It would have been unheard of in the past.
Primary school learners were then expected to be disciplined; to obey every word from a teacher.
As university students demonstrated, learners just watched--as if they were eagles perched in trees.
But things changed during former president Joyce Banda's regime. When teachers took industrial action, learners in Blantyre took to the streets.
They did not only storm onto the streets; they sang!
What we're the songs? Ng'ombe yaikazi sikoka ngolo (a female cow cannot pull a cart)!
Well, nobody knows who taught the learners, aged between 6 and 13 years that song.
But everyone knows they were referring to Joyce Banda rule, in the context of gender. They were implying that a woman cannot lead a nation. Such prejudiced thinking!
Today, pupils from Chilinde, Area 23 marched. Why? They are angry because they are not learning.
Why? Teachers are on a sit-in.
Why? They want salary increments.
Why? The government has been playing a fast one.
The Teachers Union of Malawi held meetings with government representatives several times this year. But the outcome was not even less satisfactory. It was outright unsatisfactory.
The Ministry of Education is, at best, myopic in its handling of serious issues.
Teachers are simply taken for granted.
Just imagine, the Ministry of Education promoted primary school teachers on March 14, 2012.
The promotions, replete with improved working conditions, would be effected immediately.
Up to now, the teachers are still receiving salaries they were getting in 2012, if we exclude the peanut increments they have been getting since then.
Some of the primary school teachers are in Zomba Rural, some are in Blantyre, some are in Chitipa. In short, they are scattered throughout the country.
I asked Ministry of Education spokesperson, Manfred Ndovi, the other day,and his response was: "Some of the teachers have not met the conditions they were supposed to meet".
Okay. But what for those who fulfilled the conditions?
Are teachers children of one biological mother and father to receive to be subjected to one-wrong-fits-all action?
Somehow, somewhere, we do things wrongly.
I will not be surprised to hear primary school learners sing one day: A male ox cannot pull a big cart!
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Reverend John Chilembwe is Over-rated for Nothing
It is funny how people think of Reverend John Chilembwe as the best thing that ever happened to Malawi-- when Malawi was not even an idea; when the communal spirit of nationality was far from being born.
The truth is that Chilembwe was a flop!
Come to think of it. After Chilembwe came back from the United States of America, he set up a church (in his Chiradzulu District) that is a classic example of stunted growth!
The church he established, Providence Industrial Mission, is like Malawi's political parties: home-based! You will never find a branch of his church in Chitipa, or Salima or Blantyre.
He could not think beyond his home district, even in his religious thinking. He was a selfish man.
Then, there is the bit about going around and cutting white settlers' heads. What Chilembwe needed was guns, ammunition, and the power that came with them.
He wanted to protect his church men and women from the white settlers menace, establish himself as the lord of that area. Nothing more. Nothing national.
And, for your information,Chilembwe--the Reverend-- had two slaves he had bought from Mozambique: Paton Miguel and Amigo Ricco. They worked for him day and night, and he did not even convert them to join his church. Chilembwe was a calculating man. He knew that converting him would mean he would start looking at them with a brother's eye-- and Chilembwe was no brotherly figure. Like modern-day prophets-- the so-called prophets-- he was a businessman who never had thoughts about people from other areas.
Why, then, is he over-rated?
Simple: He went to America, learned their religious doctrine through education at that sell-out theological college. Oh, he could even speak their language too: English!
Worst of all, he was following their god. Their idea of God.
So, as a puppet, they hyped his name.
But there is someone who did far greater work for this country-- someone who was greater than John Chilembwe-- but whose only 'sin' in their eyes-- you know who?-- was not to speak their language, not to follow their god.
It is Mataka, the no-nonsense Mataka I am talking about. His story has to be retold. His story is so nationalistic it is touching!
The truth is that Chilembwe was a flop!
Come to think of it. After Chilembwe came back from the United States of America, he set up a church (in his Chiradzulu District) that is a classic example of stunted growth!
The church he established, Providence Industrial Mission, is like Malawi's political parties: home-based! You will never find a branch of his church in Chitipa, or Salima or Blantyre.
He could not think beyond his home district, even in his religious thinking. He was a selfish man.
Then, there is the bit about going around and cutting white settlers' heads. What Chilembwe needed was guns, ammunition, and the power that came with them.
He wanted to protect his church men and women from the white settlers menace, establish himself as the lord of that area. Nothing more. Nothing national.
And, for your information,Chilembwe--the Reverend-- had two slaves he had bought from Mozambique: Paton Miguel and Amigo Ricco. They worked for him day and night, and he did not even convert them to join his church. Chilembwe was a calculating man. He knew that converting him would mean he would start looking at them with a brother's eye-- and Chilembwe was no brotherly figure. Like modern-day prophets-- the so-called prophets-- he was a businessman who never had thoughts about people from other areas.
Why, then, is he over-rated?
Simple: He went to America, learned their religious doctrine through education at that sell-out theological college. Oh, he could even speak their language too: English!
Worst of all, he was following their god. Their idea of God.
So, as a puppet, they hyped his name.
But there is someone who did far greater work for this country-- someone who was greater than John Chilembwe-- but whose only 'sin' in their eyes-- you know who?-- was not to speak their language, not to follow their god.
It is Mataka, the no-nonsense Mataka I am talking about. His story has to be retold. His story is so nationalistic it is touching!
Friday, September 9, 2016
Land! Land! Land!
Land is a word that will, for a long time to come, embody the deep fractures of colonialism.
More so because commonality of experience on land issues matters and differs.
Come to think of it, People's Land Organisation, led by Vincent Wandale, has been busy issuing threats that they would occupy private land used as tea plantations in Thyolo and Mulanje.
Nobody took them seriously.
For some time, the temptation was to see the threats as the sidekicks of a desperate human being-- or, rather, human beings.
They said, I mean those in the government, freedom of exxpression is there for all to take.
Well, until Wandale allegedly decided to mobilise people in the village and, according to his bidding, they occupies estate land, damaging some property here and there.
Wandale's position is that Malawi's colonial ruler should pay compensation to the people of Thyolo-- or else the people would repossess the land.
Wandale has been saying what happened is a great injustice to the people of Mulanje and Thyolo, who have been put in a corner in their own country while tea grows healthily, even shaking in the wind, in a land that was supposed to be their own.
It is like, in Wandale's view, cultural domination continues even after Malawi crossed the Independence, and the multiparty politics, line.
Now, forgetting that the right of speech is, on paper, potentially open to all including rural women and men who escorted to the estates and, or took part in, re-occupying the land, Wandale threatened one last time, and, again, nobody listens.
What followed was lawlessness at its best and Wandale is remanded at Chichiri Prison and faces four charges including that of illegally occupying land, malicious damage to property, conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
Finally, despite y he promise of sunny days, Wandale has spent y he past three days in the dark cells at Chichiri Prison.
Before two years ago, I would have condemned Wandale.
But I am a Communication and Cultural Studies scholar, and I understand things better now.
And, so, I will not condemn Wandale's ideas. They are revolutionary.
His action was not.
And, there, lies the problem.
Now, change.org has started a campaign, and written a petition to be delivered to President Peter Mutharika.
There lies another problem. The president does not arrest people. People 'arrest' themselves!
I just do not know who has arrested himself this time around.
And I do not know who may be about to release him.
I do not know.
More so because commonality of experience on land issues matters and differs.
Come to think of it, People's Land Organisation, led by Vincent Wandale, has been busy issuing threats that they would occupy private land used as tea plantations in Thyolo and Mulanje.
Nobody took them seriously.
For some time, the temptation was to see the threats as the sidekicks of a desperate human being-- or, rather, human beings.
They said, I mean those in the government, freedom of exxpression is there for all to take.
Well, until Wandale allegedly decided to mobilise people in the village and, according to his bidding, they occupies estate land, damaging some property here and there.
Wandale's position is that Malawi's colonial ruler should pay compensation to the people of Thyolo-- or else the people would repossess the land.
Wandale has been saying what happened is a great injustice to the people of Mulanje and Thyolo, who have been put in a corner in their own country while tea grows healthily, even shaking in the wind, in a land that was supposed to be their own.
It is like, in Wandale's view, cultural domination continues even after Malawi crossed the Independence, and the multiparty politics, line.
Now, forgetting that the right of speech is, on paper, potentially open to all including rural women and men who escorted to the estates and, or took part in, re-occupying the land, Wandale threatened one last time, and, again, nobody listens.
What followed was lawlessness at its best and Wandale is remanded at Chichiri Prison and faces four charges including that of illegally occupying land, malicious damage to property, conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
Finally, despite y he promise of sunny days, Wandale has spent y he past three days in the dark cells at Chichiri Prison.
Before two years ago, I would have condemned Wandale.
But I am a Communication and Cultural Studies scholar, and I understand things better now.
And, so, I will not condemn Wandale's ideas. They are revolutionary.
His action was not.
And, there, lies the problem.
Now, change.org has started a campaign, and written a petition to be delivered to President Peter Mutharika.
There lies another problem. The president does not arrest people. People 'arrest' themselves!
I just do not know who has arrested himself this time around.
And I do not know who may be about to release him.
I do not know.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Crocodiles on Bird Island
Birds Island lies silent, as a crocodile, in Lake Malawi.
It is a mountain, somewhere in Monkey Bay, Mangochi, District.
It is as if a hippopotamus, its oxygen reserves depleted, has come out for an air-load of life.
That's Birds Island for you.
Are you looking for crocodiles in Lake Malawi? You can see them on Birds Island.
What happens is that fishermen pull their fish-filled nets there, and crocodiles want the fish.
And, so, they have found a haven there.
I will post a picture in two hours' time.
It is a mountain, somewhere in Monkey Bay, Mangochi, District.
It is as if a hippopotamus, its oxygen reserves depleted, has come out for an air-load of life.
That's Birds Island for you.
Are you looking for crocodiles in Lake Malawi? You can see them on Birds Island.
What happens is that fishermen pull their fish-filled nets there, and crocodiles want the fish.
And, so, they have found a haven there.
I will post a picture in two hours' time.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
An experience at Makokola Retreat in Mangochi
I am on foot. I am walking into the up-market Makokola Retreat in Monkey Bay, Mangochi.
The guards, two of them, let you in. Of course, after throwing four, five questions.
You get in-- feeling confident and energesised for the day.
The reception is some 200 metres away from the main gate. My entry point.
About 20 metres from the gate is Mangochi's airstrip. If you want to land in Mangochi, this is the airstrip for you.
Fifty metres, or so, later, a Toyota Hilux comes from the opposite direction. I mean, from the reception area.
Suddenly, it drives past you and stops.
Inside are a husband and wife. They have Malawian names but are of European ancestry.
Their faces are as serious as those of an incensed dog.
They think they are serious, not knowing that their attempt at seriousness is a favourable condition for the growth of pimples. Pimple marks are written all over the face.
"What are you doing here?" It is the man speaking.
He runs the place. Makokola Retreat!
I do not answer. I find the approach un-tourism-like.
"Hey, I say what are you doing here?" The man, visibly irritated, asks again.
Again, I do not answer.
These quacks are delaying me.
"Hey, can't you here me?" The man fires a rhetorical question at me.
"What are you doing on these grounds?"
"What am I doing? Can't you see that I am walking on these grounds?" I ask. These guys are irritating.
"Oh, for the workshop!?"
I do not answer. I do not know whether this is a question or what.
They finally smile.
"Okay,"says the man as the woman, presumably his wife, nods.
They speed off.
These guys have an attitude!
Are people not free to walk on Makokola Retreat premises. Does it matter how one travels to attend a meeting or something at Makokola Retreat?
Anyway, people talk a lot about the attitude of these ill-mannered people there.
It's like only those from Malawi are welcome.
Let me walk on, anyway. Into the premises.
The guards, two of them, let you in. Of course, after throwing four, five questions.
You get in-- feeling confident and energesised for the day.
The reception is some 200 metres away from the main gate. My entry point.
About 20 metres from the gate is Mangochi's airstrip. If you want to land in Mangochi, this is the airstrip for you.
Fifty metres, or so, later, a Toyota Hilux comes from the opposite direction. I mean, from the reception area.
Suddenly, it drives past you and stops.
Inside are a husband and wife. They have Malawian names but are of European ancestry.
Their faces are as serious as those of an incensed dog.
They think they are serious, not knowing that their attempt at seriousness is a favourable condition for the growth of pimples. Pimple marks are written all over the face.
"What are you doing here?" It is the man speaking.
He runs the place. Makokola Retreat!
I do not answer. I find the approach un-tourism-like.
"Hey, I say what are you doing here?" The man, visibly irritated, asks again.
Again, I do not answer.
These quacks are delaying me.
"Hey, can't you here me?" The man fires a rhetorical question at me.
"What are you doing on these grounds?"
"What am I doing? Can't you see that I am walking on these grounds?" I ask. These guys are irritating.
"Oh, for the workshop!?"
I do not answer. I do not know whether this is a question or what.
They finally smile.
"Okay,"says the man as the woman, presumably his wife, nods.
They speed off.
These guys have an attitude!
Are people not free to walk on Makokola Retreat premises. Does it matter how one travels to attend a meeting or something at Makokola Retreat?
Anyway, people talk a lot about the attitude of these ill-mannered people there.
It's like only those from Malawi are welcome.
Let me walk on, anyway. Into the premises.
An experience at Makokola Retreat in Mangochi
I am on foot. I am walking into the up-market Makokola Retreat in Monkey Bay, Mangochi.
The guards, two of them, let you in. Of course, after throwing four, five questions.
You get in-- feeling confident and energesised for the day.
The reception is some 200 metres away from the main gate. My entry point.
About 20 metres from the gate is Mangochi's airstrip. If you want to land in Mangochi, this is the airstrip for you.
Fifty metres, or so, later, a Toyota Hilux comes from the opposite direction. I mean, from the reception area.
Suddenly, it drives past you and stops.
Inside are a husband and wife. They have Malawian names but are of European ancestry.
Their faces are as serious as those of an incensed dog.
They think they are serious, not knowing that their attempt at seriousness is a favourable condition for the growth of pimples. Pimple marks are written all over the face.
"What are you doing here?" It is the man speaking.
He runs the place. Makokola Retreat!
I do not answer. I find the approach un-tourism-like.
"Hey, I say what are you doing here?" The man, visibly irritated, asks again.
Again, I do not answer.
These quacks are delaying me.
"Hey, can't you here me?" The man fires a rhetorical question at me.
"What are you doing on these grounds?"
"What am I doing? Can't you see that I am walking on these grounds?" I ask. These guys are irritating.
"Oh, for the workshop!?"
I do not answer. I do not know whether this is a question or what.
They finally smile.
"Okay,"says the man as the woman, presumably his wife, nods.
They speed off.
These guys have an attitude!
Are people not free to walk on Makokola Retreat premises. Does it matter how one travels to attend a meeting or something at Makokola Retreat?
Anyway, people talk a lot about the attitude of these ill-mannered people there.
It's like only those from Malawi are welcome.
Let me walk on, anyway. Into the premises.
The guards, two of them, let you in. Of course, after throwing four, five questions.
You get in-- feeling confident and energesised for the day.
The reception is some 200 metres away from the main gate. My entry point.
About 20 metres from the gate is Mangochi's airstrip. If you want to land in Mangochi, this is the airstrip for you.
Fifty metres, or so, later, a Toyota Hilux comes from the opposite direction. I mean, from the reception area.
Suddenly, it drives past you and stops.
Inside are a husband and wife. They have Malawian names but are of European ancestry.
Their faces are as serious as those of an incensed dog.
They think they are serious, not knowing that their attempt at seriousness is a favourable condition for the growth of pimples. Pimple marks are written all over the face.
"What are you doing here?" It is the man speaking.
He runs the place. Makokola Retreat!
I do not answer. I find the approach un-tourism-like.
"Hey, I say what are you doing here?" The man, visibly irritated, asks again.
Again, I do not answer.
These quacks are delaying me.
"Hey, can't you here me?" The man fires a rhetorical question at me.
"What are you doing on these grounds?"
"What am I doing? Can't you see that I am walking on these grounds?" I ask. These guys are irritating.
"Oh, for the workshop!?"
I do not answer. I do not know whether this is a question or what.
They finally smile.
"Okay,"says the man as the woman, presumably his wife, nods.
They speed off.
These guys have an attitude!
Are people not free to walk on Makokola Retreat premises. Does it matter how one travels to attend a meeting or something at Makokola Retreat?
Anyway, people talk a lot about the attitude of these ill-mannered people there.
It's like only those from Malawi are welcome.
Let me walk on, anyway. Into the premises.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Zimbabwe's moment of madness
The hope, when dipped in the soup of desperation and anger, has the effect of giving people a false sense of accomplishment.
What else, if not hope for a 'better'life, could be fuelling the fury of Zimbabweans who have turned against themselves by destroying property and looting in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
This wave of demonstration is a self-defeating recipe for disaster.
If not because it will take months, and millions of dollars to redo what these demonstrations are undoing, it is because it is the regret that will surely come that will defeat Zimbabweans' sense of purpose.
Come to think of it, where on earth do people turn on a legitimately government to force it's leader out? The worst part is that the world, which has often called for respect for letimately-elected government, has decided to watch as a hot-blooded child turns on them self, burning their finger and stuff.
Let me put it this way. When Malawian visit Harare, they often regret that they 'chased' the colonial masters quicker than necessary. Harare is a city, real city, while Malawi's capital of Lilongwe has a tinge of a village.
And Malawian can't help but feel sad that,today, Zimbabweans are destroying what they did not construct: Harare!
The only thing, or, rather, being they constructed, namely Robert Mugabe, is not there to be destroyed.
Illegitimate lyrics that is.
My apologies but, today, I did not want to come out clear.
Deliberately.
The kind of deliberation the Zimbabweans have put into the act of destroying themselves.
What else, if not hope for a 'better'life, could be fuelling the fury of Zimbabweans who have turned against themselves by destroying property and looting in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
This wave of demonstration is a self-defeating recipe for disaster.
If not because it will take months, and millions of dollars to redo what these demonstrations are undoing, it is because it is the regret that will surely come that will defeat Zimbabweans' sense of purpose.
Come to think of it, where on earth do people turn on a legitimately government to force it's leader out? The worst part is that the world, which has often called for respect for letimately-elected government, has decided to watch as a hot-blooded child turns on them self, burning their finger and stuff.
Let me put it this way. When Malawian visit Harare, they often regret that they 'chased' the colonial masters quicker than necessary. Harare is a city, real city, while Malawi's capital of Lilongwe has a tinge of a village.
And Malawian can't help but feel sad that,today, Zimbabweans are destroying what they did not construct: Harare!
The only thing, or, rather, being they constructed, namely Robert Mugabe, is not there to be destroyed.
Illegitimate lyrics that is.
My apologies but, today, I did not want to come out clear.
Deliberately.
The kind of deliberation the Zimbabweans have put into the act of destroying themselves.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Chichiri Shopping Mall: More Guarded Than Malawi's Airports, State Residences
They roam around in the background, sometimes in the open, but are always on call.
Whoever you want: plain-clothed police officers, intelligence officers, military personnel, ruling party sympathisers, Malawi Revenue Authority agents, and what have you.
Malawi's shopping complex at Chichiri in Blantyre is safer than the country's airports and, perhaps, state residences.
Try it. Drive a vehicle [heavy goods vehicles are not allowed entry, by the way] with a foreign number plate into the open parking yard and, soon, you will be swarmed by officers and agents from Malawi's tax collecting body resking for this or that document. I have seen unsuspecting drivers being forced into vehicles with tinted glasses where, some of those who have been approached claim, they are made to pay something.
If the truth be told, Tips Anonymous initiatives, run by auditing who make a financial killing, have become the in-thing in Malawi. In fact, we have seen some of the biggest customers for the auditing firms, most notably parastatals such the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, Blantyre Water Board, Lilongwe Water Board, pay out millions of Malawi Kwacha through Tips Anonymous.
Surprise! Surprise! One of the hunting grounds for those wishing to make quick bucks is the shopping complex at Chichiri Shopping Centre in Blantyre. Here is a hub, innocent as it appears, oiling the engine of tax collection, law enforcement, intelligence and counter-intelligence in Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre.
The unemployed, especially those who are clever, have found a way of making money at the expense of others.
So, it turns out, the Chichiri Shopping Centre [they prefer calling it a Complex] is probably one of the safest places in Malawi.
No wonder, it is not often, if ever, that you will hear of car robberies, car-jacking at the Complex. Criminal elements know how safe the place it, because, at any point in time, except from 9 pm to 08:00 am, the place is I filtrated by state agents of all kind, each of them doing their job unobserved. They watch over the 'world', for the world gathers at Chichiri Shopping Mall everyday. Maybe except on Sunday from 2 pm, as the place takes the shape of a museum during the school holidays, or a graveyard of a wife cleanser: deserted, isolated and forgotten.
Just that this condition does not last long.
Over the past three years, state agents have arrested 62 people, all of these suspected of doing one thing or another. Suspected car-jackers, unaware that the place is safer than Malawi's ramshackle airports, have been nabbed.
Those who have stolen vehicles elsewhere have been nabbed there.
But corruption is also commonplace. Those with fake foreign number plates get away with a slap after paying K20, 000. Those who are caught with vehicles that got into the country without following procedures are made to 'cough' K20, 000 and they take the vehicle back home, more free to do whatever they want to do with it than ever before.
No wonder, out-going British Ambassador to Malawi, Michael Nevin, said it loudly last week: "Corruption is getting worse in Malawi". By worse, he means the cases are on the arise.
They are.
But equally escalating are security measures being put in place. Go to Chichiri Shopping Centre.
So, the next time you go shopping and bump into some familiar, and often unfamiliar faces, do not be quick to smile: They are there for a purpose.
Often, only them know what the purpose is.
Please note that figures on thwarted criminal activities at Chichiri Shopping Centre have been obtained from Southern Region Police headquarters.
Whoever you want: plain-clothed police officers, intelligence officers, military personnel, ruling party sympathisers, Malawi Revenue Authority agents, and what have you.
Malawi's shopping complex at Chichiri in Blantyre is safer than the country's airports and, perhaps, state residences.
Try it. Drive a vehicle [heavy goods vehicles are not allowed entry, by the way] with a foreign number plate into the open parking yard and, soon, you will be swarmed by officers and agents from Malawi's tax collecting body resking for this or that document. I have seen unsuspecting drivers being forced into vehicles with tinted glasses where, some of those who have been approached claim, they are made to pay something.
If the truth be told, Tips Anonymous initiatives, run by auditing who make a financial killing, have become the in-thing in Malawi. In fact, we have seen some of the biggest customers for the auditing firms, most notably parastatals such the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, Blantyre Water Board, Lilongwe Water Board, pay out millions of Malawi Kwacha through Tips Anonymous.
Surprise! Surprise! One of the hunting grounds for those wishing to make quick bucks is the shopping complex at Chichiri Shopping Centre in Blantyre. Here is a hub, innocent as it appears, oiling the engine of tax collection, law enforcement, intelligence and counter-intelligence in Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre.
The unemployed, especially those who are clever, have found a way of making money at the expense of others.
So, it turns out, the Chichiri Shopping Centre [they prefer calling it a Complex] is probably one of the safest places in Malawi.
No wonder, it is not often, if ever, that you will hear of car robberies, car-jacking at the Complex. Criminal elements know how safe the place it, because, at any point in time, except from 9 pm to 08:00 am, the place is I filtrated by state agents of all kind, each of them doing their job unobserved. They watch over the 'world', for the world gathers at Chichiri Shopping Mall everyday. Maybe except on Sunday from 2 pm, as the place takes the shape of a museum during the school holidays, or a graveyard of a wife cleanser: deserted, isolated and forgotten.
Just that this condition does not last long.
Over the past three years, state agents have arrested 62 people, all of these suspected of doing one thing or another. Suspected car-jackers, unaware that the place is safer than Malawi's ramshackle airports, have been nabbed.
Those who have stolen vehicles elsewhere have been nabbed there.
But corruption is also commonplace. Those with fake foreign number plates get away with a slap after paying K20, 000. Those who are caught with vehicles that got into the country without following procedures are made to 'cough' K20, 000 and they take the vehicle back home, more free to do whatever they want to do with it than ever before.
No wonder, out-going British Ambassador to Malawi, Michael Nevin, said it loudly last week: "Corruption is getting worse in Malawi". By worse, he means the cases are on the arise.
They are.
But equally escalating are security measures being put in place. Go to Chichiri Shopping Centre.
So, the next time you go shopping and bump into some familiar, and often unfamiliar faces, do not be quick to smile: They are there for a purpose.
Often, only them know what the purpose is.
Please note that figures on thwarted criminal activities at Chichiri Shopping Centre have been obtained from Southern Region Police headquarters.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
As Justice Maxon Mbendera Turns Ancestor
It has been a hard, tearful 12 years to the point when Malawi, an orphan of virtue, has lost Justice Maxon Mbendera.
The Surpreme Court of Appeal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
The Surpreme Court of Appeal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
As Justice Maxon Mbendera Turns Ancestor
It has been a hard, tearful 12 years to the point when Malawi, an orphan of virtue, has lost Justice Maxon Mbendera.
The Surpreme Court of Appeal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
The Surpreme Court of Appeal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
As Justice Maxon Mbendera Turns Ancestor
It has been a hard, tearful 12 years to the point when Malawi, an orphan of virtue, has lost Justice Maxon Mbendera.
The Surpreme Court of Appleal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
The Surpreme Court of Appleal Justice becomes the third high-profile official to die suddenly while on duty.
And, coincidentally, the high-profile officials who have left Malawi in that sad-like manner belong to the three branches of the government: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary.
This trend, this sad trend, started during for president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika' first term in office.
When Bingu unceremoniously, but unsurprisingly, dished the United Democratic Front, his sponsoring political party, on February 5 2005, the former ruling UDF ganged up with the Malawi Congress Party to make his life politically difficult and unbearable.
And, there, rose Rodwell Munyenyembe, a man more national than regional, to bring sanity in the politically-poisoned atmosphere.
Munyenyembe, who went to Parliament as an opposition member of Parliament, put national interests before everything else and, for years, was Malawi's only sober member of Parliament.
One day, he bathed, had breakfast and was driven to the House of Chaos, Parliament, not knowing that that would be the last time he would be having breakfast at home. The last time he would be Malawian.
He ceased to be Malawian because death is a global moment.
He collapsed in the act of trying to bring peace between jostling parties in Parliament and never attempted to bring peace again. The shame and sadness that engulfed Parliamentary chambers became the reference point to what chaos to do.
A Speaker of Parliament had died in the Parliamentary chamber.
Malawian have never recovered from that loss. For Munyenyembe was a rare breed of politician. The shame of being Malawian is that people forget fast.
That time, there was talk to equip our health facilities well. At least so that they can help us resuscitate those who suffer from heart attacks.
Nobody cares.
And Munyenyembe went. Sadly.
And was quickly forgotten. By those who quickened his death and those who did not.
The Judiciary had lost a dedicated officer. Malawi was one wise man down.
Up next would be Bingu wa Mutharika.
That fateful April 5 2012, Bingu the hard worker set out to work.
His day was well mapped out by those responsible for drawing up the president's daily routine. And death was not on that map. And death was not part of that routine that day.
But came it did, death. And took Bingu with it.
Bingu had been busy talking to one of his members of the Cabinet.
And, then, he collapsed. Or so we were told. And we are still told.
His heart had failed and it could not be resuscitated there and then because the equipment was far aware.
When they took Bingu to the hospital, he was no longer the president. Have was a corpse.
Talk bordering on the necessity of buying the necessary equipment resurfaced.
Malawi had lost the head of state and government.
Today, under similar circumstances, Malawi lost Justice Mbendera on Thursday.
In the course of duty, as he prepared to go home that evening, he just collapsed and his home is the grave.
It is sad. The Judiciary has lost its own.
Malawi has lost a silent giant.
It can be said that, between May 30 and June 1, 2014-- when Malawian went to the polls, and the results because a ball tossed left and right in court-- Justice Maxon Mbendera, as Electoral Commission chairperson, and Justice Kenya that Nyirenda were about the only men who were sober in Malawi.
The rest were intoxicated with feelings of either loss or victory.
It was either this type of extreme anger or happiness.
Today, it is sadness that dominates.
Justice Maxon Mbendera, the former SCOM chairperson at Chancellor College, calm and ensuring a man, waits for us on the other side of veil.
Reminding us that we need to take this talk about heart resuscitation machines seriously.
As he lies peacefully, but dead anyway.
A man who died before the nation could have enough of him. A man who measured his words against his values before speaking them out to be measured but other men, and women.
Justice Maxon Mbendera is our ancestor now.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Telecommunications' sector cheating Malawians on 'Spy machine'
For sometime, Malawians have been hoodwinked into believing that the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) is up to something bad.
And the victim of the Macra's act, we have been made to believe, is the individual citizen.
That individual citizens have come to believe this version is testimony of how powerful telecommunications companies are in Malawi.
Nobody knows where the issue of Macra planning to spy on Malawians using the 'spy machines', as opponents call Macra's revenue analysis machine, came from, but it must be from some public relations people.
The truth, though, is that Malawi needs the so-called spy machine because, as things stand, nobody, not even Macra, knows how much telecommunications companies generate a year.
Malawi relies onion formation from these companies, actually, and that is a bad way of operating because you cannot ask a cow you are about to milk whether it is ready for milking.
It will surely tell you it has malaria!
But, then, the fact that Malawians quickly believed the telecommunications sector players means they -- Malawians-- do not trust Macra.
It is up to Macra to work on this!
Otherwise, the revenue arising out of taxes milked out of telecommunications companies may go a long way in lifting Malawi out of the pit of poverty.
At least if the money is used for the intended purpose!
And the victim of the Macra's act, we have been made to believe, is the individual citizen.
That individual citizens have come to believe this version is testimony of how powerful telecommunications companies are in Malawi.
Nobody knows where the issue of Macra planning to spy on Malawians using the 'spy machines', as opponents call Macra's revenue analysis machine, came from, but it must be from some public relations people.
The truth, though, is that Malawi needs the so-called spy machine because, as things stand, nobody, not even Macra, knows how much telecommunications companies generate a year.
Malawi relies onion formation from these companies, actually, and that is a bad way of operating because you cannot ask a cow you are about to milk whether it is ready for milking.
It will surely tell you it has malaria!
But, then, the fact that Malawians quickly believed the telecommunications sector players means they -- Malawians-- do not trust Macra.
It is up to Macra to work on this!
Otherwise, the revenue arising out of taxes milked out of telecommunications companies may go a long way in lifting Malawi out of the pit of poverty.
At least if the money is used for the intended purpose!
Monday, August 15, 2016
Has The President Lost His Influence?
President Peter Mutharika must be a man who does not follow up on his own words.
What happened to the meaning of "immediate" or, by extension, 'effectively'?
The President, the other day other than this day [and that must be two weeks ago], ordered that Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, be opened "immediately". This was after representatives of the students, met with Mutharika as one way of ironing out differences arising out of the University Council's decision to hike fees by over 100 percent for generic students, and 200 percent for mature entry students, depending on college.
Days down the line, the generic students are not back on campus at Chancellor College. So, instead of being on campus effective the presidential order, they are effectively sliding down the academic calendar.
Time without number, it has been opined that the University of Malawi is one of the most unpredictable universities in Africa.
Come to think of it. Two years after Malawi attained democracy in 1994, University of Malawi lecturers went on strike. They wanted a pay hike.
That disagreement stretched for months, leaving students academically stranded.
From then, it has been one disruption after another, until things went haywire under former president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika's administration. The year was 2011.
One innocent lecturer gave the example of the Arab Uprising as an example of people power and all hell broke loose because one Malawi Police Officer student in that class informed his boss, then Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito.
As they say, the rest is history. University of Malawi constituent colleges went eleven months without students, lecturers doing what they know best; and without hope!
The incumbent president was Minister of Education then. Instead of attending to the issues at hand, he flew to the United States of America for holidaying, hoping that the problems would sort themselves out.
This time, he has given an order for Chancellor College to be opened. Students at the College of Medicine are on holiday. And, so, are those from The Polytechnic.
But Chancellor College students are supposed to be on campus.
And are not.
'Immediacy' delayed and nobody understands why.
Back to Square One, perhaps.
What happened to the meaning of "immediate" or, by extension, 'effectively'?
The President, the other day other than this day [and that must be two weeks ago], ordered that Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, be opened "immediately". This was after representatives of the students, met with Mutharika as one way of ironing out differences arising out of the University Council's decision to hike fees by over 100 percent for generic students, and 200 percent for mature entry students, depending on college.
Days down the line, the generic students are not back on campus at Chancellor College. So, instead of being on campus effective the presidential order, they are effectively sliding down the academic calendar.
Time without number, it has been opined that the University of Malawi is one of the most unpredictable universities in Africa.
Come to think of it. Two years after Malawi attained democracy in 1994, University of Malawi lecturers went on strike. They wanted a pay hike.
That disagreement stretched for months, leaving students academically stranded.
From then, it has been one disruption after another, until things went haywire under former president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika's administration. The year was 2011.
One innocent lecturer gave the example of the Arab Uprising as an example of people power and all hell broke loose because one Malawi Police Officer student in that class informed his boss, then Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito.
As they say, the rest is history. University of Malawi constituent colleges went eleven months without students, lecturers doing what they know best; and without hope!
The incumbent president was Minister of Education then. Instead of attending to the issues at hand, he flew to the United States of America for holidaying, hoping that the problems would sort themselves out.
This time, he has given an order for Chancellor College to be opened. Students at the College of Medicine are on holiday. And, so, are those from The Polytechnic.
But Chancellor College students are supposed to be on campus.
And are not.
'Immediacy' delayed and nobody understands why.
Back to Square One, perhaps.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Wait and Wait: Justice the Malawi Way
There is something disturbing about the court system in Malawi. This is delays to come to the logical end of court cases.
And the cost, emotional and otherwise, is high on those subjected to this unfair treatment.
Come to think of it, Mark Peterson Kapwepwe, from Namanolo in Liwonde, Machinga District, has been in and out of the courtroom in Ntcheu for the past 27 years. His crime?
Causing malicious damage to property belonging to a neighbour.
And here is what happened.
On February 3, 1989, Kapwepwe, now 54, discovered that his first-born daughter was pregnant.The daughter [name withheld] was 18 years old when this incident happened.
Kapwepwe, who learned about the pregnancy-incident from his wife, referred the issue to village elders. The elders advised him to ask the daughter about the identity of the man who did the 'damage'.
Well, it turned out that it was Kapwepwe's neighbour.
However, the neighbour was not home. In fact, he had left Malawi to work in the mines in South Africa four weeks before Kapwepwe discovered that his daughter was pregnant. The man, said to be in his 30s at the time, had no wife and children. So, he travelled to the village, negotiated with his relatives on the need to allow him take one of the relatives in the village to watch over the house while he was away.
That is how a relative came to live in the house while the man was in South Africa.
Kapwepwe was infuriated when he learned that the man's return date was unknown.
Thus, infuriated, he broke into the house of the man responsible for Kapwepwe's pregnancy and smashed everything he could lay his hands on. The relative was there, overpowered and helpless.
It is the relative who reported to police and was nabbed. He started going to court in his district, before his wife died a year later. He found another wife from Ntcheu, and relocated to Ntcheu.
It's now clear what happened, but the case was transferred to Ntcheu. Two months later, he was back in court. Then, according to him, the files went missing.
He was ordered to be reporting to Ntcheu Police every fortnight until last year when he was told by one of the officers at Ntcheu Police that he should consider the case dropped. This, according to Kapwepwe, is because the man related to the man who impregnated Kapwepwe's daughter died in January last year.
Kapwepwe is having none of it.
"I want justice to be done. As far as I am concerned, I am still on trial. I want documented evidence showing that the case has been discontinued and I will sue the state," he said yesterday.
Zachimalawi would like to say: work on the system. Make it quick, I mean, justice. And less painful, if need be.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Malawi Government Shaming Itself on Hapless Eric Aniva
The Government of Malawi has been behaving like an African elephant that falls on a hapless grasshopper.
Look, the way it has treated Nsanje man Eric Aniva is, to say the least, heartless.
Even the Nsanje Magistrate Court should be ashamed of itself. How could it deny Aniva his right to bail? People have committed serious offences in this country and received court bail.
Why should Innocent Aniva be incarcerated for days on end, as if he went about raping and defiling women? The truth is that the man was paid to do whatever he did.
President Peter Mutharika acted out of emotions when he ordered that Aniva be arrested. He is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, yes; but he should not abuse his powers.
Just imagine, what would stop him from ordering the arrest of political opponents? The truth is that the President has set a very bad precedent and Malawians should not condone that.
I am, therefore, glad that, sensing danger, and that some people want to gain political mileage out of the hapless Aniva, the Malawi Law Society has come forward to represent him.
Yes, Malawi Law Society President, John Suzi Banda, has confirmed on Friday that the society has stepped in because, like any other citizen, Aniva has a right to a fair trail. Bravo the Malawi Law Society.
To say the truth, the Malawi Law Society has come in to challenge Mutharika's decision to order the arrest of innocent people, or those deemed to have 'wronged' the law.
The President may one day order the arrest of people who have done nothing wrong, save for differing with him on some issues, and we will have no moral justification to condemn the president.
Come to think of it, Aniva is HIV+. And, come to think of it, he is being peddled like a chicken for sale. And that is bad.
Who infected Aniva? It's definitely the women because, when you are a hyena, you do it without putting the rubber on.
And Hyena practice involves adults.
Is Aniva taking his ARVs now? The prison conditions in Malawi are horrible and it is a shame that the United Nations commended the continued incarceration of Aniva of these flimsy grounds.
Shame to human rights!
Look, the way it has treated Nsanje man Eric Aniva is, to say the least, heartless.
Even the Nsanje Magistrate Court should be ashamed of itself. How could it deny Aniva his right to bail? People have committed serious offences in this country and received court bail.
Why should Innocent Aniva be incarcerated for days on end, as if he went about raping and defiling women? The truth is that the man was paid to do whatever he did.
President Peter Mutharika acted out of emotions when he ordered that Aniva be arrested. He is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, yes; but he should not abuse his powers.
Just imagine, what would stop him from ordering the arrest of political opponents? The truth is that the President has set a very bad precedent and Malawians should not condone that.
I am, therefore, glad that, sensing danger, and that some people want to gain political mileage out of the hapless Aniva, the Malawi Law Society has come forward to represent him.
Yes, Malawi Law Society President, John Suzi Banda, has confirmed on Friday that the society has stepped in because, like any other citizen, Aniva has a right to a fair trail. Bravo the Malawi Law Society.
To say the truth, the Malawi Law Society has come in to challenge Mutharika's decision to order the arrest of innocent people, or those deemed to have 'wronged' the law.
The President may one day order the arrest of people who have done nothing wrong, save for differing with him on some issues, and we will have no moral justification to condemn the president.
Come to think of it, Aniva is HIV+. And, come to think of it, he is being peddled like a chicken for sale. And that is bad.
Who infected Aniva? It's definitely the women because, when you are a hyena, you do it without putting the rubber on.
And Hyena practice involves adults.
Is Aniva taking his ARVs now? The prison conditions in Malawi are horrible and it is a shame that the United Nations commended the continued incarceration of Aniva of these flimsy grounds.
Shame to human rights!
BRAVO, MR PRESIDENT!
For immediate release
August 5, 2016
Ministry of Information, Communication
Technology and Civic Education
Private Bag 310
Capital City
Lilongwe 3
Malawi
Tel: +265111770311
Fax: +265111774568
BRAVO, MR PRESIDENT!
Government wishes to thank the State President His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika for being a listening leader and arriving at a compromise with the University of Malawi students over fees.
We are proud that Malawi has a true democrat under whose leadership citizens are free to express themselves, including through demonstrations.
Government also wishes to commend the members of the Malawi Police Service who were in action yesterday for demonstrating yet again that we have a professional police service that has undertaken to respect the right of the people to demonstrate.
This is the kind of police service that His Excellency the President would like to see.
We also wish to thank Malawians for showing organisers of the demonstrations that they missed the point. The numbers were miserable because Malawians understand that any concerns need to be resolved by dialogue, and not politicising everything by going to the streets.
Government is aware that the organisers of the miserable demonstrations wanted to use University fees as an excuse to pursue a desperate agenda of mobilising a national political revolt. This has not worked. The movement has collapsed because Malawians are reasonable.
Listening to the sentiments of the organisers, their issues are scattered and they do not make sense. These are political machinations that wanted to chance a ride on the back of innocent University students. They have failed. Thank you the people of Malawi for rejecting blackmail.
As Government, we would like to ask any Malawian with concerns to present a credible agenda and we will attend to it.
PATRICIA A. KALIATI MP
GOVERNMENT SPOKERPERSON &
MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC EDUCATION
|
August 5, 2016
Ministry of Information, Communication
Technology and Civic Education
Private Bag 310
Capital City
Lilongwe 3
Malawi
Tel: +265111770311
Fax: +265111774568
BRAVO, MR PRESIDENT!
Government wishes to thank the State President His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika for being a listening leader and arriving at a compromise with the University of Malawi students over fees.
We are proud that Malawi has a true democrat under whose leadership citizens are free to express themselves, including through demonstrations.
Government also wishes to commend the members of the Malawi Police Service who were in action yesterday for demonstrating yet again that we have a professional police service that has undertaken to respect the right of the people to demonstrate.
This is the kind of police service that His Excellency the President would like to see.
We also wish to thank Malawians for showing organisers of the demonstrations that they missed the point. The numbers were miserable because Malawians understand that any concerns need to be resolved by dialogue, and not politicising everything by going to the streets.
Government is aware that the organisers of the miserable demonstrations wanted to use University fees as an excuse to pursue a desperate agenda of mobilising a national political revolt. This has not worked. The movement has collapsed because Malawians are reasonable.
Listening to the sentiments of the organisers, their issues are scattered and they do not make sense. These are political machinations that wanted to chance a ride on the back of innocent University students. They have failed. Thank you the people of Malawi for rejecting blackmail.
As Government, we would like to ask any Malawian with concerns to present a credible agenda and we will attend to it.
PATRICIA A. KALIATI MP
GOVERNMENT SPOKERPERSON &
MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC EDUCATION
|
Friday, July 29, 2016
Malawi's Football Teams' Last Minute Sickness
So, the Malawi Under 17-Football National Team is out of the Cosafa Under-17 Tournament being held in Mauritius?
Yes. That the simple, seemingly less painful way of putting it.
In all fairness, the junior team did the country proud. They had less than two weeks of preparations. They played no friendly game. They left the country without getting their allowances.
And, for all these pains, they only lost to the over-aged Zambia by a margin of three goals, before humbling Kenya 5-0.
They had to face South Africa in the semi-finals but, then, the cheating Zambians were caught napping [by technology, of course] at their own game.
So, Malawi had to meet Namibia on Friday. And meet they did. And lost. I mean, Malawi.
They lost on post-match penalties six to five.
It is normal to lose through penalties, but it is the manner of Malawi Under-17's loss that has rekindled painful memories of the past. Memories associated with Malawian teams.
You see, Malawian teams lose their nerves during the final stages of a match. Sports psychologists will tell you that the most dangerous point in a match is after you have scored a goal. You are happy. On top of the world. And bound to lose track of the boundary-of-caution.
And the other team may score. Against jubilation.
But Malawi lost with two minutes to spare.
It was like, the shore was there for the taking and the boat sunk!
Peter Banda had put Malawi in front, and on course to meet South Africa in the final, when he scored in the 51st minute.
And Malawi held on, only for Namibia's Eldery Morgan to develop other ideas and punish Malawi two minutes to time.
Malawi can savage some pride, of course, and become third-place winners should they decide to come back with a load of sweet sensibilities.
But, then, Malawi are back to where they belong.
I think Malawi needs the services of psychologists. Malawi loses out on the psychological part of the game and this loosing streak must come to an end.
Yes. That the simple, seemingly less painful way of putting it.
In all fairness, the junior team did the country proud. They had less than two weeks of preparations. They played no friendly game. They left the country without getting their allowances.
And, for all these pains, they only lost to the over-aged Zambia by a margin of three goals, before humbling Kenya 5-0.
They had to face South Africa in the semi-finals but, then, the cheating Zambians were caught napping [by technology, of course] at their own game.
So, Malawi had to meet Namibia on Friday. And meet they did. And lost. I mean, Malawi.
They lost on post-match penalties six to five.
It is normal to lose through penalties, but it is the manner of Malawi Under-17's loss that has rekindled painful memories of the past. Memories associated with Malawian teams.
You see, Malawian teams lose their nerves during the final stages of a match. Sports psychologists will tell you that the most dangerous point in a match is after you have scored a goal. You are happy. On top of the world. And bound to lose track of the boundary-of-caution.
And the other team may score. Against jubilation.
But Malawi lost with two minutes to spare.
It was like, the shore was there for the taking and the boat sunk!
Peter Banda had put Malawi in front, and on course to meet South Africa in the final, when he scored in the 51st minute.
And Malawi held on, only for Namibia's Eldery Morgan to develop other ideas and punish Malawi two minutes to time.
Malawi can savage some pride, of course, and become third-place winners should they decide to come back with a load of sweet sensibilities.
But, then, Malawi are back to where they belong.
I think Malawi needs the services of psychologists. Malawi loses out on the psychological part of the game and this loosing streak must come to an end.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Promoting Poetry as a Communal Feeling
Poetry comes in many forms and tongues, but one thing brings lovers of the genre’s diverse audiences together, namely the communion of feeling. However, RICHARD CHIROMBO was the witness to an embarrassing episode when some, apparently impatient, less accommodating audience members at the land of Poets Festival shouted a well-meaning foreign poet down, only to eat their own words because poetry is one genre that should not be diluted in the liquid of translation
The man in front of the stage, Germany-born poet Richard Schuster, stood still, tactfully escaping the violence unleashed by slashing tongues by staring, long and hard, at the white piece of paper tightly held in his stable hands.
Never, during those four embarrassing minutes when some isolated audience members shouted poetry down, did he look at the crowd. The piece of paper passionately held in both hands was, surely, more patient than the unreasonable— in the context of poetry—audience members who preferred the familiar to the unfamiliar.
SCHUSTER: Here [in Malawi], people are loud
On that point, Schuster scored two obvious points: One, that he is a hardened poet, and; two, that he is a written-word poet.
Of course, it was rather apparent that some members in the audience felt that the four-minute poetry piece he recited in German did not fill an urgent need— namely, the isolated audience members’ call to partake in vernacular language poetry, or for him to quickly leave the stage.
Now, if ignorance about the nature of poetry creates discord that is uncomfortable in the best of circumstances, it was catastrophic in this moment of audience madness.
One could have hoped that the alien aspect of shouting a visiting poet down would be tempered with a little bit of the warm-heartedness that Malawians are known for. Not this Sunday afternoon, though, as— instead of at least enduring the lashes of a foreign language— they, with their slashing tongues, howled at the top of their voices.
They were outright rude;that ‘thick’, dark temperament that clings to the ceiling of good-will and gives humanity a bad name.
But, somehow, a moment of sanity from the poet on stage— Schuster—rescued the situation and spared ‘genuine’ poetry lovers the embarrassment of seeing their beloved genre being spoiled by the unappreciative element of impatience.
It was a moment— somewhere between 03: 45 pm and 3: 50 pm—very rich in irony because,while some audience members, clearly unaware that language is only one of the vehicles poetry uses to create a sense of understanding, wanted him to shrink to half his size, the pint-sized Schuster was not one to back down easily.
Instead, that moment of madness seemed to make him get more focused than before; even louder than ever. And the piercing shrieks, though they continued to rain down, came to naught.
Package of ironies
Ironically, this was supposed to be a moment of celebrating diversity through poetry; a moment, also ironically, of honouring one of the greatest vernacular poets in the country— Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga.
Ironically, Malunga did not comment on the incident, which unfolded in front of him as he waited to receive his award, but was surely shaken to the core; taken unawares by the callousness of some audience members who demanded that the German’s poet’s pieces be translated into Chichewa or English.
Ironically, too, it was the man who presented a token of K60, 000 to Malunga, namely Malinda Chinyama, who started it all, when, while seated in the second line of concrete seats, right behind me, stood up and, while pointing at the poet and gesturing that he could not understand any German word, shouted:
“We cannot get anything. Someone should be translating. No! No! No! Why recite poetry in German when you know that no one will get what you are saying? This is what is killing poetry in this country!”
Ironically, I threw off the ‘costume’ of journalism and was the first to tell Chinyama to “please get the feeling” he poet wants you to get.
Ironically, Chinyama retorted back, as well-travelled poet Babangoni watched: [Pointing at me] “It is people like you who are responsible for the downfall of poetry in this country. You see nothing wrong when foreign poets come here and selfishly recite in their mother tongue. You accept it when people come from a far and recite poetry in German and other languages— languages you cannot understand. It is the docility you show that encourages these people to recite in foreign languages, yet they know that we will not understand any of the words they pronounce. No. We cannot accept this. That man needs a translator or he should recite in a language we understand. Period!”
Ironically, Babangoni— himself a well-travelled poet who has been to Germany— came to placate Chinyama. Babangoni found himself in an ironic situation where he could not reason with a man who, in his reasonableness, had decided to present a token of appreciation to Malunga, for service to humanity through, mostly, vernacularlines and stanzas that Schuster cannot understand.
Ironically, Schuster had politely reasoned with the audience— in the manner of a prophet who has a sense of what may come, and the patience to see what was foreseen actually unfold before his eyes— that he would recite in German, and that “I hope you will get the feeling”.
Ironically, the issue of interpreting poems recited in foreign language resurrected when Land of Poets Festival organising committee chairperson, Hoffman Aipira, invited Malunga and, by extension the presenter of the K60, 000 monetary token Chinyama, to the stage.
Ironically, the issue resurfaced when Aipira emphasised the need to honour the country’s greats while they are alive. But, against hopes that the issue of interpreting poems recited in foreign language had died down the moment Schuster left the stage, from nowhere Chinyama was at it again— this time, in front of the audience.
Ironically, Malunga was standing close by, waiting to receive his ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ when Chinyama-the-well-wisher said: “Allow me to say just a word. I was arguing with a certain journalist there that what that poet did, by reciting in a language we do not understand, is not acceptable. We should not condone that sort of behaviour.
“It does not make sense for someone to recite a poem in a foreign language. I did not get anything when he [Schuster] was reciting. We need to have interpreters. It does not make sense that someone can recite in a language nobody understands. You must think of introducing interpreters,” said Chinyama.
CHINYAMA: Foreign poets should have interpreters
Ironically, like Schuster’s German poem, Chinyama overemphasized his point for some time, taking up a minute or so.
Ironically, other audience members were apparently fed up with what he was saying.
Ironically, like he did when Schuster was reciting his poem in the German language, members of the audience shouted him down.
Ironically, unlike the German poet who did not back down but continued reciting, Chinyama bowed down to the audience’s pressure and went straight to the business of the day: presenting a token of K60, 000 to Malunga.
Ironically, Malunga, who spoke immediately after accepting the award, did not touch the touchy issue of hiring the services of interpreters during poetry performances. He did not want to dignify trivia with his authoritative voice.
Ironically, it is Schuster who was frank enough to discuss the issue in an interview later.
Poetry as a feeling
Schuster said his quick take on the audience is that the Malawian audience is different from the German audience he is accustomed to.
“What I make of this foreign audience is that, here [in Malawi], people are very loud. It provides good feedback, though. So, I value the feedback I got so much. It’s like, when you perform before a foreign audience, sometimes you do not know what to expect,” said Schuster.
However, Schuster disagreed with those who are advancing the idea that interpreters should be engaged whenever a poet is reciting in their mother tongue— which happens to be someone else’s foreign language, by the way.
He regards poetry as a human need— like food, like water, like shelter, like clothes, like love, or something like these.
“Humans need poetry. Poetry is a feeling [and not a foreign language]; from the inner to the people,” observed Schuster, who is in the country for 10 days.
Schuster might be speaking from experience. He once tried his hand at music, and was, for close to five years, a member of the German band, Eli Eight.
He quit to concentratehis energies on generating the feeling called poetry.
Understanding poetry
While Schuster played down the incident with some members of the audience at the Land of Poets Festival, it was clear that this was on the surface.
Deep down, it was clear, he was still reluctant to play very deeply within the dream-space of a demand that was so strange it was outrageous. In fact, it’s a culture that does not befit poetry.
When he said “poetry is a feeling”, he did not mean it to be a reprimand but an indulgent complaint. The very cultural exchange purpose that propelled him to come to Malawi was being put to the test.
More so because words from a poet’s mouth are primarily an affair of the heart other than the ear; so that, in cases where a foreign poet has travelled all the way to be with you, inflection of voice, facial expression, gesture, among others, become the folk of delivering the hard part of the poem to the mouth-of-the-heart.
ONE OF MALAWI'S GREATEST POETS: Malunga
No wonder, poet Babangoni, in his traditional coffee-coloured attire, looked on as the events unfolded— without showing any sense of amused benevolence. But the dispassionate audience can be excused for being puzzled by the paradoxical meaning of poetry, as a universal feeling, when an incomprehensible language is used to convey that feeling.
Next time, though, it would be rewarding to focus on the beauty of poetry other than the validity of the language used.
More so when chairperson of the Land of Poets organising committee, Hoffman Aipira, hinted that a number of foreign poets could grace the stage next year.
“This year’s event was better organised and more successful than last year’s, which we held on Independence Day. But, in terms of foreign poets, we did not have. We hope to have a number of them next year,” said Aipira.
While Sunday’s events are gone and buried under the rubble of history, it cannot be forgotten that self-righteousness, that Sunday afternoon, conquered not just the judgements but souls of those who shouted Schuster down, turning them into willing accomplices to selfishness in a globalized world.
They shouted him down under the influence of that compulsive and ruthless animal called fury. Although the despicable behaviour might have delivered a mild culture shock, it did not shake Schuster’s faith to the foundations. Thanks poetry, Schuster did not stop.
The benefits of poetry, it can be said, are abstract, and the whole landscape does not suddenly change because a poet has spoken, or rather recited, in a local language.
It was obvious that, if he had powers of his own, Schusterwould have been willing to work some special magic on his tongue so that he could turn his German into Chichewa.
But, then, Land of poets— which was a heroically crammed one-day schedule— was just a Malawian affair in name; the style of delivery was exclusively universal in that it was feeling-based.
The man in front of the stage, Germany-born poet Richard Schuster, stood still, tactfully escaping the violence unleashed by slashing tongues by staring, long and hard, at the white piece of paper tightly held in his stable hands.
Never, during those four embarrassing minutes when some isolated audience members shouted poetry down, did he look at the crowd. The piece of paper passionately held in both hands was, surely, more patient than the unreasonable— in the context of poetry—audience members who preferred the familiar to the unfamiliar.
On that point, Schuster scored two obvious points: One, that he is a hardened poet, and; two, that he is a written-word poet.
Of course, it was rather apparent that some members in the audience felt that the four-minute poetry piece he recited in German did not fill an urgent need— namely, the isolated audience members’ call to partake in vernacular language poetry, or for him to quickly leave the stage.
Now, if ignorance about the nature of poetry creates discord that is uncomfortable in the best of circumstances, it was catastrophic in this moment of audience madness.
One could have hoped that the alien aspect of shouting a visiting poet down would be tempered with a little bit of the warm-heartedness that Malawians are known for. Not this Sunday afternoon, though, as— instead of at least enduring the lashes of a foreign language— they, with their slashing tongues, howled at the top of their voices.
They were outright rude;that ‘thick’, dark temperament that clings to the ceiling of good-will and gives humanity a bad name.
But, somehow, a moment of sanity from the poet on stage— Schuster—rescued the situation and spared ‘genuine’ poetry lovers the embarrassment of seeing their beloved genre being spoiled by the unappreciative element of impatience.
It was a moment— somewhere between 03: 45 pm and 3: 50 pm—very rich in irony because,while some audience members, clearly unaware that language is only one of the vehicles poetry uses to create a sense of understanding, wanted him to shrink to half his size, the pint-sized Schuster was not one to back down easily.
Instead, that moment of madness seemed to make him get more focused than before; even louder than ever. And the piercing shrieks, though they continued to rain down, came to naught.
Package of ironies
Ironically, this was supposed to be a moment of celebrating diversity through poetry; a moment, also ironically, of honouring one of the greatest vernacular poets in the country— Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga.
Ironically, Malunga did not comment on the incident, which unfolded in front of him as he waited to receive his award, but was surely shaken to the core; taken unawares by the callousness of some audience members who demanded that the German’s poet’s pieces be translated into Chichewa or English.
Ironically, too, it was the man who presented a token of K60, 000 to Malunga, namely Malinda Chinyama, who started it all, when, while seated in the second line of concrete seats, right behind me, stood up and, while pointing at the poet and gesturing that he could not understand any German word, shouted:
“We cannot get anything. Someone should be translating. No! No! No! Why recite poetry in German when you know that no one will get what you are saying? This is what is killing poetry in this country!”
Ironically, I threw off the ‘costume’ of journalism and was the first to tell Chinyama to “please get the feeling” he poet wants you to get.
Ironically, Chinyama retorted back, as well-travelled poet Babangoni watched: [Pointing at me] “It is people like you who are responsible for the downfall of poetry in this country. You see nothing wrong when foreign poets come here and selfishly recite in their mother tongue. You accept it when people come from a far and recite poetry in German and other languages— languages you cannot understand. It is the docility you show that encourages these people to recite in foreign languages, yet they know that we will not understand any of the words they pronounce. No. We cannot accept this. That man needs a translator or he should recite in a language we understand. Period!”
Ironically, Babangoni— himself a well-travelled poet who has been to Germany— came to placate Chinyama. Babangoni found himself in an ironic situation where he could not reason with a man who, in his reasonableness, had decided to present a token of appreciation to Malunga, for service to humanity through, mostly, vernacularlines and stanzas that Schuster cannot understand.
Ironically, Schuster had politely reasoned with the audience— in the manner of a prophet who has a sense of what may come, and the patience to see what was foreseen actually unfold before his eyes— that he would recite in German, and that “I hope you will get the feeling”.
Ironically, the issue of interpreting poems recited in foreign language resurrected when Land of Poets Festival organising committee chairperson, Hoffman Aipira, invited Malunga and, by extension the presenter of the K60, 000 monetary token Chinyama, to the stage.
Ironically, the issue resurfaced when Aipira emphasised the need to honour the country’s greats while they are alive. But, against hopes that the issue of interpreting poems recited in foreign language had died down the moment Schuster left the stage, from nowhere Chinyama was at it again— this time, in front of the audience.
Ironically, Malunga was standing close by, waiting to receive his ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ when Chinyama-the-well-wisher said: “Allow me to say just a word. I was arguing with a certain journalist there that what that poet did, by reciting in a language we do not understand, is not acceptable. We should not condone that sort of behaviour.
“It does not make sense for someone to recite a poem in a foreign language. I did not get anything when he [Schuster] was reciting. We need to have interpreters. It does not make sense that someone can recite in a language nobody understands. You must think of introducing interpreters,” said Chinyama.
Ironically, like Schuster’s German poem, Chinyama overemphasized his point for some time, taking up a minute or so.
Ironically, other audience members were apparently fed up with what he was saying.
Ironically, like he did when Schuster was reciting his poem in the German language, members of the audience shouted him down.
Ironically, unlike the German poet who did not back down but continued reciting, Chinyama bowed down to the audience’s pressure and went straight to the business of the day: presenting a token of K60, 000 to Malunga.
Ironically, Malunga, who spoke immediately after accepting the award, did not touch the touchy issue of hiring the services of interpreters during poetry performances. He did not want to dignify trivia with his authoritative voice.
Ironically, it is Schuster who was frank enough to discuss the issue in an interview later.
Poetry as a feeling
Schuster said his quick take on the audience is that the Malawian audience is different from the German audience he is accustomed to.
“What I make of this foreign audience is that, here [in Malawi], people are very loud. It provides good feedback, though. So, I value the feedback I got so much. It’s like, when you perform before a foreign audience, sometimes you do not know what to expect,” said Schuster.
However, Schuster disagreed with those who are advancing the idea that interpreters should be engaged whenever a poet is reciting in their mother tongue— which happens to be someone else’s foreign language, by the way.
He regards poetry as a human need— like food, like water, like shelter, like clothes, like love, or something like these.
“Humans need poetry. Poetry is a feeling [and not a foreign language]; from the inner to the people,” observed Schuster, who is in the country for 10 days.
Schuster might be speaking from experience. He once tried his hand at music, and was, for close to five years, a member of the German band, Eli Eight.
He quit to concentratehis energies on generating the feeling called poetry.
Understanding poetry
While Schuster played down the incident with some members of the audience at the Land of Poets Festival, it was clear that this was on the surface.
Deep down, it was clear, he was still reluctant to play very deeply within the dream-space of a demand that was so strange it was outrageous. In fact, it’s a culture that does not befit poetry.
When he said “poetry is a feeling”, he did not mean it to be a reprimand but an indulgent complaint. The very cultural exchange purpose that propelled him to come to Malawi was being put to the test.
More so because words from a poet’s mouth are primarily an affair of the heart other than the ear; so that, in cases where a foreign poet has travelled all the way to be with you, inflection of voice, facial expression, gesture, among others, become the folk of delivering the hard part of the poem to the mouth-of-the-heart.
No wonder, poet Babangoni, in his traditional coffee-coloured attire, looked on as the events unfolded— without showing any sense of amused benevolence. But the dispassionate audience can be excused for being puzzled by the paradoxical meaning of poetry, as a universal feeling, when an incomprehensible language is used to convey that feeling.
Next time, though, it would be rewarding to focus on the beauty of poetry other than the validity of the language used.
More so when chairperson of the Land of Poets organising committee, Hoffman Aipira, hinted that a number of foreign poets could grace the stage next year.
“This year’s event was better organised and more successful than last year’s, which we held on Independence Day. But, in terms of foreign poets, we did not have. We hope to have a number of them next year,” said Aipira.
While Sunday’s events are gone and buried under the rubble of history, it cannot be forgotten that self-righteousness, that Sunday afternoon, conquered not just the judgements but souls of those who shouted Schuster down, turning them into willing accomplices to selfishness in a globalized world.
They shouted him down under the influence of that compulsive and ruthless animal called fury. Although the despicable behaviour might have delivered a mild culture shock, it did not shake Schuster’s faith to the foundations. Thanks poetry, Schuster did not stop.
The benefits of poetry, it can be said, are abstract, and the whole landscape does not suddenly change because a poet has spoken, or rather recited, in a local language.
It was obvious that, if he had powers of his own, Schusterwould have been willing to work some special magic on his tongue so that he could turn his German into Chichewa.
But, then, Land of poets— which was a heroically crammed one-day schedule— was just a Malawian affair in name; the style of delivery was exclusively universal in that it was feeling-based.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Polytechnic Students Start Demonstrations
... Police start firing teargas canisters
Students from The Polytechnic, a Blantyre-based constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima), have started demonstrating against the recent fees hike effected by the University Council.
This means the students have joined the cause of their counterparts at Chancellor College in Zomba. Chancellor College has since been closed.
However, it seems that the police have been ready since morning. As early as 08:30 am, heavily-armed police were seen lining at Chichiri Shopping Mall in Malawi's commercial city.
Reports of imminent students' demonstrations had been making rounds all week.
The Polytechnic students did immediately join their Chancellor College counterparts because they were sitting examinations.
As things stand now, some students from The Polytechnic have left for home, but others-- those intent on making their position known on the issue of fees' hike-- have remained behind.
The Polytechnic is situated along the Masauko-Chipembere Highways, one of the busiest roads in Malawi.
Any demonstrations easily spill into the highway, as students often vent their anger on vehicles and passers-by.
The tear-gassing has started. What next?
Students from The Polytechnic, a Blantyre-based constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima), have started demonstrating against the recent fees hike effected by the University Council.
This means the students have joined the cause of their counterparts at Chancellor College in Zomba. Chancellor College has since been closed.
However, it seems that the police have been ready since morning. As early as 08:30 am, heavily-armed police were seen lining at Chichiri Shopping Mall in Malawi's commercial city.
Reports of imminent students' demonstrations had been making rounds all week.
The Polytechnic students did immediately join their Chancellor College counterparts because they were sitting examinations.
As things stand now, some students from The Polytechnic have left for home, but others-- those intent on making their position known on the issue of fees' hike-- have remained behind.
The Polytechnic is situated along the Masauko-Chipembere Highways, one of the busiest roads in Malawi.
Any demonstrations easily spill into the highway, as students often vent their anger on vehicles and passers-by.
The tear-gassing has started. What next?
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
'Chancellor College Closure not linked to Jill Biden near-stoning Incident'
Chancellor College students who went out to stone vehicles and people like Jill Biden might have hoped that, after performing their day’s labour, they would go back to the college base to rest for the night, recoup energy, and prepare for another battle on Wednesday.
It was not to be.
They have received news that the college, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, has been closed indefinitely.
So, it is back home they go; to face angry parents and a world with dates, but blind dates in their case because the suspension is indefinite.
Embarrassing: U.S. Second Lady, Jill Biden [not seen], takes refuge in Eastern Region Police headquarters on Tuesday
However, Education Minister Emmanuel Fabiano – who was in the company of Biden when she sought refuge at Eastern Region Police headquarters in Zomba— has moved quickly to deny that he has not influenced the college’s decision to close its doors to students.
“I have nothing to do with the closure. I do not interfere in such matters,” Fabiano, a former University of Malawi Vice Chancellor, told Zachimalawi on Tuesday.
This means, while students at other University of Malawi constituent colleges— namely Kamuzu College of Nursing, College of Medicine and The Polytechnic— will continue learning, sitting examinations, eating, and receiving book allowances.
Chancellor College students have become willing sacrificial lambs in the battle, nobody knows what! Maybe unobstructed access to information.
“I repeat, I played no role in the closure,” reiterated Fabiano.
It promises to be a long holiday.
In 2011, when President Peter Mutharika was serving as Education Minister under his brother Bingu’s second term, University of Malawi constituent colleges were closed for closed to a year over what became known as the ‘Academic Freedom’ wrangle.
Peter did nothing to intervene and the wrangle went unresolved for close to a year.
Today, Peter is the President.
So, just as U.S. Second Lady Jill Biden failed to visit a project site in Machinga today, Chancellor College students will fail to visit their own classrooms on Wednesday.
It was not to be.
They have received news that the college, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, has been closed indefinitely.
So, it is back home they go; to face angry parents and a world with dates, but blind dates in their case because the suspension is indefinite.
However, Education Minister Emmanuel Fabiano – who was in the company of Biden when she sought refuge at Eastern Region Police headquarters in Zomba— has moved quickly to deny that he has not influenced the college’s decision to close its doors to students.
“I have nothing to do with the closure. I do not interfere in such matters,” Fabiano, a former University of Malawi Vice Chancellor, told Zachimalawi on Tuesday.
This means, while students at other University of Malawi constituent colleges— namely Kamuzu College of Nursing, College of Medicine and The Polytechnic— will continue learning, sitting examinations, eating, and receiving book allowances.
Chancellor College students have become willing sacrificial lambs in the battle, nobody knows what! Maybe unobstructed access to information.
“I repeat, I played no role in the closure,” reiterated Fabiano.
It promises to be a long holiday.
In 2011, when President Peter Mutharika was serving as Education Minister under his brother Bingu’s second term, University of Malawi constituent colleges were closed for closed to a year over what became known as the ‘Academic Freedom’ wrangle.
Peter did nothing to intervene and the wrangle went unresolved for close to a year.
Today, Peter is the President.
So, just as U.S. Second Lady Jill Biden failed to visit a project site in Machinga today, Chancellor College students will fail to visit their own classrooms on Wednesday.
Jill Biden Resigns to Fate, Goes Back to Lilongwe
...fails to attend pre-organised functions
...guns 'bow' to mere stones
The ceiling of U.S. Second Lady, Jill Biden’s tank of hope dropped so low that she had to abandon a trip she must have prepared for months.
Jill, wife to U.S. vice-president, Joe Biden, is on a three-day visit to Malawi. Filled in the three-day package are trips to a number of project sites.
Aborted trip: Biden [inside the building but not shown] seeks refuge in Eastern Region Police headquarters
While everything went as planned in Machinjiri, Blantyre, where Biden announced that the U.S. would provide $20 million in relief aid [through the World Food Programme], all hell broke loose in Zomba, as Biden was being driven to Machinga District, to visit a United States Agency for International Development project.
Students from Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, blocked the road at Matawale in Zomba City, threatening to pelt stones and any vehicle that ‘defied’ the order.
On this day [Tuesday], Biden happened to be one of the people— of all people— travelling on this road. Her convoy had to, in a hurry, change direction and face where they were coming from [Blantyre].
But, then, even Blantyre did not seem safe. So, Biden and her security detail—as well as Minister of Education Emmanuel Fabiano—took refuge in Eastern Region Police Headquarters, a colonial facility that looks like a museum than modern police base.
But Biden hid there, and was lucky not to come across spider webs. Or, maybe, she was entangled in them [spider webs] but did not announce such an encounter.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT? Biden's security detail seems to say
Biden spent less than an hour at Eastern Police Headquarters and, when it was time to move on, she did not go where she had intended to go [Machinga]. Love for Dear Life, perhaps, forced her to drive back to Blantyre, Malawi’s Commercial City, and back, again, to Lilongwe, Malawi’s Capital City.
She is back in Lilongwe now. She has arrived safely.
One only hopes she will, as safely, come over the events of Tuesday.
Jill Biden’s day of success
Biden will sleep today knowing that she has, at least, done something commendable today.
On the day that students armed with stones forced her to return to Blantyre, and Lilongwe, she made an announcement that will change lives.
Read the statement below to know what this is all about:
During her ongoing three-day visit to Malawi, the Second Lady of the United States of America, Dr. Jill Biden, today announced the United States is donating $20 million (MK14 billion) in food assistance to support vulnerable, food insecure communities in Malawi. This brings the United States’ total contribution to the humanitarian response to $74.7 million (MK52 billion) since October 2015.
"The United States remains committed to supporting the region, including Malawi, during the difficult months ahead. I’m so pleased to announce today $20 million in assistance to Malawi through the UN World Food Program. The announcement today brings the total United States assistance to $74.7 million since the start of the food crisis in October,” said Dr. Biden while visiting a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported Food for Peace project in Traditional Authority Machinjiri.
U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer added, “We are working very closely with the government of Malawi and other development partners to ensure hunger does not roll back the important development gains made in Malawi, particularly for women and girls.”
Over 6.5 million people in Malawi are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the 2016 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC)—an increase from 2.8 million people during last year’s agricultural season. Southern Africa is experiencing a historic drought exacerbated by the strong impacts of the El Niño weather event. The government of Malawi released a disaster declaration in April 2016 due to extreme drought conditions exacerbated by El Niño.
The United States has mobilized an early and integrated response to El Niño's impacts, including assistance to meet immediate needs and adaptation of development and resilience efforts to address longer term vulnerabilities, mitigate impacts, and protect gains made. The international community must coordinate quickly and at scale now to meet immediate needs as well as taking steps with the government of Malawi to build resilience to recurring droughts and other climate risks.
Since 2012, the United States has provided over $151 million (MK105 billion) of food assistance to Malawi. In addition, through President Obama’s Feed The Future and Global Climate Change Initiatives, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting activities valued at approximately US$25 million annually to reduce food insecurity, poverty, and under-nutrition by increasing agricultural production and helping communities adapt to climate change.
...guns 'bow' to mere stones
The ceiling of U.S. Second Lady, Jill Biden’s tank of hope dropped so low that she had to abandon a trip she must have prepared for months.
Jill, wife to U.S. vice-president, Joe Biden, is on a three-day visit to Malawi. Filled in the three-day package are trips to a number of project sites.
While everything went as planned in Machinjiri, Blantyre, where Biden announced that the U.S. would provide $20 million in relief aid [through the World Food Programme], all hell broke loose in Zomba, as Biden was being driven to Machinga District, to visit a United States Agency for International Development project.
Students from Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, blocked the road at Matawale in Zomba City, threatening to pelt stones and any vehicle that ‘defied’ the order.
On this day [Tuesday], Biden happened to be one of the people— of all people— travelling on this road. Her convoy had to, in a hurry, change direction and face where they were coming from [Blantyre].
But, then, even Blantyre did not seem safe. So, Biden and her security detail—as well as Minister of Education Emmanuel Fabiano—took refuge in Eastern Region Police Headquarters, a colonial facility that looks like a museum than modern police base.
But Biden hid there, and was lucky not to come across spider webs. Or, maybe, she was entangled in them [spider webs] but did not announce such an encounter.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT? Biden's security detail seems to say
Biden spent less than an hour at Eastern Police Headquarters and, when it was time to move on, she did not go where she had intended to go [Machinga]. Love for Dear Life, perhaps, forced her to drive back to Blantyre, Malawi’s Commercial City, and back, again, to Lilongwe, Malawi’s Capital City.
She is back in Lilongwe now. She has arrived safely.
One only hopes she will, as safely, come over the events of Tuesday.
Jill Biden’s day of success
Biden will sleep today knowing that she has, at least, done something commendable today.
On the day that students armed with stones forced her to return to Blantyre, and Lilongwe, she made an announcement that will change lives.
Read the statement below to know what this is all about:
During her ongoing three-day visit to Malawi, the Second Lady of the United States of America, Dr. Jill Biden, today announced the United States is donating $20 million (MK14 billion) in food assistance to support vulnerable, food insecure communities in Malawi. This brings the United States’ total contribution to the humanitarian response to $74.7 million (MK52 billion) since October 2015.
"The United States remains committed to supporting the region, including Malawi, during the difficult months ahead. I’m so pleased to announce today $20 million in assistance to Malawi through the UN World Food Program. The announcement today brings the total United States assistance to $74.7 million since the start of the food crisis in October,” said Dr. Biden while visiting a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported Food for Peace project in Traditional Authority Machinjiri.
U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer added, “We are working very closely with the government of Malawi and other development partners to ensure hunger does not roll back the important development gains made in Malawi, particularly for women and girls.”
Over 6.5 million people in Malawi are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the 2016 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC)—an increase from 2.8 million people during last year’s agricultural season. Southern Africa is experiencing a historic drought exacerbated by the strong impacts of the El Niño weather event. The government of Malawi released a disaster declaration in April 2016 due to extreme drought conditions exacerbated by El Niño.
The United States has mobilized an early and integrated response to El Niño's impacts, including assistance to meet immediate needs and adaptation of development and resilience efforts to address longer term vulnerabilities, mitigate impacts, and protect gains made. The international community must coordinate quickly and at scale now to meet immediate needs as well as taking steps with the government of Malawi to build resilience to recurring droughts and other climate risks.
Since 2012, the United States has provided over $151 million (MK105 billion) of food assistance to Malawi. In addition, through President Obama’s Feed The Future and Global Climate Change Initiatives, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting activities valued at approximately US$25 million annually to reduce food insecurity, poverty, and under-nutrition by increasing agricultural production and helping communities adapt to climate change.
Jill Biden Kept at Eastern Region Police Headquarters
U.S. Second Lady, Jill Biden, took refuge in Eastern Region Police Headquarters' offices when students from Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, blocked her way Tuesday morning.
Biden is in the country on a three-day visit. She has so far annonced the donation of $20 million as part of the U.S. humanitarian response to the hunger situation facing over 6 million Malawians.
Biden was on her way to Zomba, but was forced to change direction as irate students vowed to stone each and every car.
Biden had to hide at Eastern Region Police Headquarters [as seen in this picture, taken by Emmanuel Mtambalika].
Biden's trip to Machinga District, where she wanted to visit some of the projects being run by the U.S. governemnt,has since been councelled.
Biden was in the company of Minister of Education, Emmanuel Fabiano, when she sought refuge at the Eastern Region Police Headquarters.
She stayed inside, as her armed security detail stood outside.
Joe Biden's Wife, Jill, Nearly Stoned in Malawi
...Her convoy forced to change direction
...The situation is tense in Zomba City
Jill Biden, wife to U.S. Vice-President, Joe, narrowly escaped being pelted by stones in Malawi’s old Capital City, Zomba, on Tuesday.
Jill is in Malawi, after arriving on Monday to fulfill some assignments.
On Tuesday, Jill was scheduled to visit Machinga District in Southern Malawi [unofficially called the Eastern Region]. The road to Machinga passes through Zomba City, which borders that former.
However, Jill’s convoy— which caused traffic jam along the Masauko-Chipembere Highway in Blantyre around 08:30 am, on Jill’s way to Machinga— had to be forced to return after irate students from Chancellor College started pelting stones at vehicles driving on the Blantyre-Zomba-Machinga route.
Students from Chancellor College— a constituent college of the University of Malawi— are protesting recent fee hike in the university. Effective the 2016/17 academic year, the University Council has pegged fees for generic students at K400, 000 [from K320, 000] at Chancellor College; K600, 000 at the College of Medicine [from K500, 000], K450, 000 [from K340, 000] at the Kamuzu College of Nursing and K400, 000 at The Polytechnic [from 320, 000].
Mature entry students have not been spared either. At Chancellor College, those who were paying K275, 000, K300, 000 and K450, 000 [according to programme] now have to cough K900, 000 at Chancellor College. At the College of Medicine, access to academic services has been pegged at K1.4 million [from K900, 000], Kamuzu College of Nursing mature entry students have to source K1 million [up from K650, 000] and students from The Polytechnic will be coughing K950, 000 [up from K275, 000.
Chancellor College students on Monday went to present their grievances to the University Office [located 50 metres from Eastern Region Police headquarters] and went blocked by police. Running battles ensued, and skirmishes have continued today.
At least one rifle belonging to a Malawi Police Service police mobile service was dismantled yesterday.
So, it seems that Jill found herself in the cross-fire [sorry, cross-stones]. And, for her act of generosity to come to Malawi on some charitable cause, Jill’s seven-vehicle convoy was forced to return back to Malawi.
Of course, not before some stones were thrown!
The incident raises questions over the ‘intelligence’ of Malawi’s intelligence services. Surely, National Intelligence Bureau knew that the situation was tense in Zomba City. And, yet, they still advised Jill to use the Blantyre-Zomba-Machinga road.
It also raises questions about the U.S. security services. Were they not warned?
What happened to the FBI?
...The situation is tense in Zomba City
Jill Biden, wife to U.S. Vice-President, Joe, narrowly escaped being pelted by stones in Malawi’s old Capital City, Zomba, on Tuesday.
Jill is in Malawi, after arriving on Monday to fulfill some assignments.
On Tuesday, Jill was scheduled to visit Machinga District in Southern Malawi [unofficially called the Eastern Region]. The road to Machinga passes through Zomba City, which borders that former.
However, Jill’s convoy— which caused traffic jam along the Masauko-Chipembere Highway in Blantyre around 08:30 am, on Jill’s way to Machinga— had to be forced to return after irate students from Chancellor College started pelting stones at vehicles driving on the Blantyre-Zomba-Machinga route.
Students from Chancellor College— a constituent college of the University of Malawi— are protesting recent fee hike in the university. Effective the 2016/17 academic year, the University Council has pegged fees for generic students at K400, 000 [from K320, 000] at Chancellor College; K600, 000 at the College of Medicine [from K500, 000], K450, 000 [from K340, 000] at the Kamuzu College of Nursing and K400, 000 at The Polytechnic [from 320, 000].
Mature entry students have not been spared either. At Chancellor College, those who were paying K275, 000, K300, 000 and K450, 000 [according to programme] now have to cough K900, 000 at Chancellor College. At the College of Medicine, access to academic services has been pegged at K1.4 million [from K900, 000], Kamuzu College of Nursing mature entry students have to source K1 million [up from K650, 000] and students from The Polytechnic will be coughing K950, 000 [up from K275, 000.
Chancellor College students on Monday went to present their grievances to the University Office [located 50 metres from Eastern Region Police headquarters] and went blocked by police. Running battles ensued, and skirmishes have continued today.
At least one rifle belonging to a Malawi Police Service police mobile service was dismantled yesterday.
So, it seems that Jill found herself in the cross-fire [sorry, cross-stones]. And, for her act of generosity to come to Malawi on some charitable cause, Jill’s seven-vehicle convoy was forced to return back to Malawi.
Of course, not before some stones were thrown!
The incident raises questions over the ‘intelligence’ of Malawi’s intelligence services. Surely, National Intelligence Bureau knew that the situation was tense in Zomba City. And, yet, they still advised Jill to use the Blantyre-Zomba-Machinga road.
It also raises questions about the U.S. security services. Were they not warned?
What happened to the FBI?
Monday, July 18, 2016
Zimbabwe playing double standards on imports
So, South Africa and Zimbabwe are embroiled in a trade battle of imports, when the Southern African Development Community promotes trade in the block?
I find it laughable. While it is true that South Africa behaves like Big Brother watching over little sister, and uses, to some degree, the continent as a dumping site, this can only be because South African products are durable. More durable than Chinese goods! I mean, Chinese goods designed for low-income markets.
And, in this regard, the Chinese cannot be blamed as well.
Back to the Zimbabwe-South Africa issue.
It seems that Comrade Bob is worried that the influx of South African products --including water, for nature'sake, camphor [again, for nature's sake] -- is choking local business in Zimbabwe.
So, Uncle Bob decides to limit the type of products to cross the borders into Zimbabwe, in much the same way as South Africa attempted to limit the number of Zimbabweans making it across the borders into South Africa during Zimbabwe's years of economic rot.
But South Africa is having none of it. South Africa is sending a list of 100 products to Zimbabwe. It wants Zimbabwe to choose, out of the list, which ones to ban and which ones to open the borders for.
Good move.
However, I think Zimbabwe is playing double standards. Other African countries have played the dumping-site-role for Zimbabwe and meekly--like sheep that is yet to be introduced to the word 'revolt'-- accepted the position.
Take Malawi, for instance. We have apples from Zimbabwe. We have onions from Zimbabwe. We have sweet potatoes from Zimbabwe. We have salt from Zimbabwe.
And Zimbabwe wants to control imports from other countries?
And Zimbabwe has imposed heavy import taxes on goods from other countries, South Africa and Malawi inclusive?
That must, like always, Zimbabwe's kick in the mouth of Father Africa and, by extension, regional integration.
I find it laughable. While it is true that South Africa behaves like Big Brother watching over little sister, and uses, to some degree, the continent as a dumping site, this can only be because South African products are durable. More durable than Chinese goods! I mean, Chinese goods designed for low-income markets.
And, in this regard, the Chinese cannot be blamed as well.
Back to the Zimbabwe-South Africa issue.
It seems that Comrade Bob is worried that the influx of South African products --including water, for nature'sake, camphor [again, for nature's sake] -- is choking local business in Zimbabwe.
So, Uncle Bob decides to limit the type of products to cross the borders into Zimbabwe, in much the same way as South Africa attempted to limit the number of Zimbabweans making it across the borders into South Africa during Zimbabwe's years of economic rot.
But South Africa is having none of it. South Africa is sending a list of 100 products to Zimbabwe. It wants Zimbabwe to choose, out of the list, which ones to ban and which ones to open the borders for.
Good move.
However, I think Zimbabwe is playing double standards. Other African countries have played the dumping-site-role for Zimbabwe and meekly--like sheep that is yet to be introduced to the word 'revolt'-- accepted the position.
Take Malawi, for instance. We have apples from Zimbabwe. We have onions from Zimbabwe. We have sweet potatoes from Zimbabwe. We have salt from Zimbabwe.
And Zimbabwe wants to control imports from other countries?
And Zimbabwe has imposed heavy import taxes on goods from other countries, South Africa and Malawi inclusive?
That must, like always, Zimbabwe's kick in the mouth of Father Africa and, by extension, regional integration.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Giddes' Chalamanda's Home-Coming
Eighty-six-year-old musician, Giddes Chalamanda, fulfilled his dream of visiting the United States of America when he left Malawi for the US on June 28.
Chalamanda made his intentions of visiting the US clear in the 1970s, when he composed Buffalo soldier, in which lyrically explained that his life-dream was to visit the U.S..
That dream has been realised, and the musician even visited the Library of Congress, where he performed alongside Edgar ndi Davis.
He also visited Washington, D.C., Indiana State, apart from performing in German Town.
Well, today, Chalamanda arrived in Malawi and I was there to capture some 'moments'
The pictures 'show' some of those moments.
Giddes Chalamanda and, the last picture, Edgar Njobvu of Edgar ndi Davis duo upon arrival at Chileka International Airport.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Education standards mantra is misplaced
For a long time, the song in Malawi has been that education standards have dwindled. The yardstick has always been Malawi National Examinations Board results at Primary, junior and senior secondary school levels.
What is quickly forgotten is the fact that examinations' results are just one of the factors influencing the outcomes; the others being learning environment, demotivation of teachers, cultural context, religious context, historical context, home environment, among others.
Factors such as demotivation, learning environment and cultural context may be self-explanatory; so, let me focus on religious and historical context.
Some districts in Malawi, most notably the Southern Region districts of Machinga and Mangochi have high illiteracy rates because the Muslim population is dominant and pupils born from Muslim parents are sent to schools where they learn more about the Holy Koran other than conventional school. This has bled a population of illiterate people in Machinga and Mangochi, and is a typical example of the culture context.
That said, the Central Region district of Dedza has always been a puzzle when considered as a cog in the game-of-illiteracy. The district has Chewas, Ngonis, Yaos and yet, despite the ethnic diversity, illiteracy levels are high. Dedza is a puzzle whose answer has eluded education experts. But, then, this is a story for another day.
Historical context, which is the reason for my posting is another crucial factor which is often overlooked. But the truth is that our education is not 'Malawian' because it was introduced by the British. We even speak their language:English. Whoever controls your language controls you.
So, in a way, Malawians have so many gods (they are idol worshippers), one of their gods being the English language!
Actually, it's not just Malawians (meaning, the individual citizens) who worship English. Their examinations' board, the Malawi National Examinations Board, is the grand-worshipper of the little God called English because you may score 1s in all Malawi School Certificate of Education subjects (be it Geography, Chichewa, Biology, History, Life Skills, History, Chemistry, Bible Knowledge, and what have you) but failure in English means one does not receive a certificate.
What nonsense!
This means English is the best thing to have ever happened to Malawians. What twaddle!
After all this worshipping of the little god called English, we all talk about how low 'our' education standards have sunken.
And, there, lies our biggest mistake. The education does not belong to us; it belongs to the English, who control us by ensuring that we speak in their language and that, most sadly, our definition of failure should be premised on how we fare in English.
When the Akafula, Abathwa or Amwandionerapati-the first inhabitants of Malawi (of course, before Malawi was born-did not have the word 'yellow'in their vocabulary but could communicate effectively. As they say in Cultural Studies, every language is sufficient to meet the needs of that language. When they got into contact with other languages, their vocabulary became limited. They had to accommodate new terminologies. The worst case is that of the Ngoni of Malawi, though. Through exposure to the Chewas and Tumbuka, all their words became limited and they did not only lose their soul; they also lost their language in its entirety, although some pockets of Ngonis speak it and Hora Mountain in Mzimba has become a kind of cross for the Ngoni of Mzimba. Like the two sinners hung with Jesus Christ, they find salvation by looking up - be it upon the cross or Hora Mountain. Maybe their souls and language, respectively, may be redeemed.
What I am saying is that whoever controls one's language controls the other's self. In our case, the British control our thinking because we think in their language. That is not all, however; they even control our education system. If a candidate fails in the English language, they fail themselves, and fail life itself. How sad!
So, when we say our education standards have fallen, we are talking nothing about ourselves, really. More so because we do not have education standards of our own. Instead, we look at standards through the eyes of the British, who decided what sort of education we should have!
No wonder that, with Brexit, some Malawians are having sleepless nights. Unsure of what the impact of Brexit may be on Malawi!
How sad!
So, the British -through their language, English- even control people's sleep in Malawi (in terms of how much sleep one should have)?
How funny!
Unless we describe what constitutes quality education, through comparative analyses of other countries, say in Southern Africa, or some historical context of us against ourselves (in terms of how well candidates used to fare, say, in the 1970s, we cannot talk of education standards going to the dogs because, really, all we are doing is measure education standards using 'foreign' eyes: Those of the British, who control our language, our thinking and, in worst cases, even some people's sleep!
In summary, Malawians are not independent enough to talk of quality education. After all, apart from Chinamwali, Jando, Chikudzukudzu, among others, they (Malawians) do not have education of their own. They are orphaned, education wise.
How scandalous!
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Lagos-based Malawians Form Hunger Taskforce
Malawians based in Lagos, Nigeria, have formed what they call Malawi Anti-Hunger Taskforce to help mobilise funds fr hunger-stricken families back home.
State President, Arthur Peter Mutharika, declared a State of National Disaster on April 12 this year, after Malawi failed to meet its national food production needs.
Finance Minister, Goodall Gondwe, announced in the 2016/17 budget statement that the country requires an additional 790,000 metric tonnes of relief food to support an estimated 8.4 million people. An additional 250,000 metric tonnes is required for sale in Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation markets.
That is not all, though, as 250,000 more metric tonnes are required to restock the strategic grain reserves.
Chairperson for the Lagos-based Malawi Anti-Hunger Taskforce, Emmanuel Mtambalika Mapasa, said the tasforce has managed to mobilise 26 Malawians and has so far mobilised K5.6 million for the cause.
"Our target is to raise funds amoubting to K500 million from Malawians based in Lagos. So far, 23 Malawians have pledged to contribute money ranging from K1 million to K3 million by July 15 this year. We plan to send a delegation of four people to Malawi to present the funds through the Office of the Vice President. We would have loved to present the funds through the formal diplomatic system but I think you know that fraud is rampant in our embassies," said Mtambalika Mapasa.
Mtambalika Mapasa has been staying in Lagos for the past 15 years.
State President, Arthur Peter Mutharika, declared a State of National Disaster on April 12 this year, after Malawi failed to meet its national food production needs.
Finance Minister, Goodall Gondwe, announced in the 2016/17 budget statement that the country requires an additional 790,000 metric tonnes of relief food to support an estimated 8.4 million people. An additional 250,000 metric tonnes is required for sale in Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation markets.
That is not all, though, as 250,000 more metric tonnes are required to restock the strategic grain reserves.
Chairperson for the Lagos-based Malawi Anti-Hunger Taskforce, Emmanuel Mtambalika Mapasa, said the tasforce has managed to mobilise 26 Malawians and has so far mobilised K5.6 million for the cause.
"Our target is to raise funds amoubting to K500 million from Malawians based in Lagos. So far, 23 Malawians have pledged to contribute money ranging from K1 million to K3 million by July 15 this year. We plan to send a delegation of four people to Malawi to present the funds through the Office of the Vice President. We would have loved to present the funds through the formal diplomatic system but I think you know that fraud is rampant in our embassies," said Mtambalika Mapasa.
Mtambalika Mapasa has been staying in Lagos for the past 15 years.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Likangala Form Four Students Go Wild
... speeding vehicle hits three
... One cries uncontrollably
The teachers at Likangala Secondary School in Zomba City had, most likely, good intentions when they hatched the idea of organising a graduation event for Malawi School Certificate of Education students.
The examinations, now at nose-distance away, are not here. But they will be there because the Malawi National Examinations Board already finalised all the work. Again, it is not common for the Malawi National Examinations Board to postpone examinations, save when there is a massive leakage. Like it happened the other year, and all Malawi National Examinations Board employees had to walk with their tails between their legs.
Except the State President. He was a shameless man, and kept his head high in that shameful year. As if nothing had gone wrong.
But there was nothing to hold one's head high about on Friday at Likangala Secondary School after everything went wrong at what was meant to be a graduation ceremony.
Instead of cerebrating, three candidates were 'chewing' the fruits of their insolence.
Having endured the various academic challenges posed to them in the past four years of learning and unlearning, the candidates decided to be too explicit with what they probably thought is the freedom they will 'buy' after sitting [sitting examinations or sitting for examinations are both right] examinations. So, some of the candidates came to the event drunk. Mostly the male candidates. School relationships that had been hidden for years were revealed as some candidates chose to hold and fondle in public. Right before their teachers!
Malawi is suffering from a silent moral crisis! Such behaviour did put the candidates at the fulcrum of debate on Friday. And such behaviour brought to the fore the suggestion that, maybe, Malawians should be compelled to find a new stabilised formula of morality. Dictatorship was mistaken for a political system, other than a stabilised formula of enforcing morality and, so, people hate. But Malawi is at a cross-roads and another formula of stabilisation should be found.
That is one of the thoughts that kept bouncing off my and other people's heads on Friday. At least the ones I was talking with.
To cut a long story short [because I know I have confused you already], the graduation ceremony ended by 4:30 pm and the candidates were furious that it ended so early.
So, they swarmed the nearby road; the road to Mpondabwino Market and Mpunga Township. They started stoning vehicles. Some jumped on the boots of on-coming vehicles and smashed windscreens.
That is when one taxi came speeding [travelling at, perhaps, 80 kilometrees per hour] in the driver's bid to prevent the apparently drunk, out-of-sorts candidates from jumping on it.
But, as I watched, three candidates jumped onto the vehicle, probably thinking the driver would press his feet hard on the brakes and stop.
Big mistake!
They were hit, in broad daylight, and came sprawling to the ground like poorly packed 50-kilogramme bags of rice.
Some candidates in front of the vehicle stoned it and the driver had to stop. They beat him to pulp instead of attending to their fellow students.
The driver, surprised, rushed back into his vehicle and sped away.
Noone was willing to take the three hit, and seriously injured candidates to hospital. To make matters worse, reality [meaning, pain] caught up with the students and they started crying uncontrollably.
Two of them could not even stand up. They cried, apparently in pain, at the slightest touch.
They had paid the price of insolence.
And, then, they have not even sat [you either sit examinations, of sit for examinations: it's all grammatically correct] the examinations!
Friday, June 10, 2016
American Ambassador tours Chancellor College Library
American Ambassador to Malawi, Virginia Palmer, is on a tour of Chancellor College Library in a bid to appreciate the environment it operates in.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
African Union hails Muhammad Ali as 'true Pan Africanist'
Press Release No. 220/2016
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 6 June 2016: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has hailed the African-American boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, as a true Pan Africanist. The AU Commission Chairperson described Muhammad Ali, also widely known as, “The Greatest of all time”, while sending her deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of the fallen giant around the world.
The AU Commission Chairperson said Muhammad Ali was a hugely inspiring figure whose impact, beyond his punches in the boxing ring, generated waves of vibration across diverse populations around the globe. He will be missed the world over, and no less in Africa.
Muhammad Ali’s deep roots and extensive connections with the continent of Africa were unshaken. He never let-go of any single opportunity to re-echo his ancestral link with the “homeland”, as he put it in his own words, upholding Africa as the cradle of civilization.
While fighting against George Foreman in the famous encounter that became known as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” in 1974, in Kinshasa, of former Zaire, Muhammad Ali reminded the world that, “Original man’s from Africa. All civilizations started in Africa.” He fought for freedom, justice and equality, including for black people, with unreserved energy and full determination. He supported Africa’s fight against colonialism, including the fight against Apartheid in South Africa.
Muhammad Ali gained prominence (aside from boxing) during the American Civil Rights Movement as a result of his resistance to white domination, and was a champion of minority rights. His stance on issues of freedom, injustice, peace and reconciliation earned him the appointment as United Nations Messenger for Peace in 1998.
He was a great son of Africa, who paid numerous visits to countries and met with different leaders of Africa. “Muhammad Ali was larger than life! His passion and compassion will be greatly missed and forever remembered.” Dr. Dlamini Zuma paid tribute to the fallen baobab.
Leaders across the African continent, have joined global voices to pay tribute to the memory and legacy of Muhammad Ali - a clear pointer to the enormous impact Ali had on the people of Africa.
Muhammad Ali died on Friday, 3 June 2016, at the age of 74, in a Scottsdale, Arizona hospital, after being hospitalized for a respiratory illness a day before.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 6 June 2016: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has hailed the African-American boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, as a true Pan Africanist. The AU Commission Chairperson described Muhammad Ali, also widely known as, “The Greatest of all time”, while sending her deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of the fallen giant around the world.
The AU Commission Chairperson said Muhammad Ali was a hugely inspiring figure whose impact, beyond his punches in the boxing ring, generated waves of vibration across diverse populations around the globe. He will be missed the world over, and no less in Africa.
Muhammad Ali’s deep roots and extensive connections with the continent of Africa were unshaken. He never let-go of any single opportunity to re-echo his ancestral link with the “homeland”, as he put it in his own words, upholding Africa as the cradle of civilization.
While fighting against George Foreman in the famous encounter that became known as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” in 1974, in Kinshasa, of former Zaire, Muhammad Ali reminded the world that, “Original man’s from Africa. All civilizations started in Africa.” He fought for freedom, justice and equality, including for black people, with unreserved energy and full determination. He supported Africa’s fight against colonialism, including the fight against Apartheid in South Africa.
Muhammad Ali gained prominence (aside from boxing) during the American Civil Rights Movement as a result of his resistance to white domination, and was a champion of minority rights. His stance on issues of freedom, injustice, peace and reconciliation earned him the appointment as United Nations Messenger for Peace in 1998.
He was a great son of Africa, who paid numerous visits to countries and met with different leaders of Africa. “Muhammad Ali was larger than life! His passion and compassion will be greatly missed and forever remembered.” Dr. Dlamini Zuma paid tribute to the fallen baobab.
Leaders across the African continent, have joined global voices to pay tribute to the memory and legacy of Muhammad Ali - a clear pointer to the enormous impact Ali had on the people of Africa.
Muhammad Ali died on Friday, 3 June 2016, at the age of 74, in a Scottsdale, Arizona hospital, after being hospitalized for a respiratory illness a day before.
Monday, June 6, 2016
President Peter Mutharika's Administration running out of steam
The signs are everywhere: President Peter Mutharika and his Minister of Finance and Economic Planning are tired, old men who have nothing constructive to offer to this country.
In their wisdom, the two tired, old men think that talk time, news print, among others, are luxuries this nation can do without.
Come to think of it, in their tired brains, the two tired old men have decided to bring back the late president, Bingo wa Mutharika's script that all but buried freedom of expression in this country.
Bingu, for starters, introduced surtax on news print, thereby influencing price adjustments. Well, people did not stop buying and reading newspapers.
Today, the two tired old men have decided to take us back to the Bingu-situation. They have, in their tired wisdom, decided to impose new suitable measures on news print. The effect is immediate. The cover price of local newspapers have gone up by K50.
At the moment, the most extensive newspaper in Malawi -which mostly happen to be weekend papers- goes at K450 but, thanks to the tired wisdom of two old men who seem to have run out of steam, that is bound to change in the coming days.
The newspapers have made their intentions clear through notices in the newspapers.
I do not know how the Mutharika brothers developed an aversion to freedom of expression, but what I know is that their hatred of the same is so conspicuous it stinks!
Retire, two old men!
In their wisdom, the two tired, old men think that talk time, news print, among others, are luxuries this nation can do without.
Come to think of it, in their tired brains, the two tired old men have decided to bring back the late president, Bingo wa Mutharika's script that all but buried freedom of expression in this country.
Bingu, for starters, introduced surtax on news print, thereby influencing price adjustments. Well, people did not stop buying and reading newspapers.
Today, the two tired old men have decided to take us back to the Bingu-situation. They have, in their tired wisdom, decided to impose new suitable measures on news print. The effect is immediate. The cover price of local newspapers have gone up by K50.
At the moment, the most extensive newspaper in Malawi -which mostly happen to be weekend papers- goes at K450 but, thanks to the tired wisdom of two old men who seem to have run out of steam, that is bound to change in the coming days.
The newspapers have made their intentions clear through notices in the newspapers.
I do not know how the Mutharika brothers developed an aversion to freedom of expression, but what I know is that their hatred of the same is so conspicuous it stinks!
Retire, two old men!
Sunday, June 5, 2016
RICHARD CHIROMBO: Media Institute of Souther Africa- Malawi Chapter 'Best Blogger of the Year 2016'
BLOGGER OF THE YEAR, RICHARD CHIROMBO receiving his prize of a Samsung Galaxy Tab from Edward Monster, Public Affairs Officer at the United States Embassy in Malawi, during the Media Institute of Southern Africa-Malawi Chapter media awards gara in Mangochi, May 7, 2016
http://lilongwe.usembassy.gov/new-events/us-embassy-outstanding-journalists.html
RICHARD CHIROMBO: Media Institute of Southern Africa - Malawi Chapter Human Rights Journalist of the Year 2016
Blogger and journalist RICHARD CHIROMBO receiving his prize [Lenovo laptop] from Centre for the Development of People Executive Director, Gift Trapence, during the Media Institute of Southern Africa - Malawi Chapter media awards gara in Mangochi, May 7, 2016.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Malawi Revenue Authority is Bad Mother
Malawians will work up one day and discover that all their companies are owned by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA)!
I say so from an experience I had in Zomba on Saturday. One grocer was visited by MRA officials on Friday and told to shut down the grocery in Zomba Central Business District because he has not remitted tax for goods he sold on pay-forward basis.
I was there and saw it with my own eyes!
We MRA is doing is turning citizens into slaves of debt. If you sell something on credit, MRA seems to think, you have to borrow money to settle taxes for monies you have not collected!
Where one gets the money, the MRA does not care.
This practice is counter-productive and must stop immediately. If the bosses at MRA have run out of ideas, let them resign.
Let business organisations and individuals settle tax dues when they have the money at hand, and not when MRA unreasonably demands that organisations and individuals source money from wherever they can to settle MRA dues even when the money is not readily available because the client will pay forward.
It is an acceptable practice in business to pay forward, especially when there is trust between seller and buyer.
MRA is milking the cow that is traders thin and, with zero-aid budgets, it may discover that it has nobody but itself to milk.
Lastly, let me thank the United States Embassy for the Samsung Galaxy Tab I received as my prize for being Media Institute of Southern Africa - Malawi Chapter Best Blogger of the Year 2016. As you can deduce, the Galaxy Tab is now working and there is no excuse for not posting everyday, even though I have three more months to finish my Bachelor of Arts (Communication and Cultural Studies) programme, which affected the frequency of blog posts in the last two years. Thanks for being there for me, and for sticking to the boat./i>
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