Waiting for Nothing

It has been a while since the ordinary man and woman in Malawi lost hope that things would, at least for the next two years, be okay.
Now, indications are that government officials have also lost something, something unknown, something strong: touch.
As the ordinary Malawian thinks of what tomorrow may be like, a tomorrow premised on the shaky foundations of micro-economic instability, a predictable, but stinging, development partners' rumpus, rising commodity prices (and, now, erratic rains) the rulers are also troubled in their hearts.
It seems like the leaders have finally realised that they have lost touch with grassroots' communities, and are no more wiser than the first-time visitor to Malawi.
It is one thing to grow up in a foreign country, acquire education there, and come to be one of the citizens of the host country; and quite another thing to grow up in a foreign land, learn new ways, come back home to serve your country, only to realise that you have lost touch with your roots.
It, really, is a tragedy, though not tragic enough.
But there is nothing more tragic than this: You go to a foreign land, learn to eat their way, drink their way, throw-up there way, and behave their way. But, then, you realise that you love your country more that the host country, and that, no matter what it takes, and how long it takes, you will still go back home, serve your country, and die with honour. Someday.
That must be love. Love like what Malawi's President, Ngwazi Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika, had (or, rather, claimed to have)when he decided to come back to Malawi, his home country, in the early 1990s. For your own information, in 1992, Mutharika drove from Lusaka in Zambia to Blantyre.
Why? He wanted to attend the United Democratic Front's (UDF)(then, a pressure group) convention. So bad for him, he was not elected. His name was not even mentioned by any of the delegates. They might have thought, as some opposition leaders have claimed at one point or another, that he was from Angola because of the prefix 'wa' in his full name.
So, Mutharika's association with the former governing UDF did not start in 1998, 0r 1999 (which culminated in Mutharika's dissolution of his brief-case United Party (PP)to join the UDF); it was a long-drawn affair (his dissolution of the PP).
Mutharika played soccer (and, I hear, netball) on the pitches and courts of Dedza Secondary School in those years when the colonialism-scent was still all over Malawi's three-coloured robe.
That was a time when to be in Dedza was tough; (when to) pass through Dedza was tough; and (when) to stay in Dedza was tough.
Tough not because Dedza, the Central Region district, was (and still is) the abode of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, John Tembo. Nobody doubts that Tembo, popularly known as JZU, was a strongman during the MCP regime. Nobody says 'No' to assertions that he was more close to the Founder of the Malawi Nation, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. He was.
But some people attribute to Tembo some things he, probably, never knew. And blame Tembo for things he, probably, never did. Some accuse Tembo of plotting things he never (even) dreamed of. And some say he harboured ambitions to succeed Kamuzu.
But no one claims to have entered Tembo's heart.
(And I say this not because JZU is my Member of Parliament and has been ever since I was born. Not that Tembo has always been MP for Dedza South, or Dedza Central- whatever it is, and it used to be-. The veteran polician has, on more than three occasions,contributed towards Malawi's development without being MP. Most people get this wrong. It could be malice, I don't know. For example, Tembo was never MP the whole time he served as Reserve Bank Governor. And there are other positions he served in without being MP. I think it will be interesting to write something about the people who served as MPs in Tembo's constituency,while the 'real' MP served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, and how they felt (the fear, whatever) serving in the position of a man so close to Malawi's first president).
The point is that Dedza was not 'tough' because of Tembo. It was tough because of the weather.
Dedza is mostly cold.
Dedza is mostly cool.
Dedza is uncomfortably English.
Dedza is Western.
That is why most white settlers liked the district, and settled there, establishing Bembeke Roman Catholic Cathedral, tourist attraction centres, agriculture development initiatives, among other impressive structures.
But no one knows why people drawn from the length and breadth of Malawi liked Dedza so much, when it came to education.
It could be that the people of Dedza are warm; that they (the, mostly, Ngoni people- and Chewas, too) of Dedza are the Warm Blood that Pumps the Warm Heart of Africa.
President Bingu wa Mutharika went to Dedza Secondary School.
Some say Sam Mpasu went to Dedza Secondary School.
A thousand other top government officials trace their education background to Dedza, too.
How good is Dedza, after all, to produce enough beans to feed the whole country.
How great is Dedza, that its peaches, late season mangoes, big-as-a-pumpkin-tomatoes, and many other farm products, come from Dedza.
Dedza feeds Malawi in food.
Dedza fed the nation in education.
Dedza hosts John Zenus Ungapake Tembo.
Dedza has a strange climate, too cool for Malawi when, as most people know, the neighbouring Salima district is too hot for comfort.
So, somehow, because of its attractive-self, Dedza attracted one Webster Thom (the present-day Bingu wa Mutharika) to its knowledge pond. It must be while in Dezda that Bingu's love for Malawi grew.
He could wake up in the morning, join the other 'boys' on the line to the bathroom, and get a shower.
Now, in Dedza, to shower was courage. It is like getting a refresher course in a refrigerator: too cold for comfort. That was Dedza those days.
With its horde of indigenous trees, and one of Malawi's biggest mountains to boot, the weather was uncharitable to young Bingu and fellow students.
But Bingu braced it. Bingu mastered the courage to brace the cold weather, and 'enjoy' a shower of (almost) cold water. Weather experts always tell us the difference between cold and cool; they even say that, in Malawi, there is nothing like cold weather. They are right. Here, cold has been used to mean extremely 'cool'. It does not mean the real cold. It's just a feeling, a way of emphasisisng a point.
It must be in Dedza that Bingu learned to be courageous, and became a courageous man. So courageous he now calls development partners 'colonialists'.
Sometimes, he becomes so generous with words, he tells them in the face:
"Go to hell".
Pure Dedza courage.
When time came for Bingu to go to India, in that long journey in the never-ending pursuit for education, he might never have forgotten Dedza. And courage.
That must be the reason, after working for the World Bank, Bingu decided to come back, and serve the country that 'gave' him courage.
He fits so well in the third scenario in our example above: a man who goes out, learn foreign languages, eat foreign food, dine in well-lit restaurants, and decides to come back home and serve his country.
Such a man things that he has not lost tough with his world, his indigenous world.
Bingu comes to Malawi (we are talking of then), becomes the country's President (we are not going into details here; but we can, at your request), and, as they say, the rest is his story!
But he started so well. By ignoring the experts, as with his Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme, he chalked some success. Food security is now a song in Malawi, though it is a song incomplete because food security entails so many things, and means much more than full granaries, and a bloated stomach.
But, now, things have gone haywire.
The one who believed he loved his country- knew it too well, and developed roots in it- has lost tough with the surface.
It is now a double tragedy. With long fuel queues, sky-scraping commodity prices, leaders who have lost touch with- not only their own people, but- reality, and people running short on hope, Malawians are sure but waiting for nothing.
Of course, Malawians are waiting for 2014, the year they will elect new Members of Parliament, (hopefully) Councillors, and (this is automatic. Even the President is hoping that his younger brother, Peter Aurthur Mutharika, could succeed him) the man or woman who shall preside over the destinies (there are so many people with so many hopes and aspirations here) of millions.
People they never knew.
People who may be waiting for nothing but trouble right now.
People who stand ready to cry five, ten more years.
They can't say they lived well- waiting for this great nothingness.
There is no hope in the people.
And nothing in the President who has lost touch with his own people. Calling them chickens, and the like.
Really? So, people have come to this nothing?

MISA concerned about growing intolerance of media freedom in Malawi

Malawi Statement (Regional)

9 March 2012

The Regional Secretariat of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
notes, with profound distress, the growing intolerance of media freedom
and freedom of expression in Malawi. Today, March 9, 2012, we received a
statement released by State House Press Officer, Albert Mungomo, and
titled: ‘Civil Society Organisations and Media Conduct Inciting Anarchy in
the Country.’

Ordinarily, a statement such as the one we received today would not
warrant this kind of response. Yet, coming as it does from a country that
is facing serious democratisation and governance challenges, we would like
to express our deepest concern over what we consider serious threats to
media freedom and freedom of expression in Malawi. It is also our hope
that the government of Malawi, president Bingu wa Mutharika in particular,
will be able to consider our point of view on the same issues.

One, we strongly disagree with the suggestion that the media in Malawi are
making it their vocation to demean and insult president Mutharika. In a
democracy, the media should be concerned with ‘shaping public opinion,
mediating the debate between the state and civil society, but also acting
as a watchdog over public process, against private gain. Free media
[therefore] are a prerequisite to development in the promotion of
democracy, human rights and governments.’

We take the above quotation from a communiqué issued in Lusaka, Zambia, by
the 7th Regional Meeting of the African, Pacific and Caribbean-European
Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly in February 2012, where Malawi
was represented. We find it odd, therefore, that the government of Malawi
does not share, or indeed, recognize that based on the above, democracy
should be about empowering citizens so that they are able to take
ownership of their own growth and development objectives, harmonising them
with national aspirations after interacting and engaging with differing
views. This sacrosanct activity is guaranteed and protected by the
Constitution of Malawi and is facilitated, on a daily basis, by the media.

Two, the law that the media are said to be in breach of, an insult law
regarding the national flag, emblems and names, is archaic and serves more
to provide evidence for the need for critical reform than anything else.

That the law still quotes a fine to be paid in Pound sterling and not in
Malawi Kwacha elucidates the fact that this piece of legislation remains
stuck in the time warp of colonial and repressive tradition and also
proves the urgency with which legal reforms must take place in Malawi,
forty-eight years after independence.

Several other laws of this nature and age exist in Malawi; the Official
Secrets Act (1913), the Printed Publications Act (1947) and the Censorship
and Control of Entertainment Act (1968. Still, there exists also Section
46 of the Penal Code, which empowers the Minister of Information to ban
any publication that may be deemed not to be in the public interest, as
defined by that minister. Clearly, these laws have no role to play in a
democracy and while we are fully aware that some of them have been
referred to the Law Commission for review, the fact that they still remain
active while under review does not inspire confidence, as they may be
permanently condemned to the review process.

Three, we are shocked that the government of Malawi is insisting that
president Mutharika ‘has never ordered the arrest’ of media practitioners
and human rights defenders. This is not the first time that this claim is
being made. We are aware of cases where journalists have been threatened
at press conferences for ‘asking the wrong questions,’ verbally assaulted
and threatened by senior government officials, and had their company
vehicles torched, to list but a few incidents. We deeply regret,
therefore, to note how this government defines what constitutes a media
freedom violation.

The statement also singles out phrases used by leading opinion writers in
Malawi to refer to president Mutharika. If the singling out of these
phrases ¬ does not constitute a threat then nothing else does. One of the
columnists and BBC Correspondent, Raphael Tenthani, who if famous for
using the phrase ‘Big Kahuna’ to refer to president Mutharika, has told
MISA that this phrase is actually respectful. “It means ‘the Big Boss.’ I
don’t know how it begins to be demeaning to the president. I have met the
president several times and we have joked about it for I use it almost
every week in my column. But I won’t stop using it because doing so would
be unwittingly admitting I have been disrespecting my president all these
years.”

MISA is aware also that on July 20, 2011, the day of mass demonstrations
in Malawi, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) ordered
all radio stations that were carrying live broadcasts of the lawful
demonstrations to stop all live broadcasts. That the statement from State
House chooses to ignore this fact by alleging sensational reporting on the
part of the radio stations which fell victim to this directive shows, we
are afraid, the signs of a government that may not be prepared to hear ¬
and confront ¬ the truth from its people.

Four, our concern also extends to the mention made by the statement
regarding social networks. The statement reads: ‘The State House monitors
carefully such networks that are hostile and probably careless in
demeaning the state president.’ We are extremely worried that the
government of Malawi may be conducting some illegal surveillance of
Internet use in Malawi based on their faulty perception that social
networks are inherently hostile.
This, in itself, reveals a profound lack of understanding of what the
Internet is and its role in a democracy. We will continue to pay close
attention to the tone and language directed at Internet use in Malawi as
we believe, based on the statement, that there exists a significant threat
to Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace in Malawi.

Lastly, we are of the view that the relationship between the government
and the media in Malawi would be beneficial from a process of mutual
engagement. We are most willing to further open room for lasting dialogue
between the government and media, in the firm belief that this would
provide a more enabling environment for media freedom, freedom of
expression and ultimately citizen empowerment.

Learning Chichewa: Ndalama ya Pepala

Learning Chichewa: Ndalama (Money)

Waiting for March

It is March already, but, taking a cue from the sentiments emanating from The New State House in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, March ain't started.
President Bingu wa Mutharika, who must, surely, know another March than we are in, has smelt danger.
Danger in the air.
Danger in the home.
Danger in hotels.
Danger in lodges.

But the danger is not invisible. The danger is so visible- visible in the Civil Society Organisations', and Non-Governmental Organisations,top boss-faces.
Mutharika told a mammoth crowd in his home district of Thyolo that Civil Society Organisations are planning July 20, 2011-like demonstrations.
Mutharika went a step further, saying he knew the financiers of such an obnoxious act: development partners.
Now, that is strange. Development partners have become anarchy partners (with the NGOs and CSOs)?
It has become a strange world. This.
Not only this (world), though. There is a strange world. Another world.
The world in the mind of the President. And the ruling class. What with two professors ruling Malawi! Two professors using the same chopper.
This world, the two professors world, is a strange world.
And that's all there is to their unity. A strange world.
The two professors are different. One had students, the other has none.
He stands proud on the mountain of a 'gift' paper from Mainland China. One overzealous Chinese University made the mistake of offering Mutharika the Elder Brother (Bingu) some title: Professor.
It seems like Mutharika the Elder Brother always wanted to become professor: the real professorship, with students.
Somehow, he must have missed the train.
Somehow, Peter Mutharika the Younger Brother got hold of the train. And, therefore, the professorship.
Professor with students.
Real students.
And there, in both professorships, lies Malawi's tragedy.
Now the two professors have started living in their own world, an imaginary world.
The two professors, at their imaginary best, can see fish where only mosquitoes fly, and see electoral victory when even the flies are running away from the scene of defeat.
President Mutharika shocked all and sundry when he said, before all the world, that Malawi's development partners are planning to fan and fund confusion in the Southern African Development Community Member state.
But CSOs and NGOs have butted down such claims, saying they know nothing about it.
Now government is planning to thwart the Public Affairs Committee meeting slated for Mount Soche in Blantyre on March 18 and 19.
Government suspects that just such a meeting is what the President foresaw in his vision of anarchy (call it Vision- Anarchy)last week.
But organisers of the meeting have promised to press on, saying there is nothing sinister they will discuss. After all, you do not organise sinister meetings at such open fora as Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre.
But government and State agents are having none of it.
It is a world of visions,theirs.

Without a Working Judiciary, Malawi is Normal Again

Two eyes.
Two feet.
Two hands.
Two ears.

It is easy to discover the matter: normalcy.

When the bird's day is past and gone, and when the day is so lonely and cold, there is always one thing to do: rest, or sleep the night away, until the wing of light waves again, and forces the dark-some night into some form of nature-instigated exile in the West.

It is still in exile the night goes to; though not the type of exile the likes of Malawi's one-party regime Prisoner-of-Conscience, Jack Mapanje, were subjected to during the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) regime.That time (during the MCP era), to live was trouble, to die was trouble, to have no children was trouble, to be an expectant mother was trouble, to marry was trouble, to be a spinster or bachelor was wrong. To be was wrong, and to be not was wrong. To be Malawian, then, was tough, and not to be was nothing but losing out.

So, people- the likes of Mapanje- languished in, what?, jail. Should we call it jail, when the 'victims' of the regime, then, lived 'ignorant' lives? For once, there was nothing like being notified of the reasons why the 'suspects' were being held.

In more cases than not, people could wait for justice- without being told what wrong they committed against the powers-that-be. They could wait for days on end, waiting for the bright wing of justice; a wing that, often, never came.

So, a man could be eating Nsima, (Sadza, is it?), porridge, or drinking local sweet beer (thobwa) in the presence of himself, children, or relatives. Before the food settles in the stomach, there would be a knock on the door, people unknown, people in uniform, the famous red uniform that sent people into mind exiles, well before they were sent to the real jails.

Life was dangerous, then, because your husband, wife, first-born son, last-born daughter, tenant, landlord, landlady, and others of their like, could be an informant (no, the word spy is not good. Yes, informant is better, for that's what they were)- the Judas that played it openly and shamelessly. They called it duty to the nation. A nation premised on the four corner stones of Loyalty, Obedience, Unity, and Loyalty.

So bad that, for some people, days and nights could come and be gone without them noticing. All because the holding cells were so dark light-skinned people got tainted by the darkness, and came back home (after weeks, months, or years) in the dungeon) darker than Mwanza charcoal!

But the birds were free, relatively free. They could go and come as they pleased. The birds.

The birds could manage, also, to be in pairs, two-two: husband and wife. Do birds date, then court, after that marry?

Whichever case, they were free to be in twos, and live freely- without the fear of the wife, neighbour, sibling, landlady, landlord, and the dreaded Youth Leaguers.Nothing wrong with birds in twos: don't they say it is natural to copulate (in the manner so accepted by a given society, and according to the moral principles upheld by the individual whose discretion it is to 'do' what they please?).

But it is not only the birds that could, and still can, be seen in twos: husband and wife, and and girl friend (what? Do we have 'girls' among the birds? Do we have 'boys'?)

Goats, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, among others, could be seen in two as well- in those, and these, days. Just that the birds and the sheep and the dogs and the cats could not hold hands- as humans did, or do. So much for human hands. They (hands) can hold people together, and be a sure sign of love, especially when people, hand-in-hand, walk together in the middle of a confusing, busy road.

The same hands can be a symbol of oppression. In the past, their was Nyakura , people's hands tied at the back- tightly. Painfully. That was the treatment, then. Treatment made possible by the weakness of hands. Rather, by the design of hands.

Wait a minute. We were supposed to talk of how, without a working judiciary, Malawi is 'free' and back to normal!

Yes, that is right. And that's what we are doing.

Malawi's junior judicial workers have been on strike for three months now- beginning from 9 January 2012- and have since been joined by Magistrates, judges, Justices of Appeal, and all who make the judiciary (one of the branches of government) tick.

Malawi is in a loud crisis.

Government spokesperson, Patricia Kaliati, told Zachimalawi today that government is doing all it can to bring the striking judicial workers back to work.

"Malawians should not panic," Kaliati said today, when asked about progress on the issue.

A striking judiciary means angry citizens. There is the anger of deceased estate beneficiaries to take care of. These people, who depend on the Registrar General's office- while the Registrar General's office depends on the High Court of Malawi to have some important documents signed- have nowhere to go now.

Some need the money for school fees. Which means, due to the judicial strike, some pupils and students have been denied the right to learning. Yet this right is Constitutionally-established.

Other people, the less privileged in society, are languishing in police holding cells. They have no voice and can, therefore, not free themselves from their 'bondage'. But the well-to-do are finding their way out of police holding cells.

They have money. Their money is the way. The way to freedom.

But the poor, languishing in Malawian cells, only have a voice.

And the voice is not money.

And can, therefore, not 'bail' them out of police holding cells.

These people will, thus, have to wait for justice.

In other words, they have to wait for justice to be done to those who administer justice.

Lawyer-cum-politician/activist Ralph Kasambara has already called the situation precarious.

Kasambara said this is a sure sign that government has abdicated on its responsibility. That is why, speaking to local media some four weeks ago, he asked the president (Ngwazi Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika, Chitsulo cha Njanji, Mwana wa kwa Goliati, Tate wa University of Science and Technology in his home district of Thyolo) to resign.

Kasambara was Attorney General when the issue of raising salaries for judicial workers was being discussed in 2006. He was on the government side, and knows terms of the agreement.

But Ephraim Chiume, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, maintains that government negotiated with the judicial officers on a remuneration package that could not create artificial salary disparities among civil servants.

"The salary increments were for judicial officers only. And, then, the government negotiated with them on a 'fair' salary structure which they agreed to. That is he salary structure we have been using since 2006. Why should they query now? Why all this time?" Chiume, with so many unanswered questions in his mind, asked aloud.

Some questions are better-hidden, in deed.

So, the strike continues. People continue to suffer.

But, more importantly, other than having three branches of government- the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary- Malawi has two functional arms, technically. These are: The Executive Branch of government, comprising of the State President, Cabinet Ministers, and Civil Service administration, and; the Legislature.

In 2006, the Legislature approved salaries for judicial workers, having received the papers from the Executive. Didn't the Executive know what it was doing, processing all that paper work through the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, presenting it to cabinet for assessment and deliberations, sending it to the National Assembly (Parliament, to be specific, since the National Assembly is a broad term, and includes the Speaker of the National Assembly and the State President himself. People should not inter-use the term Parliament with the National Assembly. The technical differences are so distinctly clear and white you would trace them from a far) to be made (read, rubber stamped) into law, before going back to the President for that final signature that sends some unfortunate people to the gallows.

Everything was well known and understood, according to Chiume, and that is why government went back to the drawing table, decided it had been hoodwinked into making very useless a law, and opened negotiations. The judicial workers accepted, even though the Malawi Law Society (yes, the very same selfish Malawi Law Society that has barred members of the general public from visiting its resource centre by introducing a prohibitive K200 fee for entry. It does not matter you just want to read a newspaper, or outdated magazine. The Malawi Law Society, like lawyers, is there to make money. Period!) has gone to court, demanding that government pays up according to the dictates of the 2006 law.

Now, a case in which lawyers are going to the courts to force government to pay up to the very same judges and magistrates who will preside over the case is an interesting one. How do you preside over an issue you are interested in? Where is the impartiality? The professionalism? Why not hire foreign judges (say, from the Southern African Development Community, or Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, even from the African Union) to preside over the case so that local lawyers may, at last, maintain their semblance of objectivity and independence?

The short of it is that judicial workers agreed to the new terms, and it is strange that, all of a sudden, they have 'discovered' that they were dubbed!

It must be greed.
It must be selfishness.
It must be nothing.

Now, if you want new perks and the employer does not want to pay you, why not resign and go for greener pastures? What makes them stick around?

There must be something in the 'empty' tin: air.

Still, the question arises, how is this related to normalcy?

It boils down to the same issue of birds, and nature. Often, there is a member of one sex, and a member of the other. Husband and wife. Boy and girl-friend. There is, somehow, always an Adam and Eve.

And Adam (one) plus Eve (two) equals two. Two people.

Adam-bird plus Eve-bird equals two birds. There is always one sex, and the other: two sexes. Never three.

Why? Two is natural. With two, procreation is possible. With two, idea-sharing is possible. Without two, companionships are born.

With two, you will never be alone. Of course, some people are said to still feel 'lonely' in the midst of a noisy crowd. It's an exception. An exception to normalcy.

Life experience has proven that two is great.

Which brings us to our issue of the judicial strike in Malawi making things 'so' 'normal'. Even more than normal.

When so many things, in the world, are premised on twos, why have three branches of government? This must be so unnatural. This must be strange.

The on-going judicial strike has, therefore, normalised the situation in the life of the ordinary Malawian.

No one has, of yet, died of 'judicial strike' disease. Malawians continue to eat Nsima and drink water.

President Bingu wa Mutharika continues to rule, making sure the Malawian people get the basic necessities in life.

Members of Parliament continue to meet in Lilongwe (at the New Parliament Building constructed by our good friends, the great people of Mainland China).

Above all, the rains continue to fall.

In fact, Malawi has been experiencing more than enough rains since the day the junior judicial staff workers went on strike, and the rains have intensified since the judicial workers (the big people in the judiciary) joined the strike on Friday last week.

It must be normalcy. It must be normalcy.

(With the Judiciary and Executive branches still working), two must be good.

Malawi has gone back to two, the basic unit of life. Malawi is, more than ever before, the Warm Heart of Africa it has never been.

It makes two hearts to fall for each other. And two hearts to conspire.

Normalcy never comes in bits of three!!!

Misa: Information minister threatens journalist, confirms espionage within media fraternity

Malawi Alert-update
6 March 2012

Malawi’s Information and Civic Education minister, Patricia Kaliati, has verbally assaulted freelance journalist, Gregory Gondwe, following an article published by online news site, Biz Community and which Gondwe himself shared with Malawian journalists on a dedicated and exclusive e-mail discussion forum moderated by the Media Institute of Southern Africa’s Malawi Chapter (MISA-Malawi).

Kaliati is said to have accused the journalist of having a specific vendetta against her personally and the people from her region, the same region where Malawi president, Bingu wa Mutharika hails from. The minister then issued a ‘veiled’ warning to Gondwe, saying that this was to be the last time he wrote anything about her and suggesting that she would not be hesitant, in future, to do anything to the journalist since they did not hail from the same region in Malawi.

The article in question (available: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/129/15/71554.html) told of the Malawi government’s dismissal of a cabinet assessment report published by The Sunday Times, a prominent newspaper published by Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL), the oldest publishing house in Malawi. On 2 March 2012, we issued an alert concerning the same minister and the Malawi government’s reaction to The Sunday Times’ initiative.

In his own words, Gondwe told the MISA Regional Secretariat Monday that: “Starting from yesterday [Sunday 4 March], a private call has been prodding on my mobile phone and I ignored the call since I don’t normally respond to callers with hidden identities. This morning [Monday 5 March] around 5AM the calling resumed. I ignored the calls for a while until I decided to answer.”

He continued: “My reluctance was confirmed when I discovered that the caller was none other than the Information and Civic Education Minister, Honourable Patricia Kaliati. She told me that there are journalists on the MISA-Malawi forum who are spying on some of us and alert her of any discussions that take place concerning her. According to the minister, I am trying to fight people from Mulanje (the minister’s home village) and I hold a vendetta against her because I wrote about her when she was not the only minister who scored 2 out of 10 in The Sunday Times report. She then sent a veiled warning that this should be the last time that I am stepping on her toes, apparently because we are not from the same place. This, after she had used foul language on me.”

MISA is gravely concerned about the condescending behaviour of Honourable Kaliati towards journalists, coming as it does against the backdrop of a rapidly declining democratic culture in Malawi. If such behaviour from a whole minister is symptomatic of the Malawi government’s growing intolerance of media freedom and freedom of expression then we shudder to think what plight will befall journalists and media professionals alike at the hands of junior public servants and quite possibly, people with links to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

We encourage and plead with minister Kaliati to make active use of MISA-Malawi and the Media Council of Malawi to air out any concerns she might have regarding what is published or broadcast by the media in Malawi. In our view, calling journalists at nicodemean hours to verbally assault them and issue serious threats is hardly what a minister of Information and Civic Education should do in a functioning democracy.

We are also deeply disturbed by the acts of yet-unknown journalists who are working in cahoots with politicians, clandestinely distributing to them information that is intended only for paid-up members of MISA-Malawi and designed to enhance the media profession in Malawi by providing fodder for vibrant and robust debate amongst journalists, media professionals and media scholars alike.

Such journalists, while free to associate with whoever they like, are in clear breach of not only the code of conduct of the MISA-Malawi e-mail discussion forum but also the global ethical practice of journalism by knowingly putting their fellow journalists in danger through their aiding and abetting politicians to secretly gather information on targeted journalists.

While MISA acknowledges the existence and – indeed – necessity of diverse opinions and approaches within the profession, we wish to reiterate that polarization that has clear political influence as its common denominator is extremely harmful, leads to loss of both credibility and confidence and, in the worst case scenario, leads to unfortunate loss of life, all of which can be prevented. Therefore, we urge all journalists in Malawi to exercise restraint, seek to protect each other and guard the sanctity of the practice of journalism in spite of whatever differences may exist in how their work is executed.

Finally, we encourage journalists on the MISA-Malawi e-mail forum to continue freely engaging on all matters journalism and media. We reiterate that MISA supports innovation and enhancement of media products for improved quality and service to designated audiences and we view this critical introspection by Malawian journalists as a very special way of seeking to improve how the media in Malawi can better serve the citizens who rely on them, daily, for information, education and entertainment.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation says 'No'

Pakistan and the Islamic bloc of nations at the UN have declared their opposition to the UN Human Rights Council discussing discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.



A panel discussion is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, 7 March 2012, at the UN in Geneva, during the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council.



Their opposition is set out in a letter to the UN Human Rights Council, signed by the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN, Zamir Akram. He writes on behalf of the government of Pakistan and all 57 countries that belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).



The Ambassador's letter makes the claim that LGBT rights are not human rights; asserting that they have "nothing to do with fundamental human rights." It denounces same-sex relationships as "abnormal sexual behaviour;" adding that "the issue of sexual orientation is unacceptable to the OIC." Ambassador Akram's letter concludes by vowing that the OIC member countries "record their opposition to the holding of this panel and will not accept its considerations and recommendations."

Which Courage?

Confession: I don't know why I am writing this.
Just that, in life, this applies.
I think it's philosophy.
I think it's life.
Don't know.- Richard Chirombo

The story of life in Malawi, and how its citizens have managed to weave their way through life's maze, is not inseparable from the story of courage.
Not courage in the carnal sense; courage in the broad sense.
What is courage in the carnal sense? The willingness, almost selfish desire, to sacrifice one's life on the alter of history; to, then, be remembered forever.
In which case, people only remember the good, green leaves, and leave out the dry leaves- the bad chapters in the life no longer full, as to be traceable.
The bad thing about this sort of courage is that it is, as the name implies, dark courage- selfish (one-centred), and devoid of objectivity, empty on gratitude and praise, and, therefore, stingy on truth.
What truth there is, if we may come to think of it, in throwing the thick skin of truth outside the window, all for the sake of that feel-good, good for nothing experience that feeds so well into hero-worshiping and pat-my-back expediency.
It (this carnality-wise existence) is so positive-minded it sacrifices truth for the sake of history, and pleases to a fault.
So, the carnally-courageous man and woman is a self-pretending, 'deep-skinned', 'holy' individual, so resistant to human flails and like-shortfalls.
The carnally-courageous man and woman, in the eyes of themselves and their self-proclaimed worshipers,never beats his wife or husband, girl or boyfriend, never chastens their children, but (instead) they pay their rentals in time, honour their debts two days before receiving their own wages, eat their neighbours' mangoes only when on the brink of starving, and express gratitude for every strand of their hair dyed at a fee, and always say sorry for doing the right thing.
No wonder, then, that it is carnal-courage that world leaders upload. But the leaders simply happen to stand in front of a small, visible picture on top of the small hill that is public life because others, too, partake of this selfish desire, and, in its waters, their eyelashes plummet.
For once, there are sports stars, religious leaders (the money-minded type), media tycoons, and others who soak their beards and dyed-hair in the blue waters of lie-coated fame.
Who, after all, abhors fame- even if they did not deserve it?
What about courage in the broad sense?
Having expounded on, and trod on the hot sands of, carnal courage, it is only sensible to dive deeper into the intricacies of broad-sensed courage.
This, for a start, stems from the willingness and drive to (not die manfully, as mostly applied in the carnal sense, but)live decently.
This is where decency and corrupt-mindedness part ways.
The broad-sensed courageous man and woman will strive to live a meaningful, satisfactory life. It does not matter who gets satisfied (leaders, the common, over-taxed citizens), and when- whether in this mortal life, or when all these things are past and gone, and all is but dust for the sun's rays.
This sort of individual strives to live decently. That is, to have responsibility towards the other (not only close friends, relatives, loved ones, and the people on life's road we have bumped into), and live for the self and others, reaching out to all people dutifully, and tendering to, and nursing, their troubles as if they were part of the self.
In which case, problems become a leg, a foot, an eye, a straying hair, a nail, eye lashes, brain tissue. That is, other people's problems and their own problems matter.
Such people reach out to others, and rejoice in so doing. Their courage is directed at events, circumstances, and not individuals. They are men and women of issues and circumstances, and never individuals of the stomach (self-aggrandisement).
In their minds, all the time (at least for the time in their lives that they are free from refreshment and recreation, for this is important in life), they want to explore ways of living productively, and worthily. Their obligations are, therefore, two-fold: To a supreme being, or deity, and fellow human beings (of course, they don't look at others as 'human beings'; they look at others as 'the human being', with individual needs, accomplishments, desires, hopes, and fears). But never, entirely, to themselves.
In which case, living decently has come to mean the pursuit of enjoyment where pain can be avoided, and the realisation of common goals where selfish motives are all too possible.
All these things are done in the hope that, when everything will be past and gone, including themselves, there should on earth one thing remain: legacy.
What people will make of it, and out of it, will be subject to the interpretations of their own time, their own mentality, their own attitude, and their own discretion. Their own interpretation, too.
The man and woman who lived courage in its broad sense will have nothing to do with it, and will never try to stretch an invisible hand through (by way of) their presence on the national currency, national monument, national stadium, dual carriage road, or multi-purpose shopping mall (as some people do- by attempting to 'commit', or achieve, mortality by naming things after their own names, as apposed to the names of their own children, children who will live after they are long gone).
This is different, so different from the carnally-courageous man, in that the carnally-responsive individual is always afraid of a future they will never be there to live.
On the other hand, the broad-sensed courageous individual is always concerned of, or about, the future they will never be there to see (of course, mortality being equal), but which future should be good. That is the remarkable, distinguishing mark- the future, to these people, must be differently sweet, so differently sweet.
The people who will be there are, therefore, made judges. Which is not possible with the canal fellas, who are always striving to sugar-coat their presence, in the hope of manipulating the future.
That is why, more than the one life they have, they will try to influence things more than once. They will try to do this by shaping people's opinion in favour of themselves (and never in favour of others. These are people who hate succession plans; sometimes, they even hate mortality, procreation. They may not marry, or date, or court. They want the world for themselves, by themselves, to themselves. They want the world to be themselves).
So, they go about naming public places after their own name. At family level, they will call their son 'Junior' as one way of making themselves visible in a world they may not be too visible. They will construct school blocks in their maize gardens.
Not only that, the carnally-courageous individual, because of that touch-less fear of death, will try to soil the names of others, name-call, where possible, and become their own best judges, their own spokespersons. Their own advocates. Their own hand-clappers. Their own freedom fighters.
Freedom fighters? No, it's never freedom (common freedom) they fight for. They fight for their comfort, betterment, aggrandisement, and happiness.
That is not freedom; it is addiction to freedom and, in a way, prisonership to such freedom- a kind of self-servitude. Now, prisonership is not stewardship. And freedom does not bind; it sets free.
While freedom may oblige individuals, or nation states, to do something, it does not restrict as to make it, in any way, 'impossible'. No, that is not the freedom we know; or, if such freedom we have not come to know, believe in.
Lastly, in between the carnally-courageous individual and the broad-sensed-courage individual is the courage pretender. Yes, courage pretender.
The courage pretender, another breed of human beings, has no clear side, no clear point, no clear hopes, no clear fears, and, therefore, no well-marked direction.
The courage pretender goes with the wind. The courage pretender follows the sun when it sets. The courage pretender hates the moon when it comes, and hates it when it goes. They hate the dark shapes on the moon.
They abhor the morning sun, for one, and bemoan the setting sun, for another. The pretender hates the past they never saw, and praises the future they have never seen.
Such individuals will hate the Biblical Adam for going against the ways of his Creator, and black-speak Eve for bowing to the enticings of the homeless snake.
They will talk of Adolf Hitler, and express how hard their blow would have felt, as it landed on Hitler's hairless head! They are always imagining things.
They will watch 'Nat Geo Wild'television, see the lions and tigers pounce on a monkey with a one-week old baby, and wish they were there to arrow the lions, and the tigers, and the leopards, to death for their 'thoughtless' deed. They will forget that, to the lion and the leopard and the tiger, the mother-monkey is but ndiwo (relish, enough for the day).
Narrow judgement kills them. Really.
What broadness there is, when one only thinks in 'if I were', 'hard it been', 'he would have', 'she would have', 'No, but' terms? It must be vanity. Really.
The courage-pretender thinks that things would have been better if they were there.
It is all wishful thinking. Really.
Because- common sense dictates- they were not there (in the first place).
Would not have been there (at all).
And may not be there- in the future after their future is but the past.
That is not all there is to the courage-pretender, though; the courage pretender does not stand for the broad-courage individual. The pretender will, also, not be against the broad-courage individual.
The courage pretender does not support the canal-courage individual either. But they don't oppose them, too.
Instead, the courage-pretender will think that they know what they want. In many ways than one, they don't- though they make themselves believe they do, and live like they do (in their private places).
And the courage-pretender may, at the same time, think they do not have a side, because they do not believe in their side, let alone know any such side.
But they will not oppose, too.
They are like warm.
Unsure.
Unclear.

But hopeful, anyway. That something must, in the jungle of truths, half-truths, and untruth, be true.
Just that it is not in them that the truth may be found.
It is not them that are the mine, in which deposits of truth lie hidden. To come out one day, and shine for all the world.
And be the sun for all the world.

However, one thing is clear- looking at the different ways, the many ways, people stick to (or will try to stick to) courage one way, or the other.
Courage must be sweet.
Courage must be good.
Courage is sweet.
Courage is good.
Courage is admirable.

Sweet courage.

Of the three courageous individuals here explored, only one will say 'Sweet courage'. Why? Because the mention of these two words demands certainty, sure-footnotes, steadfastness, and some degree of morality. Not academic morality, but life morality.



There is only one, though all desire sweet courage.

Calabash

Right-handed,
Posing he on life's position-
Or, put more corneally, right place, right time-
Grabbed he 'Calabash 2004'
And the contents- good food, still water, iodised salt, brown sugar
Enough rains, more oxygen, white teeth, bright hopes- he inherited,
And for the 10-mile sojourn readied.

Why wobble you this far,
Two steps before the blue waters of home?
Why this lonesome journey take,
Stepping on the multitude's toes?
Why head the calabash away,
From the expectant hands that it,
From veined trees they created and carried?

Hoping on Hope

Hope, the steel bars of every plan, can take people places- places they have never been to before.
Hope- which becomes regret, those times when 'if only' befriends the knee- has helped people die in vain, if not in the vanity plain, on the 'understanding' that, someday, tomorrow is meant to be better than yesterday.
It is so simple to understand this. Yesterday, the elder brother to this expiring day, came as a surprise to you and me. We were less experienced.
Today, with yesterday's experience, we are mature. Perhaps strong. We must be ready for what may, today, us befall.
That is the understanding. This understanding is premised on the supposition that yesterday, today and tomorrow are generations.
Yesterday was the (not 'a') generation. A generation of yesterday.
Today is a generation. The generation of today.
And, so, will tomorrow be. Tomorrow's generation.
It is better said than elucidated.
Really.
But simple to comprehend, all the same.
Now, let's go on this path of 'generations'; this path about (let's call it) the 'generations of time".
Yesterday. Generation.
Today. Generation.
Tomorrow. Generation.
It makes sense. Because all generations are based on time. All generations are counted against time. All generations are premised on time.
That is, time and generations are all the same. They are one.
Like body like spirit. The two are one.
Somehow.
If not in form, at least in purpose.
The purpose that begets unity. The unity that builds on the spirit.
Confusing?
Let's make it simple.
Yesterday (for this is what all this is about) is supposed to mold us into better, prepared citizens.
Yesterday is, on its on, supposed to be a teacher.
A teacher to individuals. A teacher to nations.
That is how animals (wild and tame) flourish.
They may not have the 'knowledge' of the human being. They may not be as brainy as the human being.
But they have a 'brain' that does not belong to them. This brain has no cells.
This brain has no skull.
In fact, it is not a brain that 'rests' at the end of that, often, stretched organ called the 'neck'.
No. The brain of the animals is 'yesterday' (or time).
That is why, when a tiger tastes human fresh, it will develop that habit. It is not developed out of instinct. No, it is out of time- a sense of what happened yesterday.
Now, if animals can so behave- on the strength of yesterday- what more with humans.
Why, if a question may be asked, can't human beings find solutions to fuel, forex, whatever, shortages they may have.
Based on this other brain: yesterday.
Others call it experience.

The Story of Khader Adnan

Khader Adnan, a 33 year old Palestinian activist, is in detention- lying shackled to a hospital bed in northern Israel and under constant armed guard.

He has been on hunger strike for over 60 days and doctors have warned that his life is in serious danger.

He was arrested on 17 December 2011 and started his hunger strike a day later to protest against his ill-treatment by the Israel Security Agency (ISA).

In January this year, he was given a four-month administrative detention order signed by a military commander.

Administrative detention is a procedure under which detainees are held without charge, or trial, for up to six months and which can be renewed repeatedly.

In the meantime, because of his hunger strike, Khader Adnan’s health has been deteriorating quite seriously. Hundreds of other Palestinian detainees and prisoners have joined his hunger strike.

Local censorship goes global as media under siege- CPJ

New York, February 21, 2012- Repressive governments, militants, and criminal groups across the globe are leveraging new and traditional tactics to control information, with the aim of obscuring misdeeds, silencing dissent, and disempowering citizens, according to Attacks on the Press, a yearly survey released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

As demonstrated by Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea's media blackout of the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring or Syria's blackout on the repression of protests, or Egypt's unplugging of the Internet, local suppression of information-whether by technology as done by Iran, legal persecution as in Ecuador and Turkey, or violence against journalists as in Mexico, Uganda and Somalia-has global repercussions.

"Navigating political unrest, environmental disaster, and other disruptions cannot be done effectively when information is censored," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "In a globalized information age, censorship is a transnational violation that must be emphatically countered."

CPJ found that in the Arab world, journalists face unpredictable new threats, and in Asia intimidation has a chilling effect. In Africa, investigative reporting is considered a threat to development; in Latin America, state media serves as a politicized weapon against the independent press. Worldwide, Internet crime laws put journalists in potential peril.

Attacks on the Press, the definitive annual assessment of the state of press freedom worldwide, features analytical essays by CPJ experts along with an overview of media conditions in more than 100 countries and regional data on anti-press violations. The book also documents individual cases and provides a census of journalists killed (46) and imprisoned (179) in 2011.

Key regional trends identified by CPJ include:

Africa:
As China becomes a key trading partner and expands its influence in the region, governments from South Africa to Gambia are criminalizing independent reporting on bad governance, demonizing it as detrimental to economic development. Some countries like Ethiopia and Burundi even use anti-terrorism laws to prosecute critical journalists and cow the press into self-censorship. Repression is happening in the form of injunctions, amendments to laws, and seizure of footage. The watchdog role of a free press is being publicly tarnished and critical reporting deemed anti-patriotic. Over the past 10 years, at least 301 African journalists have fled their homelands in fear of violence and imprisonment -- more than double the number of exiles from any other region.

Americas:
The use of state-owned media to advance political goals has become a notorious trend in politically polarized countries in Latin America. In addition to delivering political propaganda, these outlets are serving as platforms for smear campaigns against critics, including journalists. Elected leaders have invested in large multimedia holdings, building impressive press conglomerates that further political agendas and exclude or vilify critical voices. Meanwhile, in Mexico, anti-press violence continues to spread, unpunished. As the Calderón presidency winds down, a mechanism to protect journalists remains an empty promise and the investigation of journalist murders remains in the hands of often corrupt state authorities.

Asia:
Censorship in Asia is multifaceted, from official repression to violence that is regularly met with impunity. Since 1992, the region has seen 156 unsolved journalist murders. For the past two years, Pakistan has been the deadliest country in the world for journalists, leading many into hiding or exile. In the Philippines, a trial seeking justice for 32 journalists and media workers murdered in 2010 has stalled, a testament to the government's inability to deliver due judicial process and the impunity plaguing the region. Meanwhile, in China -- despite vibrant debates on microblogs that give mainstream media the pulse of grassroots anger -- authorities keep a tight grip on information with imprisonment, secret detentions, and Internet blocking.

Europe and Central Asia:
The gap between countries that uphold press freedom as a core value and those that curb a critical, inquisitive press is widening. Within the EU, Hungary has set a dangerous precedent by adopting a new media law and constitution that challenge fundamental European values. Regionally, the protection of sources has become a major battleground, as some governments are eager to defang investigative journalism. Street protests have proven risky, while populist and nationalistic movements along with criminal organizations intimidate the press. In its external relations, the EU neglects press freedom in dialogue with powerful countries such as China and Russia, where imprisonment and impunity in journalist killings, respectively, remain the norm.

Middle East and North Africa:
Amid upheaval, the success or failure of popular uprisings rests with control of the national narrative. Journalists therefore find themselves the targets of new and evolving threats, with prolonged politicized trials diminishing while assaults and fatalities rise. While citizen-generated footage gives traditional media political cover to address sensitive subjects, authorities and their surrogates are making equally astute use of new technology to disseminate their messages, silence, and intimidate. Iran's revolving-door prison policy drives many journalists into exile.

###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Women Bear the Burden of High Cost of Living: CfSC Press Statement for January, 2012

As Malawi continues to wallow in economic hardships, low and middle income earners persistently struggle to afford even the most basic of monthly commodities. The Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) Cost of Living report for 2011 indicates that the cost of living went up by 21% between January and October 2011 (see Figure 1), whereas the earning power increased at an average of 7% for civil servants and almost at the same rate for other sectors. This unmatched increase in the cost of living continues relentlessly and is negatively impacting on household food security.

As Figure 1 portrays, towards the end of 2011 the cost of the Basic Needs Basket continued to increase dramatically and the survey for January 2012 shows that this upsurge will persist if nothing tangible is done. From December 2011 to January 2012 the cost of living went up by an average of 9.7%: Blantyre registered a 12% increase, Lilongwe 11%, while Zomba and Mzuzu had an increase of 8%. The total basic needs basket comprising of food and non-food essential items for Lilongwe, Zomba, Blantyre and Mzuzu for a family of 6 people is now at K77, 760; K65, 449; K74, 059 and K66, 454 respectively. Regarding commodities in the basket, almost every item went up drastically. For instance, Maize price hiked by 30% in Zomba, beans went up by 17% in Lilongwe and tomatoes had gone up by 36% in Zomba city. In Mzuzu, prices for food items seem to have stabilised in January.
Households most affected by this increase in food prices are net buyers who typically spend a large share of their income on food. The most vulnerable net buyers are female-headed households. Studies have shown that female-headed households are disproportionately among the poorest of the poor in rural and urban areas (Coon, 2008) and that sudden increases in food prices have negative repercussions for female-headed households in particular, partly because they tend to spend proportionally more on food than male-headed households and therefore are harder hit by higher food prices (FAO, 2008).

As Alex Nkosi, the Social Conditions Research Programme Officer observes, “For women headed households living below the poverty line, providing even one meal a day for children is often a struggle, compounded by women’s lack of access to productive assets and credit, as well as cultural norms that accord women the main responsibility for meeting household consumption needs. For such households higher prices have an immediate impact on the quantity and quality of food consumed”.

In the light of the ever increasing cost of living, CfSC carried out a study to uncover the survival and adaptive strategies that poor people employ in order survive in the face of inadequate resources. The study revealed that poor households employ strategies ranging from dietary change to rationing. In terms of dietary change, households start to rely on less preferred and less expensive food. Some families send their children to eat with their well-off neighbours or send their household members to beg either within their community or in town centres. Others simply borrow food or rely on help from their well of relatives or gather wild food to survive. As regards rationing, families limit the portion size at meal times or resort to feeding working members of the household at the expense of non-working members.

Alex Nkosi further notes that, “it is women who bear the brunt of high food price rises, not only because they are primarily responsible for the management of food in the household but also because they are often the ones who buffer the impact of the crisis at the household level through decreased consumption”.

These strategies have significant consequences, especially for the most vulnerable groups (sick, elderly, children, pregnant women). The fact that women and children face particular lifecycle vulnerabilities, however, means that malnutrition can have particularly devastating health effects. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the nutritional effects of high food prices, given that they are more likely to develop micronutrient deficiencies when driven to consume less diversified daily diets. Children, pregnant women and lactating mothers are most at risk of the effects of rising food prices (FAO, 2008; Oxfam and Save the Children, 2008; UNICEF, 2009). The high cost of living affects maternal health in particular, with malnutrition rendering pregnant women more susceptible to infection, miscarriage and premature labour. It also increases the likelihood that pregnant women who are HIV positive will transmit their virus to their children.

CfSC is concerned with the alarming rate at which the cost of living is increasing in Malawi and its consequent impact on poor households. While some of the food price increases are justifiable considering Malawi’s current macro-economic situation, CfSC strongly feels that most business people are taking advantage of the situation to rip-off poor people. CfSC strongly encourages government to study the situation and take appropriate action to remedy the situation. Additionally, vulnerable people like women-headed households need to be protected from shocks through effective safety nets. Safety nets may include assistance in the form of food, vouchers or cash transfers as well as employment programmes like food or cash for work.

Amnesty International on Malawi: Former Attorney General Returned to Prison Despite Bail Order

Press Release
16 February 2012



The Malawian authorities must comply immediately with a court order to free former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara on bail, Amnesty International said after he was rearrested on Wednesday night, just hours after his release from detention.

Former Attorney General, and private practice lawyer, Ralph Kasambara: Amnesty International says his continued detention violates human rights and points to Malawi's worsening situation- Picture sourced from Ralph Kasambara's Facebook page

Ralph Kasambara was first arrested on Monday after a scuffle broke out when a group of five men allegedly attempted to petrol bomb his office in Blantyre, the country's commercial capital.

A day earlier, two national newspapers had quoted the lawyer as criticizing Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika.

"The rearrest of Ralph Kasambara indicates the Malawian authorities are willing blatantly to flout the law when it comes to dissenting voices," said Noel Kututwa, Amnesty International's Deputy Program Director for Africa.

"Such disregard for the judicial process is an alarming sign for the human rights of perceived critics of the government in Malawi, suggesting that the authorities are willing to stop at nothing to silence their critics."

On Thursday, Ralph Kasambara's lawyers Wapona Kita and Jonathon Kara were summoned by the directors of Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau to answer questions in relation to their client being granted bail.

"It would appear the authorities are pulling out all stops to ensure Ralph Kasambara remains in custody," said Noel Kututwa.

On Monday a group of five men carrying a can of petrol arrived at the prominent lawyer's office, asking people in the vicinity about his whereabouts. Five security officers responded to the scene, prompting two of the alleged attackers to flee.

The other three apparently admitted, after his security team used force, that they had been sent by government officials to attack Ralph Kasambara.

Police arrived at the scene and arrested the lawyer, his security team and the three remaining men. When they arrived at Blantyre Police Station, Ralph Kasambara and his security team were detained and charged with assault before being transferred to the city's Chichiri Prison.

The three men who were also arrested at his office are apparently no longer in custody, having been driven away from the police station in an unmarked car.

The next day, a Blantyre Magistrate granted Kasambara bail on 20,000 Malawian Kwacha (equivalent to US $120) on the condition he report to police once a week. He was returned to prison for one night before his release could be processed.

His release on Wednesday morning was delayed when police arrived at the Chichiri Prison with a search warrant and requested he accompany them to his office and home. He refused to go, but the search went ahead.

Kasambara was released on Wednesday afternoon and returned briefly to his home before armed police rearrested him and returned him to Chichiri Prison. No additional charges have been made.

Ralph Kasambara is one of a number of people in Malawi, including human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists, who have been targeted since early 2011 for criticizing the government on issues including human rights, governance and the economy.

The intimidation has taken the form of death threats, forced entry to homes and offices, petrol bombings and other attacks. Threats have come from people who say they are aligned with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or by men believed to be state security agents.

Human rights defenders speaking at international forums and those involved in organizing anti-government demonstrations have been publicly criticized and threatened with violence and arrest by government officials, including President Mutharika.

Throughout 2011, Amnesty International spoke out against increased repression and threats to Malawians' freedom of expression, association and assembly.

MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON BARRING OF MBC REPORTERS FROM COVERING A CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS CONFERENCE

14th February, 2012

The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is
disturbed with reports that journalists from state funded Malawi
Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) were barred from covering a function
organized by civil society organisations in Lilongwe today, February 14,
2012.

Reports indicate that civil society organisations, led by Human Rights
Consultative Committee (HRCC), organised a news conference to express
their concerns on the arrest of Human Rights Lawyer Ralph Kasambara but
refused to allow reporters from MBC to attend or cover the function.

The development was confirmed to MISA Malawi by one of the organisers of
the news conference who said MBC was barred because of its biased
reporting in favor of government. He said barring the reporters was one
way of advocating for change at the national broadcaster.

MISA Malawi would like to call upon civil society organisations to adopt
constructive strategies in advocating for change rather than being at the
fore in infringing on the Republican Constitution, which clearly provides
for journalists' right to access information.

Much as we agree with civil society organisations on MBC's bias towards
government, we believe Malawians are rational and capable of judging for
themselves whether a media house is biased or not. Barring reporters from
covering a news briefing is retrogressive and unwarranted in any democracy
worth the name.

Civil Society bodies should be in the forefront promoting and defending
constitutional guarantees and not flouting them. Barring some sections of
the media from covering functions could easily be construed as lack of
tolerance and deliberate and strategic to deny Malawians access to
opposing and critical information on our actions and plans. Such actions
could further mean that civil society organizations only want to deal with
media outlets that promote their cause, which is unhealthy and regrettable
in a democracy. Malawians need all sides to an issue to make informed
decisions and true democracy depends on the extent to which leaders
tolerate opposing views.

As we have always stated, MISA Malawi does not condone biased reporting
and neither does it encourage irresponsible journalism and if barring
reporters from covering functions has anything to do with professional
misconduct, we are more than willing to mediate.

We are therefore appealing to civil society leaders to exercise contact
and dialogue with media houses as well as media bodies that represent the
interests of journalists, whenever disagreements arise rather than
proceeding to breach provisions of the Constitution.

MISA Malawi is further appealing to civil society leaders to respect media
freedom and freedom of expression, which includes the right to be accorded
the fullest possible facilities for access to information.

We would also like to appeal to journalists both from public and private
media to remain professional and avoid serving the interests of one
section of society.

Signed
Anthony Kasunda
CHAIRPERSON, MISA MALAWI

From CPJ: Uganda's Museveni issues warning to news media

By Mohamed Hassim Keita/Africa Research Associate

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda lashed out at private broadcasters last week, accusing them of unethical reporting. The comments come in the midst of two important, ongoing developments: mounting public criticism of Museveni's policies and the government's criminal prosecutions of six journalists for their coverage.

"You rarely inform. You rarely educate. You entertain, yes. But you mostly lie and incite. I have so much evidence to prove all this," Museveni declared Friday while speaking at a dinner of Uganda's National Association of Broadcasters, according to the state-owned daily New Vision. The Office of the President's Media Centre quoted Museveni as saying that authorities would take "very serious" steps against media outlets seen as inciting public discontent with the government. "When you try to imitate the Western media," he was quoted as saying, "you will run into problems."

Museveni, a former guerilla commander in power since 1986, is expected to seek re-election in 2011.

Rachel Mugarura Mutana, who runs the independent Uganda Radio Network, has heard this all before. "He's said it more than once," she said. Fourteen months ago, in fact, the president singled out Monitor, Uganda's leading private daily, during his annual address to parliament. Waving a copy of an article critical of the government's dealings with an international investor, Museveni accused the paper of undermining national interests and said it had "no right to damage our future."

In some respects, radio journalists would seem an unlikely target for the president's most recent salvo. Local journalist Charles Bichachi told CPJ that some irresponsible statements could be heard on live radio debate programs, but he said the president's criticism was largely unwarranted as it pertained to news coverage. Mutana said that while radio stations offer people forums to express themselves, they lag behind newspapers and television in current affairs coverage. This is due to financial constraints (which tend to limit current affairs coverage in favor of inexpensive music programming) and the relatively few journalists adequately trained in radio journalism, she said. Nevertheless, a call-in radio program questioning police handling of unsolved murder cases led officers to interrogate Ssubi FM Editor-in-Chief Bashir Kazibwe twice last month, according to the local press freedom group Human Rights Network for Journalists.

Museveni's comments come amid public criticism of a government policy proposal on land and political rights in Uganda's oil-rich western region. The criticism stems from Monitor's publication of a leaked presidential memo proposing to restrict political and land rights to the ethnic Banyoro, whose traditional kingdom is the site of intense oil exploration.

The government did not dispute the contents of the memo, although spokeswoman Kabakumba Matsiko told local and international media that the document was misrepresented "as if it was a final decision." Monitor acknowledged some errors and published a correction. Nevertheless, police have interrogated Managing Editor Daniel Kalinaki, Sunday Monitor Editor Henry Ochieng, and reporter Emmanuel Gyezaho on accusations of "uttering a false document," according to defense lawyer James Nangwala.

Two other Monitor journalists were arrested recently on criminal charges related to their work. Moses Akena was detained on August 10 and charged with criminal defamation in connection with a corruption story. On July 21, Inspector General of Government Faith Mwonda had Monitor photojournalist Stephen Otage arrested for taking photographs of her outside a courthouse. Police seized Otage's camera and charged him with "criminal trespass." Mwonda is also the plaintiff in a criminal libel lawsuit against four Monitor journalists who raised questions about her salary in 2007.

In this context, many local journalists have expressed fears of a renewed government crackdown on the media in the run-up to elections in 2011. "We're anticipating things to heat up in the next few months especially as [Museveni] prepares for elections," said local journalist Bichachi. Mutana of Uganda Radio Network described the president's remarks as a proverbial cracking of the whip ahead of the election cycle.

One award-winning political editor, who suffered the whip of repression four years ago and currently faces at least 21 criminal charges in relation to his coverage, said he is undeterred. "I write what I think," Andrew Mwenda told CPJ. "I leave it to the government to think about what they will do."

UPDATED: We corrected Henry Ochieng's title after a commentator pointed out that he is Sunday Monitor editor.

Mohamed Keita is advocacy coordinator for CPJ's Africa Program. He regularly gives interviews in French and English to international news media on press freedom issues in Africa and has participated in several panels. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ.

From CPJ: Attack on South Sudan reporter sparks critical debate

By Tom Rhodes/CPJ East Africa Consultant

February is the hottest month in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and Mading Ngor, a reporter and presenter for the Catholic-owned Bakhita FM, trudged his way through the heat to cover parliament proceedings last week--only to be thrown unceremoniously out of the assembly. "Before I had time to argue, four security guards pinned me to the ground and dragged me across the floor, tearing up my trousers," Ngor, a hard-hitting, critical journalist, told me.

The ensuing furor included apologies, a protest, an opinion column, a committee investigation, parliamentary debate, the banning of Ngor from the assembly, and finally, a parliamentary call to revive deliberations over three media bills originally drafted five years ago. While some journalists see the resurrection of those proposals as a silver lining, others -- including Ngor -- are worried that debate over the bills in this heated atmosphere may spell trouble for press freedom in the world's newest country.

"If they do it now, it will not be the same bills we had hoped would pass," Ngor said.

It all began, Ngor says, because he sat in the wrong place. Normally he sits in the public gallery, but as he arrived on February 6 the legislative assembly was reading out motions. "So I opted to sit in the other section in the back -- the whole row was empty." An unidentified security officer ordered him to be removed from the parliament premises. After Ngor attempted to reason with the security officer and finish his reporting, he was thrown out by thuggish force.

"This case is getting unwarranted media attention," Ngor says, given that such incidents happen all the time in South Sudan. "I remember last September the security almost murdered me for taking a picture in the assembly." Later he found that there was no official protocol banning photography in the assembly hall. Indeed, South Sudan has already developed a reputation for allowing security operatives to abuse civilians with impunity, including journalists. CPJ documented nine cases of security attacks against journalists last year; in two cases the journalists had to be hospitalized for treatment.

After Ngor was ejected, Member of Parliament Joy Kwaje, chair of the Assembly's Information Committee, apologized and promised to investigate the matter, according to local reports. Speaker James Wani Igga and some other MPs denounced the brutal action. Ten journalists marched to Kwaje's office, according to local reports, and took the opportunity to air their grievances over prior abuses. "Including a female reporter, Mary Ajit from the Citizen," Ngor said, "Security slapped her in the face for no reason some time back."

"I am of the view that this incident has set the launching of the struggle between those in the halls of power and those who love freedoms, including of expression, because what was attacked was [not only] an individual, but freedom of expression as well as the bill of rights," Chief Editor Nhial Bol of the private daily Citizen, wrote in a scathing column. The editor was admonished by MPs for claiming in his op-ed, incorrectly, that they were "celebrating the beating of our colleague."
Ngor hosts 'Wake Up Juba,' a morning talk show on Radio Bakhita, pictured. (CPJ)
Ngor hosts 'Wake Up Juba,' a morning talk show on Radio Bakhita, pictured. (CPJ)

Despite the initial round of apologies, the committee who investigated Ngor's removal quickly dashed hopes for justice. "During the investigation, we found out that Mading had more than 10 cases with the security personnel of the National Legislative Assembly," Kwaje was quoted as saying by the online Sudan Tribune. She also said Ngor had refused to identify himself after security asked, according to local reports.

Some of the committee's alleged findings against Ngor, however, sounded specious. "One of the guys [in the committee] claimed I always came drunk to parliament but I have never even met him," Ngor told me. One of the findings read out by Kwaje to the Assembly last week claimed Ngor was a freelance journalist and did not work for Bakhita FM, local journalists told me. Apparently none of the investigative committee listen to his popular morning talk show on Bakhita FM, "Wake up Juba," where Ngor conducts interviews with top political officials of South Sudan - including the Secretary General of the ruling party, Pagan Amun.

Parliament ultimately decided to ban Ngor indefinitely from the assembly after the committee's findings, he said.

Many local journalists I spoke to suspect the decision to ban Ngor is rooted in his professionalism as a journalist. Ngor's "Wake up Juba" program explores issues few journalists venture to touch, such as corruption within government circles.

Ngor grew up in Alberta, Canada, studying journalism at Grant MacEwan University. "I came [to South Sudan] as a journalist because independence is the story of the century, and I wanted to be part of that. After losing my relatives in the war I felt a sort of moral obligation to contribute to the country," he said in an interview with The Seattle Times.

Meanwhile, MP Kwaje, among others, called on the executive to bring the media bills back to parliament, local journalists said. The three proposals, which would initiate a public broadcaster, create an independent press ombudsman, and provide greater access to information, have been bouncing back and forth between the ministry of legal affairs and council of ministers for years. "Without media laws we are like footballers playing without rules, and what happens is that anybody can blow the whistle and say these are the rules -- his rules," said Jacob Akol, chairman of the Association of Media and Development in South Sudan, which supports the laws' passage.

Columnist Zechariah Manyok has concerns. "What guarantee will the media have that the bill is not going to be based on the anger of the Assembly, making it a law against the media [rather] than a law meant to regulate the activities of the media?" he wrote in the Sudan Tribune.

"It has not been easy and will not be easy at the moment for the media in the newest country," said freelance journalist Anthony Kamba, who hopes the publicity surrounding Ngor's incident will foster change. "It will only turn out to be a safe haven when the media laws are passed," he said.


Tom Rhodes is CPJ’s East Africa consultant, based in Nairobi. Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON BARRING OF MBC REPORTERS FROM COVERING A CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS CONFERENCE

14th February, 2012

The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is
disturbed with reports that journalists from state funded Malawi
Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) were barred from covering a function
organized by civil society organisations in Lilongwe today, February 14,
2012.

Reports indicate that civil society organisations, led by Human Rights
Consultative Committee (HRCC), organised a news conference to express
their concerns on the arrest of Human Rights Lawyer Ralph Kasambara but
refused to allow reporters from MBC to attend or cover the function.

The development was confirmed to MISA Malawi by one of the organisers of
the news conference who said MBC was barred because of its biased
reporting in favor of government. He said barring the reporters was one
way of advocating for change at the national broadcaster.

MISA Malawi would like to call upon civil society organisations to adopt
constructive strategies in advocating for change rather than being at the
fore in infringing on the Republican Constitution, which clearly provides
for journalists' right to access information.

Much as we agree with civil society organisations on MBC's bias towards
government, we believe Malawians are rational and capable of judging for
themselves whether a media house is biased or not. Barring reporters from
covering a news briefing is retrogressive and unwarranted in any democracy
worth the name.

Civil Society bodies should be in the forefront promoting and defending
constitutional guarantees and not flouting them. Barring some sections of
the media from covering functions could easily be construed as lack of
tolerance and deliberate and strategic to deny Malawians access to
opposing and critical information on our actions and plans. Such actions
could further mean that civil society organizations only want to deal with
media outlets that promote their cause, which is unhealthy and regrettable
in a democracy. Malawians need all sides to an issue to make informed
decisions and true democracy depends on the extent to which leaders
tolerate opposing views.

As we have always stated, MISA Malawi does not condone biased reporting
and neither does it encourage irresponsible journalism and if barring
reporters from covering functions has anything to do with professional
misconduct, we are more than willing to mediate.

We are therefore appealing to civil society leaders to exercise contact
and dialogue with media houses as well as media bodies that represent the
interests of journalists, whenever disagreements arise rather than
proceeding to breach provisions of the Constitution.

MISA Malawi is further appealing to civil society leaders to respect media
freedom and freedom of expression, which includes the right to be accorded
the fullest possible facilities for access to information.

We would also like to appeal to journalists both from public and private
media to remain professional and avoid serving the interests of one
section of society.

Signed
Anthony Kasunda
CHAIRPERSON, MISA MALAWI

Monday Victories

On Monday, February 14, the world registered some victories on various issues. Here is a summary:

...After hearing from more than 82,000 people, Chase Bank called off foreclosing on 78-year-old grandmother and civil rights activist Helen Bailey. "I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders," says Ms. Bailey. "I am so thankful for the support of my neighbors and the nation."

...Last week Apple customers visited stores on four continents to deliver 250,000 petition signatures demanding better working conditions at factories making iPads and iPhones. (The delivery made news on CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera, and NPR). Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced immediate factory inspections, showing that the pressure is working! But experts doubt how reliable the monitoring group’s findings will be and there are still no worker-protection plans for new product releases (when workers are forced to work so hard to meet deadlines that some die of exhaustion -- and others commit suicide). Click here to sign Mark's petition and keep up the pressure on Apple.

...McDonald's finally responded to the 100,000 people (and groups like the Humane Society of the United States) who told the fast food giant to stop sourcing pork from factory farms using inhumane "gestation crates," (cages so small that pigs can’t move or turn around). McDonald's told all of its suppliers yesterday to start phasing out the cages -- an earthquake for the food industry.

...And some big news from last week! More than 141,000 banded together to save the life of Jesus Navarro, a father who was reportedly denied a life-saving kidney transplant, despite having insurance to pay for surgery, a volunteer donor, and a benefactor to help pay for his follow-up care. But an ABC News headline gives the good news: "Dying Dad, Jesus Navarro, to Get Kidney Transplant."