Malawi's Vice-President,Joyce Banda, has been in close contact with the President of Liberia,Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, since February 3, 2009 and the two have now agreed to support each other materially, technically and financially.
The first one to benefit from the two women leaders' agreement - a 12-paged document Zachimalawi is in possession of- is Malawi's Banda.
The Agreement form has four articles, namely: Article 1, which covers three pages, and sets conditions and grounds for financial support; Article 2, specifying modalities for technical support; Article 3, which lays the grounds for material support; and Article 4, describing conditions for termination of agreement. This article cites such grounds as retirement from active politics, incapacipation 'of any terminal nature, and, in which case, it must be proved to be permanent', dishonesty or any acts that may be deemed, in the eyes of right thinking members of society, to be inhuman and against accepted moral principles, among others.
According to Article 1 (6) of Joyce Banda and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's agreement, which deals with financial support, Banda will receive US$160, 000 in financial support. The Agreement documents specifically indicates that the first chunk (US$40, 000) will be received by jULY 12, 2011.
Article 1 (8) then specifically sets conditions for utilisation, clearly indicating that the funds "benefit individual citizens, and not party or personal affairs".
In the spirit of the Agreement, 'benefit (ting) individual citizens' shall mean: (a) Any programmes targeting the less-previleged members in society, including the ultra-poor, people affected by disasters, orphans and vulnerable children; (b) Any programmes or activities that may improve he social-economic status of citizens, including revolving funds at 0% interest rate, to be repaid monthly in US$10 bits; (c) and any initiatives that may help aspiring women Members of Parliament and Presidents earn seed capital for political campagning, or the advancement of women development causes.
It is clearly spelled, also, that, in cases of revolving funds and Zero-interest loans, the maximum amount be K200, 000.
The document, signed on June 20, 2009- the day it became effective- and whose validity ends on June 20, 2016- has many other provisions describing effective campaign strategies, but emphasises on tools that do not discriminate against men, members of other political parties, and undecided members of society, further advising that these groups represent a potential pool of 'massive support, and, if well-exploited, could result in changing voting trends. Just emphasise on common reasoning grounds, public sympathy, development gaps, stereotypes against public officials, and the surprise factor.
Now, it seems that Banda has started putting some of the recommendations in the Agreement into practice. Though the Agreement is silent on forming a political party, Banda is already in the process of registering one (People's Party).
As if signaling her seriousness, Banda has ropped in former United Democratic Front (UDF) Campaign Director, Clement Stambuli. Former Justice Minister Paul Maulidi is also one of the officials.
Maulidi threatened to sue journalist Chancy Namadzunda in early March this year, accusing the Lilongwe-based reporter of sneaking into his (Maulidi's) office and 'stealing' names of People's Party officials- a development Maulidi said (speaking to Namadzunda, in the presence of this reporter) could jeorpadise his position in the party since party officials would begin to treat him with suspicions, 'thinking I leak information to members of the press.
All this just points to the fact that Banda's zealots and working on the ground, making sure that Banda's party becomes not only another 'brief case' player on the political map, but a formidable entity, one that poses a real threat to President Bingu wa Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
When DPP fired Banda (who was DPP's first vice-president) and Khumbo Kachali, then the party's second-vice president, people thought it was the end of the two officials political paths.
Others argued, however, that it could be a sign of cracks emerging in the DPP, following sentiments of top party officials who have made it clear that they will support nobody else but Bingu wa Mutharika's younger brother, Peter.
Bingu's term (the second, and, according to the Malawi Constitution, maximum one can serve in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member state) expires in May 2014.
But Banda has shown to be a woman of strong will. She even went to the extent of describing Peter Mutharika as a 'non political starter' in February 2011, challenging him to the thrown at the New State House and Sanjika Palace come 2014.
In following up to the Agreement signed with Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Banda is leaving no stone unturned. The Vice-President of the Republic of Malawi has established 210 committees throughout the country.
The aim of the committees, Zachimalawi understands, is to help in the disbursement of funds to women, men and other vulnerable groups.
In Zomba, for instance, Mary Sauzande-Kalinde is one of the women registering would-be beneficiaries.
She told Zachimalawi on Wednesday that, so far, 780 women have already registered for loans in Zomba.
In Balaka, Patricia Mable Kuzimva, the chairperson for the Joyce Banda (Zero-Interest) Revolving Fund said "many people are flocking to us; in fact, we have already registered 3000 people wishing to obtain loans. People are really grateful to Hon. Joyce Banda for her visionary instincts".
It seems that, all over Malawi, Joyce Banda is slowly connecting with the people's needs, and slowly gaining ground.
Joyce Banda has also won the hearts of many women in Ndirande, as many women are flocking to register for loans in both Ndirande Central Constituency and Ndirande-Malabada.
So far, in the two constituencies, 5,438 women and 2,521 men have registered for the loans whose disbursement date is said to be between September 1 and December 15, 2011.
Loan disbursement will then start again on 19 February, 2011.
THe loans' repayment period is one year, with three months grace period.
Banda is not new in the loan disbursement business. In fact, she is the founder of the National Association for Business Women (NABW), an organisation that won national acclaim for pulling women out of the puddle of poverty.
Many Malawian women were able to wear off their 'goal-keeper' tag (those women who act as goal-keepers, waiting for the husband to bring everything, a trend perpetuated by deep-rooted cultural stereotypes) and stand on themselves economically and socially.
This economic emancipation coincided with an intensive gender activism campaign that has but changed the status of women in Malawian society; at least, the town-dwellling woman.
In Malawi's rural areas, the husband (and thus father) is still very much the patriarch; worshipped more than revered, feared more than respected.
This, naturally, has led people to wonder whether the country is ready for a woman president. DPP regional governor for the Eastern Region, Noel Masangwi, riled people late last year when he enthused, (spoke, rather publicly) than Malawi was not ready for a woman president.
Masangwi immediately drew fire from all quarters of society, including from unfamiliar quarters- Presidential spokesperson, and DPP spokesperson, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba. The 'Talking Computer' Ntaba said its estranged governor's sentiments did not represent views of the DPP, and that Masangwi was speaking in his personal capacity.
Less than three months later, Joyce Banda was out of the party: fired by the party's National Governing Council, which was chaired by President Bingu wa Mutharika.
The reasons for Banda's (and not Masangwi's) firing were simple, in the words of former Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe: Joyce Banda and Khumbo Kachali were been putting in place parallel party structures. Not only getting rid of established party structures, but relacing them with their own!
As of now, Banda is on the ground, working; only that his party is not yet in the books. It is yet to be registered.
But the DPP has shown to be an intolerant party, looking at how it has frustrated (through the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties) the registration of political parties whose founders are known government bashers.
Will Joyce Banda get her way? Malawians wait with abated breath.
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tension at Blantyre Old Town, Malawi's Failure to Chose One Road
The atmosphere in Blantyre Central Business District (CBD) is pregnant with tension.
At Blantyre Old Town (also known as Victoria Hall), right within the Blantyre CBD, some four Police Land Cruisers are lined up overlooking Henderson Street, with Police officers on high alert.
The news is that Polytechnic students are on their way to Blantyre District Commissioner (DC) offices. These offices are located within the Southern Region Government offices, which also houses the Immigration Department, Fiscal Police, Meteorological Department, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Information Departments (including the Malawi News Agency), Administrator General, Legal Aid, Blantyre Electoral Commission offices, among others.
The aim of the students is to present a petition to the DC. The issue is about the on-going stand-off between University of Malawi (UNIMA) lecturers and Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito.
So far, it has not been all-unity within UNIMA, as lecturers from some constituent colleges of UNIMA- notably, Bunda College of Agriculture, Polytechnic- have decided to end their sit-in and resume classes.
The decision has riled the students, who refused to attend classes on Tuesday at the Polytechnic. They viewed their lecturers' decision as a betrayal of their colleagues at Chancellor College, the biggest constituent college of UNIMA.
Today (Thursday) morning, Zachimalawi saw a horde of students leave Polytechnic campus and head towards Blantyre DC offices in Blantyre CBD.
They have not yet arrived, though the heavy police presence at Blantyre Magistrates' Court- which stands between Victoria Hotel (Blantyre Old Town) and the entry to Southern region Goverment offices- indicates that the law enforcers are on high alert.
The Mlawi Police Service may even be ready to throw teargas cansters willy-nilly, as they did at the Polytechnic campus yesterday (Wednesday).
Such has been the case during the past one month, or so, of tension and stand-offs over academic freedom.
During this period, President Bingu wa Mutharika has made three 'dangerous' statements: that Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito will not apologise, thus compromising on his role as both Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, and Chancellor of UNIMA; that demonstrators deposit a collateral damage deposit of K3 million before any such demonstrations, peaceful or not, which such human rights activists as Undule Mwakasungula have described as 'unconstitutional and dictatorial'; that civil society organisations' leaders are unemployable individuals with no good track record, prompting others to interpret that, by saying 'unemployable', Mutharika means that the civil society leaders cannot be bought by government agents. In Malawi, individuals who have suddenly changed their ati-government tune are said to have been 'sconed' in the mouth.
Adding on to this is the Malawi Government's decision this week to ban (or its plans to do so) the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) purpotedly because it is 'illegal' and 'not registered'. HRCC is made up of 97 human rights NGOs in Malawi.
This has been revealed by Presidential spokesperson, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba. Ntaba also acts as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman.
Government's decision has buffled many political analysts and human rights activists.
On one hand, they say it is HRCC that organised a virgil at Parliament's main gate when Mutharika's DPP government was in minority, and opposition legislators led by Leader of Opposition, and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo ganged up to topedo the National Budget.
Such was Mutharika's vulnerability that he resorted to the 'People-Power' strategy, appealing to citizens reasoning and sympathy when things did not go his way. CSOs and NGOs also played a crucial role in making sure government got its way, either by organising virgils or demonstrations.
Now that Mutharika's DPP is in majority, though not absolute majority, things have all of a sudden changed, and Mutharika is biting more than he soothes.
At several fora, including during the opening of the 2010 International Trade Fair in Blantyre, Mutharika challenged development partners who, he felt, were interfering in Malawi's internal affairs to 'pack up and go, I don't care'.
He also took time to accuse private newspapers of being 'bought', and advancing donors' agenda, and threatened to close down newspapers that were acting contrary to government's development agenda.
This sentiment has, coincidentally, become linked to government's recent attempts tp muzzle press freedom, as evidenced by its recent decision to ammend Section 46 of the Penal Code and empower the Minister of Information (and Civic Education) to ban publications deemed, in his or her view, to be against national interests.
Currently, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), government's human rights arm established under an Act of Parliament, has joined hands with the Media Council of Malawi (MCM) and dragged government to court over the controversial provision.
Government lawyers argued this week the two bodies had no 'sufficient' interest in the matter, and urged the High Court of Malawi to throw out the appplication.
Their argument is that nobody (including the two bodies) has been affected yet by the new legislation.
Information and Civic Education Minister, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, has also joined government lawyers in this argument. He told Zachimalawi on Wednesday government does not intend to envoke Section 46 'anytime in the fore-seable future', adding that the Section is just there to guard against 'press freedom excesses" in future.
Evidently, the past seven months have not been easy for human rights advocates. Presidential advisor on NGOs, Bessie Chirambo, has spoken against NGOs a record 15 times- all the time repeating sentiments that government will not hesitate 'to close down' NGOs that rally against the government of President Mutharika, and never take the time to appreciate the 'many good things'.
All these developments lead up to one conclusion: Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa, is at a cross-roads.
At Blantyre Old Town (also known as Victoria Hall), right within the Blantyre CBD, some four Police Land Cruisers are lined up overlooking Henderson Street, with Police officers on high alert.
The news is that Polytechnic students are on their way to Blantyre District Commissioner (DC) offices. These offices are located within the Southern Region Government offices, which also houses the Immigration Department, Fiscal Police, Meteorological Department, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Information Departments (including the Malawi News Agency), Administrator General, Legal Aid, Blantyre Electoral Commission offices, among others.
The aim of the students is to present a petition to the DC. The issue is about the on-going stand-off between University of Malawi (UNIMA) lecturers and Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito.
So far, it has not been all-unity within UNIMA, as lecturers from some constituent colleges of UNIMA- notably, Bunda College of Agriculture, Polytechnic- have decided to end their sit-in and resume classes.
The decision has riled the students, who refused to attend classes on Tuesday at the Polytechnic. They viewed their lecturers' decision as a betrayal of their colleagues at Chancellor College, the biggest constituent college of UNIMA.
Today (Thursday) morning, Zachimalawi saw a horde of students leave Polytechnic campus and head towards Blantyre DC offices in Blantyre CBD.
They have not yet arrived, though the heavy police presence at Blantyre Magistrates' Court- which stands between Victoria Hotel (Blantyre Old Town) and the entry to Southern region Goverment offices- indicates that the law enforcers are on high alert.
The Mlawi Police Service may even be ready to throw teargas cansters willy-nilly, as they did at the Polytechnic campus yesterday (Wednesday).
Such has been the case during the past one month, or so, of tension and stand-offs over academic freedom.
During this period, President Bingu wa Mutharika has made three 'dangerous' statements: that Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito will not apologise, thus compromising on his role as both Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, and Chancellor of UNIMA; that demonstrators deposit a collateral damage deposit of K3 million before any such demonstrations, peaceful or not, which such human rights activists as Undule Mwakasungula have described as 'unconstitutional and dictatorial'; that civil society organisations' leaders are unemployable individuals with no good track record, prompting others to interpret that, by saying 'unemployable', Mutharika means that the civil society leaders cannot be bought by government agents. In Malawi, individuals who have suddenly changed their ati-government tune are said to have been 'sconed' in the mouth.
Adding on to this is the Malawi Government's decision this week to ban (or its plans to do so) the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) purpotedly because it is 'illegal' and 'not registered'. HRCC is made up of 97 human rights NGOs in Malawi.
This has been revealed by Presidential spokesperson, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba. Ntaba also acts as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman.
Government's decision has buffled many political analysts and human rights activists.
On one hand, they say it is HRCC that organised a virgil at Parliament's main gate when Mutharika's DPP government was in minority, and opposition legislators led by Leader of Opposition, and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo ganged up to topedo the National Budget.
Such was Mutharika's vulnerability that he resorted to the 'People-Power' strategy, appealing to citizens reasoning and sympathy when things did not go his way. CSOs and NGOs also played a crucial role in making sure government got its way, either by organising virgils or demonstrations.
Now that Mutharika's DPP is in majority, though not absolute majority, things have all of a sudden changed, and Mutharika is biting more than he soothes.
At several fora, including during the opening of the 2010 International Trade Fair in Blantyre, Mutharika challenged development partners who, he felt, were interfering in Malawi's internal affairs to 'pack up and go, I don't care'.
He also took time to accuse private newspapers of being 'bought', and advancing donors' agenda, and threatened to close down newspapers that were acting contrary to government's development agenda.
This sentiment has, coincidentally, become linked to government's recent attempts tp muzzle press freedom, as evidenced by its recent decision to ammend Section 46 of the Penal Code and empower the Minister of Information (and Civic Education) to ban publications deemed, in his or her view, to be against national interests.
Currently, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), government's human rights arm established under an Act of Parliament, has joined hands with the Media Council of Malawi (MCM) and dragged government to court over the controversial provision.
Government lawyers argued this week the two bodies had no 'sufficient' interest in the matter, and urged the High Court of Malawi to throw out the appplication.
Their argument is that nobody (including the two bodies) has been affected yet by the new legislation.
Information and Civic Education Minister, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, has also joined government lawyers in this argument. He told Zachimalawi on Wednesday government does not intend to envoke Section 46 'anytime in the fore-seable future', adding that the Section is just there to guard against 'press freedom excesses" in future.
Evidently, the past seven months have not been easy for human rights advocates. Presidential advisor on NGOs, Bessie Chirambo, has spoken against NGOs a record 15 times- all the time repeating sentiments that government will not hesitate 'to close down' NGOs that rally against the government of President Mutharika, and never take the time to appreciate the 'many good things'.
All these developments lead up to one conclusion: Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa, is at a cross-roads.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tomorrow (watch out for a story titled): Joyce Banda's campaign strategy exposed
Hint: Vice President Joyce Banda, who is largely expected to become president of the yet-to-be registered People's Party -after being expelled from President Bingu wa Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party- is leaving no stone unturned to realise her ambition (unthought of some three years ago) of becoming Malawi's next possible president in 2014.
Find out how, tomorrow. Only Zachimalawi can reveal.
Find out how, tomorrow. Only Zachimalawi can reveal.
Polytechnic Students Stone Police Boss, Beat Up Journalist
Students from the Polytechnic, unhappy with their lecturers' sudden change of heart over their decision to boycott classes until their academic freedom is quaranteed, run amok today morning, stoning a Police boss idly sitting at the back of a Police Pajero in the company of three other uniformed police officers, as well as beating up a lady journalist working for one of Malawi's biggest newspaper groups.
This happened on a day the Polytechnic students were waiting for their colleagues from Chancellor College- another constituent college of the University of Malawi- so they could match against pro-longed delays to settle the issue of academic freedom once and for all.
Reports reaching Zachimalawi indicate that Chanco (as Chancellor College is popularly known) students have been denied permission (and, therefore, access to such college resources as a bus for transport to Blantyre) to go ahead with their resolution to join Polytechnic students in what they dubbed a 'massive student action' match.
This came fast on the heels of Polytechnic students union leaders' decision to boycott classes on Tuesday, shortly after the college's lecturers agreed to go back to class. The decision followed a voting process conducted by the Polytechnic Academic Staff Committee on Welfare (Pascow), during which 34 lecturers voted in favour of the decision to resume teaching, while 29 were of the contrary view.
Polytechnic students union representatives have since cried foul over the lecturers' decision, saying non-academic members of staff were also allowed to vote- a decision they describe as an 'ill-advised'.
Wednesday (today) started like a day like any other at the Polytechnic, though anticipation was in the air- that Chanco students would join their Polytechnic counterparts in solidarity against government impunity over universal freedoms, including the Kampala Declaration and the Republican constitution, These set academic freedom as a non-derogable right, according to Polytechnic Students Union (PSU) publicity secretary, Bright Mhango.
However, things started to turn loose when, around 08:20, the students gathered in front of the administration block, setting tires and tree branches on fire.
When one of Southern Region Police Headquarters top notch officials passed by the campus in a Nissan Pajero, however, one student threw a stone that sent him ducking (actually, he bowed down as he tried to shield himself from the 'well-taken' stone.
Immediately, one of his aides de camp in front was seen calling his colleagues nearby (some 100 metres from the Polytechnic). And, soon, all hell broke loose.
Reports indicate that Police officers, who invaded the campus- throwing teargas indiscriminately- have arrested over four students, inclusing one of the students union leaders.
It must be reported also that a lady journalist (name withheld) who was taking photos of the action was manhandled, and had the car she was traveling in smashed.
The stand off between lecturers of UNIMA and Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, started when the later summoned an associate professor at Chancellor College, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, over remarks he made in class equating the (then on-going) protests in Egypt to the impact of people power.
N.B. Excuse me, I am at the Polytechnic now, and police officers have started throwing teargas again...time to run,
This happened on a day the Polytechnic students were waiting for their colleagues from Chancellor College- another constituent college of the University of Malawi- so they could match against pro-longed delays to settle the issue of academic freedom once and for all.
Reports reaching Zachimalawi indicate that Chanco (as Chancellor College is popularly known) students have been denied permission (and, therefore, access to such college resources as a bus for transport to Blantyre) to go ahead with their resolution to join Polytechnic students in what they dubbed a 'massive student action' match.
This came fast on the heels of Polytechnic students union leaders' decision to boycott classes on Tuesday, shortly after the college's lecturers agreed to go back to class. The decision followed a voting process conducted by the Polytechnic Academic Staff Committee on Welfare (Pascow), during which 34 lecturers voted in favour of the decision to resume teaching, while 29 were of the contrary view.
Polytechnic students union representatives have since cried foul over the lecturers' decision, saying non-academic members of staff were also allowed to vote- a decision they describe as an 'ill-advised'.
Wednesday (today) started like a day like any other at the Polytechnic, though anticipation was in the air- that Chanco students would join their Polytechnic counterparts in solidarity against government impunity over universal freedoms, including the Kampala Declaration and the Republican constitution, These set academic freedom as a non-derogable right, according to Polytechnic Students Union (PSU) publicity secretary, Bright Mhango.
However, things started to turn loose when, around 08:20, the students gathered in front of the administration block, setting tires and tree branches on fire.
When one of Southern Region Police Headquarters top notch officials passed by the campus in a Nissan Pajero, however, one student threw a stone that sent him ducking (actually, he bowed down as he tried to shield himself from the 'well-taken' stone.
Immediately, one of his aides de camp in front was seen calling his colleagues nearby (some 100 metres from the Polytechnic). And, soon, all hell broke loose.
Reports indicate that Police officers, who invaded the campus- throwing teargas indiscriminately- have arrested over four students, inclusing one of the students union leaders.
It must be reported also that a lady journalist (name withheld) who was taking photos of the action was manhandled, and had the car she was traveling in smashed.
The stand off between lecturers of UNIMA and Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, started when the later summoned an associate professor at Chancellor College, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, over remarks he made in class equating the (then on-going) protests in Egypt to the impact of people power.
N.B. Excuse me, I am at the Polytechnic now, and police officers have started throwing teargas again...time to run,
SOMALIA: Director and editor of prominent station detained
New York, March 28, 2011—Security agents with Somalia’s Interim Transitional Government arrested the director and news editor of Radio Shabelle on Sunday after the independent station aired a report saying the president was unable to visit areas recently captured by government and AU forces due to security concerns, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. The Ministry of Information deemed the March 22 report “factually incorrect and aiding the terrorists.”
News Editor Abdi Mohammed Ismail and Director Abdirashid Omar Qase were arrested upon their arrival at security agency headquarters in Mogadishu and were denied access to food, legal representation, and family, Ali Dahir, Shabelle’s head of development, told CPJ.
Other local radio stations and the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America aired similar reports that said President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s travels had been restricted by insecurity, local journalists said. Shabelle stood by its reporting.
Abdimalik Yusuf, chairman of Shabelle Media, told CPJ the Interior Ministry ordered the media house today to publicly apologize for the report and to sign a letter stating that they would refrain from negative reporting about the government. Yusuf told CPJ he refused. Phone calls seeking comment from the Interior Ministry went unanswered.
“The government must explain why it is holding our two colleagues incommunicado,” CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “In the meantime, it must release them immediately. If it disputes the radio station’s reporting it can say so without locking up journalists.”
The weak transitional federal government has fought a protracted war with the hard-line insurgency Al-Shabaab and other militant groups, which have controlled vast portions of the country. In 2010, Radio Shabelle clandestinely transferred its operations from Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, which was controlled by Al-Shabaab, to the government-controlled part of the city.-CPJ
News Editor Abdi Mohammed Ismail and Director Abdirashid Omar Qase were arrested upon their arrival at security agency headquarters in Mogadishu and were denied access to food, legal representation, and family, Ali Dahir, Shabelle’s head of development, told CPJ.
Other local radio stations and the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America aired similar reports that said President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s travels had been restricted by insecurity, local journalists said. Shabelle stood by its reporting.
Abdimalik Yusuf, chairman of Shabelle Media, told CPJ the Interior Ministry ordered the media house today to publicly apologize for the report and to sign a letter stating that they would refrain from negative reporting about the government. Yusuf told CPJ he refused. Phone calls seeking comment from the Interior Ministry went unanswered.
“The government must explain why it is holding our two colleagues incommunicado,” CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “In the meantime, it must release them immediately. If it disputes the radio station’s reporting it can say so without locking up journalists.”
The weak transitional federal government has fought a protracted war with the hard-line insurgency Al-Shabaab and other militant groups, which have controlled vast portions of the country. In 2010, Radio Shabelle clandestinely transferred its operations from Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, which was controlled by Al-Shabaab, to the government-controlled part of the city.-CPJ
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
* Homepage * About Us * Pubblications * Study Centre * Database * Contacts * Newsletter * Feed RSS Home › Canadian Blood Services Offers Funding to Research the Gay Blood Ban Canadian Blood Services Offers Funding to Research the Gay Blood Ban
The Canadian Blood Services, the agency which governs blood donations in Canada has stated that it is not changing its stance on the ban on blood donations by men who had sex with other men. A spokeswoman for the Canadian Blood Services indicated that "research is going to take time. The environment has changed in terms of what some of the international blood operators are doing, so let's look at the feasibility of a shorter deferal period". The Canadian Blood Service has set aside funding for research into the issue but to date no one has applied.
NORWAY: Promoting the human rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people
Guidelines for systematising and strengthening embassy efforts
Sexual orientation and human rights
Norway plays an active role as an advocate for the human rights of LGBT
people, both in the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly
and bilaterally. In the UN general Assembly in December 2008, Norway
was part of a core group that promoted the statement on Human Rights,
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The statement was supported by 66
countries. Our main message has been that homosexuality must be
decriminalised and that states must take steps to combat violence and
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The starting point for Norway’s efforts is that human rights apply to
everyone, regardless of their sex, social and ethnic background, religion or
sexual orientation. In practice, LGBT people are subject to criminalisation
and discrimination, in the form of both harassment and actual violence. In
some cases, LGBT people are the victims of abuse and discrimination on the
part of the authorities themselves. In others, the authorities fail to protect
them against abuse and discrimination by family members or society in
general. Many LGBT people also experience more indirect forms of
discrimination in the labour and housing markets.
Moreover, equal rights for sexual minorities is an important development
policy issue, together with other equality issues.
LGBT activists who are working for their rights and fighting discrimination
are considered to be human rights defenders, in the same way as other
human rights activists.
Norwegian policy as regards LGBT people
Norway is willing to speak up when others are silent, and to raise the issue of
equality and rights for LGTB people. Norway is a staunch defender of human
rights. There is a need for an increased focus on equal rights, including the issue
of discrimination based on sexual orientation. This is a priority area in the
Government’s Action Plan for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in
Development Cooperation 2007–2009. Norway also endorses the Yogyakarta
principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to
sexual orientation and gender identity. International efforts are also being made to
find funding mechanisms for channelling allocations to provide legal assistance
for LGBT people who are arrested.
Side 2
Terminology
In ordinary speech we often talk of lesbian and gay rights. The UN uses the
term sexual orientation and gender identity, Common generic terms are:
LGBT – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, and
LGBTI – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people.
The term “transgender” or “Third gender” applies to all that do not fall into
the definition man/woman.
Long-term approach
In many countries, securing the rights of LGBT people is a sensitive issue,
and the work of Norway’s embassies in this field must be adapted to the
local context and what will give the best results for the target group. A longterm
perspective is needed. It may be worthwhile to look back on the history
of campaigns for greater equality in Norway. Both women and gay and
lesbian groups have used campaigning methods that were against the law in
order to make themselves heard. Due to the efforts of Norwegian
homosexuals, their situation has changed from a prohibition against
homosexual practices 35 years ago to the recent adoption of amendments to
the Marriage Act to make it applicable to both same-sex and opposite-sex
couples. It seems likely that there will be situations where LGBT activists in
other countries make use of campaigning methods that states consider to be
illegal. Norway should take a particular responsibility for speaking out
precisely in cases where the rights of sexual minorities are a controversial
issue. Norway is playing a leading role in promoting women’s and
children’s rights, and should have the same level of ambition when it comes
to the rights of LGBT people
The Ministry’s efforts
Please refer to the guidelines for systematising and strengthening the efforts
of foreign service missions to support human rights defenders, which are
available on the Intranet and at
http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/defenders.pdf.
Many of the types of initiative that can be taken to support human rights
defenders can also be used to support LGBT activists and organisations.
Statement by France and Germany at the UN General Assembly in
2008
France and the Netherlands have drawn together a core group of
supportive states to prepare a statement for the 63rd Session of the UN
General Assembly. Norway is a member of the core group. It will
support this work, but because it is a candidate for election to the
Human Rights Council, it will not be playing a leading role.
Brief guidelines for efforts by Norwegian embassies to promote the
rights of LGBT people
1. Promoting equal rights and non-discrimination of LGBT people is part of
Norway’s policy. Embassies should be aware of this policy and be
Side 3
prepared to answer questions on our position using the background
information provided here.
2. Human rights efforts must extend to issues relating to LGBT people.
These issues must also be included in reports to the Ministry, with a
particular focus on a general description of the situation for LGTB people,
individual cases and their legal position.
3. Embassies should gain an overview of other like-minded embassies and
their networks. Sweden, the Netherlands, UK and France has been giving
priority to this issue, and both the UK and the Netherlands have drawn up
guidelines for their embassies on how to promote the rights of LGBT
people. The countries supporting the statement to the UN General
Assembly are also of interest.
4. Embassies should investigate the legislative framework and political and
social situation for LGBT people locally, and maintain an overview of and
contact with organisations that represent them. They should work together
with other countries on this to avoid duplication of effort. The Section for
Human Rights and Democracy at the Ministry is involved in project
cooperation with the Norwegian LGBT Association, which has an
extensive international network. Embassies can contact the Association
directly, or via the Section for Human Rights and Democracy, if they need
more information on LGBT organisations or the political situation in a
relevant country.
5. Embassies should raise the general issue of LGBT rights in their talks with
authorities and Human Rights Organisations.
6. In the event of arrests or abuse of LGBT people, embassies should contact
other like-minded countries to coordinate their response. Responses may
include following court cases, protesting to the authorities, or expressing
support to the persons arrested. The security of LGBT activists who are
being persecuted or are in some other vulnerable situation may be
improved if embassies make it clear that they are monitoring the situation.
Embassies should adapt their response according to the degree of
influence/contact Norway or other relevant countries have in the country
in question. The response should also be adjusted in the light of what will
most benefit the target group, and LGBT organisations’ own assessment of
the situation should be given considerable weight here
Sexual orientation and human rights
Norway plays an active role as an advocate for the human rights of LGBT
people, both in the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly
and bilaterally. In the UN general Assembly in December 2008, Norway
was part of a core group that promoted the statement on Human Rights,
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The statement was supported by 66
countries. Our main message has been that homosexuality must be
decriminalised and that states must take steps to combat violence and
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The starting point for Norway’s efforts is that human rights apply to
everyone, regardless of their sex, social and ethnic background, religion or
sexual orientation. In practice, LGBT people are subject to criminalisation
and discrimination, in the form of both harassment and actual violence. In
some cases, LGBT people are the victims of abuse and discrimination on the
part of the authorities themselves. In others, the authorities fail to protect
them against abuse and discrimination by family members or society in
general. Many LGBT people also experience more indirect forms of
discrimination in the labour and housing markets.
Moreover, equal rights for sexual minorities is an important development
policy issue, together with other equality issues.
LGBT activists who are working for their rights and fighting discrimination
are considered to be human rights defenders, in the same way as other
human rights activists.
Norwegian policy as regards LGBT people
Norway is willing to speak up when others are silent, and to raise the issue of
equality and rights for LGTB people. Norway is a staunch defender of human
rights. There is a need for an increased focus on equal rights, including the issue
of discrimination based on sexual orientation. This is a priority area in the
Government’s Action Plan for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in
Development Cooperation 2007–2009. Norway also endorses the Yogyakarta
principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to
sexual orientation and gender identity. International efforts are also being made to
find funding mechanisms for channelling allocations to provide legal assistance
for LGBT people who are arrested.
Side 2
Terminology
In ordinary speech we often talk of lesbian and gay rights. The UN uses the
term sexual orientation and gender identity, Common generic terms are:
LGBT – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, and
LGBTI – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people.
The term “transgender” or “Third gender” applies to all that do not fall into
the definition man/woman.
Long-term approach
In many countries, securing the rights of LGBT people is a sensitive issue,
and the work of Norway’s embassies in this field must be adapted to the
local context and what will give the best results for the target group. A longterm
perspective is needed. It may be worthwhile to look back on the history
of campaigns for greater equality in Norway. Both women and gay and
lesbian groups have used campaigning methods that were against the law in
order to make themselves heard. Due to the efforts of Norwegian
homosexuals, their situation has changed from a prohibition against
homosexual practices 35 years ago to the recent adoption of amendments to
the Marriage Act to make it applicable to both same-sex and opposite-sex
couples. It seems likely that there will be situations where LGBT activists in
other countries make use of campaigning methods that states consider to be
illegal. Norway should take a particular responsibility for speaking out
precisely in cases where the rights of sexual minorities are a controversial
issue. Norway is playing a leading role in promoting women’s and
children’s rights, and should have the same level of ambition when it comes
to the rights of LGBT people
The Ministry’s efforts
Please refer to the guidelines for systematising and strengthening the efforts
of foreign service missions to support human rights defenders, which are
available on the Intranet and at
http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/defenders.pdf.
Many of the types of initiative that can be taken to support human rights
defenders can also be used to support LGBT activists and organisations.
Statement by France and Germany at the UN General Assembly in
2008
France and the Netherlands have drawn together a core group of
supportive states to prepare a statement for the 63rd Session of the UN
General Assembly. Norway is a member of the core group. It will
support this work, but because it is a candidate for election to the
Human Rights Council, it will not be playing a leading role.
Brief guidelines for efforts by Norwegian embassies to promote the
rights of LGBT people
1. Promoting equal rights and non-discrimination of LGBT people is part of
Norway’s policy. Embassies should be aware of this policy and be
Side 3
prepared to answer questions on our position using the background
information provided here.
2. Human rights efforts must extend to issues relating to LGBT people.
These issues must also be included in reports to the Ministry, with a
particular focus on a general description of the situation for LGTB people,
individual cases and their legal position.
3. Embassies should gain an overview of other like-minded embassies and
their networks. Sweden, the Netherlands, UK and France has been giving
priority to this issue, and both the UK and the Netherlands have drawn up
guidelines for their embassies on how to promote the rights of LGBT
people. The countries supporting the statement to the UN General
Assembly are also of interest.
4. Embassies should investigate the legislative framework and political and
social situation for LGBT people locally, and maintain an overview of and
contact with organisations that represent them. They should work together
with other countries on this to avoid duplication of effort. The Section for
Human Rights and Democracy at the Ministry is involved in project
cooperation with the Norwegian LGBT Association, which has an
extensive international network. Embassies can contact the Association
directly, or via the Section for Human Rights and Democracy, if they need
more information on LGBT organisations or the political situation in a
relevant country.
5. Embassies should raise the general issue of LGBT rights in their talks with
authorities and Human Rights Organisations.
6. In the event of arrests or abuse of LGBT people, embassies should contact
other like-minded countries to coordinate their response. Responses may
include following court cases, protesting to the authorities, or expressing
support to the persons arrested. The security of LGBT activists who are
being persecuted or are in some other vulnerable situation may be
improved if embassies make it clear that they are monitoring the situation.
Embassies should adapt their response according to the degree of
influence/contact Norway or other relevant countries have in the country
in question. The response should also be adjusted in the light of what will
most benefit the target group, and LGBT organisations’ own assessment of
the situation should be given considerable weight here
SOTO KOTO TV DEBUTS WEEKLY SHOW ON AFRICAN WOMEN THIS SUNDAY
Contact: Beverly Jones
Phone: 866-348-6892
Email: broadcasting@sotokoto.tv
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2011
SOTO KOTO TV DEBUTS WEEKLY SHOW ON AFRICAN WOMEN THIS SUNDAY
London, UK March 15 – Soto Koto Tv announced the release of a new, weekly Internet Tv show called “Emancipation of African Women,” to debut Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 16:00/4:00pm London time/(12noon EST U.S.) on the Soto Koto World Culture channel at www.sotokoto.tv.
The debut program features an interview with Halima Bashir, author of "Tears of the Desert." She was tortured and gang-raped for days as punishment for speaking out about an attack on primary school children in Darfur. She was punished for telling people that a group of Janjaweed militia and Sudanese government soldiers had attacked the primary school for girls, raping pupils as young as eight. Her story shines the light on one of many human atrocities that the world must address if we are to call ourselves human.
The series is hosted by Neneh Faye-Khan and features interviews, documentaries, news shorts and other content focusing on topics central to African women’s issues. Programs will cover critical issues such as child prostitution, human trafficking, FGM, HIV/AIDS and other health crises. Khan is a Gambian-born producer and social development expert currently in London.
Though Bashir is in hiding due to death threats, she continues to speak out for herself and others like her. Her plight is well recognized in the international community and despite the illegal and immoral so-called fatwa imposed, she is determined to speak for justice. Bashir and Khan share frank discussions on a variety of topics including life in Sudan, Islamic oppression of women and prospects for the future.
The show will air M-F 16:00/4:00pm London time/(12noon EST U.S.) and will repeat at 4:00am/12midnite. New episodes air on Wednesdays.
www.sotokoto.tv/shows/emancipation
Phone: 866-348-6892
Email: broadcasting@sotokoto.tv
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2011
SOTO KOTO TV DEBUTS WEEKLY SHOW ON AFRICAN WOMEN THIS SUNDAY
London, UK March 15 – Soto Koto Tv announced the release of a new, weekly Internet Tv show called “Emancipation of African Women,” to debut Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 16:00/4:00pm London time/(12noon EST U.S.) on the Soto Koto World Culture channel at www.sotokoto.tv.
The debut program features an interview with Halima Bashir, author of "Tears of the Desert." She was tortured and gang-raped for days as punishment for speaking out about an attack on primary school children in Darfur. She was punished for telling people that a group of Janjaweed militia and Sudanese government soldiers had attacked the primary school for girls, raping pupils as young as eight. Her story shines the light on one of many human atrocities that the world must address if we are to call ourselves human.
The series is hosted by Neneh Faye-Khan and features interviews, documentaries, news shorts and other content focusing on topics central to African women’s issues. Programs will cover critical issues such as child prostitution, human trafficking, FGM, HIV/AIDS and other health crises. Khan is a Gambian-born producer and social development expert currently in London.
Though Bashir is in hiding due to death threats, she continues to speak out for herself and others like her. Her plight is well recognized in the international community and despite the illegal and immoral so-called fatwa imposed, she is determined to speak for justice. Bashir and Khan share frank discussions on a variety of topics including life in Sudan, Islamic oppression of women and prospects for the future.
The show will air M-F 16:00/4:00pm London time/(12noon EST U.S.) and will repeat at 4:00am/12midnite. New episodes air on Wednesdays.
www.sotokoto.tv/shows/emancipation
Monday, March 28, 2011
Foreign Prophet To Pray for President Bingu wa Mutharika
President Bingu wa Mutharika needs divine intervention "to see clearly". and this has prompted Salima-based Elijah Faith Ministries founder, Prophet Evance Kapwepwe, to invite renowned Nigerian Prophet, T.B. Joshua, to come to Malawi and pray for Mutharika, Zachimalawi can reveal. Prphet Kapwepwe confirmed the development in an interview this morning, saying "President Mutharika has lost direct, and could as well be said to be "spiritually-blind" at the moment; "things are running ahead of him". Prophet Kapwepwe said he, and three senior pastors in his church, came up with the idea to invite T.B. Joshua two weeks ago, ostensibly after noticing that "Mutharika is losing direction, ranting at each and everyone who tries to pump sense into him, and making enemies with each and everyone who differs in principle, and not opinion, with him. We are headed for disaster if we do not seek divine intervention on his (Mutharika's) behalf," said Kapwepwe. Prophet Kapwepwe said they have since (on Saturday this week) written T.B. Joshua a three-page invitation letter, wqriting on top, 'Top Priority'. "We wish we could have the opportunity to take Prophet Joshua to the New State House so he may lay hands on the President, but we understand that will be difficult. Anyway, we have also written a letter to the Presidential Adviser on Religious Matters, Rev. Billy Gama. We feel that he will be of help, though we strongly feel, also, that he has failed in his religious obligations to the President. We fear that he does not enlighten the President on what the Biblew says on good leadership, and he is part of the blame". Gama, on his part, denied receiving any such letter, and described Prophet Kapwepwe's letter to T.B. Joshua as a provocation. "Don't we have capable men and women of God in Malawi? In fact, the President does not need any such prayers, they are influenced by the Devil," said Gama. When contacted for his comment, Information and Civic Education Minister, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, described Kapwepwe's church as a "briefcase entity out to make money; some of these religious leaders are questionable characters who have failed elsewhere". Kaunda echoed Gama's sentiments, saying Mutharika is a man who fears God, and doesn't need prayers from 'insignificant people, with no known credentials". It is the second time a religious leader has suggested prayers for Mutharika, the first time being when former Presidential Adviser on Religious Affairs, Rev. Malani Ntonga, told local media he, and other pastors, had organised prayers aimed at showing Mutharika the way. In their words, the Presidential was 'blinded' in some way, and needed to 'see'. Presidential spokesperson, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba, then tore into Ntonga, describing him as a disgruntled individual who, at one time, smashed the President's vehicle into a tree". Ntaba also described Rev. Ntonga as a social outcast. The prayers never took place. But Kapwepwe assured Malawians that the prayers with T.B. Joshua will take place in Salima on 22 April, 2011. "We really want to pray for the President; he has lost spiritual direction," said Kapwepwe. Zachimalawi's e-mail to Prophet T.B. Joshua is yet to be responded to, but we will inform you on progress as the days go by.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo: Peter Mutharika Is Not Fit For President
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, reveals to Zachimalawi that Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) suggested Presidential candidate, Peter Mutharika, is not "fit for President, let alone the Vice Presidency of Malawi". Tembo, speaking for the first time on Peter's capabilities, said the younger Mutharika has shown, as Minister of Education, Science and Technology, that he is far-detached from national matters. The MCP Tsar cited the on-going stand-off between University of Malawi (read, Chancellor College and Malawi Polytechnic) lecturers and Police Inspector General Peter Mukhitho over the summoning of Chancellor College Associate Professor, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga. This followed a class room example Chinsinga is said to have given, relating to how the situation in Egypt (people's protests and subsequent resignation of the country's president, Hosni Mubarak) to the impact of people power. This prompted President Bingu wa Mutharika's former bodyguard, now Police Inspector General, Peter Mukhitho to summon Chinsinga for a 'one-on-one' chat at his (Mukhitho's) house in Zomba. However, the development angered Chanco (as Chancellor College is popularly known) Academic Staff, and forced them to get glued to their chairs for almost two months now. What has buffled government, throwing it into a legal confusion of sorts, is the fact that the lecturers continue to do other duties, save lecturing. Government, at least through the University of Malawi Council (employers of the Academic Staff) argues that the lecturers' principle duty is to lecture, and that the rest comes second. President Mutharika has spread oil on the lecturers' feathers by declaring, twice now (first at Police Training School in Limbe, and secondly during the launch of Rab Processors buscuit factory- all these two institutions located in Malawi's commercial city, Blantyre) that his former skin-watcher (who now watches Mutharika's back as Police Chief, protecting it from ill-intentioned people) "will not apologise; I repeat, Inspector General of Police Mukhitho wil not apology. Him apologising is like me, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, apologising". Attorney General Jane Ansah tried to negotiate over the weekend, and camne back with only mad in her reconciliation, out-of-court-settlement, basin. Now, Tembo has capitalised on the stand-off to spill his mind on the capabilities of Peter Mutharika. "He is not fit for president of this country; look, he is the Education Minister , but he has chosen to back his ill-advised brother. This is affecting poor Malawian children. By the way, do we a Mutharika at any of the University of Malawi constituent colleges? No. That is why both Peter and Bingu are behaving like people out of touch with reality," says Tembo. He reveals that this is the reason he would love to have another go at the presidency. "We are in a mess now; I wish I could clear this mess, end dictatorial tendencies, and bring back real freedom. This is not Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda would have preferred. Nothing like this happened during Kamuzu's time- a stand-off with no end in sight? No, it never happened," said Tembo, himself a Member of Parliament (MP) for this Blogger. Tembo is MP for Dedza South Constituency and a veteran Malawian politician who, as fate would have it, may never be the chief tenant at either Sanjika Palace in Blantyre, or the New State House in Lilongwe. He has tried, but, now, even his trusted party zealots like Nancy Tembo want him out of the MCP hot seat. "As far as I am concerned, I am here (in politics) for a while; at least, until this political and governance mess is cleared up," says Tembo.
Foreign Prophet To Pray for President Bingu wa Mutharika ... President Bingu wa Mutharika needs divine intervention "to see clearly". and this has prompted Salima-based Elijah Faith Ministries founder, Prophet Evance Kapwepwe, to invite renowned Nigerian Prophet, T.B. Joshua, to come to Malawi and pray for Mutharika, Zachimalawi can reveal. Prphet Kapwepwe confirmed the development in an interview this morning, saying "President Mutharika has lost direct, and could as well be said to be "spiritually-blind" at the moment; "things are running ahead of him". Prophet Kapwepwe said he, and three senior pastors in his church, came up with the idea to invite T.B. Joshua two weeks ago, ostensibly after noticing that "Mutharika is losing direction, ranting at each and everyone who tries to pump sense into him, and making enemies with each and everyone who differs in principle, and not opinion, with him. We are headed for disaster if we do not seek divine intervention on his (Mutharika's) behalf," said Kapwepwe. Prophet Kapwepwe said they have since (on Saturday this week) written T.B. Joshua a three-page invitation letter, wqriting on top, 'Top Priority'. "We wish we could have the opportunity to take Prophet Joshua to the New State House so he may lay hands on the President, but we understand that will be difficult. Anyway, we have also written a letter to the Presidential Adviser on Religious Matters, Rev. Billy Gama. We feel that he will be of help, though we strongly feel, also, that he has failed in his religious obligations to the President. We fear that he does not enlighten the President on what the Biblew says on good leadership, and he is part of the blame". Gama, on his part, denied receiving any such letter, and described Prophet Kapwepwe's letter to T.B. Joshua as a provocation. "Don't we have capable men and women of God in Malawi? In fact, the President does not need any such prayers, they are influenced by the Devil," said Gama. When contacted for his comment, Information and Civic Education Minister, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, described Kapwepwe's church as a "briefcase entity out to make money; some of these religious leaders are questionable characters who have failed elsewhere". Kaunda echoed Gama's sentiments, saying Mutharika is a man who fears God, and doesn't need prayers from 'insignificant people, with no known credentials". It is the second time a religious leader has suggested prayers for Mutharika, the first time being when former Presidential Adviser on Religious Affairs, Rev. Malani Ntonga, told local media he, and other pastors, had organised prayers aimed at showing Mutharika the way. In their words, the Presidential was 'blinded' in some way, and needed to 'see'. Presidential spokesperson, Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba, then tore into Ntonga, describing him as a disgruntled individual who, at one time, smashed the President's vehicle into a tree". Ntaba also described Rev. Ntonga as a social outcast. The prayers never took place. But Kapwepwe assured Malawians that the prayers with T.B. Joshua will take place in Salima on 22 April, 2011. "We really want to pray for the President; he has lost spiritual direction," said Kapwepwe. Zachimalawi's e-mail to Prophet T.B. Joshua is yet to be responded to, but we will inform you on progress as the days go by.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo: Peter Mutharika Is Not Fit For President... Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, reveals to Zachimalawi that Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) suggested Presidential candidate, Peter Mutharika, is not "fit for President, let alone the Vice Presidency of Malawi". Tembo, speaking for the first time on Peter's capabilities, said the younger Mutharika has shown, as Minister of Education, Science and Technology, that he is far-detached from national matters. The MCP Tsar cited the on-going stand-off between University of Malawi (read, Chancellor College and Malawi Polytechnic) lecturers and Police Inspector General Peter Mukhitho over the summoning of Chancellor College Associate Professor, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga. This followed a class room example Chinsinga is said to have given, relating to how the situation in Egypt (people's protests and subsequent resignation of the country's president, Hosni Mubarak) to the impact of people power. This prompted President Bingu wa Mutharika's former bodyguard, now Police Inspector General, Peter Mukhitho to summon Chinsinga for a 'one-on-one' chat at his (Mukhitho's) house in Zomba. However, the development angered Chanco (as Chancellor College is popularly known) Academic Staff, and forced them to get glued to their chairs for almost two months now. What has buffled government, throwing it into a legal confusion of sorts, is the fact that the lecturers continue to do other duties, save lecturing. Government, at least through the University of Malawi Council (employers of the Academic Staff) argues that the lecturers' principle duty is to lecture, and that the rest comes second. President Mutharika has spread oil on the lecturers' feathers by declaring, twice now (first at Police Training School in Limbe, and secondly during the launch of Rab Processors buscuit factory- all these two institutions located in Malawi's commercial city, Blantyre) that his former skin-watcher (who now watches Mutharika's back as Police Chief, protecting it from ill-intentioned people) "will not apologise; I repeat, Inspector General of Police Mukhitho wil not apology. Him apologising is like me, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, apologising". Attorney General Jane Ansah tried to negotiate over the weekend, and camne back with only mad in her reconciliation, out-of-court-settlement, basin. Now, Tembo has capitalised on the stand-off to spill his mind on the capabilities of Peter Mutharika. "He is not fit for president of this country; look, he is the Education Minister , but he has chosen to back his ill-advised brother. This is affecting poor Malawian children. By the way, do we a Mutharika at any of the University of Malawi constituent colleges? No. That is why both Peter and Bingu are behaving like people out of touch with reality," says Tembo. He reveals that this is the reason he would love to have another go at the presidency. "We are in a mess now; I wish I could clear this mess, end dictatorial tendencies, and bring back real freedom. This is not Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda would have preferred. Nothing like this happened during Kamuzu's time- a stand-off with no end in sight? No, it never happened," said Tembo, himself a Member of Parliament (MP) for this Blogger. Tembo is MP for Dedza South Constituency and a veteran Malawian politician who, as fate would have it, may never be the chief tenant at either Sanjika Palace in Blantyre, or the New State House in Lilongwe. He has tried, but, now, even his trusted party zealots like Nancy Tembo want him out of the MCP hot seat. "As far as I am concerned, I am here (in politics) for a while; at least, until this political and governance mess is cleared up," says Tembo.
Friday, March 25, 2011
'It's Like Sex With Ducks'
Pat Robertson, the American evangelist and Bill O’Reilly the FOX TV guy have come out with their views that legalising gay marriage and prosecuting hate crime is the step before encouraging sex with ducks.
Slovenian Push for Equality
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| Beautiful country |
The law would extend civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples and put heterosexual and homosexual partnerships on equal legal footing, including the right of same-sex partners to adopt. Boris Dittrich of Human Rights Watch says “The proposed Family Code is Slovenia’s chance to join others in Europe in enabling same-sex couples to participate fully in family life.”
HOW TOLERANT IS SLOVENIA? AN ARTICLE FROM THE SLOVENIA TIMES IS HERE TO HIGHLIGHT
Homophobic Slovenia: A cruel awakening
07.08.2009
By Barbara Štor
A journalist and gay activist became the victim of a brutal attack. A group of masked individuals assaulted him on a gay and lesbian literature night. About a week after the attack, the police arrested three suspects.
It was was the evening of 25th June, the day when Slovenia celebrated its 18 years of independence. In honour of the traditional Gay Pride Parade week and the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Slovene homosexual association Legebitra, a gay-and-lesbian literature night was organised in a Ljubljana café, called Open. Suddenly a calm evening turned into a devastating assault. At about 9 pm, a group of eight masked assailants, dressed in black stormed the place. They were armed with sticks, shouting anti-gay slogans and they apparently wanted to burn the café by throwing a torch into the room. When the assault began, journalist and gay activist Mitja Blažič was just at the entrance of the café and he blocked the attackers. He was beaten and repeatedly kicked in the head. Since the attackers were trying to start a fire, the president of the Association for the Integration of Homosexuality also suffered some mild burns.
An Act of Cowards
The assault on the gay rights activist was widely condemned from the government, political parties and human rights bodies. Interior Minister Katarina Kresal, for example, called it a “cowardly act” and an “attack on the law-governed state and human dignity.”
“These are people like everyone else, and I wish that human rights would be secured for them as they are for everyone else. I have already proposed to my colleagues in the coalition parties to reflect on whether the drawing up of the family legislation is not a chance to also put their rights on par with everyone else’s,” the Interior Minister added.
Minister Kresal also attended the 9th Slovene Gay Parade, which took place two days after the assault. Side by side with around 500 people, she marched against the violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians. The parade was also escorted by a strong police force, in order to prevent any additional attacks.
Approximately a week after the attack, the police announced that they had arrested three suspects in the attack, allegedly sympathizers of groups encouraging intolerance. Two suspects in their early twenties from Ljubljana are in detention, while an 18-year-old suspect from Škofja Loka is in house arrest. If found guilty, they could face up to three years imprisonment.
Intolerant Public
Although not much is heard about them – as the victims are usually too afraid to publicise being attacked – violent hate crimes over gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered have been on the rise in recent years, leading us to assume that the Slovene public is still relatively homophobic. For example, when the drag queen trio Sestre (The Sisters) won the Slovenian contest for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, an outburst of intolerance in public and media followed.
Besides verbal attacks, the number of physical assaults is also increasing. Several assaults occurred after the official part of last year’s Gay Parade. Two gays were also attacked after 2006 Gay Parade, while a few years ago a group of young armed men attacked some gays and lesbians, who had organised an event to encourage tolerance. Perhaps the most bizarre such incident dates back to the nineties when an actor, who merely played a gay character a popular sitcom, suffered a similar attack.
Dull Ceremony
Approximately three years ago, Slovenia passed a law, legalizing same-sex marriages. The first two men who married in a civil ceremony were Mitja Blažič and Viki Kern, but they described the ritual as humiliating and awful. According to the law, no friends or relatives are allowed to attend the ceremony, which can be held only in a state office.
Although Slovenia’s gay and lesbian organizations welcomed the move, they at the same time criticized the law as insufficient and discriminatory, compared with heterosexual marriages. The law covers only property relations, the right/obligation to support a socially weaker partner and inheritance rights to a degree. Meanwhile it does not grant any rights in the area of social security (social and health insurance, pension rights) and it does not confer the status of a next-of-kin to the partners.
However, Slovene gays and lesbians were recently given a reason to celebrate: The Constitutional Court declared that the Same Sex Unions Act is discriminatory. At the beginning of July, this institution unanimously decided that the act, against which Mitja Blažič and Viki Kern had filed a constitutional review in November 2006, is unconstitutional in its provisions related to inheritance.
Equalizing the Rights?
Now it seems that Slovenia might legalize gay marriage with all the privileges of heterosexual marriage and, in certain cases, the adoption of children by homosexual couples. According to Interior Minister Katarina Kresal, the government had agreed that it had to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples enjoy, or as near as possible. In contrast, the non-parliamentary party New Slovenia (NSi) expressed strong objections to the government’s plans. According to NSi, the changes would interfere with the rights of third persons, i.e. the children. And if amended legislation would threaten the respect of children’s rights, the NSi announced that it would start collecting signatures for a referendum.
Remembering Moammar Gadhafi
In 2003, Moammar Gadhafi, man-of-the-moment, outlawed homosexuality in Libya and told a 2003 Regional African Conference that heterosexual people "cannot get HIV-AIDS".
For an idea of how gays are treated in Libya, read about this arrest story from gaymiddleeast.com
AND THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY THE FOLLOWING STORY...
By Dan Littauer 25.12.2010
In Libya Tripoli’s police arrested two men for “involving in indecent acts”. The men were a twenty nine and a thirty six years old cab driver who were caught in the cab.
The police report said that the younger man dressed like a “girl”, called himself Jumana, and was wearing make-up. It reported that the cab driver said he was "fooled" by the man’s appearance, thinking him a woman, despite that the two men confessed that they were having “indecent acts" in the car.
The police report also mentioned that the 29 year old was engaging in prostitution. GME is concerned about this report as it appears to be highly biased setting the 29 year old as the main culprit for the “crime”.
Comments to the article were deeply disturbing; some said that the people of Lut are back and have to be stoned; others called upon the authorities to send such perverts to psychiatrists. Other comments went to point our places where gay men meet and encouraged the police to entrap men!
GME has informed IGLHRC and Amnesty International on this matter.
Bulletin of Christian Persecution March 2-March 22, 2011
March 2, 2011
Egypt
Christian Copts staged a massive demonstration on Monday, February 28, against the Governor of Minya Ahmed Dia-el-Din, calling for his resignation. The demonstration was prompted by the governor's decision to demolish a church community center for the care of the handicapped.
Pakistan
Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for Minorities Affairs and a Christian was gunned down in the back seat of his car while leaving his mother's home. He was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet and was murdered for criticizing the blasphemy law that prescribes the death penalty for those insulting Islam by leaving the religion. More HERE.
March 3, 2011
Pakistan
A Christian community is facing more wrongdoings by local landlords who grabbed Christian-owned fields and shops with the complicity of local police and officials. Also Christian symbols are desecrated but the blasphemy law is not applied in this case. Local authorities say accusations are all made up but fail to provide legal backing for grabbing Christian property. More HERE.
Ethiopia (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Thousands of Muslims shouting "Allah Akbar" razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists. The Muslims started the attacks after falsely accusing the Christians of desecrating the Koran.
March 4, 2011
Pakistan (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
The Islamic terrorists responsible for Christian Minister Bhatti's murder--Tanseem Al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban threaten to send all of those like Shabaz Bhatti "one by one to hell." A translation of the jihadi letter.
March 5, 2011
Turkey
Istanbul police's anti-terror unit apprehended two suspects accused of plotting to assassinate a Christian priest in the city's Fatih district.
March 7, 2011
Ethiopia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
A mob of Muslim extremists overpowered police to get to Christians handing out Bibles.
Egypt
Egyptian Christians protested on Monday after a church was set on fire on the outskirts of Cairo, the first sectarian flare-up since the January 25th revolution.
Egypt (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Documents seized from State Security offices reveal the government's involvement in the bombing of a Coptic Church on New Year's Day in Alexandria that killed 21 people and injured 80.
March 9, 2011
Egypt (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
According to Father Abram Fahmy, pastor of St. Simon the Tanner Monastery in Mokatam Hills, on the outskirts of Cairo, Copts were killed and injured today in an attack by Muslims. It was reported the Egyptian army fired live ammunition on Copts. The attack has claimed until now the lives of 9 Copts and injured 150, 45 seriously. Muslims threw fire balls at the Monastery from the top of the hills. Coptic youth have arrested five of them, who are now being held within the Monastery grounds, waiting to be handed over to the authorities. Eight homes and 20 garbage recycling factories owned by Copts have been torched, as well as 30 garbage collection vehicles.
March 11, 2011
Malaysia
Christian leaders report that the Malaysian government is holding in detension 30,000 imported bibles written in the Malaysian language. Update HERE.
March 12, 2011
USA (Hat tip to GatesofVienna)
With the only Christian in Pakistan's government murdered outside his mother's home, Coptic Christian churches being burnt in Egypt, and Iraq's Christian population reduced by about half of its 1.4 million total of 25 years ago, the future for many Christians in the Muslim world looks at best uncertain.
Dr. Walid Phares wants the Chicago area to be aware of the ongoing persecution and Saturday stressed the unknowns of the political situation in many countries in the region. He is particularly anxious about what type of government might replace any overturned regimes.
March 15, 2011
Pakistan
A Christian convicted for blasphemy was found dead in his jail cell. The official word is he died from a heart attack but many suspect that he might have fallen prey to active hate campaign going on in the country on this issue by extremist groups. More HERE.
Turkey
Discrimination, slander and attacks against churches were among the examples of ongoing harassment that the Turkish Association of Protestant Churches (TEK) recorded in 2010. In an eight-page report published earlier this year, TEK's Committee for Religious Freedom and Legal Affairs outlined problems Protestants face. Turkish laws and "negative attitudes of civil servants" continue to make it nearly impossible for non-Muslims to establish places of worship, the committee reported.
Iran
Five Iranian house church Christians were behind bars Wednesday, March 15, after being sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of "crimes against the Islamic order" and there were reports that Iranian authorities have been burning Bibles.
March 16, 2011
Pakistan (Hat tip to Persecution.org)
Pakisti Christians are converting to Islam due to threats and intimidation at the rate of 60 per month. In one madrassa in Lahore alone, 678 Christians embraced Islam in 2009. Last year they were almost 700. These are "dangerous days" minorities, activists say as the blasphemy law is used to force them to change religion.
March 17, 2011
Malaysia
A Christian lawyer in Malaysia has failed in her attempt to be allowed to practice in the Muslim Shariah courts.
March 18, 2011
Malaysia
The Christian community said today that it is appalled by what it says is the government's desecration of 5,100 holy books shipped in from Indonesia that were detained and has flat out refused to collect the Port Klang shipment.
March 19, 2011
Iraq
Archbishop Bashar Warda made his alarming prediction at a press conference for the launch of the Aid to the Church in Need report on oppressed Christians abroad, Persecuted and Forgotten? Speaking alongside Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Warda said that there were fewer than 200,000 Christians left in Iraq and "the time for waiting" was running out. He cited Mosul, one of the most dangerous cities in the world to be a Christian, where hundreds were driven out in October 2009, saying: "In 2003 there were 4,000 Chaldean families, 1,000 Christians from other churches, and 11 active Chaldean churches. Now six churches have been closed, and if it goes this way, it won't be this long before certain areas of Iraq are evacuated.
Libya
Libya's minority Christians were among those facing danger Saturday, March 19, as the international community began enforcing a no fly zone over the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation to halt attacks by forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Heavily Islamic Libya currently ranks number 25 on the annual Open Doors' World Watch List of 50 nations known for their reported persecution of Christians. North Korea tops the list at number 1. While there are no laws that explicitly provide for religious freedom, the country adheres to Islamic law and all citizens are Sunni Muslims 'by definition', according to rights activists. It is prohibited to evangelize to Muslims or distribute Arabic scriptures, according to Open Doors investigators.
March 20, 2011
Egypt
Many Egyptian Christians say they voted to reject proposed constitutional amendments because they fear hasty elections to follow may pave the way for Islamist groups to rise to power and further religious persecution. More HERE.
Ethopia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Evangelical churches and homes have been burnt down by mobs of Muslims in the southwestern Jimma region of Ethiopia. The attacks have left at least one person dead and 7,000 displaced. "This is a strategically planned attack by an extremist Islamic group.
Nigeria (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Two men were killed in the Nigerian city of Jos when explosives they were carrying on a motorbike went off, preventing what local residents said was an attempted attack on a Christian community. More than 200 people have been killed since late last year in and around Jos, which lies in Nigeria's "Middle Belt" between the mostly-Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. More HERE.
March 21, 2011
Indonesia
Some 100 members of a Christian congregation conducted services on the sidewalk in Bogor Sunday after police prevented them from using a contested church site that has been sealed off by city officials in defiance of a Supreme Court order.
Turkey
A Turkish court ordered five military officers and two civilians jailed Monday in a probe into the 2007 killing of three Christians, including a German national, over allegations that the attack was part of an alleged plot to topple the government. The Christians -- a German and two Turks -- were tied up and had their throats slit at a Bible-publishing house in the southern city of Malatya. More HERE.
March 22, 2011
Saudi Arabia
Two Indian Christians working in Saudi Arabia have been arrested in Riyadh, and sentenced to 45 days in prison. On March 11, 2011, Vasantha Sekhar and Nese Yohan were arrested and beaten. They were accused of proselytizing. ICC contacts in Saudi Arabia believe they were arrested to keep them from practicing Christianity privately in their home.
SPECIAL REPORT:
The World
Seventy five percent of religious persecution in the world is against Christians, claims a new report by a U.K. Catholic organization. Examining 33 countries, the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need reported that most of the persecution was occurring in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in its 2011 "Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their faith."
Egypt
Christian Copts staged a massive demonstration on Monday, February 28, against the Governor of Minya Ahmed Dia-el-Din, calling for his resignation. The demonstration was prompted by the governor's decision to demolish a church community center for the care of the handicapped.
Pakistan
Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for Minorities Affairs and a Christian was gunned down in the back seat of his car while leaving his mother's home. He was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet and was murdered for criticizing the blasphemy law that prescribes the death penalty for those insulting Islam by leaving the religion. More HERE.
March 3, 2011
Pakistan
A Christian community is facing more wrongdoings by local landlords who grabbed Christian-owned fields and shops with the complicity of local police and officials. Also Christian symbols are desecrated but the blasphemy law is not applied in this case. Local authorities say accusations are all made up but fail to provide legal backing for grabbing Christian property. More HERE.
Ethiopia (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Thousands of Muslims shouting "Allah Akbar" razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists. The Muslims started the attacks after falsely accusing the Christians of desecrating the Koran.
March 4, 2011
Pakistan (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
The Islamic terrorists responsible for Christian Minister Bhatti's murder--Tanseem Al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban threaten to send all of those like Shabaz Bhatti "one by one to hell." A translation of the jihadi letter.
March 5, 2011
Turkey
Istanbul police's anti-terror unit apprehended two suspects accused of plotting to assassinate a Christian priest in the city's Fatih district.
March 7, 2011
Ethiopia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
A mob of Muslim extremists overpowered police to get to Christians handing out Bibles.
Egypt
Egyptian Christians protested on Monday after a church was set on fire on the outskirts of Cairo, the first sectarian flare-up since the January 25th revolution.
Egypt (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Documents seized from State Security offices reveal the government's involvement in the bombing of a Coptic Church on New Year's Day in Alexandria that killed 21 people and injured 80.
March 9, 2011
Egypt (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
According to Father Abram Fahmy, pastor of St. Simon the Tanner Monastery in Mokatam Hills, on the outskirts of Cairo, Copts were killed and injured today in an attack by Muslims. It was reported the Egyptian army fired live ammunition on Copts. The attack has claimed until now the lives of 9 Copts and injured 150, 45 seriously. Muslims threw fire balls at the Monastery from the top of the hills. Coptic youth have arrested five of them, who are now being held within the Monastery grounds, waiting to be handed over to the authorities. Eight homes and 20 garbage recycling factories owned by Copts have been torched, as well as 30 garbage collection vehicles.
March 11, 2011
Malaysia
Christian leaders report that the Malaysian government is holding in detension 30,000 imported bibles written in the Malaysian language. Update HERE.
March 12, 2011
USA (Hat tip to GatesofVienna)
With the only Christian in Pakistan's government murdered outside his mother's home, Coptic Christian churches being burnt in Egypt, and Iraq's Christian population reduced by about half of its 1.4 million total of 25 years ago, the future for many Christians in the Muslim world looks at best uncertain.
Dr. Walid Phares wants the Chicago area to be aware of the ongoing persecution and Saturday stressed the unknowns of the political situation in many countries in the region. He is particularly anxious about what type of government might replace any overturned regimes.
March 15, 2011
Pakistan
A Christian convicted for blasphemy was found dead in his jail cell. The official word is he died from a heart attack but many suspect that he might have fallen prey to active hate campaign going on in the country on this issue by extremist groups. More HERE.
Turkey
Discrimination, slander and attacks against churches were among the examples of ongoing harassment that the Turkish Association of Protestant Churches (TEK) recorded in 2010. In an eight-page report published earlier this year, TEK's Committee for Religious Freedom and Legal Affairs outlined problems Protestants face. Turkish laws and "negative attitudes of civil servants" continue to make it nearly impossible for non-Muslims to establish places of worship, the committee reported.
Iran
Five Iranian house church Christians were behind bars Wednesday, March 15, after being sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of "crimes against the Islamic order" and there were reports that Iranian authorities have been burning Bibles.
March 16, 2011
Pakistan (Hat tip to Persecution.org)
Pakisti Christians are converting to Islam due to threats and intimidation at the rate of 60 per month. In one madrassa in Lahore alone, 678 Christians embraced Islam in 2009. Last year they were almost 700. These are "dangerous days" minorities, activists say as the blasphemy law is used to force them to change religion.
March 17, 2011
Malaysia
A Christian lawyer in Malaysia has failed in her attempt to be allowed to practice in the Muslim Shariah courts.
March 18, 2011
Malaysia
The Christian community said today that it is appalled by what it says is the government's desecration of 5,100 holy books shipped in from Indonesia that were detained and has flat out refused to collect the Port Klang shipment.
March 19, 2011
Iraq
Archbishop Bashar Warda made his alarming prediction at a press conference for the launch of the Aid to the Church in Need report on oppressed Christians abroad, Persecuted and Forgotten? Speaking alongside Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Warda said that there were fewer than 200,000 Christians left in Iraq and "the time for waiting" was running out. He cited Mosul, one of the most dangerous cities in the world to be a Christian, where hundreds were driven out in October 2009, saying: "In 2003 there were 4,000 Chaldean families, 1,000 Christians from other churches, and 11 active Chaldean churches. Now six churches have been closed, and if it goes this way, it won't be this long before certain areas of Iraq are evacuated.
Libya
Libya's minority Christians were among those facing danger Saturday, March 19, as the international community began enforcing a no fly zone over the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation to halt attacks by forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Heavily Islamic Libya currently ranks number 25 on the annual Open Doors' World Watch List of 50 nations known for their reported persecution of Christians. North Korea tops the list at number 1. While there are no laws that explicitly provide for religious freedom, the country adheres to Islamic law and all citizens are Sunni Muslims 'by definition', according to rights activists. It is prohibited to evangelize to Muslims or distribute Arabic scriptures, according to Open Doors investigators.
March 20, 2011
Egypt
Many Egyptian Christians say they voted to reject proposed constitutional amendments because they fear hasty elections to follow may pave the way for Islamist groups to rise to power and further religious persecution. More HERE.
Ethopia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Evangelical churches and homes have been burnt down by mobs of Muslims in the southwestern Jimma region of Ethiopia. The attacks have left at least one person dead and 7,000 displaced. "This is a strategically planned attack by an extremist Islamic group.
Nigeria (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Two men were killed in the Nigerian city of Jos when explosives they were carrying on a motorbike went off, preventing what local residents said was an attempted attack on a Christian community. More than 200 people have been killed since late last year in and around Jos, which lies in Nigeria's "Middle Belt" between the mostly-Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. More HERE.
March 21, 2011
Indonesia
Some 100 members of a Christian congregation conducted services on the sidewalk in Bogor Sunday after police prevented them from using a contested church site that has been sealed off by city officials in defiance of a Supreme Court order.
Turkey
A Turkish court ordered five military officers and two civilians jailed Monday in a probe into the 2007 killing of three Christians, including a German national, over allegations that the attack was part of an alleged plot to topple the government. The Christians -- a German and two Turks -- were tied up and had their throats slit at a Bible-publishing house in the southern city of Malatya. More HERE.
March 22, 2011
Saudi Arabia
Two Indian Christians working in Saudi Arabia have been arrested in Riyadh, and sentenced to 45 days in prison. On March 11, 2011, Vasantha Sekhar and Nese Yohan were arrested and beaten. They were accused of proselytizing. ICC contacts in Saudi Arabia believe they were arrested to keep them from practicing Christianity privately in their home.
SPECIAL REPORT:
The World
Seventy five percent of religious persecution in the world is against Christians, claims a new report by a U.K. Catholic organization. Examining 33 countries, the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need reported that most of the persecution was occurring in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in its 2011 "Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their faith."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Prof. Peter Mutharika Gives Handouts
 |
| Prof. Peter Mutharika: Now Giving Cash Hand-outs |
Peter was travelling in a Toyota VX when he noticed, upon reaching Vanmali House, a group of vendors from Blantyre Flee Market waving at him, shouting: 'Boma, Boma, Boma' (Government, government, government).
Peter did not stop and get out of the vehicle; he simply threw a bandle of K50 notes at the group and proceeded with his journey towards Sanjika Road.
The vendors, who numbered close to 30, then started scrambling for the cash. A brief scuffle took place, but leader of the group- who identified himself as Hardware owner Michael Clemence Mangazi- cooled the situation down when he threatened to run with the money if the group members continued scuffling.
"Your noise will attract other people who are not concerned with this; I will take the money home if you continue behaving like children," said Mangazi.
Mangazi told Zachimalawi later that the money amounted to K80, 000, and that the group had agreed not to share the money but use it for a trip to Lilongwe.
"We are (DPP) party members, in the first place, and have been planning to go to Lilongwe and thank President (Bingu wa) Mutharika for his visionary decision to get us out of the streets and force us into the Blantyre Flea Market. Our lives have changed so much, economically," said Mangazi.
He added that the group also wanted to request the president to contruct one more flea market with the Blantyre Central Business District area, saying this would help ease congestion.
When contacted on his mobile phone for a comment, Peter just laughed the matter off.
"There is no news there, my dear brother," said Peter.
He said, with many people declaring their support for his DPP- and, therefore, the country's presidential- candidature, and his mulling over whether to accept the "request" and vie for the same, "a lot is bound to happen; yes, a lot is bound to take place. But I will not make my position clear at the moment; let Malawians speak".
Mutharika the senior (Bingu) has roasted former President Bakili Muluzi on several fora, accusing him of promoting the spirit of dependency among the country's population for his 'hand-out' style of leadership.
Muluzi was famous for distributing stacks of Kwacha during his reign, and the former Head of State and Government used to back his stand on the issue by saying that Malawi was a poor country, and could not afford to leave the poor out.
"I do this to share the little that I have with fellow Malawians," Muluzi used to say.
He is on record to have also said that "If money grew on trees, I would give stacks and stacks of it to all of you, and help you out of poverty".
Observers, however, used to laugh off Muluzi's sentiment on money growing on trees, saying (if it grew on trees, as Muluzi proferred), then everyone would pluck it by themselves!
FA must do more against homophobia
Call for renewed FA action to make football gay-friendly
London - 22 March 2011
"The Football Association (FA) needs to give a much stronger lead in tackling homophobia," said Peter Tatchell of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
He was a keynote speaker in London on Monday 21 March at the Leading the Way conference organised by the football anti-racism, equality and diversity campaign, Kick It Out.
Other keynote speakers included former professional footballer Paul Elliott and Simone Pound, Head of Equality at the Professional Footballers' Association.
"The FA's paper policies are now rather good but these formal policies need to be translated into stronger and more visible initiatives to make the beautiful game welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people," Mr Tatchell told the conference.
"The FA should impose big fines and match suspensions on players, managers and other football staff who use anti-gay insults. Money talks. The threat of financial losses - and the denial of the right to play - would be a strong deterrent to homophobia.
"Severe punishment is justified in cases of serious homophobia but the real solution is public education to change hearts and minds.
"The FA should secure the agreement of all clubs to feature anti-homophobia
messages in their match programmes, on tickets and on billboards inside and outside football grounds.
"I have long urged the FA to make a MTV-style video against homophobia, with big-name stars like David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and others. I'd like to see the video have a strong, joyful music track by a leading contemporary singer like Tinie Tempah.
"The aim is to produce a feel-good, happy-vibe video and get it shown on MTV, YouTube, in schools, at junior football clubs and on giant screens at premier league games before matches and during half-time.
"Such a video would have a huge, positive public impact. It would be a world first. No other football governing body has produced such a video. It would bring the FA great prestige and acclaim, get global media coverage and thereby raise awareness and help tackle homophobia internationally," said Mr Tatchell.
London - 22 March 2011
"The Football Association (FA) needs to give a much stronger lead in tackling homophobia," said Peter Tatchell of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
He was a keynote speaker in London on Monday 21 March at the Leading the Way conference organised by the football anti-racism, equality and diversity campaign, Kick It Out.
Other keynote speakers included former professional footballer Paul Elliott and Simone Pound, Head of Equality at the Professional Footballers' Association.
"The FA's paper policies are now rather good but these formal policies need to be translated into stronger and more visible initiatives to make the beautiful game welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people," Mr Tatchell told the conference.
"The FA should impose big fines and match suspensions on players, managers and other football staff who use anti-gay insults. Money talks. The threat of financial losses - and the denial of the right to play - would be a strong deterrent to homophobia.
"Severe punishment is justified in cases of serious homophobia but the real solution is public education to change hearts and minds.
"The FA should secure the agreement of all clubs to feature anti-homophobia
messages in their match programmes, on tickets and on billboards inside and outside football grounds.
"I have long urged the FA to make a MTV-style video against homophobia, with big-name stars like David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and others. I'd like to see the video have a strong, joyful music track by a leading contemporary singer like Tinie Tempah.
"The aim is to produce a feel-good, happy-vibe video and get it shown on MTV, YouTube, in schools, at junior football clubs and on giant screens at premier league games before matches and during half-time.
"Such a video would have a huge, positive public impact. It would be a world first. No other football governing body has produced such a video. It would bring the FA great prestige and acclaim, get global media coverage and thereby raise awareness and help tackle homophobia internationally," said Mr Tatchell.
CALL FOR PAPERS AMDMC 2011
CALL FOR PAPERS:
> THE AMDMCI ACCRA CONFERENCE 2011: 17th - 19th AUGUST 2011: The Africa
> Media & Democracy Institute invites papers for its annual Africa Media
and DemocracyConference, (AMDMC) to be held from 17th-19th August 2011,
Accra-Ghana.
> The theme for the Conference is: Media & Democracy towards sustainable
stability.
> Papers are also invited on the following sub-themes listed below;
> submissions
> could be made from a range of issues in relation to democracy & media
> practices
> in Africa. It must address specific media practices in the context of
> democracy
> in Africa, such as the role of radio commercials as political
> communication tool
> in electioneering, the corrosive effects of partisan media practices in
> popular
> democracy or the role of the media in the concept of popular democracy
> etc.
>
>
> Sub-Theme
> CALL FOR PAPERS: ACCRA CONFERENCE 2010» Register Online
> Media, language and democracy
> Media,language and symbolic power
> Media, political rhetoric’s and political violence
> Media and political communication
> Media, democracy and traditional governance
> Media, national institutions and democracy
> Media and the conception of national agenda
> Media, democracy and governance
> Media, ethnic identity and democracy
> Media, religious conflict and political stability
> Media, conflict and crises management
> Media ownership, democracy and governance
> Media, concept citizenry and democracy
> Media and the concept ‘good of governance’
> Media and coupe d’états
> Media reportage and democracy
> Media, democracy and political education
> Media, political activism and governance
> Media, democracy and aid
> Media law and regulation
> Media, gender and democratization
> Media, democracy and human rights
> Community media and democracy
> Media and Ethics
> Media and African centeredness
> Media and cultural politics
> New Media and democracy
> New Media and the renewal of local democracy
> New media, democratic theory and public sphere
> Digital media and the renewal of local democracy
> Development democracy and the media
> Media, African centeredness and democracy
>
> In addition to those listed above the organisers will consider other
> relevant
> sub-themes from contributors.
> GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION:
> ABSTRACTS & PAPERS: Please email abstracts (maximum one page) along with
> contact information and a 500-word bio to: info@amdmc.org.
> All Abstracts must be in English, full papers may be submitted in either
> English or French.
>
> Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 22nd April 2011
> Notice of acceptance of abstracts: 22nd May 2011
> Deadline for receipt of full papers: 22nd June 2011
> Notification of Acceptance of Paper/Panel/Workshop: 30th July 2011
> GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
> For further information and other enquiries please contact Conference
> Team.
> ENQUIRIES HOTLINE 24HRS: MOBILE: + 233
> 200723197end_of_the_skype_highlighting
>
> THE AMDMCI ACCRA CONFERENCE 2011: 17th - 19th AUGUST 2011: The Africa
> Media & Democracy Institute invites papers for its annual Africa Media
and DemocracyConference, (AMDMC) to be held from 17th-19th August 2011,
Accra-Ghana.
> The theme for the Conference is: Media & Democracy towards sustainable
stability.
> Papers are also invited on the following sub-themes listed below;
> submissions
> could be made from a range of issues in relation to democracy & media
> practices
> in Africa. It must address specific media practices in the context of
> democracy
> in Africa, such as the role of radio commercials as political
> communication tool
> in electioneering, the corrosive effects of partisan media practices in
> popular
> democracy or the role of the media in the concept of popular democracy
> etc.
>
>
> Sub-Theme
> CALL FOR PAPERS: ACCRA CONFERENCE 2010» Register Online
> Media, language and democracy
> Media,language and symbolic power
> Media, political rhetoric’s and political violence
> Media and political communication
> Media, democracy and traditional governance
> Media, national institutions and democracy
> Media and the conception of national agenda
> Media, democracy and governance
> Media, ethnic identity and democracy
> Media, religious conflict and political stability
> Media, conflict and crises management
> Media ownership, democracy and governance
> Media, concept citizenry and democracy
> Media and the concept ‘good of governance’
> Media and coupe d’états
> Media reportage and democracy
> Media, democracy and political education
> Media, political activism and governance
> Media, democracy and aid
> Media law and regulation
> Media, gender and democratization
> Media, democracy and human rights
> Community media and democracy
> Media and Ethics
> Media and African centeredness
> Media and cultural politics
> New Media and democracy
> New Media and the renewal of local democracy
> New media, democratic theory and public sphere
> Digital media and the renewal of local democracy
> Development democracy and the media
> Media, African centeredness and democracy
>
> In addition to those listed above the organisers will consider other
> relevant
> sub-themes from contributors.
> GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION:
> ABSTRACTS & PAPERS: Please email abstracts (maximum one page) along with
> contact information and a 500-word bio to: info@amdmc.org.
> All Abstracts must be in English, full papers may be submitted in either
> English or French.
>
> Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 22nd April 2011
> Notice of acceptance of abstracts: 22nd May 2011
> Deadline for receipt of full papers: 22nd June 2011
> Notification of Acceptance of Paper/Panel/Workshop: 30th July 2011
> GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
> For further information and other enquiries please contact Conference
> Team.
> ENQUIRIES HOTLINE 24HRS: MOBILE: + 233
> 200723197end_of_the_skype_highlighting
>
PETER MUTHARIKA MUST RESIGN- PPM
THE PEOPLES’ PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT: PETER MUTHARIKA MUST RESIGN
We, in PPM, would like to join all those Malawians who think the best solution to the
impasse between University of Malawi lecturers and the Inspector General of Police, is
to have Peter Mutharika resign from his post as Minister of Education because he has
failed to manage it. Malawians are losing out on him as Minister of Education.
Firstly, he was appointed as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, but during
that time, he spent most of his time touring educational institutions. In his wisdom, the
State President thought this was an indication that Peter would bring new ideas to the
education ministry so he switched him to be Minister of Education.
Immediately Peter got to this ministry, firstly, he raised the tuition fees for University
of Malawi by over 220% from K25,000.00 to K80,000.00. This showed his ignorance on
the poverty levels in Malawi. Because of the resultant uproar the State President had to
intervene.
Secondly, there are now serious disagreements between University of Malawi lecturers
and The Inspector General of Police. Peter Mutharika is failing to handle this issue. It
has taken the whole state President to intervene again on an issue Peter Mutharika
could have handled within his capacity as Minister of Education. These two contentious
issue have cropped up within twelve months of his office and we wonder what will
happen in the foreseeable future. What is Peter doing in the Ministry of Education.
PPM therefore joins all Malawians of good will in asking the State President to move
Peter Mutharika to another ministry or better still to relieve him completely of any
ministerial position to give him time to concentrate on his constituency. We hope he will
be able to manage the constituency better than he is doing in the Ministries. There are
a lot of capable Malawians who can manage the Ministry of Education even within DPP
itself.
We in PPM feel so sorry that things are falling completely out of hand economically
and socially because of minor issues like arguing with lecturers which can be resolved
easily and amicably. DPP must realize that they are eroding the confidence of the same
Malawians who voted the party to rule this country.
Further to this, we in PPM strongly feel that the State President should allow the
Inspector General of Police to apologise to the lecturers. Apologising is not a sign of
weakness nor is it cowardice but rather depicts strong character which will be fondly
remembered and appreciated when all the dust settles.
PEOPLE’S PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
MPHAVU KU WANTHU
Further to the press statement sent yesterday, Our positions on the striking lecturers is that we entirely agree with the reason behind the strike. We are also concerned as a nation that if these lecturers are forced to go back to class with somebody halodin a sword over their heads, the result will be half baked graduates and this will in the long run affect the nation's productivity.
So the lecturers have to go back to class after being assured of their academic freedom. We believe that the material given to the students is purerly academic and not seditious.
Regards,
PEOPLE’S PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
 |
| Professor Peter Mutharika: PPM wants him to quit |
impasse between University of Malawi lecturers and the Inspector General of Police, is
to have Peter Mutharika resign from his post as Minister of Education because he has
failed to manage it. Malawians are losing out on him as Minister of Education.
Firstly, he was appointed as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, but during
that time, he spent most of his time touring educational institutions. In his wisdom, the
State President thought this was an indication that Peter would bring new ideas to the
education ministry so he switched him to be Minister of Education.
Immediately Peter got to this ministry, firstly, he raised the tuition fees for University
of Malawi by over 220% from K25,000.00 to K80,000.00. This showed his ignorance on
the poverty levels in Malawi. Because of the resultant uproar the State President had to
intervene.
Secondly, there are now serious disagreements between University of Malawi lecturers
and The Inspector General of Police. Peter Mutharika is failing to handle this issue. It
has taken the whole state President to intervene again on an issue Peter Mutharika
could have handled within his capacity as Minister of Education. These two contentious
issue have cropped up within twelve months of his office and we wonder what will
happen in the foreseeable future. What is Peter doing in the Ministry of Education.
PPM therefore joins all Malawians of good will in asking the State President to move
Peter Mutharika to another ministry or better still to relieve him completely of any
ministerial position to give him time to concentrate on his constituency. We hope he will
be able to manage the constituency better than he is doing in the Ministries. There are
a lot of capable Malawians who can manage the Ministry of Education even within DPP
itself.
We in PPM feel so sorry that things are falling completely out of hand economically
and socially because of minor issues like arguing with lecturers which can be resolved
easily and amicably. DPP must realize that they are eroding the confidence of the same
Malawians who voted the party to rule this country.
Further to this, we in PPM strongly feel that the State President should allow the
Inspector General of Police to apologise to the lecturers. Apologising is not a sign of
weakness nor is it cowardice but rather depicts strong character which will be fondly
remembered and appreciated when all the dust settles.
PEOPLE’S PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
MPHAVU KU WANTHU
Further to the press statement sent yesterday, Our positions on the striking lecturers is that we entirely agree with the reason behind the strike. We are also concerned as a nation that if these lecturers are forced to go back to class with somebody halodin a sword over their heads, the result will be half baked graduates and this will in the long run affect the nation's productivity.
So the lecturers have to go back to class after being assured of their academic freedom. We believe that the material given to the students is purerly academic and not seditious.
Regards,
PEOPLE’S PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
From the People's Progressive Movement
Further to the press statement sent yesterday, Our positions on the striking lecturers is that we entirely agree with the reason behind the strike. We are also concerned as a nation that if these lecturers are forced to go back to class with somebody halodin a sword over their heads, the result will be half baked graduates and this will in the long run affect the nation's productivity.
So the lecturers have to go back to class after being assured of their academic freedom. We believe that the material given to the students is purerly academic and not seditious.
Regards,
So the lecturers have to go back to class after being assured of their academic freedom. We believe that the material given to the students is purerly academic and not seditious.
Regards,
A Model Jihadi Material Support Bill for State Legislatures
The Legislature finds that jihad is a necessary part of Sharia law. Jihad is commanded as incumbent on all Muslims in the Koran, the Hadith and the Sira, as well as the Sharia. Hence, the Legislature proposes that a Jihadi Registration Board be maintained by the Attorney General.
Registered jihadis may establish fund raising for the Jihadi Registration Board Fund, since material support is commanded in the Koran for all Muslims to contribute to “fighting in Allah’s cause”.
Koran 61:10 Muslims! Should I show you a profitable exchange that will keep you from severe torment? Believe in Allah and His messenger and fight valiantly for Allah’s cause [jihad] with both your wealth and your lives. It would be better for you, if you only knew it!
Jihadis will receive a photo ID and a registration number. Quarterly reports will be made to the Attorney General by a Sharia compliance group to assure that all funds raised by the Jihadi Registration Board go the strict purpose of jihad.
Should a jihadi be killed in the process of jihad against any and all Kafirs, the Jihadi Registration Board will use money from the Board Fund for maintenance of the jihadi’s family, both here and overseas.
There will be a strict limitation of weapons used to those of Mohammed’s jihad—swords, knives, and stones. Severed Kafir heads may be displayed on pikes or if multiple heads are involved stacked in the standard pyramidal pile, as per the Golden Age in Spain. All jihadi attacks using modern weapons will be charged as normal first degree murder.
KAFIR OPT OUT
All Kafirs (non-Muslims) may register as a dhimmi with the Attorney General. The dhimmi registration list will be maintained by the Jihadi Registration Board. All dhimmis will wear a distinctive arm band or belt as per the standards of the Jihadi Registration Board. ID laminated cards on a lanyard are also acceptable. Registered dhimmis names, home addresses, work locations and car license plates will be available on the web site of the Jihadi Registration Board.
After registration as a dhimmi, the dhimmi will have to pay a jizyah tax to the fund administered by the Sharia compliance group. The jizyah tax rate will be the same as Mohammed used at Khaybar, 50% of the gross income. Such jizyah funds will be strictly maintained separately from the jihadi material support funds. The dhimmi contributions can only be used for dawah (preaching Islam to the Kafirs). All imams and Muslim Brotherhood agents can use these funds for dawah.
Since the Hadith call for all dhimmis to well protected by all Muslims, jihad attacks on registered dhimmis will be treated as first degree murder.
Response to Shikha
Is there any company in Malawi that is currently spinning the cotton and producing cotton yarn?
Answer: No, not at the moment.
This is an area with investment potential, with big returns.
Especially the production of cotton yarn; that can really bring in good returns.
But, of course- as I believe you know, Shikha- it requires huge investments.
Our State President, His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, was opening a Rab Processors plant some three days ago, and encouraged foreign direct investment.
He also pledged to safeguard the peace of investors.
Malawi is a peaceful country, largely, and offers many investment opportunities. There is untapped potentail in tourism, market gaps in manufacturing industry (especially as it relates to cotton spinning and the production of cotton yarn.
I hope this suffices. My apologies for responding a bit late.
Thanks for writing Shikha.
Answer: No, not at the moment.
This is an area with investment potential, with big returns.
Especially the production of cotton yarn; that can really bring in good returns.
But, of course- as I believe you know, Shikha- it requires huge investments.
Our State President, His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, was opening a Rab Processors plant some three days ago, and encouraged foreign direct investment.
He also pledged to safeguard the peace of investors.
Malawi is a peaceful country, largely, and offers many investment opportunities. There is untapped potentail in tourism, market gaps in manufacturing industry (especially as it relates to cotton spinning and the production of cotton yarn.
I hope this suffices. My apologies for responding a bit late.
Thanks for writing Shikha.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Is Presidential Anger the Solution to Malawi's Democracy
Malawi is a ball.
Rolled from the 1890s by the foreign hand that was British Colonisation, dressed in that beautiful robe christened 'The Partition of Africa', Nyasaland was always meant to be a puzzle, living puzzle. As trends change, this puzzle mutates.
It is a puzzle of varied colours: there is no green, red, or blue; pink, yellow, green or whatever.
The colours are economic, social, cultural, religious,and more. Rarely, the colours are visible, preffering, instead, to be abstract.
Even the visible have abstract forms of their own: if not in form, at least in description.
Take, for instance, economic emancipation. Ideally, this must be the hybrid child of poverty- changed, transformed, improved, and adored.
Do we have a concrete definition of poverty?
Are we not told, by those chief global thieves- the World Bank and International Monetary Fund- that poverty is relative. In short, that means there is no single definition of poverty.
No wonder that, when I go to my home village in Dedza, I spend 10 days on end without holding a single penny. But I eat: what have you? Mangoes, bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, cabbages, carrot. Anything.
The people, too, are happy. No complaints.
Who said Malawi is poor? For sure, that individual must be sick in the stomach, and mind.
To quote State President Bingu wa Mutharika: "Malawi is not poor; it is the Malawian (as an individual) who is poor".
Just that, the British rollers- who have graciously rolls the ball that is Malawi across rivers and rocks, dishes and puddles of mud- abandoned ship( rather, were forced to let go off the dependent ball) in 1964 when Malawi's first President (first, he was Prime Minister, that is well before Malawi became a Republic) Kamuzu Banda showed signs of a good shepherd.
A good shepherd he seemed, despite his height deficiency and small feet. Actually, there is a school of thought that suggests that Kamuzu's autocratic style of governance- though this was common folder in other newly-independent African states such as Tanzania and Ghana- was a way of making up for his short size!
Nobody, including his hand-picked photographers came two metres close to him. Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda always wanted photographers to take his pictures from a long range, and he was always sitting on something more elevated than the rest of the people. Idea: a shot, taken by someone down, always looks big after processing.
Kamuzu always wanted to look big, to behave tough. The only thing he took in small measure was food.
But, other than that, his shoes were always over-sized. Close confidant, and one-time Kamuzu body guard- now Deputy Minister in President Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika's office (Office of the President and Cabinet)- Nicholas Dausi only laughed when pinned down to talk about Kamuzu's so size.
Even former Kamuzu official hostess, Mama Cecilia Tamanda-Kadzamira, once cornered at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre by this blogger (when we even posed together for a photo, which I keep at home as a sovenir) just brushed the issue off, describing it as "an untimely joke".
But the truth is that Kamuzu always wore long shoes- size nine, according to former Intelligence chief, the late Focus Gwede (who died earlier this year, having lived a good, prosperous life with Kamuzu, only to die poorer than an orphaned chicken at his home in Ntcheu).
Gwede told Zachimalawi in August 2010 that "Kamuzu was an interesting man, a man who over-sized himself. But he was a good man, too visionary to be Malawian".
So, Malawians are devoid of vision?
If that be so, why did they formulate the Vision 20/20 in the early 1990s (when primary and Secondary School students were invited to contribute their views on specifically set days). That time, around 1993, I was in Salima, learning at Kalonga Primary School. I remember being summoned, the whole Karonga Primary School, from the area of Traditional Authority Kalonga (and such other schools as Nsalula, Kaputu, Kambwiri, Kaphatenga) to Salima Community Centre Hall to contribute our views on what we thought could be a better idea of a Malawi.
In the little child's mind, this Malawi is always fair, reasonable, accommodating. And loving. That is what I said, when my turn came, and I haven't seen the Malawi as I thought it would be then.
Even with the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy (MPRS), a brain-child of estranged former President, Bakili Muluzi, nothing has not changed that much. What might have changed, though, is the (mis) perception that Malawians are visionless people, or, rather, stubbornly short sighted.
We have the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) now, championed by economist President- though a rejected stone at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), where he got the boot as Secretary General for his autocratic style of leadership_ Bingu wa Mutharika.
MGDS is a sign Malawians can still hope, though most of these hopes lie postponed.
Kamuzu the short man with high hopes and an oversized vision ruled Malawi till 1994, after Malawians indicated, the previous year (on 14 June, 1993) that they preferred more freedoms than unity; more strength in numbers than purpose; willfull obedience than blind subjectiviy; and earned loyalty, than being cowed into the membership of comformity.
And so ended the reign of a man who was feared more than respected, over-rated other than scrutinised, worshipped more than praised. Kamuzu had turned Malawi from a dark-waters country to a star performer (as the IMF adorned the country with the best economic performance cap), food secure insecure nation to net producer.
Malawi also became one of the world's biggest tobacco producers, with good quality to boot.
As Kamuzu used to, "I found some people, especially those from Mwanza and Neno, completely naked" (This is how his speech reads at the National Archives in Zomba, where I went twice this week).
When he left, though, some homes were still reeking, some people were still drinking unsafe water (Bingu wa Mutharika said yesterday during World Water Day Commemmorations 80 per cent of the Malawian population now had access to safe water), and many remained uneducated, with the country's illiteracy rate being one of the highest in Africa, when fellow Southern African Development Community (SADC) member state Zimbabwe remains a shining example despite an economic meltdown that has survived more shots than the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
And Kamuzu went (partially, because it was only the reigns of power he left, his heart beat still), only to realy go when Malawians needed him most in September 1997.
The Father and Founder, having endured arrests from the new United Democratic Front (UDF) rulers, now rests in peace in Lilongwe, just next to the Chinese-built New Parliament Building. A statue also stands at the Heroes Acre, reminding Malawians of who once was, and is not. At least what he is, is that he remains a true son of Malawi. This is what remains of him, a legacy.
But he left the University of Malawi intact; auction flours in Lilongwe and Blantyre; the M1 road, strong and still; Kamuzu International Airport, among others. He left a smiling nation, too.
And went towards the way of all the earth.
In comes Bakili Muluzi. Muluzi came with open arms, handcuffs dangling. He wanted the hands of Kamuzu, who he arrested and molested, and humiliated in public. Alongside Mama C. Tamanda-Kadzamira, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Zenus Ungapake Tembo.
But Muluzi also introduced hand-outs politics, winning people's minds wth pockets and not through reasoning. It worked with the rural poor, 62 per cent being too big a head to fit into the cap of poverty.
He also introduced the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF), a borrowed concept that was financed by the World Bank.
He established the Auction Floors in Mzuzu, brought forth the Mzuzu University (a public university), constructed more boreholes than school blocks, among others.
Muluzi joked on the podium, his dreaded UDF Young Democrats beat people up on the streets.
People say Muluzi started well in 1994, with his less-than-charitable education back ground, as he communicated well with the general public, "a man from the village'- Kapoloma in Machinga, to be precise.
His first term, from 1994 to 1999, was relatively better in terms of respect for people's freedoms. It was his second term, from 1999 to 1994, which was devoid of the many positives Muluzi started with.
When he wanted to run for an unconstitutional Third Term, his Young Democrats torrorised people. The likes of opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders such as Mark Mezalumo were hacked in broad day light around the Clock Tower in Blantyre, after organising an Anti-Third Term match. Typical of Malawi, the match was peaceful, but others shed loads of blood.
This history will forever shaddow over Muluzi's many successes.
When he finnally realised that Malawians were more clever than he thought, he imposed a rank outsider Bingu wa Mutharika on the party machinery- and Mutharika stood on the UDF ticket in 2004, only to dump the party much sooner than later on February 05, 2005 (during the Anti-Corruption Day) citing the party's attempts to frustrate his anti-corruption drive.
Mutharika later formed the Democratic rogressive Party (DPP), Malawi's ruling party now.
Former UDF Publicity Secretary, Sam Mpasu, has always argued: "You don't gointo government to form a political party, instead, you form a political party to go into government".
Bingu wa Mutharika is the difference. And the difference he seems to be, following his many negative encounters with civil society organisations, university lecturers, students, opposition parties, the private media, among others.
For the first time in democratic Malawi, University lecturers have pitted themselves against the Chancellor of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) Mutharika over the academic freedom banner.
Mutharika's former (personal) body guard, Peter Mukhito, (who is now the Inspector General of Police) last month invited associate professor in Political Studies at Chancellor College, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, to question him over remarks he made pertaining to causes of uprisings against governments.
Dr. Chinsinga is said to have referred to the situation in Egypt, analysing how the situation became so pregnant as to be revolutionary.
Mukhito's step has angered lecturers, who are now afraid that they may not give relevant examples in class.
Mutharika is the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, Malawi Prisons Service and the Defence Forces, and has publicly declared that neither he nor Mukhito will apologise. He cites issues of national interest for his stance.
A couple of weeks ago, Mutharika also said he will ban demonstrations, proposing, instead, a damage-control fee of K3 million for those wishing to demonstrate- peacefully or not.
Just this week, United Kingdom-based Malawian, Ben Chiza Mkandawire, had been collecting signatures (200) with the aim of petitioning British MPs over rights abuses in Malawi.
Last week, when Mutharika opened the Auction Flours in Limbe (Blantyre), the prices were said to be better; after he left they slumped.
Everything seems to be going against Mutharika, an angry Mutharika at that.
Rolled from the 1890s by the foreign hand that was British Colonisation, dressed in that beautiful robe christened 'The Partition of Africa', Nyasaland was always meant to be a puzzle, living puzzle. As trends change, this puzzle mutates.
It is a puzzle of varied colours: there is no green, red, or blue; pink, yellow, green or whatever.
The colours are economic, social, cultural, religious,and more. Rarely, the colours are visible, preffering, instead, to be abstract.
Even the visible have abstract forms of their own: if not in form, at least in description.
Take, for instance, economic emancipation. Ideally, this must be the hybrid child of poverty- changed, transformed, improved, and adored.
Do we have a concrete definition of poverty?
Are we not told, by those chief global thieves- the World Bank and International Monetary Fund- that poverty is relative. In short, that means there is no single definition of poverty.
No wonder that, when I go to my home village in Dedza, I spend 10 days on end without holding a single penny. But I eat: what have you? Mangoes, bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, cabbages, carrot. Anything.
The people, too, are happy. No complaints.
Who said Malawi is poor? For sure, that individual must be sick in the stomach, and mind.
To quote State President Bingu wa Mutharika: "Malawi is not poor; it is the Malawian (as an individual) who is poor".
Just that, the British rollers- who have graciously rolls the ball that is Malawi across rivers and rocks, dishes and puddles of mud- abandoned ship( rather, were forced to let go off the dependent ball) in 1964 when Malawi's first President (first, he was Prime Minister, that is well before Malawi became a Republic) Kamuzu Banda showed signs of a good shepherd.
A good shepherd he seemed, despite his height deficiency and small feet. Actually, there is a school of thought that suggests that Kamuzu's autocratic style of governance- though this was common folder in other newly-independent African states such as Tanzania and Ghana- was a way of making up for his short size!
Nobody, including his hand-picked photographers came two metres close to him. Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda always wanted photographers to take his pictures from a long range, and he was always sitting on something more elevated than the rest of the people. Idea: a shot, taken by someone down, always looks big after processing.
Kamuzu always wanted to look big, to behave tough. The only thing he took in small measure was food.
But, other than that, his shoes were always over-sized. Close confidant, and one-time Kamuzu body guard- now Deputy Minister in President Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika's office (Office of the President and Cabinet)- Nicholas Dausi only laughed when pinned down to talk about Kamuzu's so size.
Even former Kamuzu official hostess, Mama Cecilia Tamanda-Kadzamira, once cornered at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre by this blogger (when we even posed together for a photo, which I keep at home as a sovenir) just brushed the issue off, describing it as "an untimely joke".
But the truth is that Kamuzu always wore long shoes- size nine, according to former Intelligence chief, the late Focus Gwede (who died earlier this year, having lived a good, prosperous life with Kamuzu, only to die poorer than an orphaned chicken at his home in Ntcheu).
Gwede told Zachimalawi in August 2010 that "Kamuzu was an interesting man, a man who over-sized himself. But he was a good man, too visionary to be Malawian".
So, Malawians are devoid of vision?
If that be so, why did they formulate the Vision 20/20 in the early 1990s (when primary and Secondary School students were invited to contribute their views on specifically set days). That time, around 1993, I was in Salima, learning at Kalonga Primary School. I remember being summoned, the whole Karonga Primary School, from the area of Traditional Authority Kalonga (and such other schools as Nsalula, Kaputu, Kambwiri, Kaphatenga) to Salima Community Centre Hall to contribute our views on what we thought could be a better idea of a Malawi.
In the little child's mind, this Malawi is always fair, reasonable, accommodating. And loving. That is what I said, when my turn came, and I haven't seen the Malawi as I thought it would be then.
Even with the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy (MPRS), a brain-child of estranged former President, Bakili Muluzi, nothing has not changed that much. What might have changed, though, is the (mis) perception that Malawians are visionless people, or, rather, stubbornly short sighted.
We have the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) now, championed by economist President- though a rejected stone at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), where he got the boot as Secretary General for his autocratic style of leadership_ Bingu wa Mutharika.
MGDS is a sign Malawians can still hope, though most of these hopes lie postponed.
Kamuzu the short man with high hopes and an oversized vision ruled Malawi till 1994, after Malawians indicated, the previous year (on 14 June, 1993) that they preferred more freedoms than unity; more strength in numbers than purpose; willfull obedience than blind subjectiviy; and earned loyalty, than being cowed into the membership of comformity.
And so ended the reign of a man who was feared more than respected, over-rated other than scrutinised, worshipped more than praised. Kamuzu had turned Malawi from a dark-waters country to a star performer (as the IMF adorned the country with the best economic performance cap), food secure insecure nation to net producer.
Malawi also became one of the world's biggest tobacco producers, with good quality to boot.
As Kamuzu used to, "I found some people, especially those from Mwanza and Neno, completely naked" (This is how his speech reads at the National Archives in Zomba, where I went twice this week).
When he left, though, some homes were still reeking, some people were still drinking unsafe water (Bingu wa Mutharika said yesterday during World Water Day Commemmorations 80 per cent of the Malawian population now had access to safe water), and many remained uneducated, with the country's illiteracy rate being one of the highest in Africa, when fellow Southern African Development Community (SADC) member state Zimbabwe remains a shining example despite an economic meltdown that has survived more shots than the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
And Kamuzu went (partially, because it was only the reigns of power he left, his heart beat still), only to realy go when Malawians needed him most in September 1997.
The Father and Founder, having endured arrests from the new United Democratic Front (UDF) rulers, now rests in peace in Lilongwe, just next to the Chinese-built New Parliament Building. A statue also stands at the Heroes Acre, reminding Malawians of who once was, and is not. At least what he is, is that he remains a true son of Malawi. This is what remains of him, a legacy.
But he left the University of Malawi intact; auction flours in Lilongwe and Blantyre; the M1 road, strong and still; Kamuzu International Airport, among others. He left a smiling nation, too.
And went towards the way of all the earth.
In comes Bakili Muluzi. Muluzi came with open arms, handcuffs dangling. He wanted the hands of Kamuzu, who he arrested and molested, and humiliated in public. Alongside Mama C. Tamanda-Kadzamira, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Zenus Ungapake Tembo.
But Muluzi also introduced hand-outs politics, winning people's minds wth pockets and not through reasoning. It worked with the rural poor, 62 per cent being too big a head to fit into the cap of poverty.
He also introduced the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF), a borrowed concept that was financed by the World Bank.
He established the Auction Floors in Mzuzu, brought forth the Mzuzu University (a public university), constructed more boreholes than school blocks, among others.
Muluzi joked on the podium, his dreaded UDF Young Democrats beat people up on the streets.
People say Muluzi started well in 1994, with his less-than-charitable education back ground, as he communicated well with the general public, "a man from the village'- Kapoloma in Machinga, to be precise.
His first term, from 1994 to 1999, was relatively better in terms of respect for people's freedoms. It was his second term, from 1999 to 1994, which was devoid of the many positives Muluzi started with.
When he wanted to run for an unconstitutional Third Term, his Young Democrats torrorised people. The likes of opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders such as Mark Mezalumo were hacked in broad day light around the Clock Tower in Blantyre, after organising an Anti-Third Term match. Typical of Malawi, the match was peaceful, but others shed loads of blood.
This history will forever shaddow over Muluzi's many successes.
When he finnally realised that Malawians were more clever than he thought, he imposed a rank outsider Bingu wa Mutharika on the party machinery- and Mutharika stood on the UDF ticket in 2004, only to dump the party much sooner than later on February 05, 2005 (during the Anti-Corruption Day) citing the party's attempts to frustrate his anti-corruption drive.
Mutharika later formed the Democratic rogressive Party (DPP), Malawi's ruling party now.
Former UDF Publicity Secretary, Sam Mpasu, has always argued: "You don't gointo government to form a political party, instead, you form a political party to go into government".
Bingu wa Mutharika is the difference. And the difference he seems to be, following his many negative encounters with civil society organisations, university lecturers, students, opposition parties, the private media, among others.
For the first time in democratic Malawi, University lecturers have pitted themselves against the Chancellor of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) Mutharika over the academic freedom banner.
Mutharika's former (personal) body guard, Peter Mukhito, (who is now the Inspector General of Police) last month invited associate professor in Political Studies at Chancellor College, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, to question him over remarks he made pertaining to causes of uprisings against governments.
Dr. Chinsinga is said to have referred to the situation in Egypt, analysing how the situation became so pregnant as to be revolutionary.
Mukhito's step has angered lecturers, who are now afraid that they may not give relevant examples in class.
Mutharika is the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service, Malawi Prisons Service and the Defence Forces, and has publicly declared that neither he nor Mukhito will apologise. He cites issues of national interest for his stance.
A couple of weeks ago, Mutharika also said he will ban demonstrations, proposing, instead, a damage-control fee of K3 million for those wishing to demonstrate- peacefully or not.
Just this week, United Kingdom-based Malawian, Ben Chiza Mkandawire, had been collecting signatures (200) with the aim of petitioning British MPs over rights abuses in Malawi.
Last week, when Mutharika opened the Auction Flours in Limbe (Blantyre), the prices were said to be better; after he left they slumped.
Everything seems to be going against Mutharika, an angry Mutharika at that.
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