Atupele Baby Muluzi have given me chibanzi? Whose chibanzi is Kapito eating?

On the contrary, I think I have just shown you enough evidence that Malawians will always want you to be on the side of their coin, never opposing their ideologies. This is the reason I like reading Matigari. We crucify each other. We are happy chasing each other like roosters do.

Whose chibanzi is the media romping? For example, I noticed that when JB is on her never ending whistle stop tour or globetrotting, the media cries foul, skinning the president alive.

Personally, I think the president has been travelling a lot; doing things expected of her ministers; I think the president has to realise that she is not a Relief Distribution Coordinator.

But when Baby or PM are doing whistle-stop tours, or globetrotting (I am told someone was on a Xmas holiday until late last month), the issue is treated differently. For example, when DPP party zealots frogs the VIP section at KIA, the country papers including the Nation headlined: The Blue Sea of Supporters Shower Peter Mutharika as PM bangs full support. May be they are also on a Passover meal like myself.

Why are we not using same measures? Why is it that certain acts become problems when done by the other camp? Are we, in some kind, living in an Animal Farm? Mwinadi ndadya chibanzi or may be I should just be talking in whispers.

Spare me the President’s Head! To Impeach or Not To Impeach JB?

2013-02-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

As the striking force of the civil servants is gaining momentum, some disgruntled individuals have taken this opportunity to call for the resignation or impeachment of the president. I consider such calls unrealistic, (un)democratic, costly and highly misplaced. Of course, I know that most of my friends will now question my stand (and rightly or wrongly so). They will think I have been given chibanzi. I have no control over your perspective regarding my stand. I only have control over my opinion.

If Joyce Banda, PhD, goes, are we sure that our MPs, Ministers, or the Judiciary are sober enough to come up with a government (of national unity) which will put the needs of Malawians at the centre of their leadership? My answer is a very big NOOOOOOOO! Most of them are opportunists, driven by insatiable hunger of selfishness. For example, if at all our MPs were concerned with the plight of Malawians, they could have resigned the first time they crossed the floor to UDF, DPP, then PP. They have, for years, been running like ole’ days Concords; leaving us, the Malawians, the electorates in shambles and tatters because of poverty.

The only alternative is a police/military state. But do we need to walk this path which we avoided on the aftermath of that fateful morning of the 6^thMarch, 2012? Without JB, a state of emergency may be declared #Fact. This is something most of us calling for the head of JB are hardly aware of. May be we are also not aware of the fact that we already on our pathway towards the 2014 general elections, in about 12 months time.

My understanding is that JB has now lost her plot and control over Parliament. Thus, some power hungry MPs think they can forward an impeachment proposal targeted towards the President. To a larger extent, this motion will be forged by their own agenda not the plight of my fellow Malawians. I don’t think we need to trust MPs who want to umbrella themselves with exorbitant allowances at a time when hospitals are in deficit of resources. Whose reality are these MPs counting on for their motion to impeach the president? This is the question we need to find answer to.

I should also say here that my fellow Malawians need to be very afraid of the likes of John Kapito, a man who thinks he can stand in the current striking ‘civil slaves’ and present himself as a messiah. Spare me this one please. I still remember that Kapito is one of the guys who proposed for the devaluation of the currency. And like most of our politicians, he ironically changed the stance when his brainchild, the Kwacha’s devaluation, started to haunt Malawians. Initially, he welcomed the devaluation (this is ably on record in media). He is so cunning like Cassius, in need of JB's head because of his own frustrations; either because he was never given Chibanzilike the silenced Undule Mwakasungulas. My fellow Malawians, be very afraid of such characters. They will dump you oncee again after using you like that plastic.

Joyce Banda: She may not be everyone's bread and butter. And she may have
failed in some areas, but I still have confidence in some of her abilities to drive Malawi forward, and calling
for her impeachment or resignation is misplaced, driven by personal hatred.

When JB resigns or is successfully impeached, most of these MPs will dump their current parties and join the trivalent [sic] or whosoever will be at the helm of governance. We have seen this happening since the colonial era, when Malawians sold each other to the colonialists; during the cabinet crisis of 1964 or the 1971 declaration, during the Muluzi era, or the Mutharika regime. And memories of recent underpinnings are so fresh in some of us. I remember how MPs like Yunus Mussa, the right handman of Bingu wa Mutharika who, despite offering a sacrifice for Mutharika's survival, dumped Mutharika just after Mutharika had breathed his last. Changing party colors like a desert chameleon. Malawians don’t need a gecko-like character which nods its head for its own survival.

If we are serious about having the president resign or have her impeached, I think we should start by calling for the impeachment of all the MPs. All of them, save for one, Lifred Nawena. Other MPs, including Baba Zenus are all self-centred. If we cannot have our own MPs impeached, then let us continue with dialogue and leave JB to continue with her presidency.

Our selfish calls for the impeachment of the president will take us many centuries behind. We will be where we started in 1964, 1971, 1995/6, 2001; 2005/06 and 2012 (or even worse!!). I hope you know what happened during these years.

To sum up my nonsense, as arguments raised here would appear in some of your eyes, our politicians do not have ideologies to take the needs of Malawians ahead. They are just there to forge their personal vendetta. Our needs dont even come last in the heads. Our needs are inexistence in their minds.
What can drive us away from this mess is sobriety. If JB puts on the jacket she wore when she initially left the oppressive DPP, we can move forward and address the grievances which have forced civil slaves (for their working conditions define them as such) to shut down Capital Hill, forcing JB to be in BT (so I am made aware of).

Having met JB at her once Mudi residence, I am optimistic she can open up her ears and brains which were shut after she allowed those who made the sleeping lion within Bingu wa Mutharika’s skin come to life.

And I know most of us are joining in the strike, not because we need the increment, but because we have hidden agenda. We want to paint a picture that JB has miserably failed. Indeed, she may have failed, but we are the people who clapped hands at the 'achievements' of Bingu wa Mutharika when others were wailing night and day, saying that Bingu, the autocrat was failing Malawi; that Bingu was taking the country into oblivion where it could be impossible to save. Now JB is having problems in taking the country from the hades of destructions. We, who are calling for the head of JB, are to a larger extent to blame for this mess.

I know most of us vocal for the President’s head are largely influenced by the colors of our political parties rotting in opposition benches. Thus, we are geared towards one thing: TO make JB feel the pinch of kufinya chipani chathu and those thugs funding our political parties (need I mention names?) We have also received chisikono, fortunately or unfortunately so, from the opposition to make JB feel the chiperoni winds. We were quite when Bingu was making the same mistakes, bombing our houses and offices. No two mistakes make it right, but why this sudden change.

And as I said, why can’t we wait for May 2014 so that, through the ballot, we can demonstrate that we have lost trust in JB’s style of governance. In the meantime, As a matter of my personal conclusion, let JB continue womanning the driver’s seat. If I may ask, will impeaching JB address these problems in a snap of the finger? Practically, theoretically or realistically nooooo. If you need her head, cut it during the 2014 elections. If you can’t wait, it’s mainly because, in my personal opinion, the basis of your calls for JB’s impeachment or resignation has no integrity whatsoever. You should not have waited during Mutharika’s messing with the country.

Of course, JB needs to unpluck some of her feathers because she flew at a hypersonic speed, leaving us, her people, behind. This, in my opinion, is a result of the people she has surrounded herself, people who made Bakili seek the third term, people who forced Muluzi to handpick Bingu wa Mutharika, the same people who urged Muluzi to stand in 2009; the same people who made Mutharika change the flag, bring the injunction bill and these are to blame for blinding the JB some of us 'know'. Thus spare me this crap, and spare me Dr. Joyce Banda’s head. Let Amai continue with chiwongolero.

Public Hospitals in Malawi Forced to Shut Down

2013-02-01T00:36:00.002-08:00

....Demonstration On Deteriorating Public Health Looming

Public hospitals in Malawi may be prematurely closed following worsening shortages of medicines and deteriorating standards of health services in public hospitals, government and medical authorities have warned.

This will blackout 13 million plus Malawians from having access to medical services. And as posted earlier on at Kuwunika Mmalawi, medical doctors from public hospitals have issued the president with an emotional plea for her timely intervention.

Kuwunika M'Malawi has also been informed by reliable sources that if Capital Hill doesnot take heed of the SOS issued by medical doctors from public hospitals, we are in for a nose dive.

“We are writing as a group of concerned physicians and other consultants who work at Kamuzu Central Hospital. Over the past few months, there have been consistent and worsening shortages of essential and basic medications and supplies that are necessary for the care of acutely sick patients" reads part of the epistle to the President.

In the letter, I was also revealed that medical practitioners in public hospitals have been using their personal resources just to serve lives from preventable diseases.

"[We] have come to realise that the situation, already dire, is not improving and our current strategy is neither sufficient nor sustainable.

“In the meantime, we are experiencing the deaths of patients from treatable diseases [diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria], which is heart breaking,” reads the doctors’ letter.

In a related development, some commentators have intensified calls for another nationwide demonstration following such increased concerns regarding the health status in Malawi.

"Why is the government being indifferent to the plight of millions who can't afford pvt hospitals?" One disgruntled Malawian wondered.

Other Malawians have gone a step further by suggesting introduction of a law which would stop public officers and their families from accessing private medical services.

"Let there be a law which would bar these policymakers including everyone at Capital Hill, starting with the President and her family from accessing private medical services. Let them taste their own medicine", reasoned a frustrated Malawian.

Meanwhile. a Health advocacy NGO, Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen), has joined the calls for civil actions which may see Capital Hill declare Malawi as a State of Emergency to speed up support from other countries.

“The President must do something. This is life or death. We are in a crisis. Doctors going that far shows that the matters are very serious. We join them”, said Mhen executive director Martha Kwataine.

Revealing the Evil Ghost Haunting Presidents at Capital Hill

2013-01-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

By Dave Mankhokwe Namusanya

Unmarked graves

THE grave that swallowed John Chilembwe is ‘nonexistent’. Leading some, skeptics always, to doubt if he really was killed by the Britons – our colonial masters.

But even the graves of those who died forty-four years later after Chilembwe’s death are mostly unknown. These are the people who were massacred by the same Britons in Nkhatabay upon the declaration of a state of emergency in Nyasaland on 3 March 1959. Such, are the graves of the martyrs of this nation. They are graves not only unmarked but ignored, rejected and abandoned too.

Christine Lagarde: Will her purse unlock Malawi's future

And even the grave of Britain, the Kingdom that colonized us, is not known. Is it Kwacha Conference Centre (where a new republican constitution was adopted) or Kamuzu stadium (where the then republican flag was hoisted)? It seems nobody knows.

Or maybe it is not those two places but a new place or, worse still, it was not buried? Her ghost, perhaps, was left free to haunt, and the corpse was left to decompose and fill the entire nation with a stench so powerful? Or even, dangerously and scary still, Britain never died and thus was never buried – it still is alive in this country!

That, then, is the problem with unmarked graves: they invite a lot of questions, they trouble the mind. Graves that are not marked perform perfectly well the art of deceiving. They are a danger in some, if not all, way. Unmarked graves can make people live a life they ought not to live and the consequence, is danger.

A curse of Africa

In the minds of many Malawians was hope on that sixth day of July in 1964 when the Union Jack of Britain was lowered at the Kamuzu stadium and in its stead the black, red, green and a rising sun flag was seen dancing proudly through the Malawian, and African, beautiful blue skies. Many hoped that such an act not only symbolized and signified but actually meant the death of an old nation and the ensuing birth of a new one. Almost fifty years later, however, it appears that such a hope was a vain one.

Instead of the birth of a new nation, it looks as if it is the same old nation that was given birth to. The struggles and blood of martyrs appear to have produced no new nation. It is the same old Nyasaland only that it now is responding to a new and swankier name – Malawi. This perceived new nation is the same old one but it now parades itself as independent.

The good news though is that it not only is Malawi that clothes itself in the borrowed robes of independence. The whole of Africa parades in the borrowed robes. It is the entire Africa that never changed in terms of being controlled when the myth called independence was granted unto them. Call it, a curse of Africa.

Haunted!

Paul Kagame highway road in Lilongwe was named better. Being named after a man who does not mince words is something. The man whose name was given to the road is one who tells it as it always is. He is one whose words are never in possession of fear of the western powers. In an interview with the BBC in 2009 on why his country’s relationship with France was sour then, the Rwandese president said without a connotation of apprehension: ‘France was involved in the ugly history of our country, and we say it openly…’

And, the ugly history of Rwanda stretches no further than the 1994 genocide. France, according to president Kagame, was involved in that never to be erased genocide. So strange that France, which is very far away from Rwanda, should be associated very directly with the shocking history of Rwanda.

The sharp, creative and factual camera of the movie Hotel Rwanda adds another culprit to the genocide, Belgium – Rwanda’s colonial master and France’s neighbor. Another shocking, strange, unbelievable and just indescribable revelation this had to be but, it is not. Even the assertion that France was involved in the Rwanda genocide is neither odd nor unusual. That is just plain reality as is the fact that the ghosts of the colonial masters still haunt the African continent. The ghost, nevertheless, does not only prove its power and dominance in conflicts but all sectors of life and very crucially, the economy.

The economy of Africa is driven and controlled by the West. Minerals, elsewhere but Africa, define a country’s economy. Agriculture in Africa can be a backbone of a country’s economy but not the head. It is always the colonial masters who will control, and even manipulate, the economy of Africa. They will always establish structures and institutions so that they hide behind them to still control Africa’s economy. Others, the many, prefer to call it neo-colonialism as though there is a difference with colonialism itself.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) – say the colonizers – still bar African countries from subsidizing their key economic sectors, agriculture therein. The astounding thing, and inhuman too like colonialism, is that themselves – rich as their people are – offer subsidies. While it is true that subsidies do somehow negatively affect the economy, it also is true that with proper management the results of subsidy might also be moving and impressive, and make, not just help, Africa grow. Growth, and, is what Africa needs now.

Mozambique is the closest neighbor to Malawi. Some major tribes in Malawi trace their origins in Mozambique. One can oddly talk about Malawi without mentioning Mozambique. The picture when one travels on official business from Malawi to Mozambique or vis-a-vis, however, is not that perfect. It is one blurred and dirtied by paints of ‘incommunication’.

Mozambique has Portuguese as their official language whilst Malawi was forced to possess English as our ‘Portuguese’. Communication then ceases. Yet, it is communication that is vital in business of any kind. With no communication between the two countries, it means no business. The countries, as usual, can always trade but the concern should be on the emerging businesses of the common people.

Pretending to care for Africa very much, the colonialists introduced aid. They have institutions and organizations dedicated to their ‘good’ cause. They preach, and make Africa believe, that aid is the only way out of poverty. Better enough for them, much of Africa seems to believe that and it accepts their aid with suppressed questions.

Aid then awards them authority to tell Africa what it needs, not Africa saying what it wants. Through aid they tell nations to extend already existing highways when the rural areas, where raw materials for African industries are produced, are inaccessible. Africa, unfortunately, seems to not understand that aid is just another way of being controlled.

Not aid but trade

Africa needs the West to develop, to move out of poverty. But, it does not need them as patrons other than partners. That is why Africa does not need aid if it is to develop but needs trade. The West must learn to trade with Africa honestly and openly.

The West must be invited to invest in Africa, not just get raw materials. Countries that get uranium from Kayelekera must come in this country and do whatever they want to do with their uranium in this nation, use it for the production of electricity on one part. With that, they will not only offer employment to the unemployed many but also pay some tax to the nation or, in brief, they will help Malawi grow.

Kayelekera: The White Elephants to Malawi

It makes little, if any, sense that the West should be in the forefront of buying raw materials but be afraid of producing their goods from the same countries they buy from or be afraid of buying finished products from them. Is it not time that the West stop buying tobacco leaf for the purposes of producing cigarettes but other purposes and start buying cigars from Nyasa manufacturing company?

It is not only investment that will be a catalyst for trade. The issue of tariffs is one also that the West must face together with the Africans. The West must lower, or just scrap off completely, the tariffs they impose on African goods going into their countries. They know, better than us, that we are poor. Thus, it is no sin for them to come up with measures to deliberately promote African trade. After all, is it not a fact that they developed at our expense: from the time of slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism (read: colonialism)?

While it is true that it is trade that Africa needs to develop, the West must also learn to engage Africans in dialogue any time they plan to offer aid, real aid it must be, to the African nations. It is through constant well-meaning dialogues that Africa can be helped out of poverty.

This is the only time, as “the IMF director Lagarde [is visiting] Malawi to assess economic reforms in impoverished nation”, to quote Fox News as well as the Washingtonpost, that I have passionately wished I was the government mouthpiece, Moses Kunkuyu.

I would have told the nation that as we would send Christine Lagarde to the haunted Sanjika to face the ghosts which made Moya wa Muntharika invite those Catholic exorcists; the same ghosts which continue to bind Malawi in jars of colonialism a dozen decades after the 1959 state of emergency despite Kamuzu declaring 'Kwacha!!!' Then, I would as well tell her that:

"As the government of Malawi, we have agreed that the take home message for Lagarde , IMF, the West, the colonialists and their investors interested in Africa and Malawi is to accept the fact that it is high time they help Africa solve the problems they created, by moving according to our terms and conditions because we are the one with the gold; and the man with the gold, sets the rules.

Otherwise, anything they may do to Africa may just be a lie and a mockery to the African people. A kind of ghost still haunting the continent."

Dave Mankhokwe Namusanya + 265 999 697 873 P.O. Box 80007 Blantyre 8. Malawi.

The Judicial System in the UK is Racist

2012-11-29T18:16:00.001-08:00

I have to stop my work for a moment despite that my supervisors expects to have this compile on their tables first thing in the morning. Its almost 01:47 in the morning already. Having burned my cognitive abilities I decided to take a breather by checking updating myself about current affairs. BBC was my destination. Instead, what I saw was sickening and depressing; that I regretted my decision of taking a breather.

The Senior District Judge Howard Riddle just demonstrated that the Judicial and criminal justice systems in the UK are highly racists in all corners of the word despite this being the 21st century.

Riddle, the judge promoting racism in the UK? Questions ringer

Riddle just cleared two police officers of making racist remarks. One officer said, black people looked like monkeys whereas the other one told a black officer: go home and cook some bananas...all these remarks were made were made within the confines of a police vehicle containing four police officers. The reasoning ability of this judge is rightly to be questioned.

So if football supporters make monkey chats and claim their were thinking or discussing about evolution, what will this unlearned judge say? By the way, how does two different remarks come in this frame. How does evolution and go cooking relate, because no two unrelated issues can be discussed in this way, this coincidence leaves a lot to be desired about the competence of judicial system in the UK.

I think I should sleep coz I cant take this no more. This just shows that the judicial system and Metropolitan Police Service condone racism in every.

I will not write more than this, and I am contemplating of leaving this Durham Place coz if the police can be allowed to walk tall for such remarks (why would I then report a person who says racist remarks to me? why should i dial 999 to report any racist remarks made by any other person against anyone?

The judges have accepted that racist remarks are no criminal offences.

By the way, the same judicial system acquitted John Terry who, like the police, accepted that they used those racist remarks...the same racists promoting Judge, Howard Riddle presided over Terry's case.

Now I understand why the Church of England has opposed efforts to recognize and ordain women bishops.
I will not talk about the criminalisation of LGBTS by the same systems like the church. I thought the UK was a hub of social justice which Malawi, my small third world country should model its efforts on. I was wrong.
These systems are run by people who don't understand the aspect of social justice and human rights; the UK has itself a longway to go to make racism and other social injustices against minority groups history.
For more information about the MET racist case and how the racist promoter, judge Riddle legitimized racism, please click here

Betrayed by the System!!

Deep in the Trenches of War

2012-11-12T06:34:00.001-08:00

My remembrance for every innocent soul lost in the heart of wars in the name of collateral damage which is wrongly accepted and expected; for all innocent children forced into the armed forces whose stories got buried with them deep in the trenches of war, All women and girls raped by soldiers some labelled as heroes today; for Malala Yousafzai brutally shot by a ruthless group; All soldiers who never returned home when selfishness in the eyes of politicians led them to fight in wars they didn’t understand what they were fighting for; for all innocent souls who gave their lives while fighting poverty, God and History will remember you...Lest I forget your will to survive and fight for social justice; your fight against atrocities committed by the powerful few made you immortal.

Talking in Whispers: Returns

2012-10-23T03:20:00.001-07:00

I am taking a hiatus because of other personal commitments.

As such, I will not write of Malawi becoming a Police State where one can be arrested for dressing, talking, eating, driving, walking (swagging) like the President.

Only in Malawi: it is illegal to own a house, a land rover, a limo, yamaha motorbikes, security guards, clothes, shoes, number of children, surnames, first names, number of teeth, hairstyle and anything which resemble that of the president...

Everything which I may have written tomorrow or the day after tomorrow can be found in this award winning piece titled: TALKING IN WHISPERS.

Click the link to buy the book if you are interested in reading what I may have written but was already written decades back.

Sixteen-year-old Andres becomes a wanted man and the target of security forces after the driver of a car that he is travelling in is shot and his father is taken away.

Then Andres meets an American journalist who provides him with evidence that will be 'more valuable than bullets' against the oppressive military regime.

An exciting and uncompromising political thriller, Talking in Whispers was awarded the German Buxtehulder Bulle, which celebrates outstanding teenage fiction dealing with human rights themes.

This is where I end and close down my blog, see you in 2016...