Despite immediate past sports minister Francis Phiso’s assurance that Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers stadia projects would commence immediately, Weekend Nation has established that both contractors are not at the sites.

During the groundbreaking on June 13, Phiso said construction of the stadiums would start on the same day and would take 18 months.

But our visit to both sites on Tuesday this week established that after levelling the grounds, the contractors left with their equipment.

However, in an interview on Wednesday, spokesperson in Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture Simon Mbvundula insisted that everything is in order.

He said: “As far as we are concerned, everything is intact. If you established something to the contrary, then contact the Department of Buildings.”

A Weekend Nation visit to Wanderers’ stadium site at Kanjedza Forest near Blantyre Teachers College, established that the foundation stone had been vandalised by removing the placard.

We also found three men cleaning the ground with shovels and one of them claimed in an interview that they had been hired to do piecework so as to create an impression that work was in progress.

He said: “We come here everyday to clean the place so that it should appear as if work is in progress. We are getting K1 500 each a day from the contractor.”

We also established that motorists are now using the site as a short-cut route.

When we visited Bullets’ site at Zingwangwa Secondary School ground near Moneymen Club, there was no sign of life and people are now using it for driving lessons.

However, Department of Buildings in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works director Terrence Namaona said contractors will be on the ground later this month.

He said the projects are now at mobilisation stage whereby contractors are gathering their equipment ready to kick-start the projects.

“After a contract is signed, we give time to the contractor to start mobilising equipment, this is when we talk about performance and advance capital bond.

“This is also the time when payment is facilitated. So, everything is intact and our contractors will be back on the sites soon, possibly next [this] month,” said Namaona.

He said his office is not aware of the vandalism that has occurred at Wanderers’ site.

Immediate past president Peter Mutharika pledged to construct stadiums for the two TNM Super League outfits during the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections campaign period.

Bullets stadium will cost about K3.8 billion and will be built by China Civil Engineering while that for the Nomads will cost about K3.6 billion and will be constructed by Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company.

The projects were allocated K1.6 billion (K800 million) each in the 2019/20 National Budget.

A working paper on Agribusiness Investment in Agricultural Commercialisation: Rethinking Policy Incentives in Africa, suggests that agriculture investment in Malawi is being hampered by poor infrastructure, bureaucratic delays and arbitrariness, difficulties in accessing land and land conflicts, as well as difficulties in accessing finance.

The paper, published by Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (Apra), co-authored in Malawi by governance expert Henry Chingaipe, explores the motivations of business investment, the effectiveness of government and donor policy incentives, and the relevance of these incentives for four different commercialization pathways.

It covers Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ghana.

According to the report, in Malawi—a country with a relatively volatile investment environment and low agricultural productivity growth, companies involved in the study complained that regular electricity cuts force them to work below capacity.

It reads: “In Ethiopia and Malawi, business leaders also complained about policy contradictions. For instance, while the Malawi National Export Strategy encourages the production of crops such as rice and legumes for export, legislation on the Control of Goods allows the government to ban these exports at any time, leading to uncertainty that discourages investment.

“These contradictions reflect both political considerations and conflicting policy goals.”

On a positive note, the paper states that companies such as CDC Rice in Malawi have benefited from duty-free imports of processing and irrigation equipment, and have admitted that without tax incentives, it would not have purchased the machines and equipment at the time they did.

“However, this case also highlights the lack of transparency and arbitrary decision-making sometimes associated with fiscal incentives. To claim these benefits, CDC Rice had to rely on support from the MITC, due to a lack of transparency on approval procedures, which led to stock initially being held by the revenue authority, delaying operations.

“Eventually, after a protracted battle with the authorities and petition directly to the president, the exemption was granted. Other less well- resourced companies are likely to give up or be denied approval under such circumstances.”

Further, efforts of investment promotion by the Malawi Investsment Trade Centre (MITC) to support and speed investment are in tension with challenges posed in land acquisition, with CDA Fruit being a case in point.

“The company benefited from government support to overcome trade barriers, plus facilitation by the MITC to acquire export status. This status qualified the company for duty-free imports of vital but specialist packaging materials, as well as machinery and irrigation

equipment to accelerate production.

“Without these, the company says, there would have been significant restrictions around the development of the farms and factory. However, three years after the initial investment, business expansion was severely affected by land conflicts,” it adds.

The working paper then urged governments to severely restrict fiscal incentives, make import duty exemptions more transparent and predictable, take measures to ensure that tax privileges are not abused, but also broaden impact of investment promotion.

“Finally, to be effective, the increasing political commitment for agribusiness development will need to go beyond policy statements and appropriate incentive packages.

“It will need to be supported by well resourced and coordinated institutions that are able to align these policy incentives with national visions for agricultural transformation, balancing the competing demands on agriculture as an engine of growth and source of domestic food and nutrition security,” it suggests.

In the provisional budget, Finance Minister Felix Mlusu did not talk about commercialization of agriculture in detail, but stated that government has allocated resources for Admarc to purchase maize and other farm produce.

Economic experts have cautioned the new Finance Minister Felix Mlusu against excessive borrowing to finance the government budget saying borrowing should only be for production and not perpetually for consumption if the economy is to achieve remarkable recovery and growth.

The caution comes after noting that Mlusu’s K722 billion 2020/21 provisional budget that Parliament authorised on Thursday has a deficit of K209.5 billion that will be financed through borrowing.

Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) executive director Bertha Phiri said in a written response on Tuesday that it is worrisome that the provisional budget deficit is extremely not encouraging.

She said: “Government continue to borrow alongside other huge debts. Borrowing even within a provisional budget arrangement is a sign that our economy is not growing. It is almost the same percentage with the just withdrawn budget, K209.5 billion out of K722 billion total budget”.

Going forward she said Mejn would be interested to learn how the new government will devise mechanism to finance the current huge deficits apart from borrowing.

Economics lecturer at the Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi Betchani Tchereni said borrowing should be for developmental aspects more than in recurrent.

He said Government borrowing may lead to distabilised macroeconomic fundamentals which calls for responsible borrowing that increases the tax base and leads to self economic sustainance.

He said: “We need to be sure that we are borrowing sustainably, in other words, we need cheaper and affordable loans even on the domestic scene.

“We have to work hand in hand with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development then make sure that there is growth in industry to enhance taxation which then can pay off. So borrowing to increase in investment is alright”.

Centre for Research and Consultancy executive director Milward Tobias said borrowing is inevitable especially now that tax revenue has drastically gone low due to subdued the business environment and reduced international trade.

He however emphasised that borrowing must finance production not consumption saying government should prefer external borrowing and has a long grace period, brings foreign exchange and crowds in private sector.because it has low interest rates

“Going forward, the main budget to be presented later should define the development model the new government wants to follow. We should transition from persistent deficit budget to zero-deficit and eventually surplus budget.

“We should graduate from a low value factor-based economy to high value efficiency and eventually innovation based economy. The projects the budget is financing are what will tell whether we are transitioning or not,” said Tobias.

He called for the need to embrace a culture of evidence based decision-making saying for instance, by increasing tax free bracket from K45 000 to K100 000, how much revenue in total is government foregoing and inadvertently how much more liquidity is in people’s pockets.

He said this will help to estimate multiplier effects and the extent to which that may improve, maintain or distort fiscal and monetary policy convergence.

Centre for Financial Inclusion and Literacy Consultancy executive director Abel Mwenibanda urged the government to avoid excessive and unnecessary borrowing as the practice may lead to a crowd out effect in terms of domestic borrowing and also increase debt burdens on foreign borrowing.

Malawi’s currency, the kwacha continues to gain ground against major convertibles appreciating against almost all major trading currencies since January, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) statistics show.

The kwacha has largely remained stable relative to major trading currencies supported by adequate foreign exchange reserves on the market, a development that has on the hand helped to ease inflationary pressures while anchoring inflation expectations in the short to medium-term.

According to the Financial Market Developments reports, the kwacha has appreciated to trade at K916 currently from K974 in January for the pound sterling.

The local unit has also braved the Euro and Rand to trade at K811 and K39 from K827 and K51 in January, respectively.

To the dollar, the kwacha has however remained largely stable but slightly appreciated to the current K742 from K744.

RBM spokesperson Mbane Ngwira in an interview last week attributed the development to the general slowdown in global business in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and partly the tobacco dollars.

Ngwira said the developments in other countries, for instance, South Africa have led to the depreciation of those countries’ currencies against other currencies including kwacha.

“Considering our seasonality, this is tobacco marketing season and expectations are for the market to have enough foreign currency.

“The market has opened on a high note and forex will be flowing in. On the demand side, flow of imports has reduced. Furthermore, oil prices have come down representing lesser demand for forex. All in all demand is expected to be less than supply hence a stable kwacha,” he said.

During the tobacco season, Malawi usually experiences availability in exchange as supply for foreign currency, particularly, the dollar becomes excessive as the tobacco dollars trickle in.

Weighing in on the development Financial Market Dealers Association (Fimda) president Patricia Hamisi observed that though the effects of Covid-19 have seen an increase in imports in certain sectors such as Pharmaceuticals there has been a decrease in other sectors such as hospitality and manufacturing which in a way has netted off the effect on the gross imports.

“The limitations on movement due to Covid-19 on the other hand has also eased pressure on fuel importation which is one of the major items the country imports thereby also easing off pressure on the exchange rate.

“On the other hand, the tobacco proceeds are likely to result in a continued stable exchange in the short term as opposed to slight appreciations that occur during tobacco season,” she said.

In an earlier interview with Business News economic statistician Alick Nyasulu while indicating that the development filters less in the economy given the current scenario said weak currencies are good for the country’s imports.

He said: “Indeed the pound has steadily been on the decline for many months and Covid-19 just made it worse. Nonetheless, weak currencies especially those from countries we trade most with, are good for our imports though price gains may be impacted with reduced transport services.”

Meanwhile, available figures from the RBM indicate that gross official reserves stood at $662.9 million equivalent to 3.17 months of imports in May from $656 million which is equivalent to 3.14 months of imports in April.

Personal finance covers a wide variety of money topics including budgeting, expenses, debt, saving, retirement and insurance among others. Understanding how each of these topics work together and affect each other is important for laying the groundwork for a solid financial foundation for you and your family.

But when all is considered, at the very basic level of personal finance, you are dealing with a budget, you make money and then you spend that money. Even if you haven’t created a detailed and written budget, you continue to budget on a daily basis.

When you are faced with spending money on something, you obviously will have forgone spending that same money on something else (what economists call the opportunity cost).

The problem that stems from not having a detailed budget is that we are faced with so many financial decisions—it is nearly impossible to keep track of and remember everything. When you create a budget you begin to see a clear picture of how much money you have, what you spend it on and how much, if any, is left over.

Once you can see the inflows and outflows of your money you can optimize your spending so that necessary items are sure to be covered while cutting back on wasteful spending that will allow you to save money.

After you have created a budget, you can begin to see where expenses may need to be reduced in order to meet your goals. For some people this means eating less meat and for others it could mean getting rid of that extra car. Whatever the case may be, everyone has an area or two where money can be saved by reducing on some basic expenses.

However, even after creating a sound budget and cutting unnecessary expenses you may still find yourself with a resource gap – this can sometimes be inevitable for most of us Malawians. So you have to borrow some money to cover the gap – but only after making careful reflection on necessity of the debt and how you will repay it. Let me be quick to point out that borrowing by itself is not bad but it is the use to which the debt is put that matters more: whether it is spent on some productive investment or just consumed.

When you borrow money to purchase a piece of land or house, you are taking on a lot of debt. But purchase of such assets that increase in value over time is a productive form of debt. On the other hand when you go to the Gateway Shopping Mall and treat yourself to a shopping spree using a loan with a 25% annual interest rate, then your financial management brains need to be cropped-out especially if you have no sure means of paying back.

As a tip, the first thing to do when you find yourself in debt is to pay more than the minimum monthly re-payment. If you only pay the minimum each month, it will often take decades to repay the whole debt and cost quite a fortune in interest payments. Once you are paying more than the minimum you should in future look to productive debts with lower interest rates.

Blessed week-end to you and yours as you plan your budget and how to responsibly fill the budget shortfall.

Feedback : tbmunthali@yahoo.co.uk

The novel coronavirus continues to hit hard the country, with each day scores of cases being recorded. It has not just affected ordinary people-the young, old, professionals and even healthcare workers (HCW) have been hit. In this interview, our Mzuzu Bureau Supervisor JOSEPH MWALE engaged president of the Physicians Assistants Union of Malawi (Paum), SOLOMON CHOMBA, on how best Malawi can deal with the issue.

Healthcare workers (HCW) seem seriously affected as well with Covid-19, what went wrong?

HCW infection rate is increasing at an alarming rate. Some of the reasons behind include inadequate PPE, failure of HCW to understand that their fellow HCW can equally infect them just like patients who have received a lot of attention by HCW as agents of infection and not themselves, Covid-19 prevention relaxation by most health care workers and the community due to the prevailing myths about its prevalence in our country, lack of disclosure of infected healthcare workers in various facilities risking other uninfected healthcare workers to get infected through their routine work interaction, that is, during handovers, ward reviews and departmental meetings and the tendency of hospital managers to force HCW to work in unsafe environment with the purpose of covering shortage despite having no required PPE.

On the myths, what needs to be done?

What needs to be done is to firstly clear the existing myths of Covid-19 by reaffirming the existence of Covid-19 in our community through apolitical Covid-19 awareness messages to both HCW and the community. Now that elections are gone, I would request government to put up measures of winning the lost public trust on the reality of

Covi- 19 in our country and also ask government to lead an exemplary life by following all Covid-19 prevention measures. Government has to make use of local community health organizations to disseminate Covid-19 messages and prevention measures.

We are talking about HCW getting infected as well, and numbers don’t look good. What is specifically happening in health facilities?

Managers of health facilities should be transparent enough on disclosing Covid-19 status of their employees as done by Dr Mbendera of Nkhata Bay DHO. This is important for HCW to know and appreciate the existence of Covid-19 at their workplace and adopt ways of preventing cross infection from their fellow disclosed infected HCW staff. On the other hand, once disclosure has been made early enough, contact tracing becomes so easy and quick hence early control of the further spread of the virus unlike when the disclosure has been blocked by managers with reasons of avoiding stigma and discrimination. Managers of various health facilities should never force healthcare workers to work in an environment which is unsafe for reasons of covering shortage. Much as we appreciate the need to offer health services, managers have to understand that for HCW to offer a good service, they need to be psychologically motivated and prepared for that work by providing them with all necessary PPE unlike forcing them to do something they are not comfortable to do at that time due to the unsafe working environment. Health workers are reminded to keep themselves away from all unsafe environment for their safety and safety of patients they are serving.

There are suggestions that we need institutional quarantine. What has gone wrong with self-quarantine?

Self quarantine in my opinion poses a higher risk of infecting family members and friends coming in and out of a patients quarantine home which is his or her usual residential place. The best option is institutional quarantine where patients can easily be monitored and enforced to follow quarantine recommendations and procedures which cannot be ably done under self-quarantine. It is evident that most of Covid-19 positive patients under self-quarantine do not actually stay home, but are seen moving around in market places and interacting with friends posing a serious danger of further spreading Covid-19.

Additionally these patients especially the symptomatic ones develop high fevers and some nasty symptoms which can ably be attended to at an institutional quarantine unlike self-quarantine.

Institutional quarantine will surely need a lot. What role can Government play in this?

Government has to recruit additional clinical staff which has stagnated for a long time unlike nursing staff who have all along benefited with a lion’s share. These staff are crucial in monitoring and managing institutionalized quarantined patients in need of a clinical decision and management plan unlike the current situation where the same clinician attends to the general wards at the same time is asked to attend to quarantined patients. This is a serious danger of Covid-19 contagion.

Government has to make and enforce a deliberate policy of healthcare workers working shifts to reduce exposure time to Covid-19 and allow them to rest. Government should provide palatable meals, good entertainment equipment/facilities, that is, internet availability, television and radio facilities to reduce boredom and psychological stress associated with Covid-19 diagnosis and quarantine. There has to be a good sleeping environment and beddings. Talk time allowance must be provided to enable the patients to continue engaging with their family members as a psycho-social therapy to psycho-social effects of Covid-19 diagnosis.

Hon. Folks, a lot has been said this week about last month’s fresh presidential election that ushered in Government President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP)-led Tonse Alliance ticket.

Peter Mutharika—immediate past president lost the election against the age-old adage which says opposition parties “don’t win” democratic elections but governments “lose them”.

In other words, the June 23 poll really defined voters’ disapproval of Mutharika’s leadership delivery between May 2014 and May 2019.

Almost two weeks after the DPP regime crushed out of government, normalcy has returned now, an indication that Malawians have finally accepted and embraced the election results.

Hon. Folks, they say it is the majority that rules in a democracy and when democracy wins, everyone else also wins. Now the burden of proof to deliver hangs on the new government.

It is high time Malawians forgot about the election and started focusing of the future because we have much more work to do together to move this country forward.

Which brings us to the subject for today; this year’s Independence Day whose celebrations will take place at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

Annually Malawi celebrates this day on July 6 and this year we are commemorating 56 years since the founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda and other brave compatriots won our liberty from the callous British colonisation.

Rumour has it that there are plans by government to jointly hold this year’s commemoration with the official inauguration of Chakwera and Chilima.

This arrangement will definitely glamourise the whole event, making it one of its kinds in Malawi’s history.

However, this celebrations should never blindfold the new president from these fact that poverty remains rampant in Malawi and its ugly effects are still cornering millions of citizens to a tight spot.

In the past 56 years of independence, there have been numerous vicious cycles of afflictions, mainly on politics, which have crippled the aspirations for a better Malawi among many ordinary citizens.

Again, in the past 26 years of modern democracy, we have seen many political leaders behaving like kings and queens—deserving the same respects and worship as chiefs—at the expense of the electorates.

Most of such leaders considered themselves to be above citizens and cared little about the plight of citizens whom they regarded as servants the moment elections are over.

Very soon around September 6 or thereabout, Chakwera will have clocked 100 days in office and there are many insights that he must consider while running government to avoid repeating the same mistakes that were committed by his predecessors.

Here are a few examples; between 1994 and 2004, Bakili Muluzi—the country’s first democratically elected president—led an administration whose key achievements included the setting up of legal institutions to govern the country’s new democracy.

Along the way, Muluzi and his cohorts lost direction and started thinking about ways of reversing those strides.

His ambition to extend his time beyond his mandate also reminded Malawians that the nation needs not to relax amid realistic chances of democratic reversal through such politicians.

In 2004, the late Bingu wa Mutharika succeeded Muluzi and he began his term of office by reversing some of the major political and economic obstacles that rendered his predecessor’s administration unpopular.

In terms of governance, the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s eight-year rule presented another era in which citizens were relooking at the the direction of the country, following a crisis after the UDF.

This mainly had to do with the country’s sour relationship with the international community, due to, among others, deep-rooted corruption and the integrity of key governance institutions such as the Anti-Coruption Bureau (ACB).

Just like Muluzi and Kamuzu before him, the late Mutharika significantly narrowed the political space and the country recorded more violations and threats to various freedoms of citizens.

I will not dwell on Kamuzu and Peter Mutharika for obvious reasons. Kamuzu’s feats are the wall for all to see while time is still too young for anyone to forget Peter Mutharika’s successes and failures in office.

Now, Malawians do not expect the new government to take us back to these scenarios. All the citizens are looking forward to see is the land of Canaan as promised during the campaign.

My heartfelt congratulations to all Tonse Alliance members led by Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima for being elected President and Vice-President, respectively, of the Republic of Malawi. I also want to salute former president Peter Mutharika for conceding defeat with But his congratulatory message is taking long to come, if at all it will ever come.

Good that Chakwera and Chilima have wasted little time to get down to serious business. Managing a transition after a regime change has never been easy. No handover notes. Too many things to fix for the change it wants to effect. The fever-pitch rivalry between the contesting parties, poisoned by a dose of violence and mudslinging during campaign usually leaves winners and losers at daggers drawn long after elections are gone.

The situation is made worse if a majority of technocrats in the government are political appointees and not hired based on merit. It does not help matters if nepotism, corruption and impunity have been the order of the day. In such a situation, it is inevitable that the new administration is first to wipe the slate clean before getting started. But such a process, while necessary, has potential to throw away the baby with the bath water, even to waste good money for bad.

It is against this background that the Chakwera-Chilima administration has made several bold moves in its first week in office at the helm of the Government. Every day has come with new placements in senior positions in Government; a new Inspector General of Police, Chief Secretary to the Government and his deputy, Chief of Staff for State Residences. The administration has also dissolved boards of directors for 60 parastatals and announced a partial Cabinet. Many more changes—christened ‘draining the swamp’—by the Tonse Alliance are rightly expected to come. These changes are a necessary evil. The new team made promises to the people. It would be naïve for them to expect the very people who worked in cahoots with their political opponents to support them in the campaign to implement their change agenda. It is for this reason that public servants should be apolitical all the time.

There are basically two qualities political leaders look for in people they hire to work with. These are loyalty and trust. Merit, albeit very important, is a bonus. But this is what wreaks many regimes. Knowing that they do not deserve those positions, and are dispensable, loyalists become bootlickers and rent-seekers. In their compromised state, they are a fertile breeding ground for corruption. They abate corruption in their quest to save their jobs.

Since it is common knowledge that the APM administration gave jobs to many undeserving people, a diligent screening process in the public service is now a must-do exercise. Job placements must be based on merit to guarantee performance and productivity. Those without requisite qualifications should be sieved out. They are defrauders. Those with the right qualifications but came through the back door should apply for those positions alongside others who are equally qualified for the jobs.

The same should happen for Government contracts. Those awarded without following due diligence do not guarantee the best value for money. Government has said it will scrutinise all contracts awarded in the past two months. That is fine. But eventually the probe should stretch farther to several years back. The K235 billion looting of government funds between 2009 and 2014 as revealed by UK’s Risk Assurance Services—PwC, comes to my mind. For obvious reasons, the APM administration systematically swept this matter under the carpet. But the files are still there.

Going forward, there is need for a complete overhaul of the whole public sector machinery to make it more productive, corrupt free and accountable to the people. Fortunately, the country already had a dose of such reforms in the previous Government. This was before APM unceremoniously threw out of the window the man who spearheaded the Public Sector Reform Programme—Vice-President Saulos Chilima. That was a typical case of throwing away the baby with the bath water.

But there are also many people in the public service who got those jobs on merit and after following all procedures. Hence the need for a sober and apolitical approach on the screening exercise. Doing otherwise will make people think the new Government is on a witch-hunting spree.

July 2 2020

The fresh presidential election came and went, with Tonse Alliance torchbearer Lazarus Chakwera and his UTM Party partner Saulos Chilima smiling all the way to the State House, vacating Peter Mutharika.

It is apparent that Mutharika and his running mate Atupele Muluzi are on the forefront discrediting that election. Among other things, as Muluzi would have it, the election was a complete sham, where even 15 of their monitors went missing. Where he got those details only goodness knows.

By taking oath of the highest executive office in the land, Chakwera sealed his allegiance to the motherland. The multitudes that voted for him gave him one term and condition: Deliver on your campaign promises.

We have seen in recent times that swearing to protect the Constitution is one thing, but acting on it is a daunting task. We have seen absolute power corrupting our leaders to obscene levels.

Once in power Chakwera started emptying his in-tray. He appointed for members of his cabinet, Felix Mlusu at finance, Modecai Msisha as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Richard Chimwendo Banda as Minister of Homeland Security while his vice Chilima was appointed Minister Responsible for Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms. He also appointed several other top positions, including the Attorney General Chikosa Silungwe.

Msisha turned down the offer, as he feared it would look like he was being rewarded for leading Chakwera’s legal team in the elections case. Msisha joins Henry Chimunthu Banda to decline a ministerial appointment. It is a wonder if there is an unwritten law that ministerial appointees are not consulted before the appointment. It is my strong feeling that we inherited this from the one party State where a Cabinet appointment was the highest honour one could get from the Ngwazi and where declining would simply mean dissenting his wise and dynamic leadership.

In his speech, Chakwera didn’t only go at length to show that time is come for us to live the dream. Freedom, he conceded, is nothing if people are poor. In the tones of Martin Luther’s I Have a Dream and I Have Been to the Mountaintop speeches, Chakwera outlined that only a united nation will complete the walk to the promised land flowing with milk and honey.

It is everyone’s hope that we will not go back to Egypt soon. The pursuit of happiness is still at the core of our hearts. Chakwera and team should not think that Malawians will look aside when they act against the will of the people. As a matter of fact, we have played politics far too long and the time to act is now.

With the removal of boards for about 60 statutory corporations, it is the hope that those getting to those runges will be there to serve Malawians. What we have seen in the corporations is grievous. Corporations have acted like ruling party branches, where billions are siphoned by the ruling elite. We have seen corporation vehicles ferrying people to and from political rallies. As a matter of fact, some of them have forever been non-performers and Malawians have had to pay through the nose bail-outs.

It is the hope that his government will not have any sacred cows. There are so many lessons the MCP, UTM Party leadership can learn from the ancien regime. There is hope that we will be freed from the State capture before us.

The die is cast, and Chakwera has the heavy task of leading this nation from the dark and desolate valley of injustice, cronyism, rampant corruption and many more social issues.

In his last State of the Nation Address, titled Balancing Development and Politics: Renewing Our Love for Our Country, delivered on June 5 2020 on the occasion of the opening of the 4th meeting in the 48th session of Parliament and the 2020/2021 budget meeting, the former president of Malawi, Peter Arthur Mutharika said: “Madam Speaker, I want Malawi to be a country where everyone must be accountable. Nobody should be above the law and nobody should be above criticism. The essence of democracy is that everyone must be accountable to someone else. Only God is accountable to no one.”

Just 23 days later, during the swearing in of Lazarus Chakwera as Malawi’s 6th President, Timothy Mtambo, former chairman of the Human Rights Defender Coalition (HRDC) and self-styled Comrade Commander-in-Chief of the Citizens for Transformation, told Times TV,

“In this country we want transparency; we won’t tolerate corruption. We want accountability without borders,” he said.

It was interesting that two people diametrically opposed politically shared the same vision about Malawi. They both saw a Malawi where everyone is accountable to everyone. The executive is accountable to the judiciary and Parliament and vice versa.

They horizontally check upon each other so that power is not abused. State institutions of good governance, which Professor Zimani Kadzamira prefers to call pillars of democracy, notably the Ombudsman, the Human Rights Commission, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) do their work independently ensuring that government delivers on its good governance mandate. Then, there is civil society doing its vertical check and balances on behalf of the people.

While the formal accountability routes, horizontal and vertical, are at work, the people of Malawi must also actively participate to demand accountability. They must collectivize, in villages, in the ghettos, in the streets and elsewhere demand that Parliament executes its oversight mandate; that the Executive leads; that CSOs and, even faith institutions, pressure both the Executive and Parliament to deliver. CSOs and faith organisations must also be accountable and transparent in their dealings. The citizens, while demanding accountability from others, must be accountable to each other, that is, citizen to citizen. In the words of musician Clarence Carter, citizens must be ‘neighbourly’.

This across-the board accountability is what both Peter Arthur Mutharika and Cde Timothy Mtambo meant in their separate coinages. It is 360 degree accountability.

To be honest, our leaders have let us down, very much. But we must also acknowledge that we have let ourselves down more than they have let us down. We have participated in corruption directly such as paying bribes for public services or enjoying the proceeds of corruption. We witnessed corruption but not reported it. Churches have ever received money which they know has been stolen. CSOs have ever been captured by the State.

We have heard stories that some prisoners, jailed for armed robbery, are released at night, armed by the prison guards and are escorted in police patrol vehicles to steal at gunpoint. They are brought back in the night, disarmed, and put back into the cells. The proceeds of the crime are shared by the prisoners and the police. We will not talk about traffic officers networking.

These could be mere stories. But, we, Malawians, do believe in the adage that there is no smoke without fire. There cannot be armed robbers in a country where only the army, police and the elite own guns.

In short, for 56 years, politicians, civil society, traditional and faith leaders have not been fully accountable to each other. We, common Malawians, owners of this soil by birth and inheritance, have not been accountable to each other, either. For 56 years we have praised and danced to mediocrity, and eaten with thieves, only to shed tears when we find no medicines in public hospitals; no chalk in public schools, no fuel in police vehicles to patrol the streets; no power to light our homes. We have not wondered why private hospitals and pharmacies always have huge stocks of medicines; why private schools have every textbook students need; why private guard firms have all the fuel they need to patrol the streets.

Unless we, Malawians, rise up and become active citizens to check on the performance of elected leaders and service providers, including CSOs, the new Malawi where Tonse will benefit will not be realized. Unless we, Malawians, team up and make our contributions to accountability without borders, we will forever shed tears. Unless we Malawians question the allocation ministers, judges, and others get, the siTONSE will eat from the plate of plenty. How does the government explain an allocation of 5 000 litres of diesel per month to a Principal Secretary who also uses common pool vehicles?

Listen to the words of American citizen, Frederick Douglass (uttered in 1857): “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will… Injustice and wrong… will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”

It takes a strong institution to protect citizens marching against their rulers. The assignment can be tougher for security agencies arm-twisted by a tricky chain of command. Our Features Editor JAMES CHAVULA traces Malawi Defence Force (MDF) long march with civilians angry at electoral injustice.

No smile. No rants. No intimidating armed security that followed him for six years. No smile. Just a grieving president reluctant to concede defeat in Africa’s first repeat poll won by an opposition leader.

Last Saturday, Peter Mutharika was visibly a dead man walking when he addressed journalists about the historic fresh poll he discredited as the country’s “worst-ever election”.

The setting was Sanjika Palace in Blantyre some six hours before the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Chifundo Kachale declared Lazarus Chakwera, 65, the winner in what Catholic bishops billed credible, free and fair election.

At Nyambabwe Hill, soldiers were seen escorting the triumphant Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader on a 345-kilometre dash to Lilongwe where he took office on Sunday morning.

MDF had done it again!

Constitutional lawyer Edge Kanyongolo, from the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College, states: “Frankly, it has become an expectation of mine that this is the way things are supposed to happen.

“Although it was sad to see Mutharika in that shape, I was filled with pride in knowing that I am a citizen of a country whose armed forces doesn’t owe personal allegiance, but go where the lawful authority is. The military has come to our rescue many times.”

The soldiers guarding the people’s choice firmly put the expectant nation on a cusp of a peaceful transition from a regime ruined by corruption, impunity and nepotism.

This is a lengthy love story of citizens at the mercy of their rulers and a military force always there to safeguard the rule of law.

Throughout the election Kachale’s team ran within 20 days, the soldiers jealously guarded the integrity of the vote from the polling station to the tally centre in Blantyre

The outcome sharply contrasts with Mutharika’s narrow win in the May 2019 presidential election the Constitutional Court annulled due to “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities.

Ready to kill

The edition to forget triggered serial protests where the soldiers often subdued governing party cadres calling themselves “youth cadets”, who ruthlessly attacked marchers angry at electoral injustices.

Masauko Thawe, who convened protestors in the Southern Region, salutes the soldiers for taking sides with civilians in the longest string of mass protests since the dawn of democracy in 1993.

“It wasn’t an easy struggle,” says the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) regional coordinator. “When I saw the DPP thugs coming to attack us and stop the struggle, I was terrified. They aimed to kill us and we were receiving death threats. However, MDF’s intervention gave us relief and courage to soldier on.”

The soldiers intervened on July 26, the day for the “one million march” to State House, which HRDC chairperson Gift Trapence considers a turning point in the movement against an arrogant regime and MEC headship.

In Lilongwe, the soldiers peacefully prevented thousands of determined marchers from getting to Kamuzu Palace.

In Blantyre, however, Thawe’s team had a rude awakening when party operatives stood sentry before daybreak and assaulted would-be marchers and anyone wearing red.

Ironically, gun-totting police officers, with teargas canisters hanging in their waistbelts, stared helplessly as party operatives harmed civilians perceived as enemies of the regime.

The heavies brazenly bragged that they were ready to kill in defence of Mutharika’s controversial win, warning they would not allow traitors in their stronghold.

“We won’t tolerate sellouts in our father’s bedroom. Take your nonsense to the North or Centre,” said a brawny bloke, revering Mutharika as Adadi, his political godfather.

The soldiers swiftly crushed the reign of terror, detaining and disarming the heavies who were seen bleeding as they were being bundled into military trucks.

They did not stop protecting protestors demanding the sacking of MEC chairperson Justice Jane Ansah, who dismissed the uprising as mob justice.

In the court of public opinion, the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judge became the face of an electoral commission pronounced incompetent by both Parliament and her seven colleagues in the highest court.

Her critics fished out photographs where she smilingly posed with delighted DPP cadets just a day after announcing Mutharika’s highly disputed victory.

The defence forces protected the demonstrators until the court nullified Mutharika’s re-election as petitioned by his runners-up Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima desired.

During the case in which the two took to the witness box, MDF deployed armoured vehicles to shuttle the five judges to Lilongwe Courthouse. On the ‘judgement day’, a military helicopter hovered over the court premises for hours as heavily armed forces wearing battle dress guarded the judges, clad in bulletproof vests, hopping out of the armoured vehicles one by one.

“MDF contributed a lot to the fight against electoral injustice. We are celebrating change today because of their strong institution and independent courts which stood with the people tired of impunity,” Thawe states.

He urges “captured institutions”, especially police and city councils, to embrace the professionalism illustrated by soldiers and courts during the marches Chakwera and Vice-President Chilima twice attended.

“We’re only defending our rights. Had MDF decided to fight us, many civilians would have been martyred and an arrogant regime would have continued to govern without a mandate from the majority of voters,” the human rights defender recalls.

Always pro-citizen

Chakwera, who has pledged “ a better Malawi for all Malawians”, praised the soldiers for consistently upholding constitutional order.

“From the inception of our democracy in 1993, the defence force has always acted in the interest of protecting civilians from the aggression of their government,” said Chakwera.

Last August, Chilima cautioned DPP to spare the armed forces from “a culture of nepotism” most likely to water down its widely acclaimed discipline and professionalism.

According to retired brigadier Marcel Chirwa, MDF operated within its constitutional mandate to guard the rule of law and the safety of Malawians.

Section 160 of the Constitution states that no one may direct MDF to act contrary to the Supreme Law.

“The roles of the police and the defence force are different. The police protect property and soldiers take care of the nation or the people you call the civilians. They will not tolerate anyone to disturb the peace,” he explains.

The military personnel was handy during the push to restore democracy in 1992 when they disarmed Malawi Young Pioneer (MYP).

The fall of the MCP paramilitary wing cleared the way for a peaceful referendum in which Malawians elected the lamp of democracy over founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s dictatorship.

When president Bingu wa Mutharika dropped dead in April 2012, MDF general Henry Odillo heroically protected vice-president Joyce Banda to take over as required by the Constitution.

A year later, a state-sponsored inquiry quoted Bright Msaka, who was Chief Secretary to the Office of President and Cabinet during Bingu’s reign, as saying Mutharika suggested that soldiers take over.

Oddly, six ministers gathered around midnight and told journalists that Banda would not succeed Bingu, who sacked her from their party two years earlier.

In 2013, Banda and the US Army awarded Odillo medals of honour for bravely upholding constitutionalism in the tricky transition of power.

People’s general

Currently, Malawians thrilled by the mass resistance to electoral injustice say Vincent Nundwe, the general who protected protesters, deserves similar honours.

Malawians were already up in arms when Nundwe succeeded Griffin Supuni on June 22.

“My priority is, first of all, to ensure that Malawi is sovereign. I will also ensure that Malawi is peaceful. MDF will protect everyone without considering their tribe or anything,” he told The Nation just hours after his promotion.

Eight months later, the ‘people’s commander’ became the fourth MDF general sacked by Mutharika in just six years. He was fired the same day Mutharika refused to kick out MEC commissioners found incompetent by Parliament.

However, he stood down “a happy man”.

“My conscience is clear that I performed to the requirement of the office. I have no regrets for I have done my part,” he said.

Mutharika seemed on course to create a generals’ brigade likely to become a hazard to national security if not a wealthy source of military insights.

Youth and Society (YAS) director Charles Kajoloweka, who marched alongside the soldiers in Mzuzu, fondly remembers Nundwe as a streetwise general.

He declares: “Overall, the defence forces have been very progressive under the former commander, a people’s defender who ensured that armed forces remained professional and independent of any political interference. “Even after what could be a political dismissal, he exited in a manner that didn’t create tension. Interestingly, how his successor [Peter Namathanga] has executed his work is encouraging. We can confidently say we have an armed force that’s ready to protect Malawians and the Constitution all the time, an establishment that has a legacy to defend. MDF remains one of the most disciplined institutions that have always helped uphold the rule of law in the country.”

The 1991 Phalombe floods went into the annals of Malawi’s history as a complete tragedy. Hundreds of people died from the mountains of waters that came down the Michesi Hills.

A story is told that, almost all the people from Bokosi Village drowned or were washed away. In which case there was no one to mourn the other. All the harvest, goats, cattle and chickens went together with the people. It was like an exodus of a people living in the slopes of the Michesi hills to settle in the deep sands of the Indian Ocean.

There is a monument in the district which reminds people of these floods. Some of the survivors of these floods recall the day with very sad memories, and the day haunts them, almost 30 years down the line.

While there is a monument of these floods erected in their memory, Lawi’s new song, titled Gitala Lokha departs from this memory to recreate a story of how God saves and loves, and raises some people from different hard situations to become important people in the society.

While Lawi mentions various hard times like how Malawian soldiers survived in the war in Mozambique, the main feature of the song remains his guitar which he survived with in the Phalombe floods. Lawi reinvents the Phalombe floods and sees himself as one of the survivors.

After his property, parents and uncles, brothers and sisters were washed away by the floods. It is only his guitar survived and remains with him.

Now, a lonely figure in the world, destitute, only armed with a guitar, through hard work and resilience, and above all, God’s protecting hand, his life has changed. The guitar has taken him to great cities in the world that he never thought of. He says God has picked him from the shanty Safarao in Ndirande Township to some of the great cities in the world where great people like Obama lives (Kukakhala kulimbika, ife tizalimbikabe, Mulungu alipo amatisamalira. Zolimbazi, ife tizalimbabe, Mulungu alipo amatisamalira. Watichotsa ndi Mulungu, kwa Safarao, ku Ndix, mpaka atisiya apapa, Takaona kwawo kwa Papa mpaka kwa Obama ndi gitala lokhali.

And he further, says it proudly that he will continue to sing. Thus sings Lawi: “Kaamba ka chikondi cha zoimbazi, zonse zitakokolokera kunyanja ya mchere, tidatsala ndi gitala lokhali, tidali ndi gitala lokha, amayiii, tidali ndi gitala lokha amayiii, ndi nyimbo mumtima (for the love of music, we only survived with this simple guitar and a little song hidden in the heart).

The song, which is a Lawi’s fusion of Alan Namoko touch, that he discovered back in 2013 in Amaona Kuchedwa, and carried it to Zonena Kuchuluka in 2017 and now to Gitala Lokha, has Phalombe as its main setting, of which rivers Namoko frequently crossed before his death in 1995.

In Amaona Kuchedwa, there was an impatient man who walked all the way to Mulanje, after his car broke down, against his friends’ advice not to use it. It seems in this kind of songs, while Lawi successfully sings in a borrowed Lhomwe tongue, he also has a special liking of the districts where we find most of the Lhomwe people. Perhaps, it is his attempt to keep reminding us that Namoko the great, came from Thyolo, one of the districts in the Lhomwe belt.

The phenomenon of floods, commonly known as Napolo, has been used by various artists in Malawi. For example, late Steve Chimombo, English professor at the Chancellor College, wrote extensively on the ravages of Napolo.

Black Paseli, also recorded a song Napolo as early as 1947. The song was later picked by Gides Chalamanda and also Makasu Band. Lawi, however, goes beyond these narratives of the wrath of Napolo, and represents it as a symbolism of human adversity that can be challenged.

The Indian Ocean, a symbolism of the end of all things, has been previously used by other artists as well. For example, Daimond Kudzala, in his song, Ndikaima Paphiri, he paints a picture of himself as a person who is disillusioned with life.

So, just like the plot in Ken Lipenga’s short story, Waiting for a Turn, he climbs to the peak of Mulanje Mountain. But while the character in Lipenga’s story is ever standing in a queue, willing to jump from the cliff on Sapitwa Peak to throw himself into the abyss, the persona in Kudzala’s song, goes to the source of Ruo River, where, in a suicide act, will get himself drown into the Ruo, and Ruo will carry him to Shire and will end up in Indian Ocean as his grave.

But Lawi and his guitar, did not end in the Indian Ocean. God protected them. And the guitar that he carries with him wherever he goes is testimony to his life.

While the symbolism of a guitar as the only thing that survived with him, could be interesting, he does not say where the guitar was at the time of the floods.

Was it with him and he managed to clutch to it through the waves and managed to sail with it to the hard ground? Or is it the guitar that saved his life, he saw it while drowning and he rode on it like a boat to the dry land?

Or after the flooding waters had gone did he search for it and reclaimed it in the mud sands or saw it trapped in the top branch of a surviving tree or he saw it floating in the water, after the floods have passed?

Pomwe mtsogoleri wa dziko lino yemwe wangosankhidwa kumene Lazarus Chakwera wayamba kusankha adindo m’bom, ku Nyumba ya Malamulo zinthu zasadabuzika.

Chakwera adayamba n’kusankha nduna zisanu zomwe ndi wachiwiri wake Saulos Chilima ngati nduna ya mapulani a zachuma ndi woyang’anira za ogwira ntchito m’boma, Felix Mlusu ngati nduna ya zachuma.

Iye adasankhanso Richard Chimwendo Banda ngati nduna ya chitetezo cha m’dziko komanso Modecai Msisha ngati nduna ya za malamulo ndi chilungamo ndinso Chikosa Silungwe ngati mlangizi wamkulu wa boma pa malamulo. Koma Msisha adakana udindowo.

Pambali pa awa, Chakwera adasankhanso Prince Kapondamgaga ngati woyang’anira ogwira ntchito ku nyumba ya boma, Zangazanga Chikhosi ngati mlembi wamkulu wa boma komanso Janet Banda ngati wachiwiri wake.

Chakwera adati pali chikonzero choti asankhe nduna zosaposa 30, pomwe nduna zosachepera 12 zikhale amayi.

Ku Nyumba ya Malamulo nako kudachitika pelete pomwe omwe adali kutsogolo, lero ali kumbuyo ndipo omwe atsogolera, pano akutsatira.

Maudindo m’nyumbayo adasintha moti yemwe adali mtsogoleri wa nyumba yonse Kondwani Nankhumwa pano ndi mtsogoleri wa mbali yotsutsa boma pomwe Chimwendo Banda yamwe adali mbali yotsutsa boma pano ndi mtsogoleri wa nyumba yonse ndipo akukhala mpando oyambilira m’nyumbayo.

Bright Msaka ndi wachiwiri kwa mtsogoleri wa DPP Nankhumwa, Simon Vuwa Kaunda ndi wokhazikitsa bata kumbali ya DPP pomwe Mary Navicha ndi wachiwiri wake.

John Chikalimba ndi mtsogoleri wa chipani cha PP, Noah Chimpeni ndi okhazikitsa bata ku mbali ya PP pomwe Ackson Kalaile Banda ndi wachiwiri kwa Chimpeni.

Tsopano nyumbayi ikukonzekera zosintha utsogoleri wa makomiti ena kuti zigwirizane ndi momwe malamulo akagwiridwe kantchito m’nyumbayo amanenera. Malinga ndi malamulowo, apampando a makomiti sayenera kukhala ochokera kuchipani cholamula choncho makomiti onse amene wapampando ndi wachipani cha MCP tsopano asintha.

Chimwendo Banda adati ngati mtsogoleri wa nyumba yonse, aonetsetsa kuti aphungu akutsatira malamulo a nyumbayo komanso kuti zochokera m’nyumbayo zizikhala zokomera anthu.

“Paja nkhani ndi ya tsogolo lowala ndiye kuwalako kukuyenera kuyambira kwa adindo ngati ife choncho ndionetsetsa kuti ndigwire ntchito ndi aphungu onse kuti titumikire Amalawi,” adatero Chimwendo Banda.

Boma latsopano la Tonse Alliance layamba kukwaniritsa ena mwa malonjezo ake a panyengo ya kampeni ndipo pomwe akadaulo osiyanasiyana ayamikira izi, atinso boma lisadzabwerere mmbuyo.

Kukwaniritsidwa kwa malonjezowo kudayamba kuoneka Lachiwiri m’Nyumba ya Malamulo pomwe nduna yatsopano ya zachuma Felix Mlusu idalengeza bajeti yoyembekezera ya K722.4 biliyoni.

Mlusu watcha bajetiyo dzina loti kutukula ntchito zaulimi ndi zipangizo zotsika mtengo chifukwa mtengo wa fetereza watsika kufika pa K4 495 pa thumba la 50Kg monga mwalonjezo ndipo alimi 3.5 miliyoni ndiwo akuyembekezeka kupindula.

M’dziko muno muli mabanja odalira ulimi okwana 4.2 miliyoni koma ndondomeko yakale ya sabuside inkakomera alimi 900 000 kapena 1.5 miliyoni akachuluka.

M’bajetiyo, boma lakonza zokwenza poyambira ndalama za malipiro apamwezi kuchoka pa K35 000 kufika pa K50,000 komanso kukwenza malipiro oyambira kudula msonkho munthu yemwe amalandira K35 000 tsopano malipiro ake awonjezekera ndi K15 000 yomwe ndiyokwanira kugula matumba atatu a fetereza pa mtengo wa K4 495 n’kukhalakonso ndi zolipilira wonyamula fetelezayo.malipiro kukutanthauza kuti

Chimodzimodzi kukweza malipiro oyambira kudula msonkho kufika pa K100 000 kupangitsa kuti anthu apulumutse K17 500 yomwe kale amadulidwa kutanthauza kuti nawo akhoza kugula matumba atatu a fetereza ndi ndalamayo.

Koma ngakhale izi zili n’kuthekera kogwedeza mapezedwe a ndalama za boma, akadaulo pa za msonkho ndi zachuma agwirizana nayo nkhaniyi.

Kadaulo wazachuma Gowokani Chijere Chirwa wati nkofunikira kwambiri kuti boma lapanga momwe lapangiramu potengera umphawi wa anthu ndipo wati kangachepe komwe anthu azipulumutsa nkochuluka akagwiritsa ntchito bwino.

Naye kadaulo pa zamisonkho Emmanuel Kaluluma wati ngakhale kukwenza malipiro oyambira kudula msonkho kukhudze katoleredwe ka misonkho, boma lapanga bwino kuganizira anthu.

“Misonkho ndi imeneyo ndipo ndiyofunikadi koma palibe nzeru kutolera ndalama kwa anthu nkuwasiya alibe pogwira chifukwa afa ndi njala,” adatero Kaluluma.

Mubajetiyo, boma laonjezera ndalama za thumba la ngongole za achinyamata kuchoka pa K15 biliyoni kufika pa K40 biliyoni komanso lati pofika mchaka cha 2021 likhala litatsegula mwayi 600 000 wa ntchito.

Kadaulo pa kayendetsedwe ka zinthu m’dziko Makhumbo Munthali wati boma layamba bwino pokwaniritsa malonjezo chifukwa ubale umakoma nchilungamo komanso kukhulupilika.

“Mukakumbukira tikucheza za kampeni ndidanenapo kuti andale azilonjeza zinthu zomwe angakwanitse chifukwa zomwezo zimadzasanduka adani awo mtsogolo maka pa kampeni ina ngati sadazikwaniritse,” adatero Munthali.

Naye George Phiri wodziwa za ndale wati boma likamapanga zinthu zokomera anthu ake, zinthu m’dziko zimayenda komanso dziko silichedwa kutukuka.

“Tamverani, anthu amadziwa kuti andale amasintha miyoyo yawo akakhala pampando ndiye kuti munthuyo asade kukhosi, pamafunika naye azimvako kukoma kwa dzikolo ngati momwe layambira bomali,” adatero Phiri.

Akadaulowa adagwirizana pa mfundo yoti bola bomali lisasinthe momwe layambiramu chifukwa likatero anthu atsimikiza kuti andale zawo nzimodzidi.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ousted from power after the June 23 fresh presidential election, is claiming that recent arrests of its members borders on political persecution.

But Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has dismissed the claims, saying those arrested are reaping what they sow.

The comments follow the arrest of DPP regional governor for the Centre David Kambalame on Thursday, on alleged assault charges which came on the heels of the arrest of the party’s Bangwe Mthandizi Ward Councillor Isaac ‘Jomo’ Osman over allegations of theft and malicious damage.

DPP spokesperson Nicholas Dausi, who was minister of Homeland Security in the Peter Mutharika administration, alleged in an interview yesterday that the arrests are aimed at silencing the DPP, which is now an opposition party, describing the arrests as “sheer vengeance”.

Dausi said he was aware that senior members and leaders of DPP are targeted for offences they did not commit, alleging that the Tonse Alliance, which took over power led by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and UTM, was geared to arrest DPP members on tramped-up charges.

DPP also held a news conference in Lilongwe yesterday to amplify the message about the purported political persecution.

But MCP spokesperson the Reverend Maurice Munthali, in an interview yesterday, said his party was aware of a DPP scheme to pre-empt obvious pending arrests of its members who plundered public funds and are now living in fear.

“We know they stole public funds and the best they can do is to return what they stole. Let me make it clear to them, MCP is not going to arrest anyone, the Tonse Alliance administration would simply let the law take its course,” Munthali said.

He insisted that the Tonse Alliance administration would leave no stone unturned, warning that the law would catch up with anyone, regardless of their position or party affiliation.

“If people stole, if they killed, or committed any other offences, they must be prepared to reap what they sow. In a situation where an accused returns what was stolen, it demonstrates a degree of remorse and the law takes care of that when sentencing such people in a situation where a conviction is secured,” he said.

Munthali said the Tonse Alliance assured Malawians during campaign that it would respect the rule of law, and going against that would be a betrayal of the highest order. He said the new administration would try as much as possible to plough back what was stolen from the people of Malawi, using applicable laws.

He said the arrests were not witch-hunting or political persecution, arguing that if the DPP administration respected the laws of Malawi, its members being arrested now would have been arrested then.

“This just demonstrates that the DPP administration was good at shielding its members and this encouraged lawlessness. We have people that got away with so many offences or atrocities simply because they belonged to the DPP.  Now, people should not start blaming the law,” he added.

National police spokesperson James Kadadzera, in an interview yesterday, said both cases are not political, arguing that the acts committed were criminal in nature, but police in sometimes read situations socially and politically.

He dismissed assumptions that police were failing to make arrests because the DPP was in power, adding that they keep records and at an appropriate time, and after thorough investigations, arrests are made.

Kadadzera said Kambalame assaulted MCP secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka at a police station in Lilongwe while Osman was also involved in assault of individuals, theft and malicious damage.

But Dausi insisted that their members were being targeted for political reasons.

“I thought the Tonse Alliance would settle down and start discussing how to arrest Covid-19 pandemic, but see, only one week in office, they have started plotting how to silence DPP,” he insisted.

Asked why the DPP administration did not arrest people who have been arrested now for offences they committed, Dausi said that was the job of Malawi Police Service and as a party, they had nothing to do with it.

One of Mutharika’s top aides, who opted for anonymity, also claimed the arrests are meant to instill fear in DPP members, including its leader Mutharika, fashioned to silence what he called “a formidable opposition block, even in Parliament”.

“They want to take us under. They are operating on a philosophy that former president Joyce Banda goofed by giving Prof Peter Mutharika space by not arresting him when he was in opposition and he maneuvered and ousted her on the ballot.

“They have agreed not to make that mistake again, and the way to go is by arresting senior officials and kill the party,” claimed the ex-State House official.

But Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) chairperson Gift Trapence said in an interview yesterday DPP should not cry wolf now because it is a party on record to have arrested people, including human rights defenders, arbitrary.

“This is simply a scheme to preempt whatever State agencies would be doing in the next few weeks or months. They know the arrests are eminent. What they are doing is obstruction to justice, let they return what they stole,” Trapence said.

Limbe Police Station spokesperson Patrick Mussa explained earlier that Osman was arrested on allegations that on May 25 2019 he, with other people, armed with pangas, stormed into the compound of Blantyre Bangwe legislator Orphan Shaba where they caused chaos.

He said Osman allegedly damaged three car windscreens and stole five mobile phones amounting to K1 035 000. n

The High Court, Commercial Division, has rebuked former minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Kamlepo Kalua for his directive to allocate a piece of land to Magnolia Investment  when the same was legally leased to someone else by his own ministry.

In the judgment, dated July 2 2020, judge Ken Manda described the former minister’s conduct as illegal, irrational and senseless—further condemning him in costs for his action.

According to court records which we have seen, on April 15 2020 Kamlepo directed that Commercial Plot number Bwaila 5/108 in Lilongwe’s central business district, belonging to Minestone revert to Magnolia Investment, even when the former had a valid lease.

Magnolia was offered the piece of land in question in February 2013 and its lease was registered in June 2014. In June 2018, court records show that the Ministry of Lands issued to Magnolia Investment a final notice of re-entry and that the lease was terminated.

The same piece of land was allocated to Minestone in July 2018 under same condition that the new owner pays premium charges and other required fees within 90 days. Minestone paid K10 million in premium charges and other fees on March 23 2020—outside the 90 days, but got a go-ahead to complete the balance within 90 days after this first payment.

But when they went back for further payment, they were informed of the Minister’s directive that the land had reverted to Magnolia Investment, which prompted search for legal redress.

According to court records, chief lands officer Geoffrey Mvula indicated that the ministry had indeed accepted payment from Minestone and allowed them to pay the remainder within 90 days from the initial payment. Mvula also told the court that as chief lands officer he was not aware of the cancellation of Minestone’s lease of the land.

“In the context of this decision to revert the property back to Magnolia Investments Limited, I believe that the minister did not have the capability to make the decision. This is especially in view of the fact that the same minister had terminated the lease …to Mongolia Investment. Simply put, you cannot revert something that no longer exists.

Then there is also the fact that when the Minister was reverting this property to Magnolia Investments, there was a standing lease of offer to the claimant. This raises the question as to why the minister would give preference to Magnolia and not the claimant,” reads part of the judgment.

According to the judgment, both the minister and the ministry did not avail themselves to the court.

The claimant’s lawyer, Gift Nankhuni, confirmed receiving the judgment, saying it was surprising how the ministry handled the matter and that he is happy because justice has been served.

Principal Secretary for Lands Wilson Moleni asked for more time to consult before commenting on the matter.

The former minister said he was not aware of the judgement; otherwise, he said: “As a minister, I was not supposed to represent myself on the same. A ministerial approval is done on behalf of the government.

Since Kamlepo left office costs for the case will be met by government, according to one lawyer in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

Meanwhile, Police in Lilongwe have arrested seven Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development officers in relation to missing of hard drives from office computers believed to have some vital information on irregular land transactions.

Confirming the development Police PRO for Lilongwe Joseph Kachikho said the seven are in custody as police continue to investigate the matter.

According to Kachikho, the seven will appear in court on Tuesday.

In July 2018, a teenager—who for purposes of this story we shall call Joy because she is minor—was defiled by a businessperson almost thrice her age.

The suspected defiler came in contact with the 15-year-old girl through her in-law.

The poor girl recalls being slapped three times by her 41-year-old defiler, when she resisted his advances.

“He locked me in a room and forced me to have sex with me. I refused vehemently, but he overpowered me,” Joy narrates her ordeal.

Police arrested the defiler after tests at Phalombe District Hospital proved that Joy had been defiled and contracted some sexually transmitted infections in the process.

But the matter has stalled from the time the suspect was released on court bail on August 16 2018, having paid a bail bond of K85 500.

Joy soon dropped out of school, fleeing mockery from her friends. as if she chose to sleep with the old man.

“I can’t go back to school unless I move out of Phalombe district,” she said while fighting tears.

On October 24 2019, the State applied to withdraw the case, alleging that Joy could no longer be traced.

Court records indicate that a prosecutor told First Grade Magistrate Damson Banda that it would be difficult for the State to continue with the case because the victim was nowhere to be seen.

A blame-game ensued when Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) inquired about the case. While the court said it was the police delaying it, the police said the court had remained quiet on the matter.

Banda says the State has power to bring back the case to court and parade its witnesses.

“The State hasn’t brought the suspect for close to two years now,” he says. “We are not an interested party we only handle what the State brings to us,” he added.

But Phalombe Police Station spokesperson Innocent Moses attributed the stalling of the case to the fact that police have no say since the suspect was granted bail by the court.

Moses said the way forward is for the court to either revoke the bail or issue a re-arrest order.

When asked about Joy’s two-year wait for justice, Banda said the prosecutor informed him that the case had been transferred to Southern Region Police Headquarters, a claim disputed by regional prosecuting officer Senior Superintendent Jackson Sanudi.

He said the only case Phalombe Police Station has committed to the regional office involves a fellow police officer, from Migowi Police Unit, who is suspected to have defiled two minors in a police cell.

“There is no way a defilement case which involves a non-public figure can be committed to the regional office. Those are handled at station level,” said Sanudi.

Inquiries into Joy’s quest for justice have revealed that Joy’s parents were allegedly approached with K50 000 to convince her to change her statement when the case resumes.

“From the money, my mother gave me K4 000. She also bought me a mat and a blanket,” laments Joy, blaming her parents for selling her innocence.

Joy’s mother confirmed being approached to withdraw the case.

“Considering what my daughter has suffered, though I received the money, I refused to withdraw the case,” she says.

Yoneco executive director MacBain Mkandawire, whose organisation fights for the women’s and children’s rights says the blame-game in the case could be a manifestation of corruption.

International donors of Adventist Development Relief Agency of Malawi (Adra) have pulled out after the board of Adra Malawi rejected a review report on its operations and recommendations the donors made.

The donors’ pull-out would affect 2.5 million Malawians who benefit from Adra projects directly and indirectly across the country, according to an insider conversant with the projects.

Since its inception in 1983, Adra Malawi has been implementing HIV and Aids, food security, governance and education programmes, tailored to reach out to the vulnerable.

The insider disclosed that Adra Malawi has been receiving an average of combined K2.5 billion from its donors; meaning that their pulling out, which would bring Adra on its knees, would render miserable lives of 2.5 million people.

Confirming the pulling out of the donors in a response to a questionnaire, Adra Malawi board chairperson pastor Frackson Kuyama said the donors include Adra International America, where Adra is headquartered, Adra Sweden, Adra Denmark and Adra Australia.

About 65 full-time employees, according to the insider, would also be affected.

Among the recommendations, the donors demanded removal of Adra Malawi acting country director (CD) Hastings Lacha for his alleged disregard to policy and procedure.

Lacha, who was serving at Adra Uganda as coordinator for an emergency project targeting refugees, was hired in January 2019 after the former country director Michael Usi left the organisation and joined frontline politics.

Findings on external review of aspects of Adra Malawi operations, compiled by Adra Africa on request by Adra Australia, Adra Denmark and Adra Sweden, dated December 30 2019, faulted the prevailing working environment at the organisation in Malawi.

Lacha opted not to comment, referring us to the board.

The review was approved by Kuyama, but in his response to a  questionnaire, he said the board rejected the report because the donors did not respect their [board’s] views.

“Much as we appreciate donor support, this is on partnership agreement where views/opinions from both parties are supposed to be respected,” Kuyama said.

He argued that there was no single policy or procedure which one could challenge and point out as contravened as alleged in the  said report. 

“As far as Adra Malawi board is concerned, that report you are referring to is not credible and leaves a lot to be desired for lack of proper procedures, content and the motive behind the investigation team,” he said.

He added that the team just came up with the final report, tailored from abroad and they only got to see it when it was already in circulation among their donors.

“We surely know what we are talking about. Therefore, in a nutshell, Adra Malawi rejected the report because it did not represent a true reflection of issues on the ground and it was published without the input/consent of both management and the board,” he said.

He dismissed claims that Lacha created unhealthy working environment, arguing that the new management was only trying to bring sanity and austerity measures for the organisation and definitely, those resisting change devise other means to throw mud on such reforms.

He also dismissed claims of favouring Adventists, arguing that of the 65 staff members they have, 60 percent are non-Adventists. On fears that jobs of Adra Malawi employees are on the line, he admitted that the pulling out of the donors has, indeed, affected some projects.

“Those that will be released are those that were directly involved in such respective projects. As procedure, we ought to officially write them. It is not everyone. Of course, they will be considered to other future projects in the pipeline because of the family-feeling that we share at Adra Malawi,” he said. n

It must feel good, if you love the country that is, to see the backs of the outgoing regime and all the behive of activity in government today aimed at draining the swamp, tightening the loopholes and injecting a new sense of urgency, and life, to our government—making it a government of the people, again.

Unless you were a beneficiary of the era of nepotism and cronyism, those of us who heard our new President speak at his swearing in ceremony last Sunday, heard a clear unifying message.

As he became the 6th Malawian to take oath of office, we could, at least and at last, breathe a mighty sigh of relief.

While in the past Peter Mutharika delivered a narcissist message, threats and delusional assassination plots at similar occasions, Number Six spoke of unifying the country, recognising that the country has great potential, a great past but so much needs to be done.

He didn’t even run away from the fact he will rule a fractured nation, or that his own party has a dark past.

And what we have seen ever since has been uplifting, too. The new Finance Minister is not a young man, but he is a breath of fresh air too in politics—a veteran of corporate world, a freshman in politics. 

The selection of the Justice Minister, although ill-fated since the nominee, the colossal Modecai Msisha has rejected it—was well intentioned. The appointments of Chief Secretary and his deputy, Attorney General, have all oozed with merit.

And the painstaking work being done to review all government contracts and the patience in filling most Cabinet posts shows a leadership that knows what it is doing.

And at long last, we have a leadership that we can trust—until that trust is undermined.

At long last, we also have a leadership that is speaking as servant leadership, posting, routinely, reports of its activities and reminding us, in the wording of those reports, that we are the kings and queens, and they, honoured to lead us, are the servants.

What a far cry from the callous leadership of the bygone era. The one that threatened to tear us apart if we infuriated it, that warned us of daring its wrath, that vowed to rule forever and that it can only allow a certain party to rule the country—over its dead body! 

But the task of rebuilding this country is not done. It’s a one gigantic job—this job Chakwera—and as he prefers to say, Chakwera and Chilima—have on their hands. The civil service has been a mess and that’s not the only legacy of Peter Mutharika, but all the parties that have ruled this country since we attained democracy, meaning that includes some folks who today also are part of the ruling alliance.

Part of the trick is to learn from the past, but also avoid as much as possible—those who have corrupted good meaning governments before. These must be treated like a cancer cell—folks with chequered CVs during stint in previous governments, businesspersons (and they are mostly men but both local and foreign) not willing to earn their contracts, but bribe their way to the top and loyalists who feel entitled that their time in the trenches justifies any corrupt schemes to defraud the country or get jobs they don’t deserve.

If Chakwera does this, bring in efficiency to revenue collection and usage of the resources, if he maximises on the country’s newly acquired reputation as the most democratic nation in the southern hemisphere (oops, we must be anyway!), leverage that to bring in investors and tourists’ money, then this oasis of democracy will be an oasis of prosperity, too, we will begin to seriously fight poverty and instigate genuine development, not the delusional development Mutharika pontificated about in the bygone era.

But to deter others from repeating the crimes of the past, Chakwera must vigorously go after those who plundered the State. There should be no country for the thieves. In doing so, he will not be meting out retribution, but ensuring rule of law. Failing to do so, on the premise that he doesn’t want to antagonise the DPP, will be an act of cowardice and political blunder that may haunt the new leadership, but also the country not so long from now.  That said, it all looks good and feels good to be led by someone else other than one of the most incompetent and corrupt regimes this country has ever seen. n

When former president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda lost the multiparty election in 1994, Malawians breathed a sigh of relief. 

Due to the excitement of getting freedom after three decades of dictatorship, some people could even openly say “never again should MCP be in power”. All this was said because people had suffered a lot with political atrocities.

However, people did not know what the future was holding. Undoubtedly, people thought that their lives would be much better.  Probably they even assumed that the economy would improve as opposed to a one-man show in dictatorship.

Unfortunately, this was not to be the case because of greed. For the past 25 years the Malawi economy had been on an unstoppable downward spiral. Those people who were doing well during Kamuzu’s era have slowly, but surely, joined the poor.

In general terms, Malawians have economically suffered more in democracy than during the dictatorship. This has been one of the main reasons for crying for the return of the MCP government.  One can only hope that the MCP government, under the Tonse Alliance, has realised this as well, that Malawians want a better life.

Despite running a failed government, it was surprising to hear president Peter Mutharika on several occasions declaring that as long as he was alive, MCP or Lazarus Chakwera would never rule Malawi again.  Honestly speaking, this was myopic. As it is, MCP is back in power under the leadership of Lazarus Chakwera who defeated Mutharika by a very wide margin of votes.

Meanwhile, Mutharika should have known better that it is up to the people of Malawi to chose a president and that it is not the duty of the incumbent president to decide who should rule the country.  Therefore, Mutharika’s comment about MCP not rising to power was irrelevant.  Naturally, and more likely, Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are now searching to find out what went wrong for them to lose to MCP. The bottom line here is that Mutharika’s government failed to lead the people and the country.

Some of the obvious reasons that made Mutharika to fail are that he allowed corruption, stealing of public resources and total abuse of power to take place without any control. 

Furthermore, he had no time to listen to anybody, including his huge team of advisers who seemed to have no real power to advise him but just to run errands. In the end, Mutharika’s government had nothing to offer as the president watched Malawians suffer. 

Meanwhile, Mutharika’s campaign for the fresh election was a total flop as he was naïve to talk about changing Malawi to look like USA, Canada or Singapore. It made no sense that Mutharika would be able to transform the country so much after his first six years were a flop. He failed even to provide basics to the people of Malawi. 

His promises for development were not fulfilled and the best he did was just to do things in half-measures such as not completing roads and bridges. He also had a bad system of merely planting foundation stones for projects he pretty well knew he would not accomplish. This gave false hopes to people who later on might have found out that it was just a way of torturing them.

The other thing that made Mutharika fail was his idea of having armed militia youths known as cadets. They would go round and beat up people and destroy property at will. Indeed, people started disassociating with the DPP because of these untamable youths.

After declaring that MCP would never rule Malawi again, one wonders what Mutharika is thinking now that MCP is back in power. No condition is permanent and the advice is, in politics, ‘never say never’.n