Friends, Malawians, countrymen, lend me your ears

Friends, Malawians, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to question the Answer, not to expound on it.

The evil that electoral umpires do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with fake ballots;

So let it be.

 

The righteous Answer hath told you Chilima is “too ambitious”:

If it is so, it is a grievous fault,

And unfairly hath Chilima answer’d it.

 

The same righteous Answer hath faulted Chakwera for befriending a non-Christian

If it is so, it is a grievous fault,

And prejudicially hath Chakwera paid for it.

 

Here, under leave of Answer, MEC Commissioners and Tippexers –

For the Answer is a righteous judge;

So are they all, all righteous beings –

Come I to speak on Chakwera and Chilima’s tippexed-elections loss.

These two are fine leaders, faithful and just to Malawi:

But the Answer says Chilima is ‘too ambitious’ and Chakwera lacks ‘good taste’ in running mates;

And the Answer is a righteous judge.

 

Chilima hath many a time talked about the thriving corruption and he did promise to end it.

Whose pockets would the billions thus saved fill?

Does this in Chilima seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Chilima hath wept:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet the Answer says he is ‘too ambitious’;

And the Answer is a righteous judge.

 

Chakwera hath vowed to deliver #SuperHi5

Where U = ‘uniting Malawi’ and P = ‘prospering together’

Translated = ZERO discrimination on grounds of sex, race, tribe, language, religion, political or other opinion or whatever pretext.

Wasn’t Chakwera’s choice of running mate proof of his belief in inclusivity?

Yet the Answer says inclusivity is evil;

And the Answer is a righteous judge.

 

You all did see the Malawi Public Sector Reform Implementation stolen from Chilima

Yet Chilima neither whined nor complained.

Humbly accepted he did the appointing authority’s decision: Was this ambition?

Yet the Answer says he is ‘too ambitious’;

And, sure, she is a righteous judge!

 

Further, Malawi has been led by both Christians and non-Christians

To date, no empirical evidence exists suggesting that non-Christians are bad for Malawi.

Any reason therefore why non-Christians should be less Malawian than Christians?

Yet Answer says Chakwera should discriminate on religious grounds if he is to win.

Question: who will the Answer direct us to discriminate next?

And, sure, she is a righteous judge!

 

I speak not to disprove what the Answer says,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all hunger for genuinely free, fair and credible elections, not without cause:

What cause withholds you then, to demand for:

• Nullification of the fake elections?
• Immediate dissolution of the Commission and transparent replacement of new commissioners?
• Interdiction of the rigging enabling MEC management pending due process?
• After fixing all the above, conduct of really free, fair and credible elections

Through a rerun presided over by a Justice of Appeal with no prefabricated Answers?

 

O judgment! thou art fled to electoral thieves,

And Malawians have lost their reason.

 

Bear with me;

My heart is in the tippex bottle,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

 

But yesterday the optimism inspired by democracy

Gave hope to millions of Malawians;

Today, nothing remains of that hope;

Because no one can be so foolish as to believe MEC will ever deliver credible elections.

MEC’s sole success is successfully sowing seeds of acute voter apathy.

 

O Malawians, if I were disposed to stir

Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,

I should do the Answer wrong, and APM wrong, and all those Tippexers wrong

Who, you all know, are righteous people:

I will not do them wrong; I rather choose

To wrong the victims of a tippexed election, to wrong myself and you,

Than to wrong such a righteous Answer.

 

** Inspired by Marc Antony’s speech in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Christmas / Year end Reflection: Dogs, Drones, Bananas and a Republic

The last time I posted a blog piece was in April. To be exact, it was on April 16, 2018.

Since then in our Malawi, a country still happily living in early man’s days, not much has changed.

Dogs vs Drones

In the Christmas holidays rush, travelers in the United Kingdom were inconvenienced by alleged drone sightings at London Gatwick Airport.

An estimated 140,000 passengers faced up to three days of disruption when about 1,000 flights were affected during 36 hours of chaos when drones were sighted near the runway.

Now, what the British – Malawi’s former colonial masters can do – Malawians can also do.

On Monday December 16, a flight take-off was aborted at Chileka International Airport. But check the irony: while Gatwick’s woes were a result of drones, our Chileka near-mishap was caused by dogs.

Yes, agalu or ntchewe in the vernaculars.

Suggestive of a country truly and thoroughly gone to the dogs, dogs invaded the airport runway forcing a Malawian Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft to abort a take-off after the pilot sighted the hounds on the final lap.

To prove we could – IF we really wanted – do much better than the Brits, our canine interruption was short-lived; much shorter that the drone-induced mess which lasted days.

The plane delay wasted only 45 minutes of the passengers’ precious time as emergency services chased the stray dogs which had trespassed into the runway through a broken fence.

The challenge was nothing high-tech or complicated; it was just a good old broken fence that someone believed would cause no harm and hence was not in a hurry to repair.

So, while our colonial masters have embraced drones – albeit at their own risk; we are stuck with man’s best friend, the dog.

That Ladies and Gentlemen is life, Malawi style.

Celebrating mediocrity

How do such things happen, one may wonder.

Such occurences are the norm in our beloved Malawi because while the world around us is moving in leaps forward, we are happily snoozing and in fact wherever and whenever we can, regressing to the comforts or discomfitures of early man, depending on where you stand.

For example, who among those of us who have been around for while knew that in Malawi, in the year 2018 AD, an announcement that the Christmas holiday season would be free of blackouts would be a cause for national celebration?

But it was.

ESCOM was duly congratulated for offering this ‘Christmas Gift’ to load-shedding weary Malawians.

Someone wryly noted that the jubilation which welcomed ESCOM’s announcement was in fact greater that the jubilation for the root and real causes of this December festive season: i.e. Christmas and other such commemorations.

We are in this boat together

Anyway, let’s get back to basics. 2019 presents yet another crossroads for us. In five months or so, we will have another shot at deciding

• whether the mediocrity I have contextualized above is good enough and is the best we can do for ourselves and generations to come

OR

• whether we deserve and should do better for ourselves and generations to come.

Before I proceed, let me make one point clear. It is a fact that Malawi will not change for the better without our individual and collective efforts.

This is unquestionable.

All of us must individually and collectively pull and play a part. We must row the boat called Malawi forward. Standing still is not an option. Going backwards is suicidal because the rest of the world is moving forward and with the world operating as one global village, standing still or regressing is suicide.

What is NOT true is that the leadership at the top, the lack thereof or the quality of such leadership, does not matter.

This is false.

Leadership – at the top and in all roles be they parliamentary, public and private sectors – matters.

Without good and visionary leadership, we could all work and slave as hard as humanly possible BUT fail to move Malawi forward because at a certain point, our individual and collective efforts are pooled into one pot.

Once they are pooled, decisions made or not made, and actions taken or not taken by those entrusted to safeguard and manage that “pot” are instrumental in moving us forward or taking us backwards.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me simplify this.

Your humble contribution, the effort made by company X, Y or Z and my exertions result in profit or some sort of payment. That profit or payment is taxed. Those taxes – in developed countries and in these countries we see developing while we are regressing – are prudently utilized for the greater and common good.

When these pooled resources are put to the most ideal use without anyone shamelessly stealing, and when you and I – at the individual level – are also putting the little we make to good use and valuing the scarce resource called “time” the way we value cash, is when a country moves forward.

One without the other will not result in development.

Public resources must be effectively deployed and private means must be used in a manner that can sustain us on a rainy day.

IF we fail to sustain ourselves as individuals, we become a burden on the common pot and hence – like those we accuse of mismanaging public funds – a liability to Malawi.

This is fine if some calamity has befallen us BUT not when we are able bodied or when we can afford an Android but are suffering from lopsided priorities!

So what does this mean?

First, we now have people coming forward as contenders for the Malawi presidency.

The incumbent Prof Peter Mutharika will run. Dr Chakwera, current Leader of Opposition will also run. Dr Saulos Chilima is in the mix. Atupele Muluzi, Joyce Banda, Prof Chisi, Dr Chilumpha and many others are all eyeing the number one job in Malawi.

Surrounding these people are various Malawians from all walks of life holding positions in the respective political machineries propping them.

This is where I see the first missed opportunity. Let me ask you reading this reflection a question:

Did you contest for a position in any of these parties elective Conventions?

Yes? Good and congratulations especially if you lost!

No? Why? Let me guess your answer:

It is because all our political parties are bad and unattractive!

Right?

Before I address those who have answered “NO”, let me explain my congratulations to those who contested and lost.

If you contested and lost I hold you in higher esteem than your noisy-but-sitting-phwii neighbor because it is no use sitting on the sidelines waiting for change when one is steadfast in their refusal to be an agent of such change from within these imperfect political parties.

It is only by rolling our sleeves and getting in to take on active roles that we can slowly but surely challenge the mediocrity in these institutions and fix them from within.

So, those who did not find any party attractive enough for them, are there any options? Yes.

We need new leaders with a different mindset in Parliament and in Assemblies. If you are planning to contest as a party candidate or an independent, once again my hat is off to you.

In fact, I occasionally provide very good advice on specifics, if I am convinced you are serious.

This is important because without new blood joining front-line politics, we are doomed to continue regressing and it matters less how many Facebook posts or Tweets you make in support of Mutharika, Chakwera or Chilima; IF you are too chicken to contest for party roles or are too afraid of your own shadow to contest as a Councilor or MP, stop disparaging those with the guts especially when they are in a party you do not care for.

Leadership and ‘Monday coaching’ are worlds apart, hence let us learn to respect those who aspire to lead.

Leadership: Council and Parliamentary Levels

Now, having sieved out the spectators and free-loaders letting Malawi down, this last section of my New Year Reflection is dedicated to the brave men and women holding party positions – be it in imperfect political parties and to those with the nerve to run in the May 2019 elections.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The difference between you and the Facebook cheerleaders and loud mouths too chicken to run in an election is that you have chosen, in one way or another, to be optimistic.

Optimism, in the dire straits that Malawi is in, is the first step in the right direction BUT it is not enough.

Check this one by John Maxwell:

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.

Although you have taken the first big step in the right direction, please don’t stop at being an Optimist, it is far from enough.

Malawi needs and demands much more.

One of your New Year resolutions, should you need one, should be to evolve into a Leader capable of adjusting the sails when the winds get rough.

If you get past that one, Mitt Romney – a veteran US politician who knows what it feels like to win or lose at the highest levels, offers some insights:

Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.

So, should you stumble along the way, please own up, learn from your mistakes and move on.

Leadership: Presidential Level

Last but definitely not least is some food for thought for the men and women who would be the State President of the almost ‘Banana’ Republic of Malawi in May 2019.

Come to think of it, economically we are already a ‘Banana’ Republic because when the IMF and all such bodies’ ratings consistently show Malawi heading towards the poorest country on earth ignominy and it is only war-torn countries holding us from that shame; we cannot pretend NOT to be a basket case.

Your Excellences hear this:

Leadership, as per Colin Powell, is about solving problems. The day your followers or your people stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.

This, Powell adds, implies that they have either lost confidence that you can help or they have concluded that you do not care.

“Either case” Colin Powell concludes “is a failure of leadership”.

My advice:

Should you be the one elected in May 2019, please spare us excuses about previous governments failures, the IMF or this or that. The job you are seeking is about solving, not complaining about Malawi’s problems.

Should some of you still believe, in this day and era, in the use of force, take a listen to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head. That is assault, not leadership.

I have added this one because once elevated, many African leaders quickly mutate into despots and would-be-despots. Should you ever be tempted to use force, never claim to be a Leader.

For the obvious reason that corruption and failure to walk the talk on integrity is the number one reason Malawi has gone to the dogs and we are an economic Banana Republic, I saved this powerful one for the finale.

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity,” sayeth Dwight D. Eisenhower and he is damn right too because without integrity, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office and I will add in Malawi.

Whether you will win or lose, please walk integrity, talk integrity, eat integrity, dream integrity and shun the corrupt!

***

Belated Merry Christmas! I wish you all Happy New Year 2019!

If the over-used ‘prosperity’ will flow to the masses, then I wish you all that too. However, IF the prosperity will be exclusive to you and your hangers-on, then let it choke you.

***

I rest my case.

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery…

Men, said Franklin D. Roosevelt, are not prisoners of fate but only prisoners of their own minds.

On my mind are musings of what could be going on in the mind of one Saulos Klaus Chilima, the man whose name is currently dividing and driving opinions in Malawi’s political circles especially within the rank and file of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the youths.

Before I muse on, allow me a detour to summarise, as best as I can, the highlights of this man’s or is it this “baby’s” life.

Forging a political future:

Cartoonists, the best of Malawi, having a field day.

“Baby” Saulos Klaus Chilima (SKC), born on February 12^th 1973, is an economist and a politician currently serving as the Vice-President of Malawi.

He holds a (PhD) in Business Management (University of Bolton), Master of Arts in Economics – University of Malawi (2003-2005) and a Bachelor of Social Science degree – University of Malawi (1990-1994).

Picked from the private sector, Airtel to be specific, to partner President Peter Mutharika in the 2014 race, there is little doubt that he gave DPP call boys something – other than the seniors from Newland Homes – to associate with and proudly talk about as they went about rebranding the DPP which was at that time reeling from a disastrous past.

After getting baptism of fire from MCP’s Richard Msowoya in the first round of debates for presidential running mates, he quickly rallied to build himself as someone who could hold his own even on issues to do with the public sector.

His value-add to the DPP campaign was that – unlike MCP where presidential candidate and his running mate were mostly operating like ngumbi – trailing each other rally after rally; when Mutharika was in the south, Chilima went up north to speak in Tumbuka.

When Mutharika drove to the east, Chilima would go to the west, switching the parlance from Tumbuka to Chichewa.

More critically, while Mutharika – even then – looked every inch his age, Chilima complimented him with the buoyancy of a youth raring to go and of course, with the all-important knowledge of high tech.

In a word, it was a perfect match up. May be it was too good to last, hence the current state of affairs.

Reforms that were not to be:

Soon after DPP’s victory in 2014, President Mutharika, then seeing eye to eye with his counterpart, assigned Chilima to lead the much-touted Public Service Reforms.

With promise, pomp and colour the Reform Commission’s report was highly publicized

As is always the case when Malawians set out to produce documents, the product was an excellent piece of work.

However, before the blue print could be rolled out public sector-wide, noting that the Public Service Reforms Commission’s (PSRC)’ mandate would expire in June 2016; Vice-President Saulos Chilima presented two options to President Peter Mutharika.

The two choices were: either reverting the reforms to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) or extending the commission’s mandate for another year so that it could oversee implementation.

Mutharika chose to extend the commission’s tenure for just a further six months instead of the Vice President’s one-year suggestion.

Why the abrupt change? Why reverting to OPC when the OPC has volumes upon volumes of reform proposals that never saw the light of day? … were some of the questions that were asked.

Political analyst Boniface Dulani noted that it was obvious from the onset that the reforms were destined to fail because there was no political will from the President, most politicians in the governing DPP and some top civil servants.

“Not everyone was happy with the reforms. There was a tug of war between those who wanted the reforms and the powerful. The powerful have won because they are the beneficiaries of the status quo.”

I beg to disagree with the esteemed Dulani.

The phobia was not for reforms per se. It was rather the fear that the reforms would succeed.

Had the reforms succeeded, never mind the fact that the entire country would have benefited, Chilima – the man tasked with the seemingly impossible task – would have been seen to have delivered and done something to show for the hefty perks we pay him as a Vice-President in a country where many people have held presidential, ministerial and other ‘fattening’ positions for years and years with nothing tangible to show.

Man is smart but…

Harry Belafonte knew a thing or two when he crooned that man is smart but the woman is smarter.

Let us face it gentlemen and admit that not only are women the fairer sex and smarter, but they are also the braver breed!

Check this: when men were just murmuring their praises for the Vice-President whenever he showed up at a disaster area or at a basketball pitch, and while a man would have disowned the leaked WhatsApp chat now christened ‘Hurricane Callista’; Mrs Callista Mutharika did exactly the opposite .

In a chondigwera, chindigwere, a dead body does not dread decaying style and fashion; she escalated her message through radio interviews, arguing the case:

1. first, why DPP – IF at all it wants to win in 2019 – it should look to Chilima;
2. secondly, why Malawians – if they want different results – should dare to try people with different mind-sets and
3. finally why Malawians – if they want good governance – they should go beyond singing “…that we be free from fear…” to actually becoming courageous!

Ladies and gentlemen, lend me your ears. I want to be totally honest: I never remotely thought I would ever hold Callista in awe. Not after her defense of the arrogant incompetence that hounded and tortured us between 2009 and 2012.

Never.

However, listening to her on the Zodiac clip gone viral, my faith in humanity has somewhat been restored. Who knew that Callista could actually throw all caution and protocol to the wind and challenge the status quo?

How many of us can do half what Callista has done if our in-laws were the incompetent culprits involved? Enough respect to Madame Callista.

Enter Ngongoliwa:

In our Malawi, no circus is complete if the traditional chiefs have not butted in.  I was therefore not surprised to learn that Paramount Chief Ngongoliwa deemed it necessary to weigh in saying that he personally supports the Mutharika-Chilima pair for the 2019 elections on the basis that,

• first, that it is a good pair because Chilima knows it was Mutharika who chose and settled for him and likewise. In other words, just stating the obvious.
• second, that Mutharika knows he made it with support from Chilima and that “Malawi is developing and you can see that for yourself and, obviously, some people are not happy.”

Let us pause on this (second) one.

While it is quite possible that in Paramount Chief Ngongoliwa’s area there is

Ngalande: DPP Cadet-In-Chief, says Callista’s views represent public sentiment

development galore, it is ‘development’ that Callista and many other Malawians need microscopes to see.

But since it is rude to accuse elders of Ngongoliwa’s status of knowingly peddling lies, it is equally possible that the development Ngongoliwa sees is so concentrated in his area that other parts of country are starving, hence the increasing clamour for Chilima to take over DPP and hopefully balance the ‘development’ nationwide, making sure – while he is at it – that the industry has energy with which to create wealth and that the youth, after graduating, have jobs or resources with which to go into self-employment.

This however is a subject for another day. Reverting to the matter at hand, Ngongoliwa complained that Chilima is not helping matters by remaining mute.

“The Vice-President should have come out by now and told Malawians that he was not party to such calls. He should have come open and told Malawians that Mutharika is his father and he supports his candidacy,” Ngongoliwa said, concluding that if Chilima came out, this matter would have been closed long time ago.

Quo vadis Chilima?

I am only guessing here, but I am willing to bet my blog on this: Ngongoliwa is being totally naïve.

Malawi’s cartoonists, doing what they do best

What makes him think that Chilima will “come into the open and tell Malawians that Mutharika is his father blah, blah, blah”?

I would urge the good old Chief to think again, just as I want to encourage Chilima to think, arrive at a decision and act fast.

Timing, in momentous situations like this, is everything.

While proverbs may advocate that silence is golden, and that good things come to those who wait, they also caution us against waiting too long. Was it not our ancestors who coined the adage kayitana kavula?

While it is outright unfair to force SKC into a rushed decision, he ought to know that a week is a long time in politics.

I will leave this at that.

Callista, the Ngalandes and Winikos of this world can only do so much. When push comes to shove, it is up to SKC himself to prove that those alleging that he is a “baby” are wrong.

Before I sign off, SKC should remember that men are not prisoners of fate, they are rather prisoners of their own minds and indeed now might be the time for SKC to emancipate himself from mental slavery because none but himself can free his mind.

I rest my case.

 

National anti-corruption conferencing: penny-wise and pound-foolish

In order to appear ‘serious’ about fighting corruption, some chump in President Peter Mutharika’s administration came up with the totally ridiculous idea of holding a National Anti-Corruption Conference.

This idea, if intended to sweeten the bitter pill Malawians are swallowing everyday due to Mutharika’s lack of back bone in fighting corruption, has in fact achieved the opposite.

It has demonstrated to the donor community, the eminent Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, and a host of other dignitaries that Malawi has a sitting duck for a president, a post turtle  if you want, surrounded by either fellow post turtles or the most corrupt cabinet on the face of the earth.

Why am I making this rather rough assessment?

First, corruption is not new in Malawi or globally. Therefore, national conferences – especially high level ones – can surface nothing new. What is required at national level is action, action and more action.

Secondly, Malawians generally emulate their leaders. And with the leadership having proved that it loves protecting pals tainted with corruption in both new and old corruption cases, the rank and file in the civil service are just doing whatever petty corruption they can at their level.

Thirdly, we have had the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for some time now. Despite the teething challenges it faced under Bakili Muluzi’s leadership, I can name two high profile people it successfully convicted for corruption: former General Manager of the Petroleum Control Commission (PCC), Dennis Spax John Kambalame  and former Works and Supplies Minister Abdul Pillane.

In all probability, these people were close to Muluzi. But when push came to shove, he let them go. Whether they were sacrificed for something and someone bigger, that is debate for another day.

BUT fact is: at least two people: a former minister and a former general manager of what used to be the most powerful parastatal were convicted.

Can this happen under Peter Mutharika?

Now, everyone knows that Muluzi was historically ‘untrustworthy’ with other peoples’ money. But today, he can stand and claim that under his tenure, the ACB netted the two I have mentioned above.

If even Muluzi – given his chequered history when we factor the six pounds into the equation – can do better than Peter Mutharika, the word ‘hopeless’ does not even begin to describe Peter Mutharika and his wholehearted refusal to fight corruption.

George Chaponda: Will the smile hold? Very likely

Under Bingu wa Mutharika, one time Education Minister Yusuf Mwawa is a living witness. And then there is Muluzi himself who in the days of Bingu, was spending more time in hospitals than outside, something that has mysteriously changed under Peter Mutharika.

This is surprising because for most people, age brings more complications, and not more robust health.

Anyway, lucky him, he must have exceptionally ‘robust’ DNA.

With all these feats in its early years, one would have thought the ACB has now garnered what is termed institutional memory and is now more proficient, efficient and effective in investigating and successfully prosecuting the corrupt.

But under Peter Mutharika, happening is the opposite.

The ACB’s capacity and ability have severely deteriorated, so much so that calling it a toothless bulldog is a misnomer. ACB, under the presidency of Peter Mutharika, is a sheep in sheep’s clothing.

I am not done yet.

Following the proceedings over the two days, I could not help but feel a great sense of déjà vu.

Look at this: we messed up on the maize importation and immediately – without drawing a single lesson from the billion Kwacha heist-to-be – we now have on our hands a US$500 million contract which leaves a lot to be desired.

On the first day of the National Anti- Corruption Conference taking place in Lilongwe, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Malawi, Marcel Gerrmann, spoke on behalf of the development partners where he openly said corruption in the country is rampant and growing.

 

Gerrmann specifically pointed out procurements of large scare purchases of maize and the Salima-Lilongwe Water Project as examples of cases where procedures have not been adhered to.

 

He said: “Over the last year, we have witnessed questionable procurements around large-scale purchases of maize and more recently, the awarding of a large contract to pump water from Salima to Lilongwe.

 

“What messages are being sent if a $500 million contract takes place under restricted tender within a very short timeframe and more so without feasibility studies and environmental impact assessment?” he queried. The Daily Times

And against all these, I am failing to find the words with which to adequately describe the current Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Samuel Tembenu’s shocking denial of the obvious.

While I have to give it to him for admitting that corruption continues pervading Malawi and that indeed: “Everyone must take it as their responsibility to fight corruption”;

While I thank him for organising the two-day conference, whose purpose – in his words – was “to give us an opportunity to vent our anger and frustration” at the levels of corruption in Malawi;

I completely disagree with his blatant lie that “the existence of political will is evident”.

Let me school the learned minister on what political will constitutes so that next time he opens his mouth, he gets this bit right.

Political will, as far as I am concerned, is the commitment of actors (in this case Mutharika and his cabinet) to undertake actions to achieve a set of objectives (in this instance, reduced corruption) and to sustain the costs (costs can be in both monetary terms or political terms e.g. losing political bed mates) of those actions.

Now with respect to Mutharika:

• What commitment other than yappy, yappy and more yappy has he demonstrated? (George Chaponda, by the way, does not count because Mutharika’s hand was pushed.)
• Has he shown any willingness to pay the cost of losing friends and party stalwarts implicated in current or 11 years old corruption cases?

The answer is: Peter Mutharika has miserably failed on both counts.

In other words, Malawi’s fight against corruption is dodged by presidential “Political won’t”, the very opposite of the “political will” Tembenu would want the world to believe exists in Malawi.

Having said that, where Tembenu irritated me the most is his stubborn reluctance to free the ACB, by among other things, changing the manner in which the Director is appointed.

He said: “How far are perceptions that the work of the ACB is interfered with? Is it in the manner of appointment? When the President makes an appointment, Parliament has the duty to confirm it. Parliament even has the power to confirm the dismissal.”

This, Tembenu and Lucas Kondowe – the current ACB czar know is a load of bull.

Fact is Lucas seeks and gets instructions from the State House to arrest and in some cases to even investigate corruption incidences which would make the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) look bad.

I therefore want to reiterate what keynote speaker, Kenyan lawyer and staunch Pan-Africanist, Patrick Lumumba, said.

Corruption can only be fully fought if presidents are the top crusaders of the fight against the vice. In other words, the day Peter Mutharika musters the elusive “political will” is the day we will begin fighting corruption in Malawi. Conferences are a waste of everybody’s time.

BUT, as long “political won’t” persists, no amount of two-day conferences, under whatever catchy themes, will change the fact that Perter Mutharika has erased all the gains Malawi and the ACB made over the years in the fight against the corruption.

I rest my case.

~~~~~~~~~~

Post Script:

You want to know which legal firm represented the State in Criminal Case No. 108 OF 2002, the State vs Dennis Spax John Kambalame?  Surprise, surprise:  Tembenu and Masumbu were Counsel for the State.

How the mighty have fallen!

Easter Reflection: Malawi’s ovine petitions, the frog and the scorpion

No amount of bytes or government-biting (Malawi Nation) and no grand slams or Mutharika-slamming (The Daily Times) will lead Malawians out of Babylon.

I am referring to the Thursday Talk-shop organized by Malawi opposition parties.

To bring you up to speed, leaders and representatives of Malawi’s seven active opposition parties, namely the:

• Malawi Congress Party (MCP),
• People’s Party (PP)),
• New Labour Party (NLP),
• United Transformation Party(UTP),
• Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM),
• National Rainbow Coalition(NRC) and
• Malawi Forum for Unity and Development(MAFUNDE),

held a joint presser where in a 17-point statement, they petitioned the Executive (not government as is often wrongly said) on issues they believe positive action is long overdue on.

Action is required, they said, to enable the country successfully implement public sector reforms and attain accountability and transparency.

In the petition titled “Prospectors for Public Sector Reforms”, the opposition accused the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of tolerating and condoning criminality, impunity and poor accountability in national institutions.

They said the Executive’s deficiency in accountability has been sending signals that some people, especially those in DPP, are above the law.

They did not stop there.

They went on to demand action and with the leader of the biggest opposition party – in as far as parliamentary numbers are concerned, saying:

We as Malawians expect the former professor of law [President Peter Mutharika] to be tough against any form of criminality and to respect the Constitution he swore to defend.

Some issues which the seven feel have been swept under the carpet are:

• the fire at the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) warehouse in Lilongwe on the eve of the day the court set for a recount of votes in Lilongwe City South East constituency,
• the violence at a joint opposition rally in Mzuzu,
• National Aids Commission (NAC) funds abuse case,
• senior DPP officials supplying goods worth K4.9 billion to the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) for which they were paid upfront although Escom did not require the said goods,
• the shortage and pilferage of drugs in public hospitals,
• a thorough and fast probe of the former minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda,
• the Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) donation to DPP and
• the sale of the former wholly State-owned Malawi Savings Bank to FDH Financial Holdings Limited.

Taking his turn, People’s Party (PP) acting president Uladi Mussa said the current administration “lacks thinking capacity to come up with possible solutions to the stated problems” which he said is against the Constitution.

On this one, allow me to digress.

I am not a constitutional expert but I have yet to come across a clause, paragraph or section in our constitution which criminalises “lack of thinking capacity”.

But then again, who am I to judge; Uladi is obviously more conversant with these issues than I am.

The opposition parties said their joint reproach of the Executive does not imply formation of an electoral alliance to oust DPP in the 2019 general elections, no.

I liked this one, so I will digress again.

Fact is, in all those parties as we speak, there is a lot of jostling for the prized running mate position on this road to 2019.

Meetings, rendezvous, plots and counter-plots, and schemes and counter-schemes are on full display – IF you know where to look – with both big-name and nameless politicians engaged in elaborate manoeuvres of courtship targeting those already assured of appearing on the 2019 presidential ballot papers.

The reason suitors are investing in the courtship is to sell themselves and where possible ‘purchase’ running mate positions if potential vacancies and the right amount of greed exists.

Therefore, all the seven had to reassure the various suitors and wooers out there that:

Verily I say unto you, worry not, thus says I, for your position is safe. I am not picking a running mate from this useless lot.

The above, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the drama that recently unfolded and continues to pan out in impoverished and yet to get poorer Malawi.

Wise One Analysis:

Now let’s move on to the substance of this reflection. The key to all the issues belatedly identified by the Seven Wise Leaders cum Representatives is quite simple.

Whether a joint presser by Seven Wise ‘Men’ or a unilateral blog post like this one is the most ideal rialto for unravelling the magic wand to lead Malawians out of the Babylon is pointless, hence I will not belabour suitability of the medium.

BUT If you go back to the manifestos that all these parties prepared as their pledges in the event that they won the 2014 election, you will find that they ALL vowed to unshackle the politically encumbered oversight bodies.

I am talking about:

• unshackling the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) by among other things amending the law so that the Director General of this institution does not operate in fear of the president and ruling party regional governors when chasing the corrupt;
• liberating the Auditor General and the National Audit Office (NAO) so that when they find a stink at a government ministry or department, they can do what it takes to fix the mess forever; and
• giving that assets guy and department – never mind the name of the person or the department – the wherewithal with which to scrutinize the declared assets, verify them and then solve the riddle with which our initially impoverished politicians turn into later-day ‘Mwithas’ who only when in power are able to multiply the little or nothing they had and begin making donations all over town and displacing villagers to build mansions.

I will dare say that:

1. IF the ACB was not impeded by having to bootlick whosoever was president and hence able to conduct investigations without political interference, 70% of the scams that have taken place and are still taking place would not have occurred at all. And in the 30% or so where the criminals masquerading as leaders adamantly executed, the masterminds would by now be safely locked up in Zomba, Chichiri or Maula Prisons, where they belong.
2. IF the Auditor General was free to carry out his duties professionally and independently, the criminals that masquerade as civil servants at Capital Hill and in the District Assemblies would now be serving very lengthy sentences with hard labour for double-claiming allowances, and all the manner of thievery they subject our hard paid taxes to.
3. IF that Assets chap was free and adequately resourced to carry out his duties professionally and independently, reconciling assets declared to the wealth of the politicians and board members as of today, believe you me, most of the so called honourables, half of the DPP politburo and many others would now be answering a whole range of charges in our courts.

Who can change this? What can we do about this, you ask.

The answer to the first question is: We, i.e. you and I, can and must change this.

Before I respond to the second question, let me revisit the Seven Wise ‘Men’s presser. When I heard rumours about this presser, I had high expectations that our opposition leaders will now galvanize us into civil disobedience (which is legal and within our rights) to force the Executive to implement the promises made by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vis-à-vis the independence of the oversight bodies so that that they are freed from political and executive interference.

The fact that they do not seem to think along these lines, as far as I am concerned, means that just like the ruling DPP, they have no clue on the causative agents of the criminality, impunity and poor accountability that the Seven Wise ‘Men’ from the East are happy to lament about; and having failed to diagnose the underlying problems, they cannot claim to know how to fix the mess; leading to the obvious conclusion that All they achieved – with this 17 point petition – is synonymous with a flock of sheep presenting a petition to hungry and rabid foxes saying:

We have all signed this petition asking you to STOP eating us or our offspring.

If you ask me, that presser and its 17 points are this ridiculous!

If I am wrong and they are well aware of the causative agents and how to fix the mess, then we are worse off because it means that they have zero – zilch – nix desire to fix Malawi for the better at all.

Why, if I may ask, did it take them this long to realise that impunity and the criminality are only getting worse? How long has it been since Justice Mbendera died that we should be talking about an inquest today?

Would I be wrong to conclude that such ‘bytes’ are only meant to divert our attention from their own ‘grand slams’?

I leave this for you to reflect on.

As for my reflection, I am done. I have little, very little respect for both the DPP – which shamelessly reneged on its promises, and this lot – who are like dogs barking up a wrong tree because they are just birds of a feather, just waiting for their turn to gormandize our hard-paid taxes without mercy, if given half a chance.

Feeling duped? We have all reasons to be. And I can assure you that we are not the first to be duped and neither will we be the last.

Remember Aesop’s tale of the Scorpion and the Frog? It goes like this:

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks,

“How do I know you won’t sting me?”

The scorpion says,

“Because if I do, I will die too.”

The frog is satisfied, and they set out. In midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp:

“Why?”

Replies the scorpion: “It’s my nature…”

The scorpion’s behaviour explains our thieving politicians. Have a blessed Easter.

I rest my case.

Ken vs. Brian and the interview that never was

This radio clip presumably from Times Radio, features Brian Banda, purportedly as an interviewer, and Ken Msonda as an interviewee of sorts, is a must-listen-to for students of journalism.

Although am referring to the participants as purported “interviewer” and “interviewee”, no-one should – under any circumstances – conclude that the exchange they were engaged in was an “interview” as we know it.

The duo’s altercation is closer to bar-room brawl than it is to an interview.

And talking about tavern brawls, I can state here without fear of contradiction that back in the day when I was regularly exercising my elbow at Zingwangwa’s White House, I usually watched bloody brawls which were more civilised than the Brian vs Ken verbal punch-up.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this Brian vs. Ken duel was devoid of rules except that famous jungle rule: survival of the roughest.

The one good thing with our Malawi is the existence of an enviable number of ‘Monday Coaches’ in all spheres of life.

If you dared to join politics today for instance, and went about your business of being a politician – whatever that entails; hundreds if not thousands of ‘mentors’, ‘analysts’, and ‘experts’ would materialize from nowhere and graciously volunteer free critique on what you have said or should have said or have not said, what you have done, should have done or have not done and so on and so forth.

Entertainers, footballers, pastors, public officials, and as Brian Banda has just bitterly learnt, radio-cum-TV personalities are no exception.

It does not matter that the closest the ‘Monday Coaches’ have come to journalism is contributing anonymous comments on the Nyasa Times.

It matters less that their wisdom attracts a maximum of three likes on Facebook. As long as one ‘liker’ is from the opposite sex, they take that as certification of their analytical prowess.

So when Brian Banda got himself floored and out for the count by a marauding nomad, it was Christmas-come-early for ‘Monday Coaches’.

Now as a Malawian to the bone, I would be faulted if I failed to join the foray and offer my own piece or pieces of advice.

In fact, ‘Monday Coaching’ aside, both Brian and Ken are good friends of mine, at least on Facebook. And if I desisted from giving them a lecture of my own, they could wrongly conclude that I have abandoned them in their collective moment of thorough madness.

Let me begin with Hon Ken Msonda, for the reason that I have known him longer than Brian and indeed between the two, he is the elder.

For the record, without the Msonda family, I wouldn’t have watched – live and direct on stage in Malawi – some of the continental musical giants.

As an avid boxing follower, I owe the Msondas a lot for promoting some very entertaining boxing bouts back in the day when Malawi used to produce boxers worth the name. Little did I know then that Ken was actually learning a thing or two.

Now, given that he is an old timer – like me – I expected him to handle a ‘toddler’ like Brian literally with kid gloves and not subject the ‘infant’ to the discombobulation he subjected the chap to.

I mean, if we veterans go all out humiliating young talent, how will leaders of tomorrow – or to put it in Ken’s favourite phraseology, how will ‘atsogoleri amawa’ gain confidence?

We, and especially Ken, ought to be moderate in our altercations with minors, no matter the provocation.

And to avoid provocation, warranted or not, putting youngsters in situations where they have to question our integrity and rightly or wrongly conclude that our lack of political discipline is as a result of poverty; we should be principled.

If our party, for example, loses elections, we should not prostitute ourselves just like that.

It is our harlotry that is making youngsters young enough to be our kids believe that our nomadic politics is motivated by chasing public appointments and orders (business) from public institutions.

I mean, what is wrong with retiring from politics altogether, founding a church or an orphanage or something to that effect when one needs an outlet for excess energy?

Having said that, I am not endorsing Brian Banda’s amateurish approach to the interview.

In fact, given the proven lack of preparation he amply demonstrated, I am inclined to think that all those people he has cornered either on radio or TV are irredeemable idiots.

Look here: Msonda started out as a United Democratic Front (UDF) follower. When UDF went into ‘exile’ following the Bingu/ Muluzi fall-out, he still stuck to UDF like a stamp to a letter.

That is, until Joyce Banda and her fluke presidency happened.

Msonda then joined PP, went about town like a clown in orange gear, and was – to all intents and purposes – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s worst nightmare.

Be it on TV, radio or social media, when he climbed a mole-hill to insult the DPP, he sent even the most fearsome cadets scampering for cover. In fact, to borrow Ken’s very words during his brawl with Brian, he was breathing hell fire as if Lucifer was behind him.

Now, in all likelihood, watching and listening to Msonda in full admiration was Brian Banda who himself, at Joyce Banda’s turn of fortunes in May 2012, was traversing the corridors of power and perhaps wondering if he will ever grow to the stature of the gigantic Msonda.

So, the moment Msonda announced the recent sabbatical, and ascended the hills of Cholomoni and Soche to mediate and fast for guidance on his next (obvious) political gymnastic, Brian never saw where Msonda would land.

And landing where he has obviously stunned Brian into the unprofessionalism in full display in that clip.

I will give you one:

“Mr Msonda, I have known and seen you broke…. Haven’t you joined the DPP to resolve your financial woes?”

On a positive side, althouth Brian left the ‘ring’ savagely mauled, he limped away carrying a solid promise of an air ticket to Trum-Putin land, courtesy of the largesse of Msonda and Sons Malawi Limited.

My final word to Brian is from George Carlin: “never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

And indeed this is what happened to poor Brian. In my view, he should have researched more and avoided tackling Msonda as a recycled politician because Msonda is not a recycled politician.

I can vouch as much for Ken.

Recycling is the practice of reusing items that would otherwise be discarded as waste. Therefore, recycling can have the desired effect of adding value to an item by reusing. And adding value is certainly NOT what our nomadic politicians do.

Recycling is markedly different from prostitution which as per Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations especially for money.

If we paraphrase this as the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous political relations for various reasons, we have Msonda and his band of nomadic politicians.

Surely, interviewing practitioners of the oldest profession in the political arena should not turn into a nightmare for any journalist with average intelligence.

I rest my case.

Malawi war on tax defaulters: selective justice is injustice

The embattled Chaponda administration – ooops, that came out wrong; the beleaguered Peter Mutharika administration – sorry this is outright inaccurate; the besieged and corrupt Chaponda/Mutharika administration, reeling under pressure due to its stellar performance in escalating corruption with the latest episode being the shady management of the maize importation from Zambia has seized Times Group property and closed Times Group offices at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre.

True to form, this sick administration abused yet another government agency, the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA)  to try and get even with the Times Group.

The Times Group was the first to break the story and despite an injunction, or rather after vacating the injunction, it continued faithfully informing the public the developments on what is now being termed as maize-gate as the maze unfolded.

The MRA Officials descended on Times Group offices at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre on Friday morning, accompanied by heavily-armed police officers who stood guard at all entry and exit points, while others escorted tax collectors as they took records and seized vehicles.

“MRA has seized our offices over taxes and yet we have been paying taxes every month. It is impunity and lawlessness on the part of the government. Just imagine, they came with a notice yesterday and, instead of offering us a chance for negotiations as they do in such cases — as you know that sometimes their figures can be wrong and you negotiate — they came 12 hours later to seize our property,” George Kasakula, Times Editor in Chief said.

He said this means The Times Group has stopped all operations, including broadcasting on live broadcasts on Times Radio and Times Television, and production work on Malawi News, which comes out on Saturday. Recorded programmes were being beamed on Times Television while music is just playing on Times Radio.

Journalists working on Malawi News stories can also not work from the newsroom because it has been seized and closed.

Kasakula said he suspected that the issue is linked to the maize scandal.

It involves a decision by the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) to buy maize at an exorbitant price in Zambia.

But Kasakula has vowed that The Times Group will not relent in pursuing the maize scandal, dubbed Maizegate, until its logical conclusion.

“We are being punished for publishing the truth about the maize scam, but we will continue publishing and broadcasting the truth,” Kasakula said.

Meanwhile, Times Group is doing everything to get back to work, according to Kasakula.

“Our lawyers are working on this and we pray that we should be back to work. Rest assured that Malawi News will come out tomorrow,” Kasakula said.

Wise One Analysis:

Monitoring debate on social media, I was surprised to read comments ranging from “IF Times was indeed not paying taxes, they had this coming!” to “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones” from idiots that can only be agents of the corrupt.

My first instinct after reading the comment “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones” was that this is by far the worst application of this proverb I have ever heard.

Were this coming from an App or had it been a computer-generated comment, I would have flinched at the incompetence of the programmer who designed such a defective application.

But no, this comment was made by a Homo sapiens, presumably with all his faculties intact.

My take? I suspect that persons who took this line are either very thick in the head or that they are primary beneficiaries of the rampant corruption that the Times Group and others have been fighting against.

For their trouble the revenge, in a classic DPP tit-for-tat, is the closure of offices by a government abusing the mandate of MRA.

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, takes me to the second comment or its variations i.e. that if the Times Group was not paying taxes as any law abiding citizen should, then it shouldn’t cry foul.

Let me begin by saying that I am all for the MRA pursuing all tax defaulters to death. The problem I have however is that MRA, in this case, has exposed itself to accusations of being selective in pursuing defaulters.

I will not beat about the bush. Most if not all companies implicated in the MK236 billion cashgate – which the Chaponda/Mutharika administration wants us to forget – owe the MRA more than the K675 million that has led to the Times Group closure.

Case authority? Yes I have one, Batatawala, the untouchable, owes taxes in billions, yet the MRA treats him, his companies and associates as if he were some deity.

Batatawala, the untouchable, owes taxes in billions, yet the same administration abusing the MRA to beat the media into submission gives him orders in millions and billions of our taxes, and pays him billions of our tax money, at times for goods of questionable quality.

To conclude, if you say “IF the Times Group was indeed not paying taxes, they had this coming” tell me the date and time when the likes Batatawala will receive the just desserts, and I will hold my peace.

By the way, just the other day, this rogue government wrote off the bad loans that Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) have given to and failed to recover from its operatives like the Mullis, et al.

Calculate: how many times does the K675million go into the MSB toxic loans?

Of course you, the DPP zealots and sympathisers of this corrupt government will argue that two wrongs do not make a right, but who said closure is the only solution to recovering overdue taxes?

Ladies and gentlemen, if this same government managed to sell, for a song, our treasured Malawi Savings Bank, write off loans that Mulli and company owed us, pilfer K10billion through the Maizegate, sell tractors bought through a loan for a song; what is K675million to close a whole corporation that has stood for over 100 years and that meets its obligations in this troubled economic environment?

Whatever it is, all this is yet another proof that rather than prevent, curb or stop corruption, the powers that be prefer to muzzle all voices of reason so that they can continue looting with impunity.

Belated Happy New Year!

I rest my case.

2016 Pre-Xmas Meditation: His Imperial Majesty’s Premier and the 300 gold coins

Birbal’s wisdom was so praiseworthy that the Emperor trusted him to run the empire with little or no interference. Had Birbal lived in our times, he would have called the Prime Minster.

As always happens, one man’s success is another man’s chalice and the king’s brother felt less appreciated and was jealous of Birbal.

He made all effort, tried everything in his power to implicate Birbal in various scandals to get him fired, but to no avail. Nevertheless, he did not stop harassing the King to give him Birbal’s office.

Hearing of the king’s brother’s evil intentions, Birbal resigned and left.

The king’s brother got what he wanted, he replaced Birbal as the prime minister.

Not long after this, the Empire had a dream. In the dream he was instructed to spend three hundred gold coins, which was the easy part of the dream.

The catch 22 was that in return,

• he should get a hundred gold coins here in this life;
• a hundred gold coins in the other world and
• another hundred gold coins neither here nor there.

In keeping with tradition, he delegated this task to the new Prime Minister, his brother. The new PM pondered this, deliberated and after much brooding over this – with no breakthrough – he gave up.

His tenure as PM had obviously not started too well and his main concern was worrying how he would get himself out of this mess. When he was close to breaking point, upon his wife’s advice, he sought Birbal’s help.

Birbal a man who harboured no ill will, said, “Bring me the gold coins. I shall handle the rest.”

And with the bag of gold coins, Birbal hit the road.

Walking about in town he noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son’s wedding. Birbal donated a hundred gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying,

“The Emperor sends you his good wishes and blessings for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent.”

The merchant felt honoured that the king had sent a special messenger with such a precious gift and reciprocated with expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins for the king.

Next, Birbal went to the city’s slums. There, he bought food and clothing in exchange for a hundred gold coins and distributed them to the destitute in the name of the Emperor.

When he returned to his neighbourhood, he called Carlsberg and Mibawa Sounds and organized the mother of all bashes. He spent a hundred gold coins on it.

The next day, he went to the Emperor and reported that the King’s wishes had been fulfilled.

Naturally, the Emperor wanted to know how he had done it. Birbal narrated his mission and explained that:

“The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding of his son – you have got back while on this earth. The money I spent on buying food and clothing for the poor – you will get it in the other world. The money I spent on the bash – you will get neither here nor there.”

The Emperor’s brother, who was present, saw just how unfit he was for the premiership, and resigned.

Birbal got his job back.

Hearing this yarn from an Indian friend, I could not help but ponder the Malawi mess which is getting worse every day.

Wanting or aspiring for high office is one thing, but delivering in that office is another.

I have a lot of respect to the Emperor’s brother in this story because he quit the charade that he was delivering, something our type of leaders can never do.

Moral of the story:

• What we spend on friends is returned or reciprocated in some form or the other.
• What we spend on charity is converted into blessings from God which will be your eternal property.
• What we spent on pleasures and luxuries just fritters away.

So with Christmas festivities coming, when you spend your money, think a little, if not a lot.

‘Royal’ extravagance goes on unabated in Malawi

Calculations by the Malawi News, Malawi’s oldest weekly, suggest that over K270 million may have been spent by President Peter Mutharika and his entourage on the recent outing to the United General Assembly (UNGA).

The paper says the K270 million is enough to fund Mzimba District Hospital for over two full months.

Mzimba Hospital, and all major hospitals and health centres in Malawi, are overwhelmed due to poor funding from government with meals for patients – in some hospitals – reduced, because the over-stretched hospital budgets cannot meet the cost of feeding patients.

In Mzimba Hospital, over 20 children die every month before they reach the age of one due to lack of care and access to basic medical attention due to insufficient government funding.

Basis of the Calculations:

The K270 million is based on a minimum of 45 people that are likely to travel with the President for such a trip over a period of 15 days during which the group was in New York.

It excludes additional five days that Mutharika and other government officials who are still in the US have already stayed.

Sources at Foreign Affairs say Mutharika is entitled to $700 a day when he travels outside while the First Lady pockets $400 dollars.

On the other hand, senior officials like ministers and principal secretaries as well as directors also receive $400 a day. Junior officers get $300 a day for a foreign trip.

The paper quotes a former diplomat who did want to be named who revealed that even if government was to reduce the size of the entourage, the number of people on the trip could still not be less than 45 and argued that during such times government officials take advantage of the summit to go for a vacation and do some shopping.

Therefore if, for instance, 45 people were given $400 per day it would translate to $18,000 (K13.1 million). For a period of 15 days and that amounts to K197 million.

UNGA attains annual pilgrimage status:

As per these news links,

ZBS: “How APM’s Large UN Entourage Eats Into Your Pocket” published in September 2015 when the Malawi delegation spent not less than K238 million and approximately K352 million after factoring in accommodation and airfare,

and

Daily Times: “Peter Mutharika’s UN entourage sparked debate” published in January 2016 where the Daily Times estimated that Mutharika’s trip to the UN cost the taxpayer over K330 million;

the profligacy has now become a habit under the leadership of President Peter Mutharika and his party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The UNGA spending tours have now become an annual pilgrimage, enjoyed by those close the Malawi president who – most of the times –  include relatives, traditional leaders and shaddy characters defecting from the opposition to join the gravy train.

The former diplomat also claimed that among the personal members of staff who travel with the President is an accountant from Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) who pays for meals and other bills despite the people already pocketing allowances.

“Maybe if it was Washington DC but New York is just a town and during this time the country is always busy promoting its tourism and life is expensive because prices of goods are doubled, it’s hard to imagine how much the tax payer is coughing for such a luxury,” he said.

2016 ‘Pilgrimage’ extended indefinitely amid secrecy:

Asked on whether the President is justified to prolong his stay to attend to other equally important post meetings, the former diplomat wondered as to which people in particular Mutharika was holding meetings with.

He said according to his experience most delegates leave earlier or after speeches by heads of state.

“You must understand that subcommittee meetings by government officials which include ministers and representatives from different NGOs take place before the speeches and such discussions form part of the agenda of the summit. What happens these days is as if the summit is a black box analogy and one doesn’t know what exactly happens there,” said the source.

Mutharika left the country through Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) on September 15 on a private jet to Johannesburg for the summit which took place from September 19 -23.

He was expected back home by the 25th but he has prolonged his stay.

Government refuses to be accountable:

Kasaila last week challenged the media to use its expertise and capacity to establish as to how big the country’s delegation was and how much it cost the taxpayer.

Earlier Kasaila had pledged that government would disclose the details but backtracked arguing that the executive does not owe the media an explanation and that such information would be given to Parliament when need arises.

Last year (2015) 102 visas were issued by the US Embassy in Lilongwe for the Malawi delegation.

Our source at the US Embassy in Lilongwe said Malawi protested with the US on how the number of visas for the delegation was divulged to the public.

He said this year the embassy was extra careful as the US law does not allow it to reveal such information unless there is a court order.

“In this case the onus is on the Malawi government to reveal to Malawians the number of people who travelled to America for the UNGA if it so wishes,” said our source at the embassy.

Short analysis:

Going by the graphs above, and considering the general economic sufferance by the general populace in Malawi, something is definitely wrong with the priorities of the current administration.

Most worrisome is the fact that Mutharika and his goons seem to be keen to stick their middle fingers to the many Malawians complaining about the fact that the administration has long since abrogated its duty to the very citizens who gave it the mandate to manage their wealth, or to be more accurate, to further worsen their acute poverty.

No let-up in cold war: Dr Kamuzu Banda and Mwalimu’s ghosts continue sparring over Lake Malawi

Tanzania’s Magufuli and Malawi’s Mutharika: any “Solomonic Wisdom” in these two to resolve the Lake Malawi question once and for all?

I published the original article in Aug 2012. This is just an update to show how the Heligoland Treaty, made for the convenience of two former colonial powers, continues to haunt the two African Nations that came forth after the winds of independence blew across Africa.

Background:

The dispute between The Republic of Malawi (“Malawi”) and The United Republic of Tanzania (“Tanzania”) concerns the location of the border between the two States on, or at the perimeter of Lake Nyasa/Malawi.

All smiles: Tanzania’s founding president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere welcoming Malawi’s founding President Dr Hastings Banda in Tanzania

The border between Malawi and Tanzania (as they are now known) was first demarcated by Great Britain and Germany via the Heligoland Treaty of 1890. The Treaty demarcated several boundaries, including that between Tanganyika and Nyasaland (the predecessors of Tanzania and Malawi).

At that time Tanganyika was a German colony and Nyasaland, a protectorate of Great Britain.

Article 2 of paragraph 1 of the Treaty provided that the boundary between Nyasaland and Tanganyika ran along the eastern, western and northern shores of the Lake until it reaches the northern bank of the mouth of the Songwe River. It then continues up that river to its intersection point with the 33rd degree of east longitude. Hence the whole of the Lake was part of Nyasaland.

Genesis of the Complications:

Following WW1 Great Britain was given a class B League of Nations mandate over Tanganyika. In the present dispute over the Lake, this is crucial to Tanzania’s argument.

Since Britain controlled territory on both sides of the Lake from 1919, Tanzania may argue that various governmental maps and reports are sufficient to redraw an international boundary given that negotiation and formal agreement would not have been necessary.

The British “Annual Reports on Tanganyika” from 1924 to 1932 refer to a centre line as the Lake boundary.

In 1924 the British government issued a State Department report, which includes a geographical and historical note regarding colonization and territory in the area. The report describes the Western limit of previously German territory as the median line of the Lake:

…Thence it follows the boundary of Rhodesia to the northern end of Lake Nyasa and continues along the centre line of Lake Nyasa to a point due west of the Rovuma River whence the boundary runs east and joins the Rovuma River, whose course it follows to the sea.

The text was accompanied by a map, showing the boundary between current – day Malawi and Tanzania as the median line through the section of the Lake  that divides them.

In 1925, the annual colonial report for Nyasaland stated that:

This strip falls naturally into two divisions: (1) consisting of the western shore of Lake Nyasa, with the high tablelands separating it from the basin of the Luangwa river in Northern Rhodesia, and (2) the region lying between the watershed of the Zambesi river and Shire river on the west, and the Lakes Chiuta and Chilwa and the river Ruo, an affluent of the Shire, on the east, including the mountain systems of the Shire Highlands and Mlanje, and a small portion, also mountainous, of the south-eastern coast of Lake Nyasa.

In the same year Great Britain advised the Council of the League of Nations that the boundary between Tanganyika and Nyasaland ran along the centre line of the Lake.

A map showing the boundary running through the middle of the lake was submitted along with the report.

The text of the 1933 and 1934 Annual Reports on Tanganyika continue to refer to the median line as the boundary, however they include maps showing a shoreline boundary.

In reports from 1935 to 1938 both text and map indicate a boundary along the shore. Similarly, the Annual Colonial Reports on Nyasaland from 1948 to 1953 all show a shoreline boundary.

In 1959 the British Government advised the Government of Tanganyika that its legal advisers considered that no part of the Lake was within the boundaries of Tanganyika.

In May 1959, the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources stated in the Tanganyika Legislative Council that the borders of Tanganyika remained as they were demarcated by the 1890 Treaty.

On 30 November 1961 Tanzania declared that it would honour bilateral treaties for two years and would then regard as terminated all treaties “which could not by the application of the rules of customary international law be regarded as otherwise surviving.”

This statement signalled Tanzania’s intent not to accept the boundary as running along the Lake’s periphery.

Tanganyika gained independence on 9 December 1961, becoming Tanzania.

In a speech to the National Assembly on 11 June 1962 its Prime Minister, Rashidi Kawawa, stated that no part of Lake Nyasa lay within the borders of Tanzania. He also stated that the 30 November 1961 statement did not affect this issue.

Nyasaland gained independence and became Malawi on 6 July 1964. At this point Malawi produced a booklet stating that Tanzania’s frontier included a quarter of the Lake.

Mere publication of a booklet is insufficient to alter a boundary. Further, as Tanzania was already an independent state by this time, Malawi did not enjoy the legal discretion to unilaterally alter the border.

Were Malawi to have secured independence prior to Tanzania, it may have been possible for a Malawian government to alter the boundary.

Current Affairs:

September, 2016: Malawi Government tough on Lake Malawi row – the Daily Times

The Lake Malawi boundary wrangle between Malawi and Tanzania seems far from over as the latter has started promoting its new map which shows the lake as belonging to Tanzania, but Chief Secretary, George Mkondiwa, has informed all government controlling officers to be on alert and disregard such propaganda. http://www.times.mw/government-tough-on-lake-malawi-row/

President Peter Mutharika told Parliament during budget session of the House in May this year that the entire lake, reportedly rich in oil and gas, belongs to the people of Malawi but the East African country has insisted that it owns half of the northern part of the lake.

A forum of former African heads of state chaired by former president of Mozambique, Joachim Chissano, tasked to mediate in the wrangle is also not through with the exercise but Tanzania has on several occasions resorted to provocations, like for instance introducing ships on the lake last year.

In a circular dated August 29 which The Daily Times has seen, signed by Mkondiwa and addressed to Principal Secretaries, heads of departments, chief executives of city and town councils and all District Commissioners, Mkondiwa has advised the controlling officers to reject such propaganda by refusing to use any documentation or material carrying such misinformation.

In an interview Wednesday, Mkondiwa confirmed having authored the letter but could not be drawn to comment further.

Reads part of the circular Ref No CS/S/001: “Malawi will never accept, and has never, at any time acquiesced to Tanzania’s unwarranted and unjustified territorial claims, government would like to call upon all officials in government ministries, departments and agencies to be alert on this matter and to continue rejecting and refusing to use all such maps appearing in any form or media including calendars, diaries, official documentation or other documentation for any purpose or business.”

The officials are further being cautioned from accepting such maps during international conferences and workshops.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francis Kasaila, was not available for comment but Principal Secretary for the Ministry, Dalitso Kabambe, explained that as far as the country is concerned, its territories remain as defined in the boundary treaty and there is no such a thing as a “new unilaterally promulgated map”.

“As you are aware, Malawi committed itself to participate in the high level mediation and feels that it is the right forum for resolving the dispute as opposed to resorting to futile media pronouncements.

“Accordingly, Malawi has been actively engaged to encourage the high level mediation team to set-up date for the next round,” Kabambe said.

He also indicated that the mediation had stalled in 2014 due to elections in the country and thereafter, in 2015 due to elections in Tanzania, adding that the high level mediation team is in the process of setting-up a possible date for the next round of negotiation meeting.

Asked on assertions that Malawi has taken a soft stance on the national issue, Kabambe said that despite its commitment and participation in the mediation talks, the country’s position has always been consistent and very clear, and that is, its boundaries are not negotiable.

The country is basing its ownership rights on the 1890 agreement between Britain, her colonial master and Germany.

 

2012, July – Malawi:

Oil – the root of all evil: Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete and Malawi’s Joyce Banda re-ignited the cold war

“But our terms are clear on this. According to the 1890 ecoland agreement between Britain and Germany, the border between Malawi and Tanzania is the edge of the waters of Lake Malawi.

So we are very clear about that but we will continue to engage with Tanzania as a good neighbour,” Patrick Kabambe, Principal Secretary, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Malawi.

2012, July – Tanzania:

“We don’t want Tanzanians to ask for permission from Malawi to fetch water or fish from Lake Nyasa. If we don’t reach a consensus, we will take recourse in international law.” Tanzania‘s Attorney General Judge Frederick Werema, responding to a concern from the Member of Parliament for Mbeya Region (special seats), Hilda Ngoye.

Ms Ngoye had charged that the Malawian tourists and fishing boats have been trespassing on Tanzanian territorial waters at will, escalating tensions.

“Tanzanians around Lake Nyasa’s shores have the right to fish or engage in other productive activities on the lake, without being intimidated,” she had told the Tanzanian parliament, demanding an explanation from the government on the status of the border between Tanzania and Malawi.

The gist of the dispute:

The dispute is about who owns what is, as far as Malawians are concerned, Lake Malawi and as far as Tanzanians are concerned, Lake Nyasa.

According to Malawi, this is not even a subject for debate. Malawi owns 100% of Lake Malawi and if we are to go by the wish of Malawi’s founding president, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, (and ignore the Heligoland Treaty) Malawi just like its predecessor the Maravi Kingdom should in fact extend to some parts of present day Tanzania and even Mozambique.

According to Tanzania on the other hand, the lake is shared and the boundary of these two neighbouring countries should follow the median line in Lake Nyasa. This is the official stance of the Tanzanian Government hence any Malawian activity beyond this line are deemed “trespassing”.

The Historical Context:

This dispute traces its origin to the Berlin Conference, and trouble is rooted in the Berlin Act of 1885, that was signed by the 13 European powers that attended the conference that formalised the Scramble for Africa.

According to documents on the demarcation of the border around Lake Nyasa encapsulated by the Anglo-Germany Treaty of July 1, 1890 – verbatim – the border runs as below:

To the south by the line that starts on the coast of the northern border of Mozambique Province and follows the course of the Rovuma River to the point where the Messinge flows into the Rovuma. From here the line runs westward on the parallel of latitude to the shore of Lake Nyasa. Turning north, it continues along the eastern, northern, and western shores of the lake until it reaches the northern bank of the mouth of the Songwe.

Tanzania, of course, does not agree with this, with Tanzanian scholars calling this demarcation “spurious”.

Put to Dr. Kamuzu Banda by Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere that the map between independent Malawi and Tanzania should follow the median line, in his unique blunt style Dr. Banda responded as below:

We will never recognize or accept this claim: we will never agree to the suggestion or proposal. The Lake has always belonged to Malawi….Everyone knew Nyerere as a coward and communist inspired jellyfish: We know while pretending to be a staunch supporter of the OAU, Nyerere is the worst agitator and betrayer of the cause for which the Organization was formulated. History, geography or even ethnical

Hastings Banda (1896 – 1997), President of Malawi, arriving at Heathrow Airport, London, 22nd January 1971. He was in Britain for a three-week private visit as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

knowledge will convince Nyerere that four districts to the South of Tanganyika belong to us by nature. It is only that we respect the feasible unification of Mother Africa that we do not claim these districts. All that we are doing is setting [sic] historical truth.

Dr Kamuzu Banda in 1962 reinforced his claim in addition to the authority of the Anglo-Germany Treaty of July 1, 1890 with some maps from the national archives.

Dr Kamuzu Banda even went as far as suggesting to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere that a part of Mozambique was supposed to be part of Malawi – then still Nyasaland.

But as is usually case in any dispute, Tanzania is equally able to produce maps that show the median as the boundary, but such maps have never disputed the contents and spirit of the Anglo-Germany Treaty of July 1, 1890.

Pre-Independence Treaties and the Lake Malawi /Nyasa dispute:

The reason this dispute will not disappear any day soon is rooted in Malawi’s and Tanzania’s divergent views vis-à-vis pre-independence treaties including the Anglo-Germany Treaty.

Julius Nyerere, as the first Tanganyika Prime Minister, prepared a policy document for implementation after independence in which the Secretary—General of the United Nations was informed thus:

As regards bilateral treaties validly concluded by the United Kingdom on behalf of the territory of Tanganyika, or validly applied or extended by the former to the territory latter, the Government of Tanganyika is willing to continue to apply within the territory, on a basis of reciprocity, the terms of all such treaties for a period of 2 years from the date of independence [i.e. until 8 December 1963] unless abrogated or modified by mutual consent. At the expiry of that period, the government of Tanganyika will regard such of these treaties, which could not by the application of the customary international law be regarded as otherwise surviving, as having terminated.

Former presidents of Tanzania and Malawi, Mkapa and Muluzi. In their time, they ‘slept’ peacefully over the Lake Malawi issue

As a result, Tanzania refused to recognize the treaties that naturally gave the lake to Malawi on independence on 6 July 1964 since its allegiance to such expires on December 8, 1963.

And this was the major recipe for this dispute because, it meant that in practice; Malawi and Tanzania now had different points of reference, which explains the continued stand-off.

Parties that have different points of reference in any argument are as good as parallel lines. They can never meet. In the least, it explains where Malawi and Tanzania are at, with respect to Lake Malawi a.k.a Lake Nyasa.

In all likelihood, Dr Kamuzu Banda would have viewed such a policy, which was supposed to be outward looking but designed in a way that only serves internal interests, with utter contempt.

Any merit in Tanzania’s claim to half the lake?

Having said all this one wonders if Tanzanians are mad to be claiming half the lake and on what basis some map makers, show the median line as the boundary.

There are several International Conventions that deal with rights associated with water.

The dispute – illustrated

Rights associated with water that is not flowing are called littoral. Generally land beneath non-sovereign lakes are owned by the surrounding upland owners. When all the deeds call to the lake, each owner has title to a centre point. This principle is referred to riparian rights and is the basis for Tanzania’s claim.

Should Malawi buy this?

From the statement from the Principal Secretary Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Patrick Kabambe this seems like a far-fetched idea and one is tempted to subscribe to this thought.

“Indeed, we went for discussion on the border issue and we categorically put it to them that as far we are concerned, the entire lake belongs to Malawi.”

In a rare stretch of cross-government policy constistency, the sentiments have been repeated by the current President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika.

The point is: if one person unilaterally decides to annul existing international treaties (like the Anglo-Germany Treaty – which by the way is all there is on this – and both Tanzanians and Malawians were not represented which makes them both victims); why should another person suffer from subscribing to the treaty?

Advice to Malawi: let us by all means meet, eat, drink together, and talk with Tanzania. But the talking will not undo the Anglo-Germany Treaty.

As Dr H. Kamuzu Banda used to say, we are all brothers and sisters – the maps and divisions were imposed on us by the colonialists; therefore, let us all (Malawians and Tanzanians) fish and swim in the beautiful Lake Malawi.

A mediation effort going nowhere: Hon. Chiume (right), presents Joint Letter of Application to retired President Joaquim Chissano, Chairperson of the Forum of Former African Heads of State and Government, before members of the press (not in the photo). Left is Hon. Bernard K. Membe, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation in the United Republic of Tanzania. (December 2012)

 

The mediation effort:

A pictorial