Is It The Best Way to Celebrate Mothers' Day? Bulletin of the Oppression of Women August 29 - October 14, 2012

August 29, 2012
Zanzibar, Tanzania
Despite ongoing efforts to minimize domestic violence, promote gender equality and empower women, new study in Zanzibar indicates that many women are still beaten and bullied by men including Muslim clerics!
Kurdistan (Iraq)
The Kurdistan government passed a bill banning Female Genital Mutilation a year ago but has yet to implement the law.
August 30, 2012
Egypt (h/t to Frontpage Mag)
Some in Egypt's new government wants to include a new article in its constitution criminalizing sex slavery and the trafficking of women and children but the fundamentalist Islamists are grumbling about it.
Tunisia (h/t to JihadWatch)
The head of a Tunisian Islamist organization called this week for his country to legalize polygamy as part of a post-revolution initiative to cancel all laws that contradict Islamic principles. Adel Elmi, head of the Tunisian Moderate Association for Awareness and Reform, formerly known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said in a Wednesday radio statement that marriage laws ought to be modified.
Afghanistan
A young girl was found hanging dead from the ceiling of her room in Shiberghan city. The Crime branch police chief said initial investigations showed the girl had committed suicide because she was not happy with her engagement. Maghfirat Samimi, human rights director for Jawzjan, Sar-i-Pul and Faryab, said suicide tendency among girls had increased. He said 20 cases of suicides and murder of women took place in the region this year, compared to last year's 15 cases.
August 31, 2012
Pakistan (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Khalid Allah Ditta has been arrested for the honor killings of his mother and four sisters. He accused them of having illicit relations with some men in the neighbourhood.
Tunisia
Yesterday, a group of Tunisian women affiliated with the leftist Nidaa Tounes - the Call of Tunisia party - reported that they were verbally and physically assaulted during a meeting held in the small town of Menzel Chakeur, located in the governorate of Sfax.
September 1, 2012
Pakistan
An 18-year old girl was killed by her brother for possessing a cell phone and being in an illicit relationship police said.
September 3, 2012
Egypt
Campaigners in Egypt say the problem of sexual harassment is reaching epidemic proportions, with a rise in such incidents over the past three months. For many Egyptian women, sexual harassment - which sometimes turns into violent mob-style attacks - is a daily fact of life, reports the BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo.
September 10, 2012
Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities have sentenced Najla Yehya Wafa, a 35-year-old Egyptian woman, to 500 lashes. Her family says she was arrested after a business dispute with a Saudi Princess. Leila Jamul, a 23-year-old Sudanese woman, was sentenced last July to death by stoning for adultery. She is being held in prison, meanwhile, with her six-month-old baby.
Britain (h/t to NewEnglishReview)
Muslim cleric at the centre of an illegal marriage scandal has stepped down after he allegedly offered to marry a 12-year-old girl to a man in his 20s. Imam Mohamed Kassamali is said to have told an undercover reporter posing as a father that he could carry out a ceremony for his school-aged daughter. He allegedly told the Sunday Times journalist: 'If it (the marriage) was not possible, I would have told you straight away... I would love the girl to go to her husband's houses (sic) as soon as possible, the younger the better.
September 15, 2012
Afghanistan
A 16-year old girl was lashed by local mullahs (clerics) in Jaghori district of Ghazni province on charges of what have been called illicit relations. This was carried out in the absence of legal and humanitarian institutions.
September 16, 2012
Saudi Arabia
A Saudi scholar has played down an Islamic fatwa (ruling) that forbids women from logging in online without an escort. "The law for internet usage for men and women should be the same, even if the internet has useful and harmful websites," said Sheikh Mohamed El-Aly, professor of Islamic law. In 2010, Sheikh Saad El-Ghamdi issued a fatwa banning women from logging in online without a chaperon sitting at her side.
Egypt
A 20-year-old Egyptian woman was murdered earlier this month after being sexually assaulted. According to their statement on the incident in Upper Egypt's Assuit, the young woman had been walking on a main street with a friend when a man began grabbing her body.
She then turned around and spit in his face and reportedly verbally lashed back, saying "I will get my rights back. I will get my rights back against your will." The ECWR said that after she said the words, the man pushed her to the ground, kicking her before shooting her multiple times.
September 17, 2012
Egypt (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Egyptian security in the city of Suez reported that it arrested 22 men for sexually harassing high school students outside of two schools on the first day of classes, the al-Shorouk newspaper reported on Sunday. Earlier this month, the head of the National Council of Women (NCW) Mervat Tallawy said that Egyptian women are harassed, on average, "7 times every 200 meters."
Indonesia (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
A sixteen year old girl hanged herself after being arrested by the sharia police for being out in the early hours of the morning and accused of being a prostitute. More HERE.
September 19, 2012
Egypt
An Egyptian women's group is afraid that the new constitution will sanction the sharia law that allows marriage of sexually mature girls even if they are at the age of nine.
September 21, 2012
England (h/t to GatesofVienna)
A teenage rape victim had to take medication after she was attacked amid fears she may have contracted HIV. Mawawe Ibrahim Karam was jailed for ten years yesterday for raping the 17-year-old.
September 22, 2012
Pakistan
The daughter of a cleric was allegedly stripped and paraded naked in a village by young men seeking revenge for her brother's 'indiscretions' on Wednesday in the area of Nawan Lahore police station.
September 24, 2012
Mali
To avoid being whipped, mutilated, and jailed, women in Timbuktu now have to wear black veils and loose-fitting clothing. Radical Islamists, who took control of the city months ago, are laying down their law - Sharia law - and for the first time since they've arrived, they're specifically targeting women.

Over the past few weeks, Islamists from two armed groups - Ansar Dine and Mujao, who took over northern Mali in April - have increasingly made use of corporal punishment against the local population. This includes whipping, amputations, and even stoning people to death who do not obey Sharia law. More HERE.
September 26, 2012
Egypt
An Egyptian honor killing is caught on video. Viewer discretion advised.
Pakistan (h/t to GatesofVienna)
A sixteen year old Christian girl was gang-raped for hours by young Muslim men.
September 28, 2012
Turkey
A 15-year-old girl in the southern province of Adana is believed to have killed herself to escape her husband's violence. According to neighbors Emrah E., who is eight years older than child bride Kübra Ulas, had kidnapped and raped the girl a year ago. Thereafter, Emrah E. threatened Ulas's family and demanded they allow him to marry Ulas. Afraid, they agreed to the marriage.
September 29, 2012
Egypt
A controversial Egyptian Islamic preacher warned the media that liberals were attempting to remove from the constitution restrictions on gender equality established by Islamic jurisprudence.
"We do not support violence against women, but God allowed a certain form of beating," said the preacher Borhamy, arguing that in Islam the husband is permitted to beat his wife as long as no physical damage or scar would result.
He also stated (see HERE) that "girls 14-years-old are permitted to have sexual relations under Islam and has proposed reducing the marriage age limit as a result. It is permissible for the girl at the age of 9 or 10 to marry . . ."
Saudi Arabia
Female Muslim pilgrims from Nigeria who were not accompanied by male family members [per sharia law] were turned away from the hajji in Mecca, subjected to indignities and deported back to Nigeria.

September 30, 2012
Afghanistan (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Muzhgan Masoomi's attacker stabbed her 14 times with a thick blade used to slaughter animals, tearing wide gashes in her flesh before leaving the government worker for dead on the outskirts of the Afghan capital. Women who pursue careers in ultra-conservative Afghanistan often face opposition in a society where often they are ostracised - or worse, brutalised - for mixing with men other than husbands or relatives.
October 1, 2012
Maldives
Almost 90 percent of the people found guilty of "Zina" - fornication - and sentenced to flogging in 2011 were female, according to new statistics published by the Department of Judicial Administration last week. It takes four witnesses or a confession to prove the offence in court based on Islamic Sharia. The Maldives' legal system consists of elements of both common law and Sharia.

October 2, 2012
Britain (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Police hunt for Mohammad Islam who is a suspected serial sex attacker in Southhampton. Islam was out on bail and has disappeared.
October 3, 2012
Tunsia (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Outraged Tunisians took to the streets by the hundreds Tuesday, angrily protesting the treatment of a woman who was allegedly raped by police officers -- and then charged with public indecency when she filed a complaint.
Syria
There also appears to be a cultural clash between non-Arab Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Chechnya on the one hand, and Arabs from Syria, Libya, Tunisia and Jordan on the other, over the exploitation of sex slaves.

Some Islamists consider these women to be spoils of war, especially the wives and daughters of regime supporters, but local fighters are more apprehensive about the issue. Dozens of women have reportedly been sexually assaulted.
October 4, 2012
Egypt (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
Two bearded ultra-conservative men in Egypt attacked four elementary schoolgirls walking down a street eating ice popsicles. The men knocked the popsicles from the girls hands and began yelling at them. They told them to stop eating the popsicles and go home.

October 5, 2012
Pakistan
A girl has been abducted while eight persons have been apprehended in connection of two vani [a child marriage, usually to pay off family debts] cases reported from separate localities of Mansehra.
Canada
The mother of six had her throat slashed by her Afghani husband Peer Khairi, slit open to the spine and slowly suffocated in her own blood. She had stood up to her husband and allowed her children to be westernized.
October 7, 2012
Morocco
Moroccan women (one in three) struggle against violence from their husbands. One woman said that if she didn't do what he said or refused sex, he beat her and attacks her. "He then will force himself on me, but there is nothing I can do because it is isn't illegal for him to force sex on me."
October 8, 2012
Pakistan (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
A woman has accused a man of the ruling party of selling her into marriage.
October 9, 2012
Balochistan (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
13 girls between the ages of four and sixteen were bartered to settle a blood tribal feud. More HERE.
October 10, 2012
Pakistan
A Taliban member shot a 14-year-old Pakistani girl named Malala Yousufzai in the head and in the shoulder on a school bus because the teenager had dared to speak out in favor of education for women and against Muslim extremists. Update HERE.
Kuwait (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
An unidentified Indonesian housemaid died inside the Jahra Hospital after suffering for 18 months. According to reliable sources the victim was brutally beaten by the son of her Saudi sponsor and since then had been admitted to the hospital.
October 11, 2012
Mali (h/t to NewEnglishReview)
Islamists who have taken over northern Mali are "buying child soldiers" from their families for £375 and compiling a "frightening" list of unmarried women who are pregnant or had borne children, according to senior UN official. More HERE. And HERE.

October 12, 2012
Afghanistan
A vicious Taliban attack in a residential neighborhood of Ghazni city targeted Muslim women. The attack resulted in the wounding of several innocent Muslim women and sent dozens of people running for their very lives.- SOURCE: Politicalislam

Justice Mponda on Bail

Journalist Justice Mponda has been granted bail in Lilongwe, after his arrest Monday morning and transfer to the capital city in the late hours of the same day.
Mponda, 27, has, so far, been charged with three counts bordering on insulting President Joyce Banda, criminal libel, and publishing false information.
His Lawyer Chancy Gondwe believes that State may still come up with more charges.
Mponda becomes the first journalist to be arrested under the Joyce Banda administration. Banda became Malawi's forth president on April 7, 2010.

MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF JOURNALIST JUSTICE MPONDA

Monday, October 15, 2012

For immediate release 

The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is shocked and deeply saddened with the detention of journalist Justice Mponda who was arrested in Blantyre, Southern Malawi, in the early hours of Monday, October 15, 2012 for allegedly insulting President Joyce Banda and Publishing False Information.

Mponda works as a correspondent for an online publication, Malawi Voice. But it is not yet known which articles Mponda has been arrested for.

The police have kept a tight lid on the arrest. Southern Region Police Publicist Nicholas Gondwa asked for more time to get information on the arrest and Limbe Police Station - where Mponda was being kept, referred MISA Malawi to Gondwa.

Our investigations show that Mponda has been charged with three (3) counts: Insulting the President, Publishing False Information and Criminal Libel and has since been transferred to the Capital Lilongwe, 340 kilometers from his home.

Reports are rife that the arrest is based on the Journalist’s articles in the  Malawi voice, an online publication most people brand as unprofessional and blacklisted by the Banda administration. 

MISA Malawi considers the arrest and treatment of Mponda as unconstitutional and retrogressive for Malawi's nascent democracy.

The arrest of Mponda is based on outmoded pieces of legislation enacted during the colonial era to suppress dissent and promote colonial superiority. Among others, Mponda has been charged with insulting the president based on the Protected Names, Flag and Emblems Act, a law which is archaic and retrogressive for our country. 

It is important to note that in any democracy, free speech is paramount and affords the citizenry, including the media, a chance to debate and shape public opinion. Without free speech, the media cannot effectively perform its watchdog role and check abuse of power and safeguard democracy. That is why MISA Malawi has been in the forefront campaigning for repeal and review of laws that restrict free speech, such as Criminal Defamation and the Protected Flags, Emblems and Names Act, which have both been used to arrest Mponda. 

We have brought these laws to the attention of relevant authorities and reiterate our plea for their urgent review. In fact, that some of these laws - Protected Flags, Emblems and Names Act for example, still quote a fine to be paid in Pound Sterling (1000 Pounds, about Mk480, 000) and not in Malawi Kwacha supports the fact that the laws remain stuck in the repressive colonial era and 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). We commended government for repealing Section 46 of the Penal Code - which empowered the Minister of Information to ban any publication deemed not to be in the public interest, as defined by the minister, but at the same time requested a critical look at other laws that negate on the Constitutional guarantee to free speech and media freedom as provided for under Sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

Archaic laws have no role to play in a democracy and we call upon government to desist from implementing them and dragging the country to the colonial era.

We are also shocked and disturbed with the conduct of the police who have transferred Mponda 340 kilometers away from Blantyre to Lilongwe, Malawi's Capital. This is torture and a clear demonstration by the law enforcers that they are not through with investigations and taking deliberate steps to subject Mponda to mental and physical torture. Government has all the resources at its disposal and clearly capable of keeping Mponda in Blantyre. Subjecting Mponda to mental and physical torture is unconstitutional and  should not be condoned in our day and age. 

We have hope in the leadership of Mrs. Joyce Banda and strongly encourage overzealous cohorts to desist from making decisions that would ruin her administration and tarnish the good image her administration has tried hard to build. 

We call upon the authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly and release Mponda on bail within the required 48 hours. We also appeal to the Police to desist from subjecting Mponda to further mental and physical torture.

We have always supported a win-win relationship between the media and government and strongly appeal to authorities to engage relevant bodies such as MISA Malawi and the Media Council of Malawi (MISA) whenever disagreements arise between government and the media. Arresting journalists will only tarnish the image of the government and ruin the benefits of dialogue. Only dialogue between government and the media would provide a more enabling environment for media freedom, freedom of expression and ultimately citizen empowerment.

Signed

Anthony Kasunda

MISA MALAWI CHAIRPERSON

 

The Boy

(I don't know what this is; but it is here)

The boy is in Lilongwe now. At the exact place Evison (I don't know which Evison; but there once was an Evison. In this place. Same place. Of course, his breath, like the air he inhaled, is gone) sat and never sat again! They (those who have gone towards the way of all the earth) only sleep, face up, hands straight (no akimbo posturing there) all the time there- the religious call this stage the stage of waiting- waiting for a man the sleeping guys and guyesses will never see cut through the blueless sky in real time, but will only hear when he comes- as they see him, touch him, hug him, and, in awe, stare at those feet, and legs, and lips. The nails hurt no more.

(I don't know what this means; but it is here).

AUC launches the Pan African University Steering Committee

Addis Ababa, 13 October 2012 – The Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Professor Jean-Pierre Ezin. on 13 October 2012, inaugurated the Pan African University Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is a precursor of the PAU Council and consists of representatives from key stakeholders including PAU hst governments, host universities, Regional Economic Communities, Youth and Women’s organisations, the Association of African Universities, Private Sector and Civil Society. The Steering Committee is to oversee the process towards opening the first three PAU Thematic Institutes in November 2012. These are the PAU Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation in Kenya; PAU Institute for Life and Earth Sciences in Nigeria and the PAU Institute for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences in Cameroon.

In his inaugural speech, Professor Ezin recalled to the members of the steering committee that the Assembly of the AU at its Eighteenth Ordinary Session held from 29 – 30 January 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia requested the African Union Commission to operationalize the Pan African University in collaboration with Member States, Regional Economic Communities and relevant partners, launch calls for Member States to host PAU Centres, the establishment of the PAU Rectorate; the appointment of the PAU Council and Senate, as well as recruitment of staff and registration of students in accordance with the PAU Statutes, to ensure that the first PAU students are admitted by October 2012.

“You represent the stakeholders of PAU and are expected to set the stage and processes for ensuring that all concerned African stakeholders and sectors of society sectors are involved in the implementation of PAU”, he underlined. 

The Commissioner explained that the creation of the Pan African University (PAU) was proposed by the African Union Commission (AUC) in 2008 with the prospect of revitalizing higher education and reserahc in Africa, through collective efforts by member states. The PAU thus provides opportunity for all member states to mobilise resources for the support of a number of high quality institutions that will serve the whole continent in areas of study that are essential to Africa’s social, economic and human development. (See complete speech of Commissioner Ezin on the AU website: www.au.int ).

Interview requests should be addressed to Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou, Directorate of Information and Communication, AUC, Tel: 0911361185, e-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org .

For more information please contact:

Dr. Beatrice Njenga

Head of Division, Education,

Human Resources, Science & Technology Department.

African Union Commission

Journalist Justice Mponda Transferred to Lilongwe

Unconfirmed reports indicate that journalist Justice Mponda has been transferred to Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city that also serves at the Malawi Police Service headquarters.
When Zachimalawi visited Southern Region Police Headquarters in Blantyre, where Mponda was said to be kept, two police officers confided that the pint-sized journalist has been transferred to Lilongwe.
However, this does not strike one as strange, considering that people suspected of committing serious crimes are often transported to Lilongwe.
This happened to slain Reggae musician Evison Matafale. When police accused him of publishing seditious material and soiling the 'holy' name of the President (Bakili Muluzi, then), they took him to Lilongwe- from where he never came.
Today, Malawians- led by the Black Missionaries Band- commemorate his life because, when he went to Lilongwe, he never came back.

End Piece
A friend of mine, now living in South Africa, has written this following Justice Mponda's arrest.

To my friend and old colleague Justice Mponda, who police arrested early this morning from his home in Chiwembe in Blantyre, I wish a quick release.
I hope his charges of sedition, insulting President Joyce Banda and misinforming on the Malawi-Tanzania lake-boarder conflict are not authentic. I hope his case will be handled fairly, and that his lawyer will secure bail on second attempt. I feel personally involved and hope I will not be disappointed eventually.
Terrified!
  

Joyce Banda's Oppressive Government Arrests Journalist Justice Mponda

Cowardly as they were, the officers from the Malawi Police Service stormed the home of journalist Justice Mponda wearing the cover of darkness, knocked on the door of his two bed-roomed Chiwembe home on the pretext that they wanted to give him a breaking, exclusive story in the early hours of Monday (Mothers' Day).
Unsuspecting and innocent, Mponda- who shares his Chiwembe Township house with Nation Publications Limited's minority sports' correspondent, Solomon Manda- opened the door, only to be surprised with the display of violence these poorly-mannered police officers displayed.
While others went straight to his bedroom- infringing his privacy- others smashed desktop computers on the verandah- computers donated by philanthropist Mary Woodworth, that British citizen who runs Friends of Mulanje Orphans in Mulanje in her bid to bail Malawian children from the pangs of hunger, ignorance, and motherly love.
The charge: Justice Mponda's perceived connection with the online publication, Malawi Voice. 
So, in a typical display of how law enforcers bend the laws and standard rules to get their way and wreck havoc in innocent citizens' lives, the police officers who were deployed from the Southern region police headquarters arrested Mponda by 'trick'.
Reports indicate that one senior police officer (whose identity Zachimalawi knows) was calling Mponda's neighbours and asking for the journalist's phone number by alleging that they were friends with the Blantyre College of Journalism graduate (who has just completed his Journalism studies at the Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi).
At the time of going to press, Mponda's number was just calling.
Zachimalawi is on the way to the Southern region police headquarters now, where Mponda is being incarcerated.
More details will follow.
However, the police action shows just how oppressive the administration of President Joyce Banda has become. Banda is renowned for being vindictive and unforgiving in her life. She is also said to be the type that never forgets past wrongs- the type that leaves no past wrongs unpunished.
Even if it is in  a way that is anathema to democracy.
Justice Mponda's case testifies to that effect.
Why arrest a young, innocent journalist for choosing to expose the truth? Why?
This administration is as intolerant as those before it. It doesn't really matter who is in-charge. Politicians are all the same.
Release Justice Mponda unconditionally and immediately. Zachimalawi says so.

Malawi's Youths and Democracy: What's Wrong?

His gaze, abstracted and uncurious, just swept up to portrait above the stage of the Great Hall of Chancellor College in Zomba, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima). After all, the students were long-coming.

             Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika

           President of the Republic of Malawi .

Read the strategically positioned portrait of a man who keeps looking you straight in the eye irrespective of whichever part of the room you are in.

 

Maynard Nyirenda, Programmes Officer for ‘Demokalase Yathu Project’- an ambitious initiative conceptualized by the Sustainable Rural Growth and Development Initiative (SRGDI) to help Malawians shape their political system in their own local way- immediately remembers what he is here for; after all, there must be so many better ways to spend a January 10, 2009 Friday than stay idly in a Great Hall also known for harboring angry souls.

 

“It is that time again on Malawi ’s political calendar when the electorate goes to the polls on May 19, 2009 to choose their leaders. Many things may happen, before and after the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, chief among them being violence. That is the sole reason we are here at Chancellor College ,” says Nyirenda.

 

Nyirenda said one of the surveys they carried out last year revealed that university students were being used, alongside the general youth population, to propagate political violence in the run up to national elections.

 

So, this is a mission of peace; that word of great beauty and power which has rung down the long ages, but never with more force than during impending elections. It is the benefit of over three-and-a-half billion years of evolution, and hundreds of thousands of years of cooperative living.

 

The absence of it has had drastic consequences and eaten through the four-fold increase in human numbers since the 18^th Century. During this little time (from the 18^th Century), for instance, war-deaths have increased 22 times; there have been over 140 wars since World War II. These, more and more savage than those before them.

 

Nyirenda feels that democracy, presumably designed to insulate political conflicts at national, regional, district and community levels has, in fact, united the Malawian population in a precarious mutual vulnerability. This is something unforeseen in 1900, when half of the world’s population lived under another form of leadership- colonial rule, one of which features’ being that no country gave all its citizens the right to vote.

 

Today, over three-quarters of the world population lives under democratic regimes, a development given more impetus by the adoption in1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for the first time in history acknowledging human rights as a global responsibility. Political developments no longer follow parallel paths in both concept and action as the aim remains the same; to govern.

 

An analysis of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) annual Human Development Reports reveals that democratic regimes have more commitment to honouring the full and equal rights for all citizens, though some democracies like Malawi remain relatively poorer than some autocracies, as indicated in the Human Development Indices.

 

As more people have come to understand, sometimes dimly, this great experiment of co-operative living, so has it stuck in the minds that peace is indivisible from this living interdependence. That with it (peace) comes the full the realization of ‘structural peace’, which is the positive presence of human well being, justice and freedom.

 

UNDP realizes these freedoms in the contexts of freedom from discrimination, freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom to develop and realize one’s full potential, freedom from injustice and violations of law, freedom to decent work without any form of exploitation, and freedom from fear.

 

Are we, in Malawi , enjoying these freedoms? When, the way some things still went these days, life still meant too much for the masters?

 

“We seem to be doing relatively well in terms of the other freedoms but not on those pertaining to political discourse. In this area, we only seem to be doing well before any major national election as experience has shown that Parliamentary and Presidential Elections, which are mandatory every five years, seem to be affecting all our other freedoms because of the violence that always accompanies these constitutional processes. The bad thing about it is that a crucial component of the population, I am talking about the youth, is thrown into the violence fray instead of being encouraged to take part in participatory, constructive democracy,” chips in Nyirenda.

 

Then, why not just do away with democracy?

 

“There is no democracy without elections; but, not every election heralds democracy,” the take of Joseph Chunga, a lecture in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at Chancellor College in Zomba.

 

Free and fair elections remain one of the tenets of democracy, along with sovereignty of the people; majority rule and minority rights; guarantee of basic human rights equality; social-economic and political pluralism; constitutional limits on government; and government based upon consent of the governed. To these are added those luxury symbols of a nation-state- a national anthem, a national currency and a national flag.

 

Chunga says democracy, like ours, makes elections indispensable because it enables people to choose leaders and policies of their choice. It is also a way of rewarding leaders- others get re-elected (positive sanction) and others replaced (negative sanction). May 19, 2009 is thus Sanction Day.

 

That is democracy; a government by the people, in which the supreme power is vested in the people themselves and exercised directly over them by their elected agents under a free electoral system. When conceptualized as procedural, says Chunga, democracy is an end. Conceptualize it as substantive (one of the key contributing factors in an equation), it becomes a means.

 

Describing the role of Malawian youths in all this process (of democracy) is analogous to defining them. Some dictionaries say youth hood is time in a person’s life between childhood and adulthood. To the United Nations General Assembly, people between 19 and 30 years, while the World Bank opts for the age ranges between 15 to 25 years. The youth are thus best contextualized as people, of course living, between 15 and 34 years.

 

For Nyirenda, it is this uncertainty that compels age-old politicians to take advantage of Malawian youths that their eyes look most powerfully down into those of the youth, and those of the youth look helplessly into theirs.

 

But Chunga enthuses that it is not; it is the fact that- while youths bear the effects of many policies, that their future will be shaped by present policies, and stand to shoulder the costs of present policies such as financing present budget deficits and being bound by International Agreements made by present leaders- they barely appreciate their crucial role in democracy and development. That is the real problem.

 

And the worst scenario is that this bare appreciation for youths’ roles has spilled over to university students. It is like what one Goldschmidt said that there is (a) stronger source of political activity there than within any system of higher learning. Or what Johnson, founder of the Roosevelt Institution, said, to the effect that “As students, we do the work of a think tank everyday, we do not have access to the process”.

 

What sort of access? Is it the opportunity to take part of constructive, participatory democracy, or the mere act of voting at the ballot? Whatever the case, Chunga sees more strength in the country’s youths than the processes that currently guide their participation. As such, things can still be different.

 

“(Our) youth have more advantages. They have more exposure to channels of communication aiding informed decisions; have ideas and energy and innovation power; 60 per cent of Malawi’s voting population is between 18 years and 34 years; and the fact that last year’s vote in the United States of America, which saw the election of the first African-American President in Barack Obama, was decided by youths as a bloc,” he said.

 

Then, factor in the element that political change in almost all African countries was conceived in by university students within and without the continent- remember the first generation of African leaders: Kwamme Nkrumah, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Jomo Kenyatta, and the impact of the University Students’ African Revolution from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania (the likes of Kileo, Msoma), Ethiopia (the Gaul Garants), Uganda (Yoweli Museveni) Mozambique (Frelimo) and Malawi (the likes of Kapota Mwakasungula).

 

It all boils down to one thing, the enviable responsibility of the youth over national development which, unfortunately, they often forget to remember.

 

May we now excuse Mr. Joseph Chunga to go back to the Political and Administrative Department (of Chancellor College )? Some students are waiting for him! (We don't want student riots here)

 

Enters Noel Mbowela, a lecture and political analyst from Mzuzu University (Mzuni), another constituent college of the University of Malawi . Tell us, what is the Role of the Youth in a Multiparty Democracy: the Case of Parliamentary and Presidential Elections?

 

Mbowela begins with definitions and analyses of key words:

                Youth- Young people by age, character, association, principals and beliefs

                 Politics- The art and science o government; our judicious, expedient,

                               scheming, and crafty dealing of behaviour

                Multiparty- (analysis) Not synonymous with democracy

                Elections- (analysis) Not synonymous with democracy

 

That is the full dose of the Mzuni political analyst; he starts with ground rules because these often compliment youths’ theoretical and philosophical sophistication which feeds into the experimental energy (the try and see) that often turn into political violence.

 

Mbowela categorizes political roles played by Malawian youths into three phases: from 1957 to 1964; 1964 to 1994; and 1994 to 2004.

 

“Between 1957 and 1964, the youth were very constructive and less destructive during the pre-independence period, while they were almost equally constructive and destructive from 1964 to 1994 during Dr. Banda’s regime. During the (Bakili) Muluzi era (1994 to 2004), the youth were highly destructive and less constructive,” he chops the periods into pieces, and defines the pieces.

 

These practical experiences, says Mbowela, have proved that consequences of youth violence could be enormous. He warns that nothing could be more important politically than to guard against the danger that young, overzealous hands get to the panga knife first. The process of bringing youths to the knowledge of their rightful roles should go beyond common sense, the way construction of new devices goes.

 

The process has stages: from research, to development, to construction, to use, with important deliberations and decisions at each stage, and the problems summarized. The role of youths and the issue of violence have been researched. This role dates back to the late 1950s, during the Nationalist period, and this group of society has registered both positive and negative.

 

Mbowela says, on the negative, they masterminded Dr. Banda’s dictatorship, championed former president Muluzi’s Open and Third term bids, and criticized and brutalized both Banda’s and Muluzi’s critics.

 

On the other side (positive), they have participated in school and rural development projects like Income Generating Public Works Programmes and Malawi Social Action Fund Initiatives, contribute towards the bigger percentage of subsistence farmers, supported and fuelled micro-economic growth, and championed demonstrations against political injustices, culminating into various students’ demonstrations.

 

This would almost sound like the start of a perpetual boom, but Mbowela says not yet; we still have a problem. According to Mbowela, the problem statement is that most Malawian youths are not interested in (leadership) politics, they are used to being ruled over; if they are interested, then they are not vying for challenging positions in politics, and are fond of engaging in violent acts in politics during elections.

 

They have also failed, over the years, to lobby for designated figures of representation with political parties; refrain from violent, confrontational tasks and approaches; refrain from partisan, regional and ethnic voting; lobby for specific concerns with political leaders and parties to be reflected in manifestos; and design and employ terms of contract with aspiring members of parliament and presidents.

 

He says, consequently, the youth have not taken the calculated risks required in dynamic politicking. Instead, Mbowela says they have concentrated on other aspects of politics like violence that they have been tickled to getting it off their backs, one of the reasons they occupy “wrong” positions in society and politics, continue perform miserably in giving ‘elderly politicians forced retirement” and can not actualize the political concept of change.

 

This is typical of an empire that crumbles before it is built.  Only that politics is an established ‘empire’. Top career guidance institutions in the United States of America and United Kingdom indicate that the world has four top occupational engagements. These are business, farming, employment and politics, though the youth are yet to utilize opportunities that exist in politics.

 

Instead, youths often fall over and engage with prostitution, drugs alcohol abuse, showbiz/entertainment and crime (Fall out Bankers for the Youth) Yet Mbowela beliefs that youths are well suited to politics, owing to their physical stamina, flexibility and adaptation to change, enthusiasm about trying new things, ideas and systems, and constitute the most delicate, explosive group of the electorate.

 

What’s more: The youth are looked upon as opinion leaders, have better understanding of democracy and multiparty politics by virtue of being educated, remain the most powerful electoral bloc as they major most populations and are hardest hit by social, politicl and economic problems.

 

Mbowela challenges people to peep through the conventional key roles and positions in Malawian political parties. These are local, top leadership positions (National Executive Committee/Council), Management of Events and Rallies, Intelligence and Research. They will get what they get what they deserve, disappointment, at the meager number of youths and the increased patronage of elderly politicians in these roles.

 

Instead, according to the Mzuni political analyst, youths are crammed in such roles as maintenance of order and discipline at public rallies (synonymous with violence and hooliganism), general policing roles, providing moral support, and actors or entertainers at political rallies. All made worse by perceptions that they lack experience to take up challenging roles, are childish and playful, that they are merely like stand-by generators made to be used in times of emergencies only.

 

The biggest draw back of them all, he says, is that youths are categorized as leaders of tomorrow. “Hence, oppressive regimes of elderly politicians are perpetrated and constructive change is delayed. Cultural of voter apathy is propagated among a crucial segment of the electorate, thereby defeating the whole purpose of democratic elections. Above all, key votes are wasted”.

 

Thank you very much, Mr. Mbowela. Now, quick, quick Hon. Henry Chimunthu Banda (Democratic Progressive Party –DPP), Secretary General; Kennedy Makwangwala, Secretary General, United Democratic Front- UDF; and Chris Daza, Secretary General, Malawi Congress Party.

 

How will you use youths during the May 19, 2009 elections? Violence?

 

‘The DPP is a party of peace and equal opportunities. We have many youths who have been put in leading roles, both in the party and government and they have performed above par. The role of our youth has not been to propagate violence, but act as catalysts for development. That is what we have in store for them, and most of them taking part in the May 19, 2009 elections. Ours is a party that represents the aspirations of Malawian youths, in that they are being engaged in constructive roles,” said Chimunthu Banda.

 

Kennedy Makwangwala: “The UDF has always stood for constructive youths. Remember Angela Zachepa, the youngest ever Malawian MP? It is the UDF that made it possible for them, and now we have the likes of Hon. Clement Stambuli, and other youthful politicians in policy-making positions of the party. The good thing is that all violent youths have gone to the DPP.”

 

“We are the first party in this country to recognize the important role of the youth in national development. That is why the MCP put in place good youth graduation processes through, and our youth were very constructive. Most of the development in the country took place during the MCP reign because the youth knew their role in development. That is what we plan for them in our government, which will go into power on May 19, 2009. Already, our party has many youths in decision making positions,” said Daza.

Child rights activists demand life sentence for traffickers

Child and human rights activists are baying for the blood of four men convicted of child trafficking and sentenced to 18 months Imprisonment with Hard Labour (IHL) without the option of a fine by Phalombe First Grade Magistrate Court, saying Malawi has lost the opportunity to set a precedent to would-be child traffickers.
Kenwilliams Mhango, National Coordinator for the African Network for the Protection and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (Anppcan) Malawi Chapter, said on Friday that he was shocked with the sentence.
“Child trafficking is a serious offence anywhere in the world, and the least courts can do is sentence offenders to life imprisonment. What child traffickers do is ‘kill’ the mind of the child because they limit the abilities of the child to achieve more in life.
“Malawi has lost an opportunity to make it clear to the world that it is a no-go-zone for child traffickers. Who would be happy with what the world says about us; that we act as a transit point for child traffickers? We could have done better,” Mhango said.
Mhango, who is also board member for Human Rights Consultative Committee, said stiffer sentences could act as one of the measures of protecting children from exploitation.
Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development Country Director, Edward Chaka, said child trafficking should be taken seriously, and that traffickers should not face leniency in courts of law while measures should be put in place to ensure that children rescued from traffickers undergo counseling for them to get over the “sad experience”.
Chaka said, if not well handled, trafficked children are more likely to become trouble makers due to the feeling that they are not wanted by society.
“ So, one of the ways to show our children that we care, and that we need them in this country, is to mete stiffer sentences on those who try to disrupt their life. Sometimes, it is difficult to get the minds of trafficked children back on track. Sentencing offenders to prison is one way of showing that we care,” Chaka said.
Meanwhile, the convicts- James Martin, 31, from Kasonya Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Jenala, Phalombe; and  Dickson Kambewu, 34, from Kupsa village, Daniel Thumpwa, 21, of Chaweza village, and James Banda from Mwapasa village- all from T/A Mwambo in Zomba- have started their life behind bars, said Phalombe Police spokesperson Augustus Nkwazi.
Nkhwazi said, before being convicted and sentenced, Martin, Kambewu, Thumpwa, and Banda had told the court that they thought that, by taking the children along, they were saving the children and their (children’s) parents from. But even this was not enough to save the four Malawians who work as casual labourers in Mozambique from paying for their ‘courtesy’.
The four pleaded guilty to the charge of Child Trafficking, contrary to the Child Care, Protection, and Justice Act. The Act says child trafficking means the recruiting, transaction, transfer, hobouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation, and a person who takes part in child trafficking is liable to imprisonment for life.
In passing the sentence, First Grade Magistrate Felix Mandalasi acknowledged the seriousness of the offence, but considered grounds that the four pleaded guilty and were first-time-offenders, hence 18 months IHL.
Eye of the Child executive director, Maxwell Matewere, could not be reached for comment, but he told The Sunday Times in June this year that child trafficking continued to be “very serious and worrisome” problem as children continued to be trafficked within the country and outside.
“A large number of children are trafficked either in groups or alone for prostitution, agriculture and domestic work, removal of organs, brick making, and street begging,” Matewere said.

Matewere also decried that fact that ratification of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes, the Trafficking Protocol, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air signed on 17 March 2005, has been marred by unnecessary delays to enact new laws. 

“The root cause of trafficking is, surely, poverty in many countries in the world, and its consequences are severe and include damage to mental and physical health and, sometimes, death,” Matewere said.
Malawi is listed under Tier 2 countries by the USA government. This means it is not fully complying with the minimum anti-child trafficking standards, but is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards.
Various studies have shown that child trafficking is rampant in Malawi. They include that commissioned by the Malawi Government in 2008; the Child Trafficking in Malawi report, compiled by Unicef and the International Labour Organisation; and the July 2008 research findings report by the Centre for Social Research entitled ‘Prevention of Child Trafficking in Women and Children for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation: Malawi’.
Recent estimates suggest that between 600,000 and 800,000 women and children are trafficked annually. The US Department of State suggests that the figures could be higher, while the United Nations estimates that about 1.2 million children are trafficked both internally and internationally per year.

Malawi among Agoa’s worst apparel suppliers

Malawi has failed to capitalize on trade opportunities availed to textile and apparel products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as the country is listed among five least exporters in the past 12 years.

This is contained in a 37-page report published by the U.S.-based Brookings Africa Growth Initiative titled ‘The African Growth and Opportunity Act: Looking Back, Looking Forward’ released in June this year.  The report, which has analysed the past 12 years of Agoa’s implementation, comes after completion of research by Witney Schneidman and research analyst Zenia A. Lewis.

“Mauritius, Lesotho, Swaziland and Kenya exported the largest percentage of apparel and textiles to the U.S. Smaller suppliers of apparel products were Botswana ($15.5 million; Approx K43,090,000.00), Malawi ($13.5 million; K37,530,000.00), Ethiopia ($10.0 million; K27,800,000.00), South Africa ($6.1 million; K13,358,000.00), Tanzania ($5.2 million; K14,456,000.00) and Ghana ($1.3 million; K3,514,000.00),” reads part of the report.

An earlier report on ‘Textiles and Apparel: U.S. Imports from Sub-Saharan Africa released under Generalised System of Preferences and the Agoa’ released by the U.S. Department of Commerce also indicated that Malawi came second to Botswana on the list of small suppliers of apparel products, although it beat countries such as South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana.

However, the Brookings report attributes the poor performance pointers that, while agriculture provides 70 percent of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and 30 percent of the region’s gross domestic product, agriculture products comprise less than 1 percent of Agoa exports. It also notes that a greater proportion of U.S. agricultural imports from Sub-Saharan Africa are covered

by other restrictive trade agreements that hamper access to U.S. markets.

It also apportions the blame on sanitary standards and observes that these impose additional demands on exporters, and limit market access for Agoa eligible products.

“Although the U.S. provides a great deal of capacity-building support to Africa, more support is needed to help countries meet these standards and export agricultural goods to the U.S. market—as well as coordinate the activities of the U.S. agencies that provide this support,” adds the report.

However, the report observes that implementation of Agoa has attracted the interest of leading American companies to source from Africa. Levi’s, Wal-Mart, Gap, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, Target, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Vanity Fair are among those that have managed to source t-shirts, jeans and shirts from Lesotho, Kenya, Swaziland, Mauritius and Madagascar (before it lost its AGOA eligibility in 2009).

Exports from Agoa beneficiaries also increased, hitting the $53.8 billion bill in 2011, representing 21.5 percent increase in exports from 2010 and a more than 500 percent increase from the initial $8.15 billion in 2001, a development largely driven by mineral fuels and crude oil.

Oil exports to the U.S. have underscored the importance of Sub-Saharan Africa as a source of imported energy resources; with Angola and Nigeria accounting for about 10 percent of U.S. imported oil during the last decade. Indications are that U.S.’s dependence on African oil reserves may increase in the wake of recent oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea, U.S.

On part of nonpetroleum products’ exports to the U.S. southern Africa, textiles and apparels accounted for more than $850 million in 2011, translating into more than double the level of 2001. However, this represents a decline from a peak of more than $1.6 billion in 2004.

In addition, transportation equipment exported under the initiative, which mainly came in form of automobiles from South Africa, grew from $296 million in 2001 to $2.1 billion in 2011.

Since its enactment on May 18, 2000, Agoa has seen the U.S. abandon its cold war policy of donor disbursements, aid poverty alleviation, and emergency relief to pro-trade in a bid to alleviate poverty among African countries..

The initiative has also been linked with Africa’s changing economic fortunes, boosting the performance of the 1990s, described by some economists as ‘Africa’s lost decade’. For instance, when the Agoa concept was being developed in 1995, the per capita growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa was negative, at –1.1 percent.

However, the regional growth rate on a per capita basis increased to 2.9 percent during Agoa’s first year in 2001 and, between 2000 and the onset of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008, the region’s average growth was just under 5 percent.

The Economist reported in 2011 that six of the top 10 fastest-growing economies of the last decade were from Africa, while the World Bank’s and International Financial Corporation’s Doing Business indicators continue to show positive change for a majority of Sub-Saharan African countries, a trend linked to the creation of a pro-business environment among member states.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2012 will be 5.5 percent.

For a country to benefit from Agoa, it is expected to abide by three principals, namely: commitment to a market-based economy, the rule of law, elimination of trade barriers, economic policies that reduce poverty, systems that combat corruption and protection of workers’ rights; non-engagement in activities that undermine U.S. national security, and; non-engagement in gross violations of human rights or terrorism support activities.

Taught by hard times: How small-scale businesses outsmarted Malawi’s economic crisis

By Richard Chirombo

Challenges that beset Malawi’s economy during the past two years were not pulley enough to bring informal sector enterprises down, as entrepreneurs shifted from capital intensive ventures to small business ventures with high returns, says the Malawi Union for the Informal Sector (Mufis).

Mufis general secretary, Mwanda Chiwambala, said in an exclusive interview that the organisation has no reports of small business enterprises closing shop. If anything, he said, the 3.5 million people Mufis counts among its membership national wide simply moved from one type of business to another in a bid to reduce on operational costs and maximize profits. 

This is in sharp contrast to the knee-jerk reaction adopted by medium and large-scale enterprises at the height of the crisis, resulting into staff down-sizing exercises and reduced operational capacity as the country grappled under an unprecedented fuel and forex shortage squeeze.

At a time European investors were eyeing Africa as a viable investment alternative owing to the establishment of pro-business policies and inherent regional advantages in low labor costs and abundant resources, Malawi’s policies under the Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration stifled the operations of local investors while scaring away potential Foreign Direct Investors.

“We did not register any cases of business enterprises closing down due to the economic situation of the past two years. When things get tough in the economy, the tendency by informal sector traders is to shift from one business venture to another, rather than closing down on operations. This is because, in most cases, the business ventures act as their only viable means of survival,” Chiwambala said.

“If a small-scale business enterprise was affected by fuel, forex, price adjustment shocks, punitive taxes, and declining consumer demand, operators were simply refocusing on ventures that could yield immediate financial results without exposing them to business losses, “Chiwambala said.

Chiwambala said, however, that even without any economic challenges, informal sector players face a number of challenges, including failure to access soft loans through Authorised Dealer Banks (ADBs), unsanitary business premises, and lack of consultation on policy issues.

“For example, when City, town and district councils are adjusting market rates, vendors are not consulted, which creates animosity between them and the responsible officials,” Chiwambala said.

He proposed that policy makers should establish an ADB to cater for the specific needs of informal sector players, consult informal sector players on policy issues, and introduce insurance cover to shield vendors from market fires.

This is in reference to market fires that often plague local markets. Some of the gutted places razed down by infernos include Blantyre Flea Market, Ndirande in Blantyre, Balaka market, and Mtandire in Lilongwe.

A snap survey conducted among small-scale traders in Blantyre and Zomba also revealed that most traders survived the economic storm by investing in quick-returns’ ventures.

A good case in point is that of Merina White, a maize trader at Manase market in Blantyre.

“Of course, we had the issue of shortage of disposable income among our clients but I did not stop selling food commodities. At one time, I took a break from selling maize and opted for ground nuts, before reverting to maize again.

“This business keeps me going, and I could not abandon it due to the economic problems. I depend on this business to meet family needs,” White said.

White said the secret to surviving market uncertainties lies in the ability to alternate between one food commodity and another.

“We are fortunate in that we have so many seasonal crops that bring us cash in Malawi. People like me do not depend on economic indicators but (we) depend on the season of the year. When it is the season for mangoes, we sell mangoes. When tangerines are in season, we sell for tangerines. That way, we survive,” White said.

White said informal traders could have survived the economic crisis because it was just one of the many challenges facing them, the other challenge being that of neglect.

“Most of the times, we depend on ourselves. For your own information, Blantyre City Assembly workers do not visit Manase (market) to collect garbage and market fees- which shows that every day is survival day for us,” she said.

Ronnie Kazembe, a small-scale business woman from Domasi in Zomba, said she continued selling farm produce and baking flitters because it is her only source of income.

“During the tough economic years, I have been shifting the focus from selling flitters, Zigumu (home-made cakes), sweet beer, cassava tubers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes. The determining factors are the season of the year, and commodities available. I take care of my children and orphaned children, who all count on me to provide clothes, school uniforms, shoes, food, and shelter.

“So, despite the shortage of money in our pockets and escalating cost of commodities, I did not opt out. My business ventures do not depend much on fuel except, perhaps, when transporting maize from Mulanje, Chikhwawa, Zomba to my business-place,” Kazembe said.

Kazembe said the main challenge facing local businesspeople has nothing to do with surviving the economic meltdown, saying the challenge is on “growing our businesses, and graduating from small-scale business enterprises to large-scale enterprises”.

“We need business loans but (commercial) banks remain hostile and demand a lot of paperwork,” Kazembe said.

Exploring the Possibility of Islamic Banking in Malawi

As the concept of Islamic finance captivates the international market, including conservative European countries such as Britain, consensus is growing back home that Malawi could be ready for an Islamic bank.
This follows Reserve Bank of Malawi’s (RBM) failure to licence the Islamic Bank of Malawi. The application was made by Shari’ah Investments Limited. The Central bank refused to grant the licence on the grounds that Islamic banking had Shari’ah elements embedded in it.
However, its proponents argue that Islamic banking follows the three essential features of banking stipulated in the Banking Act (Cap 44:01). They further warn that the country risks losing millions in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) due to her rigid laws and, with it, prospects of propping up her foreign currency reserves are being wished away.
In a paper released April this year and titled ‘A case for Islamic Banking in Malawi’, Abdul Sheriff Kaunde and Abdullah Omar I. Mdala argue that Islamic banking and finance run in accordance with Islamic principles and the law of the land.
“As such, it could neither be seen to be at odds with the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution, nor as a means to support or promote a particular religion, as we may rightly suspect it here in the decision (to turn down the application).
“Secondly, the term ‘banking’, as defined in the Banking Act has three essential features: acceptance of deposits from the public; the use of money so accepted for lending or investment, and; liberty to the depositor to withdraw the money,” argues the paper in part.
Kaunde and Mdala say, going by this definition, the Banking Act does not require an Authorised Dealer Bank to pay interest on deposists or charge interest on lending, “nor do the requirements beg the need to comply with that”.
Under the RBM Act, an institution interested in opening shop first provides a synopsis of the nature of business to be conducted, after which the central bank determines whether the application has potential and is compatible with the interest of the national economy.
Applications to conduct banking business are made to the Minister of Finance through RBM, which is mandated to conduct an evaluation before making recommendations to the Minister.
Apart from paying  a licencing fee of US$1,250, the applicants is assessed on performance history, financial position, expertise, capacity to maintain an adequate capital base, soundness, solvency and liquidity of proposed business operations, impact of business on prospective customers, capacity to commence business within 12 months, among others.
Mdala, who holds a Bachelors Degree in Islamic Sciences, backed his paper in an interview Friday. He said he and United Kingdom-based lawyer Kaunde came up with the paper after noting that the Islamic Bank of Malawi met all the requirements to operate in Malawi.
“The ultimate test of such an alternative is whether it is successful or not. It can be safely said that Islamic banking has been successful (and) that is why it is not surprising to find several international banking institutions establishing their own Islamic units, windows, branches or fully-fledged Islamic banks to better serve their customers.
“Financial centres such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Geneva, Zurich and London have either changed laws or tweaked existing regulation to accommodate the Islamic Finance industry.
A March 2011 EconomyWatch report estimated that the Islamic finance industry is worth US$800 billion and that it is growing at between 10 to 15 percent a year.
 “To date, two major leading banks in South Africa- FBN and ABSA- have Shari’ah compliant services.”
Another paper prepared by Boston Consulting Group in the United Kingdom says that the focus is “on leveraging deep and long-term relationships with worthy Muslim clients from the Middle East who are seeking private Islamic banking services”.
At the peak of the derivatives boom, for instance, the industry body International Swaps and Derivatives Association  even structured what it called an ‘Islamic swap’.
The United Kingdom has not lagged behind, with commercial banks now offering Shari’ah-compliant mortgages. In 2003, for instance, HSBC became the first mainstream UK bank to offer mortgages designed to comply with Shari’ah, followed by United Nations Bank Limited’s launch of the first Islamic product called UNB Islamic Mortgage.
“Malawi, as a former colony of the united Kingdom, largely borrows its laws from this colonial master, and has a lot to learn from the adjustments to allow an Islamic system of finance,” Mdala said.
He said the country could get guidelines from the Islamic Financial Services Board, an association of central banks, monetary agencies and government organisations established on November 3, 2002 to develop universal Shari’ah compliant finance standards.
From humble beginnings in the 1990’s, Islamic finance has become a trillion-dollar industry.

Sad Day for Malawi: Henry Moyo Dies, Malawi Loses to Ghana 1 - 0

Saturday, 13 October 2012, will forever be remembered for two sad events: The Malawi Senior National Football team losing 1- 0 to Ghana on home soil, and son of the soil Henry Moyo- renowned for his stint as team manager for the National Football Team of those sweet-old-days- breathing his last.

This means Malawi have lost 3 - 0 on aggregate to Ghana, having succumbed to a 2 -0 defeat in Accra, Ghana, two weeks ago.

For Moyo, it means the end of a fruitful chapter that saw him curve a name in Malawi soccer and politics.

Moyo's remains will be buried on Sunday in Kasungu, according to his son Kelvin.

May his great soul Rest in Eternal Peace.

African Parliamentarians in Charge of Science, Technology and Innovation to Convene in Cairo to discuss ways of empowering the legislators through common African dialogue

Addis Ababa, 12 October 2012, Following the African Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (AIPF-STI) initiative launched in May 2011 by UNECA; African Parliamentarians in Charge of Science, Technology and Innovation will be meeting from 16 to 18 October 2012 in Cairo, Egypt, to exchange views on strengthening the already growing momentum of empowering and building the capacity of the legislators through a common African dialogue in view to mainstream science, technology and innovation in Africa’s development efforts.

Organised by the Department of Human Resources Science and Technology (HRST) of the African Union Commission (AIUC) the workshop will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt Minister in Charge of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who is also the current chair of the African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology (AMCOST).

The AU Commission aims through this parliamentarian workshop to enhance the role of the legislators, in their capacity as trustees of public mandate, representing the African people and their grass-roots organizations, to advance science, technology and innovation in Africa. The workshop will be held back to back with an African STI Resources Mobilization Workshop and participants will be drawn from the AU Member States and Representatives of the Standing Committees on STI in Parliaments.

"The unique multi-sectoral approach of this Parliamentary workshop will enable the legislators to share information and best practices (African parliaments and assemblies) to promote public knowledge and understanding of the work and role of Parliament on Africa’s STI development and how their influential position can fully be exploited to benefit this sector.." says Dr. Mahama Ouedraogo Head of Division, Science & Technology Division, Human Resources, Science & Technology Department. 

Key outcomes expected in this meeting include strengthening the African platform for engaging policy-makers, parliament legislators, scientists, private sector, the media, and representatives of the civil society in an active dialogue to advance science and technology and innovation in Africa. Strong advocacy on STI funding and investment established with a view to move Africa towards the 1% of GDP allocation to R&D and to promote innovative and alternative mechanisms for financing STI in the continent; Advocacy for the creation of institutional (infrastructures and  facilities for R&D) and policy arrangements that  promote scientific collaboration, research networks among African countries and its regional economic communities; Call for sustainable human capital development and strategies for combating of brain drain in order to grow a critical mass of STI experts in the continent.

Key partners in the implementation of the workshop include UNECA, ISESCO, UNESCO, AfDB and the host country who is AMCOST IV Chair.  Regional institutions PAP, NEPAD, the RECS and key multi-lateral institutions will also be invited.

The Science & Technology Division under the Department of Human Resource Science & Technology (HRST) is the division responsible for Africa's Technology paradigm of development including the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Awards at the African Union Commission (AUC). For more information visit the website: http://au.int/en/dp/hrst/node

Interview requests should be addressed to Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou, Directorate of Information and Communication, AUC, Tel: 0911361185, e-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org .

For more information please contact:

Dr. Mahama Ouedraogo

Head of Division, Science & Technology Division,

Human Resources, Science & Technology Department.

African Union Commission

+251 11 551 7700