Aleke Kadonaphani Banda: A script of many lessons
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Aleke Kadonaphani Banda is a Malawian script. On this script are
written stories of politics and courage. In politics, where he begun
at the age of 14, he furnished his life situation; courage and hard
work provided the theme.
His story could be likened to the river Ruo. Like most rivers with
Ocean (big) connections, it starts small, but sure-footed, clawing
from Mulanje Mountain. It then pours into the mighty Zambezi River (it
is still Luo, somehow, because the waters still carry the scent and
famed spirits of Mulanje).
In the big Indian Ocean, where Zambezi rids its chest of all our
tears, Malawi begins to live and becomes part of the big story, the
ocean. It is no longer Luo or Zambezi; it is a big, mighty, salty
ocean.
So, too, with Aleke Banda. It started small in 1953 when, at the
tender age of 14, he ascended to the position of district secretary
for Nyasaland African Congress in Que-Que, Zimbabwe. His background
might have been limited to the basic description of a young man from
Tukombo. No more.
Why? Because, at that age, he was not yet national, let alone
regional. He might have been in a foreign land, Zimbabwe, but people
still saw the ‘Tukombo’ in him, a community member. Like Ruo on
Mulanje Mountain.
It must have been difficult also, at that time, to say “Mr. Aleke
Banda’. He was only 14. Is that why he was fondly referred to as
‘Aleke’ or AKB? Is that the reason Banda sounds so heavy in the mouth?
Love and admiration force us to define adorable figures in simple,
digestible forms. And Aleke was one such individual; a man of courage,
high integrity, so hard working, honest, transparent and easily
accessible.
These attributes came handy whenever he was caught in the net of
adverse circumstances, most of which orchestrated by people who
imagined enemies where none existed, and created holes of mistrust in
the smooth air. He was hard working, giving out his best at a time
other people (ministers, public officials) were busy buying time in a
world where there is no spare time.
For instance, in March 1973, he was dismissed from cabinet and
banished into internal exile due a Zambian newspaper report that
purported that he could be the next best person to replace first
president, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Banda. He paved his way out by asking
for special consideration of his case. Men of integrity and courage
fear no reviews.
This was a time, between 1964 and 1980, when government and politics
had dropped into a vacuum of objectives that there was no clear
direction. Aleke might have realized that instances of courage on
isolated and unimportant issues have no great significance, and so
invoked that better title deed for real politicians: courage under
fearful pressure.
Moral courage is great and admirable in itself; but it must be pointed
out that it almost never appears except as part of that greater entity
called character. In short, moral courage is allied with other traits
which make up character: honesty, deep consciousness and seriousness,
a firm sense of principle, candour, and resolution.
As Ernest Hemingway once said, “Courage is grace under pressure”.
Aleke’s heart remained home to all these. A man who knew that all
conventions, conferences, and agreements are founded upon the
principle of mutual concession. This is the spirit he wore when, in
July 1960, he was secretary of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP)
delegation to the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference in London,
where the country’s first constitution was drafted.
In December of that same year, he was to become secretary of the MCP
delegation to the Constitutional Conference at Marlborough House. This
culminated into self-government for Nyasaland and secession of
Nyasaland from the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Not that Aleke, looking at the outcomes of the meetings he attended,
did not value compromise. There is always need for compromise, but
this compromise should always be on issues not principles. So he held
on to the Honourable ship of principles, and held on to the end. He
had inherited these principles from the hours he was born in Zimbabwe,
on September 19, 1939, nurtured them for over 50 years of political
and public life, and went with them when the sun finally set on
Friday, April 9, 2010. A giant star with humble beginnings had fallen
in South Africa, and the clouds followed suit in Malawi- they turned
black. Everything, too, seemed to take the direction of black.
Aleke was a shining star because everything he founded lived. Nation
Publications Limited and Malawi News are neighborly examples. Now that
star has stopped shining, but its soft, gentle light will be felt for
a long time to come. A hole now occupies the place he took for himself
through hard work and dedication. What remains is an enormous hollow
of blackness it scares.
In Tukombo, especially, where he served as Member of Parliament from
2004 to March 2009, it is all dark and gloom. Before that fateful
Friday, Tukombo Girls Secondary School, Youth Development Centre and
Agriculture Scheme, not forgetting a revolving fund he set up, were
living examples of Aleke’s social spirit and forced smiles on people’s
faces. Now, they are a reminder of the Aleke who was, and will never
be. At least in Physical form. He lives on in their minds.
These developments came about because Aleke knew that the essence of
democracy is faith in the wisdom of the people and their views. But he
realized, also, that politicians are not merely seismographic
instruments, recording shifts in constituents’ opinion. Voters elect
MPs because they have confidence in their (candidates’) judgements and
their ability to exercise that judgement from a position where they
would determine what their own interests are, as part of the nation’s
interests.
This means MPs should occasionally lead, inform, correct, and
sometimes even ignore constituents’ opinion if they are to exercise
fully that judgement for which they were elected, as John F. Kennedy
rightly pointed out.
So Aleke, of his own accord, resorted to developing Tukombo during his
tenure as People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) MP, and people are now
happy with what he achieved. The tears that rolled down their cheeks
were also tears of joy. Here was a life well lived.
We live our life well when we are, among other things, fit for exact
ethical discussions, clear in seeing general truths, active in
development, unrelenting in our pursuit of truth ,justice and human
rights freedoms, fond of inquiry and constructive debate, penetrated
and restrained by common values and a shrewd common sense. We must
also have a tenacity of purpose, a lofty and inflexible courage, an
unbending will that never flinches before antagonists.
Aleke Kadonaphani Banda: What a man to have all these! Contrast these
with modern day politicians. Aleke’s characteristics are unhappily out
of tune with politics being employed in the Democratic Progressive
Party (where constructive criticism is dessent), United Democratic
Front (where the will of the leader is supreme to the common will of
party followers), Malawi Congress Party (where progress is determined
by how deep you stick your legs into the waters of yesteryears), and
other small political parties (where the leader has been the leader
forever, dragging their parties into one-man alliances, and party
conventions are synonymous with selling power).
A politician in Malawi, it seems, must be the man or woman of the
political party; never a man, or woman, of the whole country. The
country is so totally given up to the spirit of partisanship that not
to follow blindfolded is an expiable offense. Narrow partisanship is
killing us.
But Aleke could stand firm, even if it meant giving rise to the term
‘Minority of oSne’. That is what he did when the UDF imposed Bingu wa
Mutharika as the party’s torch-bearer. He simply resigned as UDF’s
vice-president on May 18, 2003. He was not happy with the turn of
events, which prompted the then State President Bakili Muluzi to sack
him from cabinet.
The same old Aleke story: Compromise on issues; never on principles.
It is this same spirit which drove him, and others like the late Orton
Chirwa, to found the MCP on September 30, 1959. It was a giant,
courageous move. Visionary, too. That decision turned out to be the
impetus for change.
Given an expanded base of public support, and blessed by a new brand
of no-nonsense native leaders like Aleke and Chirwa, Nyasaland came
close to setting- or up setting (the way you look at it), the national
agenda.
It is like what Bertrand Russel, the eminent British philosopher and
mathematician, said about real politics and power: “It is the
production of intended effects”.
This means that many people in society have influence, but they do not
exercise power unless they can actually change the course of events.
Using this definition, we see that Aleke had both influence and power,
but, instead of clinging to it, he and Chirwa gave it freely to Dr.
Banda.
The good thing about Aleke’s machinations was that Nyasalanders got
inspiration and stopped acting like the ghosts they had become.
Instead, they started to act and behave like the warriors they had
once been before the partition of Africa. That was when the Ngoni were
Ngoni with the spear, the Lomwe could not be chased from a Kalongonda
party, and the Chewa were simply unbeatable with their Alauli
(traditional prophets). The Tonga were too dangerous on hill tops
while the Tumbuka could not be tempered with at their own backyard.
Everyone, a warrior.
What the colonialists and partitioners did was to break this
invincible spirit and plant feeble seeds. Aleke saw through this and
acted in the common interests of people. No outsider could now predict
if they could recognize any limits to Nyasas’ lively sense of
reparation. The refuddled politicians knew only one thing; that
nothing could stop the likes of Aleke.
It was a long struggle, one in which Aleke, Chirwa, among others,
participated. Early European settlers and historians treated them as
amorphous, out-of-focus beings, not far removed from local vegetation
and animal life, and deserving of a similar fate.
Their aspiration to decide their own destinies became a rubric kept
deliberately out of their reach.
Aleke and other nationalists saw where the rubric was hidden and
wanted to reach it. They realized, also, the comforting belief that
nothing which could be imagined was impossible. These were views
shared by many who saw themselves becoming the ghosts in their own
country’s history.
How could a majority people become aliens in their own country,
displaced within their own homeland when settlers took prime land, and
forced to live in fear under the rule of an intrusive minority of new
‘conquerors’.
People got so tired they needed redeemers. It was Aleke Banda and
others who were the smiths!
In Blantyre’s Chirimba Township a smith of hope, accomplishment,
courage, high integrity, and principles will now lie dead, but
peaceful anyway, knowing he achieved what many people could only dream
of. A nation, history and long script is now laid for our adoration,
appreciation and politics good lessons. Like Luo, starting humbly from
Mulanje, he is now part of the larger story, the story of Malawi.
His life might have been winding and long at times, like Zambezi, but
it reached its destination in admirable order. It proceeds along a
straight line of success. Those who take the same path may not stray.
That came clear after news of his passing on spread: there was an
ominous silence- a silence of both mediation and shock.
To rise from an origin both humble and obscure, in 1953, and become
the district secretary for Nyasaland African Congress in Que-Que,
Zimbabwe; to organise Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia students in that
political organization disguised as Bwafano Photographic Club, and
edit the school magazine that was Ukuqolotsha Kwe Nyati; to found the
Southern African Students Association as secretary general.
To co-found the Malawi Congress Party in 1959; to be part of the
negotiating team with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in
Zomba, 1960, and fight for the abolition of the Federation of Rhodesia
and Nyasaland; to found and become first editor for Malawi News.
To become Minister of Finance, Agriculture, Information and Tourism,
Trade and Indu-
stry, Works and Supplies, Economic Planning, among others: to be part
of the April 19
1960 landmark delegation to meet Ian Macleod, British Secretary of
State, and be part of
the July 1960 MCP delegation to Lancaster House Constitutional
Conference in London.
To chair the 1972 annual conference of the Commonworth Parliamentary
Association
held at Kwacha Conference Centre; between 1963 and 1973, to serve as League of
Malawi Youth and Commander of the Malawi Young Pioneers
And then to be dismissed from cabinet in March 1973 by a mere foreign newspaper
Report likening him to Kamuzu’s possible heir. To be detained, from
January 1980,
for 12-and-a-half years without trial at Mpyupyu and Mikuyu prisons;
then, to rise again
in December 1993 and become United Democratic Front’s first vice-president. To
become, in May 1994, Minister of Finance under the UDF regime, and
then resign from
the party on May 18, 2003 to join the People’s Progressive Movement
(PPM) three days
later.
To rise to the PPM presidency on January 9, 2004; to get diagnosed
with lymphatic
leukemia cancer in 2006, and then retire voluntarily from politics to
concentrate on
raising awareness on cancer.
And then to die, after suffering a stroke, at Morningside Medi Clinic
in Johannesburg,
South Africa.
Thus ends the extraordinary career of a man who had made an indelible
mark on the history of his, and our, times. So many things, including
Malawi and democracy, first lived in the heart and mind of Aleke Banda
before they wore the court of reality and took real form.
He saw a real Malawi in his mind during the colonial period, and
patriotically loved his country when it could be pointed on paper. Now
Malawi has grown, and will keep him in her heart in Chilimba.
History asks: Did the man have integrity? Did the man have
unselfishness? Did the man have courage? Did the man have consistence?
Aleke answers no more; his works and a legacy he has left us with will
do that for him.
Malawians only hope that Aleke’s grave will never become a lonely
grave, forgotten and unknown.
But history will remember the September 2007 Media Institute of
Southern Africa Press Freedom Award for his contribution to media
freedom and development; our mouths will profess the Diversity Leader
Lifetime Achiever Award of November 2008 as a manifestation of people
who die to live in our hearts; while the November 14, 2009 Mzuzu
University Doctor of Philosopher Degree (Honoris Causa) for great
service to the nation will always remind us of a man from a small
community (Tukombo) who influenced his nation.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Rwanda shuts critical papers in run-up to presidential vote
New York, April 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s decision by Rwanda’s Media High Council to suspend two independent weeklies in the run-up to presidential elections. At a press conference attended only by state broadcasters and the pro-government radio station Contact FM, the Media High Council announced an immediate six-month suspension of the private Kinyarwandan-language weeklies Umuseso and Umuvugizi.
The council accused Umuseso of insulting the head of state, inciting the police and army to insubordination, and creating fear among the public, council official Wilson Karamaga told CPJ. The council, a nominally independent body heavily influenced by the government, did not link these accusations to any particular article in Umuseso and did not specify the reasons for the suspension of Umuvugizi, local journalists said. Umuseso and Umuvugizi may challenge the council’s suspensions in court, he said.
The six-month suspension will ensure both independent papers are unable to cover the presidential elections scheduled for August. Both papers are known for critical coverage of the ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front.
“By silencing these two local-language newspapers the Media High Council is robbing Rwanda voters of crucial alternative voices during the presidential election campaign,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said. “The ruling is a thinly disguised attempt at censorship. If the election is to be seen as free and fair, the council must reverse this ruling and ensure that all media are able to cover the campaign.”
The duration of the suspension raises questions as well. The council can legally suspend a weekly publication for a maximum of two weeks unless the paper is seen as a repeat offender. Umuseso Deputy Editor Didas Gasana said the paper has never been suspended before and should not face a six-month suspension under the law.
CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
The council accused Umuseso of insulting the head of state, inciting the police and army to insubordination, and creating fear among the public, council official Wilson Karamaga told CPJ. The council, a nominally independent body heavily influenced by the government, did not link these accusations to any particular article in Umuseso and did not specify the reasons for the suspension of Umuvugizi, local journalists said. Umuseso and Umuvugizi may challenge the council’s suspensions in court, he said.
The six-month suspension will ensure both independent papers are unable to cover the presidential elections scheduled for August. Both papers are known for critical coverage of the ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front.
“By silencing these two local-language newspapers the Media High Council is robbing Rwanda voters of crucial alternative voices during the presidential election campaign,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said. “The ruling is a thinly disguised attempt at censorship. If the election is to be seen as free and fair, the council must reverse this ruling and ensure that all media are able to cover the campaign.”
The duration of the suspension raises questions as well. The council can legally suspend a weekly publication for a maximum of two weeks unless the paper is seen as a repeat offender. Umuseso Deputy Editor Didas Gasana said the paper has never been suspended before and should not face a six-month suspension under the law.
CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
NBS Bank,Reserve Bank of Malawi, Blue Financial Services: From Owings Chawanda
NBS BANK LIMITED
NBS BANK: That is what it means to move and change with the winds of the times.
It is a story that started as The New Building Society- formed after amalgamation of the Central African Building Society, Commonworth Century Building Society and First Building Society- had been incorporated under the Building Societies Act on February 7, 1964.
Since then, .the Society continued to operate raising funds from the public and advancing them by way of mortgage loans against the security of lands and buildings.
This state of affairs, where it operated almost monopolistically in mortgages, lasted until the liberation of the financial market in Malawi opened the mortgage business to financial institutions registered under The Banking Act, 1989.
The society could, however, not offer products traditionally marketed by banks. This made it increasingly difficult to compete and satisfy the expectations of its customers. A decision was thus made to convert the building society to an authorized dealer (commercial) bank.
And so begun a new story of NBS Bank.
NBS Bank was incorporated as a Limited Liability company on March 14, 2003 and was registered under the Banking Act of 1989 on March 1, 2004. Commercial banking operations started on July 1, 2004.
The Bank was listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange on June 25, 2007. The objective of listing was to increase the Bank’s productive capital base to be deployed in expanding core banking operations. Another objective was to increase the public ownership of the Bank.
A broader shareholder base, including staff participation, is expected to enhance NBS’s image. The listing has improved access to lines of credit and greater ability to attract deposits, apart from extending loan and advances’ opportunities.
The listing was also in line with National Insurance Company Limited’s (NICO) philosophy of diversifying shareholdings in its companies through the public.
Before listing, the shareholding was as follows;
NICO Holdings Limited: 74%
Malawi Government: 16%
National Investments Trust Limited (NITL): 10%.
Now, after listing, the shareholding is as follows:
NICO: Holdings Limited: 60%
Public members: 28.7%
NITL: 8.1%
ESOP: 3.2%
NBS Bank total deposits, on average, amount to K2, 000, 000, 000.
On average, net operating profits hover above K413, 000, 000. Profits growth has consistently been over 55%, raising prospects for more growth.
The general picture is that of improving trends after the government of Malawi, through the Privatization Commission, made available 48, 000, 000 shares for the Initial Public Offer, while NBS Bank offered a further 93, 333, 000, resulting in a total of 141, 333, 000 being available for subscription by the public at an offer price of K2.60 per share.
The offer started on May 28,m 2007 and closed on June 15, 2007. The total number of applicants received was 11, 304. Shares offered were 141, 333, 000 amounted to 367, 465, 800 and shares applied for were 1, 252, 125, 700 amounted to 3, 255, 526, 820. This translated to a subscription rate of 8.9 times. It remains on of the highest IPO subscriptions on Malawi Stock Exchange, save for TNM shares, which were scrambled for.
On investment opportunities that exist, share holding comes quickly to mind. The bank also has good conditions for real estate investments, and has seen an increased customer base, mostly rural farmers and low-income town dwellers.
Like all Authorized Dealer Banks, Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Malawi remain some of the influential institutions.
BLUE FINANCIAL SERVICES
Blue Financial Services is one of the financial institutions established during the past five years, following government’s loosening of government’s loan borrowing procedures for its workers (civil servants).
In the past, money borrowing processes took long, partly because of government’s long-chain of command (bureaucracy) and a poor credit payment culture. This is a hangover from the sad reality that a savings culture remains a luxury for much of the country’s population.
It thus follows that, because people do not save (bank), they cannot borrow and repay loans successfully.
However, this status quo seemed to change with the establishment of various government loan initiatives, including the Malawi Rural Development Fund (MARDEF). Officials have been reporting improving trends, with the repayment reaching as high as 95%.
Financial services companies such as Blue then started coming in, eager to cultivate from improved loan repayment culture, and increased demand for loans as not all citizens could get access to public loans.
At first, the main borrowers were civil servants, a trend that fell in line with one of the conditions for the immerging financial services providers: the need for borrowers to be in stable employment.
Civil servants flocked to Blue and other service providers. However, because government gave them the much needed go ahead and acted as the guarantor (surety), 56% of government workers went for the loans.
Some of them, however, started flouting on the loans, prompting government to stop guaranteeing the loans.
Here were financial service providers that were millions, in excess of K2 billion a year, facing a new financial challenge. When Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Bright Nsaka, announced that government would no longer play the ‘I-know-them’ tag, shock waves kissed comfortable temples.
The hope was gone.
This has not gone unfelt in Blue. Officials at Blantyre’s Blue offices (adjacent to National Bank of Malawi- Henderson Street Branch) confided that, where as they would receive at least 250 people a day, they are now lucky to receive 50.
They blame government’s decision in 2009 for that.
For example, in January 2009, Blue Blantyre made K60.8 million in interest rates; in February, the figure was K64.6 million, while in March the figure reached K67.2 million.
The case is different this year. In January, Blantyre Blue offices made K8.1 million, in February K6.7 million, while in March the figure rose to K8 million. Things are not good, said employees.
In January 2009, Blue Blantyre had 13 workers. Six have lost their work in the wake of government’s decision.
Blue Financial Services was clearly affected by government’s decision, as evidenced by the fact that the company was failing to offer the house it promised in a ‘Win a House’ Promotion. The promotion took place in late 2008, with the company promising to build a house for the winner in Salima, a Central Malawi Lakeshore district.
When a Lilongwe woman won, the company had no funds, and started negotiating for a new deal: it wanted to pay cash, instead of the house.
Blue officials, however, said the delays were because they wanted their officials from South Africa to attend the hand over ceremony.
It took the efforts of the Malawi Lotteries Board, the body mandated to regulate promotional competitions, to intervene. NLB Operations Manager, Ofwa Alide, worked over-time to make sure that Blue paid.
As it is, Blue’s line of work is on the road back to normal, before government’s decision. Investors would, however, kill a fortune if they include non-permanent employees- so long as there are proper loan repayment mechanisms.
The Reserve Bank governor and Chief Secretary to the President have control over the operations of financial services. For RBM, the role is direct while the Chief Secretary does so through government directives.
Overall, it has not been a good time for financial service providers. What with RBM’s decision to close Foreign Exchange Bureaus, initiate new mechanisms for authorized dealer banks, low import cover, and a neck-breaking global financial crisis from whose effects Malawi is still reeling?
There is sunshine, however, and this is one area to invest. Only that borrowers/operators should not depend on one sector of employees but diversify.
RESERVE BANK OF MALAWI
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SUPERVISION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
1. Revised minimum capital requirement
The RBM revised minimum paid up capital for banks and other financial institutions (leasing companies and discount houses) to K850.0 million and K250.0 million respectively. Therefore, all existing banks and other financial institutions whose paid up capital was less than K850.0 million and K250.0 million respectively are required to meet this new requirement which took effect on 1 January 2009 and exiting banking institutions were given a moratorium of 18 months from the effective date.
2. Credit Referencing
In a bid to improve credit risk assessment and preparation towards Basle II, banks, Bankers Association of Malawi and RBM have joined hands towards introduction of a credit reference unit. Efforts have been made towards endaging a service provider and drafting the enabling law. The Bill awaits enactment by Parliament.
3. Risk Based Supervision (RBS)
Pursuant to adoption of RBS by the RBM in 2007, the bank reviewed Risk Management Programmes (RMPs) from banks, held walk through presentations on RMPs by banks, conducted bank-wide presentations to give feed back to banks on generic observations on their submissions, conducted pilot risk based examinations, drafted the RBS examination manual and officially launched RBS on 9th January 2009. The RBM also issued guidelines on effective RMPs preparation.
4. Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism (AML/CFT)
There have been several anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) developments in the Reserve Bank of Malawi. The Reserve Bank of Malawi through Bank Supervision Department issued a Customer Due Diligence Directive (CDD Directive) in 2005 under the Banking Act. The Directive requires the banks to, inter-alia, appoint Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers, put in place Know Your Customer (KYC) policies and report any suspicious transactions to the Reserve Bank of Malawi. With the enactment of the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act, 2006 (ML & TF Act), the obligations placed on the banks through the Directive have been amplified.
In May this year considering the enormous task of monitoring AML/CFT compliance in the financial sector, the Reserve Bank through Bank Supervision Department created a separate section within the department to monitor compliance with AML/CFT obligations placed on the banks through the CDD Directive and the AML/CFT Act.
NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN MALAWI
As at end December 2008, the banking sector comprised eleven banks. These are National Bank of Malawi, Standard Bank Limited, First Merchant Bank Limited, NBS Bank Limited, INDEbank Limited, NEDBANK Malawi Limited, Malawi Savings Bank Limited, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi Limited, ECOBANK (formerly Loita Bank), FDH Bank Limited and International Commercial Bank (ICB). FDH Bank and ICB were licensed in 2008. In addition, First Merchant Bank owns a subsidiary, Leasing and Finance Company.
RULES ON APPOINTMENT OF COMMERCCIAL BANK DIRECTORS
It is not correct that RBM changed the rules on appointment of directors.
In approving appointments for commercial bank directors, the RBM is guided by the Banking Act (1989), Directive on Appointment of New Directors and Senior Management Officials (issued in March 2006) and International Standards pertaining to Fit and Proper Test for Directors embedded in the Core Principles for Effective Supervision.
In May 2009, all banks, discount houses and the leasing company were issued with a circular letter requesting them to regularize positions of any directors, and senior management officials who were already in those positions when the Directive was issued and were not vetted under the said Directive. Financial institutions were given 12 months from May 2009 to fully comply with the requirements of the Directive.
It is normal that after a thorough assessment, the Bank rejects names of persons proposed as directors of commercial banks who fail to pass the fit and proper test. Their side is heard from the information submitted by their banks. We are however not able to provide you will details and number of those rejected.
NBS BANK: That is what it means to move and change with the winds of the times.
It is a story that started as The New Building Society- formed after amalgamation of the Central African Building Society, Commonworth Century Building Society and First Building Society- had been incorporated under the Building Societies Act on February 7, 1964.
Since then, .the Society continued to operate raising funds from the public and advancing them by way of mortgage loans against the security of lands and buildings.
This state of affairs, where it operated almost monopolistically in mortgages, lasted until the liberation of the financial market in Malawi opened the mortgage business to financial institutions registered under The Banking Act, 1989.
The society could, however, not offer products traditionally marketed by banks. This made it increasingly difficult to compete and satisfy the expectations of its customers. A decision was thus made to convert the building society to an authorized dealer (commercial) bank.
And so begun a new story of NBS Bank.
NBS Bank was incorporated as a Limited Liability company on March 14, 2003 and was registered under the Banking Act of 1989 on March 1, 2004. Commercial banking operations started on July 1, 2004.
The Bank was listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange on June 25, 2007. The objective of listing was to increase the Bank’s productive capital base to be deployed in expanding core banking operations. Another objective was to increase the public ownership of the Bank.
A broader shareholder base, including staff participation, is expected to enhance NBS’s image. The listing has improved access to lines of credit and greater ability to attract deposits, apart from extending loan and advances’ opportunities.
The listing was also in line with National Insurance Company Limited’s (NICO) philosophy of diversifying shareholdings in its companies through the public.
Before listing, the shareholding was as follows;
NICO Holdings Limited: 74%
Malawi Government: 16%
National Investments Trust Limited (NITL): 10%.
Now, after listing, the shareholding is as follows:
NICO: Holdings Limited: 60%
Public members: 28.7%
NITL: 8.1%
ESOP: 3.2%
NBS Bank total deposits, on average, amount to K2, 000, 000, 000.
On average, net operating profits hover above K413, 000, 000. Profits growth has consistently been over 55%, raising prospects for more growth.
The general picture is that of improving trends after the government of Malawi, through the Privatization Commission, made available 48, 000, 000 shares for the Initial Public Offer, while NBS Bank offered a further 93, 333, 000, resulting in a total of 141, 333, 000 being available for subscription by the public at an offer price of K2.60 per share.
The offer started on May 28,m 2007 and closed on June 15, 2007. The total number of applicants received was 11, 304. Shares offered were 141, 333, 000 amounted to 367, 465, 800 and shares applied for were 1, 252, 125, 700 amounted to 3, 255, 526, 820. This translated to a subscription rate of 8.9 times. It remains on of the highest IPO subscriptions on Malawi Stock Exchange, save for TNM shares, which were scrambled for.
On investment opportunities that exist, share holding comes quickly to mind. The bank also has good conditions for real estate investments, and has seen an increased customer base, mostly rural farmers and low-income town dwellers.
Like all Authorized Dealer Banks, Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Malawi remain some of the influential institutions.
BLUE FINANCIAL SERVICES
Blue Financial Services is one of the financial institutions established during the past five years, following government’s loosening of government’s loan borrowing procedures for its workers (civil servants).
In the past, money borrowing processes took long, partly because of government’s long-chain of command (bureaucracy) and a poor credit payment culture. This is a hangover from the sad reality that a savings culture remains a luxury for much of the country’s population.
It thus follows that, because people do not save (bank), they cannot borrow and repay loans successfully.
However, this status quo seemed to change with the establishment of various government loan initiatives, including the Malawi Rural Development Fund (MARDEF). Officials have been reporting improving trends, with the repayment reaching as high as 95%.
Financial services companies such as Blue then started coming in, eager to cultivate from improved loan repayment culture, and increased demand for loans as not all citizens could get access to public loans.
At first, the main borrowers were civil servants, a trend that fell in line with one of the conditions for the immerging financial services providers: the need for borrowers to be in stable employment.
Civil servants flocked to Blue and other service providers. However, because government gave them the much needed go ahead and acted as the guarantor (surety), 56% of government workers went for the loans.
Some of them, however, started flouting on the loans, prompting government to stop guaranteeing the loans.
Here were financial service providers that were millions, in excess of K2 billion a year, facing a new financial challenge. When Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Bright Nsaka, announced that government would no longer play the ‘I-know-them’ tag, shock waves kissed comfortable temples.
The hope was gone.
This has not gone unfelt in Blue. Officials at Blantyre’s Blue offices (adjacent to National Bank of Malawi- Henderson Street Branch) confided that, where as they would receive at least 250 people a day, they are now lucky to receive 50.
They blame government’s decision in 2009 for that.
For example, in January 2009, Blue Blantyre made K60.8 million in interest rates; in February, the figure was K64.6 million, while in March the figure reached K67.2 million.
The case is different this year. In January, Blantyre Blue offices made K8.1 million, in February K6.7 million, while in March the figure rose to K8 million. Things are not good, said employees.
In January 2009, Blue Blantyre had 13 workers. Six have lost their work in the wake of government’s decision.
Blue Financial Services was clearly affected by government’s decision, as evidenced by the fact that the company was failing to offer the house it promised in a ‘Win a House’ Promotion. The promotion took place in late 2008, with the company promising to build a house for the winner in Salima, a Central Malawi Lakeshore district.
When a Lilongwe woman won, the company had no funds, and started negotiating for a new deal: it wanted to pay cash, instead of the house.
Blue officials, however, said the delays were because they wanted their officials from South Africa to attend the hand over ceremony.
It took the efforts of the Malawi Lotteries Board, the body mandated to regulate promotional competitions, to intervene. NLB Operations Manager, Ofwa Alide, worked over-time to make sure that Blue paid.
As it is, Blue’s line of work is on the road back to normal, before government’s decision. Investors would, however, kill a fortune if they include non-permanent employees- so long as there are proper loan repayment mechanisms.
The Reserve Bank governor and Chief Secretary to the President have control over the operations of financial services. For RBM, the role is direct while the Chief Secretary does so through government directives.
Overall, it has not been a good time for financial service providers. What with RBM’s decision to close Foreign Exchange Bureaus, initiate new mechanisms for authorized dealer banks, low import cover, and a neck-breaking global financial crisis from whose effects Malawi is still reeling?
There is sunshine, however, and this is one area to invest. Only that borrowers/operators should not depend on one sector of employees but diversify.
RESERVE BANK OF MALAWI
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SUPERVISION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
1. Revised minimum capital requirement
The RBM revised minimum paid up capital for banks and other financial institutions (leasing companies and discount houses) to K850.0 million and K250.0 million respectively. Therefore, all existing banks and other financial institutions whose paid up capital was less than K850.0 million and K250.0 million respectively are required to meet this new requirement which took effect on 1 January 2009 and exiting banking institutions were given a moratorium of 18 months from the effective date.
2. Credit Referencing
In a bid to improve credit risk assessment and preparation towards Basle II, banks, Bankers Association of Malawi and RBM have joined hands towards introduction of a credit reference unit. Efforts have been made towards endaging a service provider and drafting the enabling law. The Bill awaits enactment by Parliament.
3. Risk Based Supervision (RBS)
Pursuant to adoption of RBS by the RBM in 2007, the bank reviewed Risk Management Programmes (RMPs) from banks, held walk through presentations on RMPs by banks, conducted bank-wide presentations to give feed back to banks on generic observations on their submissions, conducted pilot risk based examinations, drafted the RBS examination manual and officially launched RBS on 9th January 2009. The RBM also issued guidelines on effective RMPs preparation.
4. Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism (AML/CFT)
There have been several anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) developments in the Reserve Bank of Malawi. The Reserve Bank of Malawi through Bank Supervision Department issued a Customer Due Diligence Directive (CDD Directive) in 2005 under the Banking Act. The Directive requires the banks to, inter-alia, appoint Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers, put in place Know Your Customer (KYC) policies and report any suspicious transactions to the Reserve Bank of Malawi. With the enactment of the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act, 2006 (ML & TF Act), the obligations placed on the banks through the Directive have been amplified.
In May this year considering the enormous task of monitoring AML/CFT compliance in the financial sector, the Reserve Bank through Bank Supervision Department created a separate section within the department to monitor compliance with AML/CFT obligations placed on the banks through the CDD Directive and the AML/CFT Act.
NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN MALAWI
As at end December 2008, the banking sector comprised eleven banks. These are National Bank of Malawi, Standard Bank Limited, First Merchant Bank Limited, NBS Bank Limited, INDEbank Limited, NEDBANK Malawi Limited, Malawi Savings Bank Limited, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi Limited, ECOBANK (formerly Loita Bank), FDH Bank Limited and International Commercial Bank (ICB). FDH Bank and ICB were licensed in 2008. In addition, First Merchant Bank owns a subsidiary, Leasing and Finance Company.
RULES ON APPOINTMENT OF COMMERCCIAL BANK DIRECTORS
It is not correct that RBM changed the rules on appointment of directors.
In approving appointments for commercial bank directors, the RBM is guided by the Banking Act (1989), Directive on Appointment of New Directors and Senior Management Officials (issued in March 2006) and International Standards pertaining to Fit and Proper Test for Directors embedded in the Core Principles for Effective Supervision.
In May 2009, all banks, discount houses and the leasing company were issued with a circular letter requesting them to regularize positions of any directors, and senior management officials who were already in those positions when the Directive was issued and were not vetted under the said Directive. Financial institutions were given 12 months from May 2009 to fully comply with the requirements of the Directive.
It is normal that after a thorough assessment, the Bank rejects names of persons proposed as directors of commercial banks who fail to pass the fit and proper test. Their side is heard from the information submitted by their banks. We are however not able to provide you will details and number of those rejected.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Andrew Ford Lyons — Coordinator, Committee to Protect Bloggers — on Yoani Sánchez and internet freedom
The shortest route to blogger celebrity (or, notoriety) is to get a repressive regime after you. It is not exactly an easy path, just a quick one. Consider the case of Yoani Sánchez, the Cuban blogger whose name made it to the Time magazine list of the most influential people in 2008. This notoriety brings worldwide attention to her story and sends a huge number of visitors to her website.
However, in real world, blogger celebrity also translates to travel bans, arbitrary detention, imprisonment and violent attacks — these are the pitfalls of blogging in Cuba. While the island nation may stand out from other countries in Latin America, when it comes to government censorship, there are signs that as more people get online elsewhere in the region, other governments may begin cracking down on internet users, trying to control and limit how people roam and use the world-wide-web.
Sánchez’ weblog, Generation Y, offers a mix of insider takes on politics, culture and daily-life in Cuba. Perhaps, if she stopped there, the Cuban authorities might not have paid as much attention as they do. She has a page on the social-networking website Facebook with an ever-growing roster of fans; and an account on micro-blogging website Twitter with thousands of followers.
Her writings — a mix of cynical humour and contrite political anger, well-suited for the blogging medium — are translated to more than seventeen different languages including English, bolstering her international standing. She is also an occasional contributor to the popular news website The Huffington Post, where, this February, she posted an interview with the mother of Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo. The interview was posted just hours after Tamayo died from his hunger strike in prison.
As a result of her relentless journalism and exposé of the Cuban regime, Sánchez has been barred by the authorities from travelling aboard. Latest, she was stopped from attending a conference in Chile, where she was scheduled to speak on the uses of social-networking websites like Facebook and Twitter.
These days, we hear a lot about how the internet has shrunk the world into one small global village. Online tools are seen as the great levellers of the age, and they may well be. But, consider this: while the worldwide transmission of news and ideas has indeed become easier for a large number of people across the globe, their physical bodies are all that is required by those seeking to punish such transmission or circulation of information and ideas.
This remains the world where security checks, raids and invasions into people’s home constitute the ground reality. For example, when you are denied your right to travel to the places where your words and ideas have already spread, the rest of the world can still seem very far off, no matter how connected you are.
In Cuba, mirroring the post-9/11 US laws, the regime has its own dangerousness law that allows the police to lock anyone up merely for the possibility that they may commit a crime at some point in the future. It seems that talking about human rights in Cuba is one of such red flags.
In Venezuela, responding to protesters who used Twitter to organise demonstrations under the #freevenezuela tag, Hugo Chavez proclaimed that Twitter was a “tool of terror,” and directed his national assembly to work on legislation that would regulate the use of social networking websites.
In Mexico, members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution are discussing plans to either ban or regulate the use of Twitter and Facebook, under the pretence of combating crime.
While Cuba is currently the exception when it comes to overt government censorship in Latin America, signs indicate that as more people get online, government policymakers in these countries will be forced to make a choice as to which route to take: either get out of the way and let people use the internet as an utility in whatever way they choose; or take authoritarian measures to stifle creativity and opportunity as a way of maintaining control.
Attacks on bloggers and online dissidents have already started in the region, as is the case in other parts of the world.
In 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Cuba had twenty-one online journalists locked behind bars. All but one, CPJ reported, had their work published abroad. The committee ranks Cuba in its Top ten worst countries to be a blogger list. Of course, Cuba is not alone in the list. According to Reporters Sans Frontières, in 2009, across the globe, there were 151 bloggers and cyber-dissidents behind bars, 61 were violently assaulted and 1 died in prison.
While these might be about people in far off places, there are ways you can assist them from wherever you are.
Yoani Sánchez’ own weblog has a number of ways to help Cuban bloggers — a number of these methods can be used in other Latin American countries and around the world. Google her name or Generation Y to visit her weblog and read through the article titled, “How to help.”
There are indeed many ways you can help — by sharing links to and content from dissident weblogs; by contacting embassies when you hear or read about bloggers getting in trouble; by spreading information about proxy web services and how to use them to beat internet censorship; by donating tools that would help the bloggers, such as software, memory drives and netbooks; by donating server space for a dissident weblog; by working with the Committee to Protect Bloggers through establishing your own local group of activists who would follow cases around the world and report them online; if bloggers are on trial, if you can, show up at any public hearings they may have; or, send letters to them if they end up behind bars.
These activities may seem insignificant to some of you, but, that is surely not the case. Bloggers in some parts of the world go to great lengths and take personal risks to get their message out there. One reason for that, they want to connect with the outside world and let people know what is going on.
You can let them know you have heard their message, and that you are passing it along even when they can not.♦
Andrew Ford Lyons is Coordinator, Committee to Protect Bloggers.
However, in real world, blogger celebrity also translates to travel bans, arbitrary detention, imprisonment and violent attacks — these are the pitfalls of blogging in Cuba. While the island nation may stand out from other countries in Latin America, when it comes to government censorship, there are signs that as more people get online elsewhere in the region, other governments may begin cracking down on internet users, trying to control and limit how people roam and use the world-wide-web.
Sánchez’ weblog, Generation Y, offers a mix of insider takes on politics, culture and daily-life in Cuba. Perhaps, if she stopped there, the Cuban authorities might not have paid as much attention as they do. She has a page on the social-networking website Facebook with an ever-growing roster of fans; and an account on micro-blogging website Twitter with thousands of followers.
Her writings — a mix of cynical humour and contrite political anger, well-suited for the blogging medium — are translated to more than seventeen different languages including English, bolstering her international standing. She is also an occasional contributor to the popular news website The Huffington Post, where, this February, she posted an interview with the mother of Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo. The interview was posted just hours after Tamayo died from his hunger strike in prison.
As a result of her relentless journalism and exposé of the Cuban regime, Sánchez has been barred by the authorities from travelling aboard. Latest, she was stopped from attending a conference in Chile, where she was scheduled to speak on the uses of social-networking websites like Facebook and Twitter.
These days, we hear a lot about how the internet has shrunk the world into one small global village. Online tools are seen as the great levellers of the age, and they may well be. But, consider this: while the worldwide transmission of news and ideas has indeed become easier for a large number of people across the globe, their physical bodies are all that is required by those seeking to punish such transmission or circulation of information and ideas.
This remains the world where security checks, raids and invasions into people’s home constitute the ground reality. For example, when you are denied your right to travel to the places where your words and ideas have already spread, the rest of the world can still seem very far off, no matter how connected you are.
In Cuba, mirroring the post-9/11 US laws, the regime has its own dangerousness law that allows the police to lock anyone up merely for the possibility that they may commit a crime at some point in the future. It seems that talking about human rights in Cuba is one of such red flags.
In Venezuela, responding to protesters who used Twitter to organise demonstrations under the #freevenezuela tag, Hugo Chavez proclaimed that Twitter was a “tool of terror,” and directed his national assembly to work on legislation that would regulate the use of social networking websites.
In Mexico, members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution are discussing plans to either ban or regulate the use of Twitter and Facebook, under the pretence of combating crime.
While Cuba is currently the exception when it comes to overt government censorship in Latin America, signs indicate that as more people get online, government policymakers in these countries will be forced to make a choice as to which route to take: either get out of the way and let people use the internet as an utility in whatever way they choose; or take authoritarian measures to stifle creativity and opportunity as a way of maintaining control.
Attacks on bloggers and online dissidents have already started in the region, as is the case in other parts of the world.
In 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Cuba had twenty-one online journalists locked behind bars. All but one, CPJ reported, had their work published abroad. The committee ranks Cuba in its Top ten worst countries to be a blogger list. Of course, Cuba is not alone in the list. According to Reporters Sans Frontières, in 2009, across the globe, there were 151 bloggers and cyber-dissidents behind bars, 61 were violently assaulted and 1 died in prison.
While these might be about people in far off places, there are ways you can assist them from wherever you are.
Yoani Sánchez’ own weblog has a number of ways to help Cuban bloggers — a number of these methods can be used in other Latin American countries and around the world. Google her name or Generation Y to visit her weblog and read through the article titled, “How to help.”
There are indeed many ways you can help — by sharing links to and content from dissident weblogs; by contacting embassies when you hear or read about bloggers getting in trouble; by spreading information about proxy web services and how to use them to beat internet censorship; by donating tools that would help the bloggers, such as software, memory drives and netbooks; by donating server space for a dissident weblog; by working with the Committee to Protect Bloggers through establishing your own local group of activists who would follow cases around the world and report them online; if bloggers are on trial, if you can, show up at any public hearings they may have; or, send letters to them if they end up behind bars.
These activities may seem insignificant to some of you, but, that is surely not the case. Bloggers in some parts of the world go to great lengths and take personal risks to get their message out there. One reason for that, they want to connect with the outside world and let people know what is going on.
You can let them know you have heard their message, and that you are passing it along even when they can not.♦
Andrew Ford Lyons is Coordinator, Committee to Protect Bloggers.
From Owings Chawanda
MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY
The Ministry of Public Security has gone through tremendous changes, starting from the time it was called Ministry of Home Affairs, through to Internal Security, and now Public Security.
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Bright Nsaka, says the changes have been in line with government’s goals, which have varied from improving internal security, improving public/law enforcers’ relationships, rehabilitating infrastructure for both Police and the Malawi Prison Service, to creating clear-cut boundaries with other Ministries related to the armed forces.
Police officers are armed, army officers are armed, and prison guards and officials have arms- all armed to the tooth. Except perhaps Immigration Department officials, some of them. But they have not always been held under one ministry, and this has tended to create confusion in the past.
“That is why we have changed the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to that of Public Security. There were misconceptions among members of the public who thought that the Malawi Defense Force fell under this ministry. Remember, we also have the Ministry of Defense, which is being led by Honourable Sidik Mia,” said Msaka.
He explains the confusion that has been lingering for so long well, and now hopes that, with the new changes in name, things will change. So will perceptions.
Blantyre-Malabada Member of Parliament, Aaron Sangala, leads the Ministry of Public Security. Sangala spent most of the past five years deputizing other ministers, before becoming full minister.
It seems that he has now bonded well with Police Inspector General Peter Mukhitho.
Mukhitho, formerly President Bingu wa Mutharika’s personal body guard, vowed to improve and increase Police ‘visibility’ at a time crime became a pastime for many criminals. Mukhitho came in at a time armed robberies had reached a crescendo, so much so that day-light robberies were becoming common, both in Blantyre and Lilongwe- the Capital City.
In came Mukhitho with the new promise to increase police visibility. And then came the name change to augur well with the new developments in Malawi Police Service. Mukhitho wanted police officers to be visible, and that was happening, but the aim of this was to increase security. For whom? Members of the Public. Hence Public Security.
“So far, so good. We have seen changes in levels of crime. We have even improved on our travel time to crime scenes,” said Mukhitho.
The Ministry’s headquarters are in Lilongwe, Capital Hill, the seat of Central government.
The Ministry has three departments under its arm pit: Malawi Police Service; Malawi Prisons Service; Immigration Department. Police and Immigration officials undergo similar training, and simultaneously. You may be mistaken to think that long throngs of youths plowing the grounds of Limbe Police Training College in Blantyre all police trainees.
The truth is that it’s always a mixture of Immigration Department trainees and their police counterparts. Only that Police trainees always outnumber their Immigration counterparts.
That is not strange. The number of police officers is low in Malawi. Some four years ago, the country had 5000 police officers, against a population of 12 million. Now the population is hovering over 13.4 million, and the country still maintains a police service of less than 15, 000 personnel. So, the ratio of police officers is still low, necessitating the need to train more officers and prop up local security.
The Malawi Prisons Service is like an island; standing on its own in a triple combination. The Service in recently been plagued by escapee prisoners. Some guards have also joined the fray, losing their official guns under mysterious circumstances.
Infrastructure remains another challenge. The country’s prisons are holding thrice the number of inmates they were constructed to accommodate and, then, the problem is compounded by the fact that they eat once a day. It is like the breeding house for starvation.
Tuberculosis, scabies, malaria are all common place, like the blue skies. Everyday, 3 prisoners die on average. So, we are also breeding death.
The Minister can influence the Immigration Department, Malawi Police Service and Malawi Prisons Service.
This influence can be in the areas of infrastructure development, capacity building, and systems development. Building and security contractors stand a good chance of getting contracts, so do Information Technology institutions.
Some 27 years ago, former president Kamuzu Banda told people at Karonga Primary School in Salima (Central Region, it was on 25 February) that he wanted to construct a barbed fence around Malawi’s borders. Then, on August 3, 1989, he said he was waiting for a demarcation exercise between Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique to go on with his plan.
Nothing was ever heard of that. But, last year, the demarcation exercise begun. Some Malawians have found themselves in dilemma because they have all along been staying in Mozambique thinking it was Malawi. So, too, have some Mozambicans.
There will, thus, be opportunities in boundary construction should the current administration, or those to come, choose to pursue Kamuzu’s Banda’s course.
Opportunities exist.
MALAWI COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY AUTHORITY (MACRA)
This is a regulatory body of broadcasting houses, established under the Communications Act.
MACRA only regulates radio, television stations and telecommunications operators- not newspapers and magazines as some investors have been thinking.
Publications are registered at the Registrar General’s office. There is a beaming Press Office there, with a special officer to boot.
MACRA has been coming under intense pressure for not following the Communications Act of 1997 to the latter. There have been cases where the Authority has acted in retrogressive manner, or pure bias.
Take, as an example, what has been happening with the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and Malawi Television. The two are supposed to be regulated by MACRA, but, for the past 9 years, that never happened.
MBC and TVM could defy MACRA’s guidelines willy-nilly, and get away with it.
All radio stations and TVs are required by law to give political parties equal chance during campaign periods. Or at least the chance to give their side of the story when attacked.
But MBC and TVM consistently violated this by giving the ruling party- first, United Democratic Front, then Democratic Progressive Party- 96% positive coverage, and opposition parties 99& negative coverage, according to Broadcast Media Monitoring Reports from the Malawi Electoral Commission, Development Media Africa, EISA, COMESA Electoral Observation Team Reports.
And MACRA took no action. It said, on MBC, that it was powerless because the state-run media house was established before MACRA. On TVM, the Authority was jumpy.
But that only changed after intense pressure some three years ago, though things never changed during the May 19, 2009 presidential and Parliamentary elections. It was privately owned Joy FM that borne the brunt of MACRA’s whip that it got closed on the day of the elections for reporting archaically.
MACRA falls under the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, a development experts have decried, saying it puts MACRA in a fix and under the armpit of the Minister of Information instead of wearing and independent tag.
That is true. When Patricia Kaliati was minister, she would shout MACRA into doing things her way. She always got her wishes.
Government handpicks MACRA’s board members as well. This explains why MACRA is soft on government media.
Malawi has 13 radio stations registered with MACRA. As for television stations, we currently have three in Malawi Television, Luntha in Balaka, and AFJ TV Station. A TV license for Joy was withdrawn for unclear reasons, though the TV had already started airing programmes.
Malawi has two mobile phone operators, and three mobile service providers. G-Mobile has, however, been slow to fulfill its license obligations, prompting MACRA to issue a warning and deadline.
But ZAIN and TNM continue to dominate. Just recently, MACRA advertised that it wanted some more mobile phone operators and community radio station licensees.
The Minister of Information and Civic Education influences MACRA with an invisible, albeit visible, hand. That is why those with government connections often get their way.
Investment opportunities exist in mobile phone and fixed line operations, radio station and TV ownership, as well as security phone gadgets business.
Security companies also register for frequencies, and thus opportunities also exist in establishing security gadgets frequency businesses, with the aim of providing, on contract basis, frequencies, maintenance, among others, for security operators.
The Ministry of Public Security has gone through tremendous changes, starting from the time it was called Ministry of Home Affairs, through to Internal Security, and now Public Security.
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Bright Nsaka, says the changes have been in line with government’s goals, which have varied from improving internal security, improving public/law enforcers’ relationships, rehabilitating infrastructure for both Police and the Malawi Prison Service, to creating clear-cut boundaries with other Ministries related to the armed forces.
Police officers are armed, army officers are armed, and prison guards and officials have arms- all armed to the tooth. Except perhaps Immigration Department officials, some of them. But they have not always been held under one ministry, and this has tended to create confusion in the past.
“That is why we have changed the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to that of Public Security. There were misconceptions among members of the public who thought that the Malawi Defense Force fell under this ministry. Remember, we also have the Ministry of Defense, which is being led by Honourable Sidik Mia,” said Msaka.
He explains the confusion that has been lingering for so long well, and now hopes that, with the new changes in name, things will change. So will perceptions.
Blantyre-Malabada Member of Parliament, Aaron Sangala, leads the Ministry of Public Security. Sangala spent most of the past five years deputizing other ministers, before becoming full minister.
It seems that he has now bonded well with Police Inspector General Peter Mukhitho.
Mukhitho, formerly President Bingu wa Mutharika’s personal body guard, vowed to improve and increase Police ‘visibility’ at a time crime became a pastime for many criminals. Mukhitho came in at a time armed robberies had reached a crescendo, so much so that day-light robberies were becoming common, both in Blantyre and Lilongwe- the Capital City.
In came Mukhitho with the new promise to increase police visibility. And then came the name change to augur well with the new developments in Malawi Police Service. Mukhitho wanted police officers to be visible, and that was happening, but the aim of this was to increase security. For whom? Members of the Public. Hence Public Security.
“So far, so good. We have seen changes in levels of crime. We have even improved on our travel time to crime scenes,” said Mukhitho.
The Ministry’s headquarters are in Lilongwe, Capital Hill, the seat of Central government.
The Ministry has three departments under its arm pit: Malawi Police Service; Malawi Prisons Service; Immigration Department. Police and Immigration officials undergo similar training, and simultaneously. You may be mistaken to think that long throngs of youths plowing the grounds of Limbe Police Training College in Blantyre all police trainees.
The truth is that it’s always a mixture of Immigration Department trainees and their police counterparts. Only that Police trainees always outnumber their Immigration counterparts.
That is not strange. The number of police officers is low in Malawi. Some four years ago, the country had 5000 police officers, against a population of 12 million. Now the population is hovering over 13.4 million, and the country still maintains a police service of less than 15, 000 personnel. So, the ratio of police officers is still low, necessitating the need to train more officers and prop up local security.
The Malawi Prisons Service is like an island; standing on its own in a triple combination. The Service in recently been plagued by escapee prisoners. Some guards have also joined the fray, losing their official guns under mysterious circumstances.
Infrastructure remains another challenge. The country’s prisons are holding thrice the number of inmates they were constructed to accommodate and, then, the problem is compounded by the fact that they eat once a day. It is like the breeding house for starvation.
Tuberculosis, scabies, malaria are all common place, like the blue skies. Everyday, 3 prisoners die on average. So, we are also breeding death.
The Minister can influence the Immigration Department, Malawi Police Service and Malawi Prisons Service.
This influence can be in the areas of infrastructure development, capacity building, and systems development. Building and security contractors stand a good chance of getting contracts, so do Information Technology institutions.
Some 27 years ago, former president Kamuzu Banda told people at Karonga Primary School in Salima (Central Region, it was on 25 February) that he wanted to construct a barbed fence around Malawi’s borders. Then, on August 3, 1989, he said he was waiting for a demarcation exercise between Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique to go on with his plan.
Nothing was ever heard of that. But, last year, the demarcation exercise begun. Some Malawians have found themselves in dilemma because they have all along been staying in Mozambique thinking it was Malawi. So, too, have some Mozambicans.
There will, thus, be opportunities in boundary construction should the current administration, or those to come, choose to pursue Kamuzu’s Banda’s course.
Opportunities exist.
MALAWI COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY AUTHORITY (MACRA)
This is a regulatory body of broadcasting houses, established under the Communications Act.
MACRA only regulates radio, television stations and telecommunications operators- not newspapers and magazines as some investors have been thinking.
Publications are registered at the Registrar General’s office. There is a beaming Press Office there, with a special officer to boot.
MACRA has been coming under intense pressure for not following the Communications Act of 1997 to the latter. There have been cases where the Authority has acted in retrogressive manner, or pure bias.
Take, as an example, what has been happening with the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and Malawi Television. The two are supposed to be regulated by MACRA, but, for the past 9 years, that never happened.
MBC and TVM could defy MACRA’s guidelines willy-nilly, and get away with it.
All radio stations and TVs are required by law to give political parties equal chance during campaign periods. Or at least the chance to give their side of the story when attacked.
But MBC and TVM consistently violated this by giving the ruling party- first, United Democratic Front, then Democratic Progressive Party- 96% positive coverage, and opposition parties 99& negative coverage, according to Broadcast Media Monitoring Reports from the Malawi Electoral Commission, Development Media Africa, EISA, COMESA Electoral Observation Team Reports.
And MACRA took no action. It said, on MBC, that it was powerless because the state-run media house was established before MACRA. On TVM, the Authority was jumpy.
But that only changed after intense pressure some three years ago, though things never changed during the May 19, 2009 presidential and Parliamentary elections. It was privately owned Joy FM that borne the brunt of MACRA’s whip that it got closed on the day of the elections for reporting archaically.
MACRA falls under the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, a development experts have decried, saying it puts MACRA in a fix and under the armpit of the Minister of Information instead of wearing and independent tag.
That is true. When Patricia Kaliati was minister, she would shout MACRA into doing things her way. She always got her wishes.
Government handpicks MACRA’s board members as well. This explains why MACRA is soft on government media.
Malawi has 13 radio stations registered with MACRA. As for television stations, we currently have three in Malawi Television, Luntha in Balaka, and AFJ TV Station. A TV license for Joy was withdrawn for unclear reasons, though the TV had already started airing programmes.
Malawi has two mobile phone operators, and three mobile service providers. G-Mobile has, however, been slow to fulfill its license obligations, prompting MACRA to issue a warning and deadline.
But ZAIN and TNM continue to dominate. Just recently, MACRA advertised that it wanted some more mobile phone operators and community radio station licensees.
The Minister of Information and Civic Education influences MACRA with an invisible, albeit visible, hand. That is why those with government connections often get their way.
Investment opportunities exist in mobile phone and fixed line operations, radio station and TV ownership, as well as security phone gadgets business.
Security companies also register for frequencies, and thus opportunities also exist in establishing security gadgets frequency businesses, with the aim of providing, on contract basis, frequencies, maintenance, among others, for security operators.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Richard Chirombo Exclusives: Features
Counting the cost of political gender activism between naps
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Politics is a house of many mansions; a single house, several mansions.
The mansions are the many priorities pressed upon both the single house that is Central Government, and those who pursue the political route to Sanjika Palace or the New State House.
People seldom know, at first hand, what lies within the walls of those many independent, inter-connected mansions, let alone about the most favoured mansion (priority) in a world where priorities have begun to live within other priorities. Is it sustainable social-economic emancipation, respect for human rights, improved foreign relations, water and sanitation, education, health, energy, press freedom, natural resources and environmental management affairs, or gender?
Only when one gets into the individual mansions, or is briefed by those privy to the situation, does the picture become more apparent. This chance, though, is often unavailable prompting people with special interests, civil society organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations, development partners, among others, to begin shouting on top of their voices.
If you cannot get in, physically, your words can. They permeate boundaries and break silences. The house grappling under the weight of the mansions then turns into a house of noise and chaos, as each one of the ‘loudmouths’ outside craves for a chance to be heard. It is called advocacy.
Advocacy is premised on the fact that political leaders, in particular, are not merely a part of a transmission belt turning the wishes of citizens into plausible programmes of action; they possess initiatives of their own, which often push civil society initiatives away from the priority tray. The second reason is that, once elected, the leaders begin to live in cubic houses that offer no view of the outside world. They begin to live in closed and artificial worlds, far away from the hustle and bustle of common life.
Then, there is always the fear- imagined or real- that those in authority have a short memory span and may not initiate people-centred programmes if not compelled by special interest groups. After all, some policies appear to be the outcome of domestic and international forces over which neither citizens nor leaders have much control.
“That is where civil society organisations and other interest groups come in. The country cannot do without these organisations because they enlighten government on what is in the best interest of people. We are partners in development,” says Undule Mwakasungula, chairperson for Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC).
When not representing HRCC, Mwakasungula holds the banner of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (HRCC), an organization started by brains that, had it not been for the re-advent of multiparty democracy in 1994, after the tragic accident that was the 1964 State of Emergency, would have been laid to waste in exile.
But back home they returned, and became part of those early waves pushing against the shore of impunity, disrespect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and other blocks standing in the way of good governance.
Mwakasungula remembers those early days, when the most overriding voice was that crying for the respect for human rights. It was a general cry because human rights are general.
That could be the reason why issues like gender never appeared as priority areas during the 1994 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. They never appeared as ‘real’ issues because Malawian women were just waking up from an era of deep slumber where they were largely used as objects, flowery objects of political gratification.
Yet, after Malawi’s second turn of elections in 1999, some strange, audible voice begun to rise above the other voices, bringing more noise to the single house with many mansions. It was the voice of gender equality- a biased voice because it advocated for greater women participation in politics and public life.
Where were the men? They were the ‘oppressors’ whose time to be discarded had arrived. The campaign reached a crescendo in 2004, when women, backed by regional protocols, started demanding benchmarks in a quest to improve their, and national, well-being.
A 30 per cent Southern African Development Community (Sadc) protocol on women empowerment set the pace, a goal political analysts criticized for being too ambitious to be real. And Malawi’s political legs gave way somewhere between the start and finish line, typical of a baby who is about to take its only third step in life.
The first step (1994 elections) was a feel of how things should work; the second, 1999 elections, an assignment aimed at gauging whether the student is getting the gist of the lessons; and the third, the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2004, a revision exercise for a novice still learning how to throw guarded steps.
However, it was gender activists’ bloated ambition and arrogance- almost total disregard for Malawi’s cultural stereotypes on women participation in public life and politics- during the May 19, 2009 elections that captivated public attention. The 50-50 Campaign on women participation in politics came as a bang, demanding that men spare half of every public cake they cut through for women.
The goal was faulted for being too general to achieve specific results; too present-oriented to register clear long-term impact. It was like digging a shallow grave on the sands of Lake Malawi, fully aware that soil erosion and heavy rains may wash it away.
The heavy rains and soil erosion could be the many pressing needs awaiting government’s attention. The public healthcare service delivery system is still reeling from the effects of brain drain and poor perks; education is another area demanding government’s attention, what with revelations that some 4000 primary schools lack toilets, among others. Just how sure are gender activists that women empowerment issues will still be in government’s priority tray come the 2014 elections?
That is the sheer folly of it all. However, Noel Msiska, Association for Progressive Women’s (APW) acting executive director chooses to differ with those who accuse women empowerment activists and groups of being poor drivers, drivers who run far much ahead of the vehicle they were supposed to drive. Just such a vehicle will not move.
“All these efforts- goals, campaigns, protocols, instruments, conventions and tools- on women empowerment have begun to bear fruit. People have quickly come to embrace the element of women empowerment, something that has started tilting the balance in favour of women, both in public and private spheres. Of course, we still have a long way to go to achieve full balance,” said Msiska.
APW is one of the organisations that have contributed greatly towards women empowerment. Although ‘progressive’ women abound in every sense of human activity, the organization’s zeal has been more pronounced in fighting for the cause of Malawian women taking part in politics and decision-making bodies. Reen Kachere, APW’s founding director, just walked the talk during last year’s elections, beating seasoned politician and People’s Progressive Movement president Mark Katsonga Phiri on the race to Parliament.
She now acts as Minister for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, a development Msiska said had already started changing people’s perceptions about women capabilities in Neno.
“The balance of power is never static; it changes with the times,” said Msika.
Nothing strange in that. After all, democracy is there to help people achieve a balance in all aspects of life. This is because the world we live in is not a moral world: it is a world of more power or less power, of more goods or less goods, of greater security or lesser security, women empowerment or women marginalization- a world in which people are always striving to achieve a balance.
Only that, in this balancing equation, everything seems to be taking a direct relation with politics. So many things begin or end with politics, including our power to effect political choices. That is where women want to be now- the baking pot of sustainable, social-economic development.
In the reckoning, the fault lies not in the instruments used to promote women participation, but in the way they (instruments) have been employed and the end to which they have been directed.
Malawian women empowerment and gender activists have tried all this, quips Faustace Chirwa, executive director for National Women’s Lobby Group (Nawolg). But something seems amiss, and this is affecting sustainability of women empowerment efforts, she says.
“After national elections, most women empowerment organisations go into hibernation. This is partly because of lack of long-term strategic planning and in part due to dependency on donors. This raises sustainability questions, and may impact negatively on long-term women participation in public life, politics and general decision making positions,” said Chirwa.
Chirwa also points a finger of blame at special interest groups’ tendency of being too much event-driven. The event, mostly, is the national elections campaign, after which the NGOs simply hibernate only to resurface a year or two before elections.
“This is frustrating women empowerment efforts. In fact, there is need for pragmatic plans of action, plans that outlive national elections’ euphoria,” said Chirwa.
Lack of resources, she enthused, could be behind all this. Activists should now begin to focus on Zero budget-implication programmes in between elections to make the best out of people’s votes.
The Zero budget implication areas include granting media interviews, writing opinion pieces on various issues pertaining to women empowerment, building close relationships with organisations sharing similar objectives, and working closely with community volunteers, and have proven successful in the case of Nawolg.
Chirwa is not speaking from a vacuum. Her organization has been in existence since 1995. As Malawi’s democracy comes off age, so does Nawolg.
In 1998, the organization played a key role in the election of women Councilors. With funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), Nawolg criss-crossed the country with one message: Councils need Women! It received its just desserts as a considerable number of women made it to various assemblies, apart from campaigning for the cause of women during Malawi’s various elections.
That is enough to create lasting memories. Not with Chirwa: When women make it to Parliament, she becomes worried about the future. It is the way women behave when elected that makes her restless.
“You will find that women politicians disappear as quickly as they appeared onto the political scene, and this is worrisome. The main problem lies in the fact that there is no clear feedback strategy for women elected into various public positions. There is need to establish a clear strategy; a strategy that carters for donors, constituents, special interest groups (civil society organisations and NGOs), among others,” said Chirwa.
So, apart from NGOs going into hibernation after national elections, elected women also dig their own graves by not providing feedback to other stakeholders. That way, we could have avoided the catastrophe that befell women during last year’s Parliamentary elections, when almost an entire generation of women politicians went with the political tide.
Legislators like Patricia Kaliati, Anna Kachikho are some of the notable survivors. But there were also the likes of United Democratic Front’s Lilian Patel (Chairperson for Women Caucus in Parliament), Malawi Congress Party’s Nancy Tembo, Esther Chilenje-Nkhoma- they all went with the May 19, 2009 political winds, and little is heard of then now.
They are formidable women who graced the political scene; they are also living lessons to other women, in a way. The lesson: Women in politics should stop wasting and buying time in a world that offers no spare time.
Chirwa also says women politicians must stop toeing party lines wholesale. So far, the trend has been that a politician in Malawi should be an individual of the political party; never an individual of the whole country.
“Narrow partisanship is killing us. In fact, it is both inter-elections inactivity and women’s lack of ability to stand for other women that has affected the number of women in politics. We needed to have, at least, 80 women in Parliament now,” said Chirwa.
Emmie Chanika, Chairperson for the NGO-Gender Coordination Network’s Permanent Committee on Women in Politics, sees shifting fortunes, however. She says, with time, the Malawian woman will not only learn to fight for what belongs to her, but also retain what she has already laid her hands on. Things like holding political office.
“That is why we have the permanent committee. It’s because we realize that fighting for women empowerment is a continuous process, and we have been trying our best,” said Chanika.
In other words, the Committee she chairs is permanent, until women attain what is theirs; her position is not, it is temporary.
Gender, Children and Community Development Minister, Kaliati, also sees changing fortunes for Malawian women in politics and decision-making processes.
“I must say that we are lucky in Malawi because we have visionary leaders. The administration of Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika has been in the forefront promoting women, so much so that we have women Ministers, Principal Secretaries, High Commissioners and heads of government departments. It shows that we are moving in the right direction,’ said Kaliati.
Up against life’s artificial boundaries
RICHARD CHIROMBO
A smiling youth, 30, craws impatiently in the mud. Just some two hours ago, it was the sun, brazing heavily over his back.
Not the best of days, it seems- this Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
People pass him by, unperturbed, caught up in the web of thoughts on how to escape the rains pouring heavily in Blantyre.
The man, Andrea Kanama from Khuguwe village, Chief Mchiramwera, Thyolo is not worried about the rains; all he cares about is the guitar strapped onto his back.
“It’s all I have that gives me my daily bread. Let me say, also, that I am satisfied with the income I earn daily, and will never go about the streets asking for alms,” says Kanama, wearing a smile that seems never to dry up from his face.
Kanama says he was born in 1980, but is unsure of the exact date and month- only saying “It was during the rainy season”.
That is the day Kanama’s life went into the shadows. For physically challenged persons like Kanama, to live was trouble, to look for alms was trouble, getting access to a Primary School trouble.
“So, I stayed home while other ‘normal’ children went to school. There was also a great distance between my home and school. I wish I had the opportunity to go to school,” says Kanama.
That is the challenge faced by a myriad of families with physically challenged children in rural areas, too; it is either they are too poor to afford a wheelchair and access to education institutions that carter for these children or the question of distance. Many things may happen on the way between home and school that put the child at the mercy of foreign devices.
Little wonder that, in the 1980s, having a disability became an impregnable fortress that, like all fortresses, limited the view of the outside world and distorted perspective. The future was too blurred to offer any clear perspectives, and Kanama quickly learned to live with this “painful fact; it was also a dilemma”.
“Not that I blame it on other people, though most people with physical challenges cannot pretend, also, that government policies and people’s perceptions of disability were a faultless paragon of virtue and courtesy,” said Kanama, adding:
“To the contrary, people and government institutions could sometimes be too distant from the real challenges facing us, could be vituperative in their classification of us and could often blame it on lack of resources instead of concentrating their energies upon the merits of our cause,’ said Kanama.
This had a ripple effect on people’s perceptions, he said, because disability became a special interest groups’ cause instead of a national issue. The likes of Kanama were left to fend for themselves in a world already programmed to loathe them.
The problem, it seems, has over the years developed a deep surface and continues to date. Take, for instance, the plight of special needs education pupils in Blantyre. Special needs education teachers like Christopher Mpakeni move about from one place to another just because all public primary schools are far from having this rare specie of compassionate teachers.
So they move, with miserable stipend, from Machinjiri primary schools to Chirimba, a distance of sorts for teachers whose transport allowance is but a mockery. Often, they dig deeper into their pockets- and equally deeper into their reserves of passion- just to help these kids.
It is the best they can do. Their operating philosophy is that, at least, if they cannot give these pupils light now; they will show them where the light is. How to walk towards that light is a government’s responsibility.
Non-Governmental Organisations have also come in to help, but their efforts have been hindered by their zeal to invest in short term initiatives. Sight Savers International has been one of the international organisations to come to the rescue of government, but things went haywire over a year ago when the organization withdrew funding for a programme that lessened teachers’ burdens.
Special needs education teachers were receiving about K1, 500 a month to help them easily move from one school to another. The end of the programme meant that the teachers, already poorly paid, would now find means of fending for themselves.
It also took more than a year for the teachers to receive what they had already worked for.
“It pains to find that, despite many years of fighting for our rights, things have not changed. We still struggle to get access to many public resources and infrastructure,” said Kanama.
Kanama thanks his parents- Carlos and Emily- for inculcating a hard working spirit in him, though. He also hails a friend, Feston Samola, for teaching him how to play a guitar, which has now become his sole source of bread and butter.
“Disability has not stood in my way because I am able to fend for myself and other people. I stay with four other people in Thyolo and am able to fend for the group. I am also able to move about, from Thyolo, Blantyre, and Zomba to Machinga, where I get paid for playing music. In fact, I have just recorded a music album,” he said.
Kanama is a also an artist of sorts. He even challenges that he can have a successful attempt at murals, that is, if given the chance in terms of capital.
“I earn between K2,000 and K2,500 a day, far much better than what other working class people are getting per fortnight. My dream is to raise K600,000 and venture into irrigation farming. It pains me to see able-bodied people complaining of hunger when they have all it takes to rise above hunger and poverty: no food for lazy man,” said a brunt Kanama.
Not that life is all rosy. He says challenges abound, and points at verbal and physical abuse as some of the challenges. Just on the Wednesday of March 3, 2010, he decided to travel from Thyolo to Blantyre on a mission.
The mission was his forthcoming music album, Tikutha ndiEDZI, which he wanted to promote at state-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. This was after he appeared on Malawi Television some three weeks earlier.
He came back a shocked man.
“I was turned at the gate. They said I could not go inside the studios because I did not have K10, 000. I later learned that it was a hoax; I did not need to pay money to speak on public radio. It will take me time to go back there because I still feel that I was discriminated against,” said Kanama.
That is not all. Some drivers spill rainwater on him when it is raining. This pains Kanama, who enthuses that, while the sight of him clawing in the mud or basking in the October sun portrays a picture of someone who is so slow in mobility, his mind is always far ahead of him.
That means, as the makes his way through the rains and heat, his mind is always in the next possible shelter where people are hiding from the two natural fruits. When rain water is spilled over him, he is always safe and clean- somewhere in his mind.
Only that resource inadequacies and people’s negative perceptions prevent him from physically getting to his mind, in real touch with what goes on in his mind.
The draft Bill on Equalisation of Opportunities for People with Disabilities could be the sure link between what goes on in his mind, and the physical world he lives in.
The Federation for Disability Organisations in Malawi 9Fedoma) has been pressing hard to get the bill enacted. The organization’s spokesperson, Pamela Juma, says she is getting impatient.
“It’s taking too long. We needed to have that piece of legislation yesterday,” said Juma.
But government, through Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with Disabilities Reen Kachere, says there is some headway towards enactment.
Kachere says, in the meantime, patience is all that is needed.
But Kanama does not care about some piece of paper causing such problems. Sometimes, he says, he feels like disability organisations (and that includes Fedoma) do not really stand up for their cause.
“Organisations representing the interests of people with disabilities also stand in the way of us, the people they were supposed to represent. Look at the Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha), for instance. Ten years ago, some officials from Macoha came to my home in Thyolo, and promised to enroll me at a vocational school in Magomero. They have never come back to me. Isn’t that ironical?” queries Kanama.
So, he doesn’t care about mere pieces of paper that may, in the end, be as good as nothing. The challenge is life itself; how people with disabilities make the best out of it.
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Politics is a house of many mansions; a single house, several mansions.
The mansions are the many priorities pressed upon both the single house that is Central Government, and those who pursue the political route to Sanjika Palace or the New State House.
People seldom know, at first hand, what lies within the walls of those many independent, inter-connected mansions, let alone about the most favoured mansion (priority) in a world where priorities have begun to live within other priorities. Is it sustainable social-economic emancipation, respect for human rights, improved foreign relations, water and sanitation, education, health, energy, press freedom, natural resources and environmental management affairs, or gender?
Only when one gets into the individual mansions, or is briefed by those privy to the situation, does the picture become more apparent. This chance, though, is often unavailable prompting people with special interests, civil society organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations, development partners, among others, to begin shouting on top of their voices.
If you cannot get in, physically, your words can. They permeate boundaries and break silences. The house grappling under the weight of the mansions then turns into a house of noise and chaos, as each one of the ‘loudmouths’ outside craves for a chance to be heard. It is called advocacy.
Advocacy is premised on the fact that political leaders, in particular, are not merely a part of a transmission belt turning the wishes of citizens into plausible programmes of action; they possess initiatives of their own, which often push civil society initiatives away from the priority tray. The second reason is that, once elected, the leaders begin to live in cubic houses that offer no view of the outside world. They begin to live in closed and artificial worlds, far away from the hustle and bustle of common life.
Then, there is always the fear- imagined or real- that those in authority have a short memory span and may not initiate people-centred programmes if not compelled by special interest groups. After all, some policies appear to be the outcome of domestic and international forces over which neither citizens nor leaders have much control.
“That is where civil society organisations and other interest groups come in. The country cannot do without these organisations because they enlighten government on what is in the best interest of people. We are partners in development,” says Undule Mwakasungula, chairperson for Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC).
When not representing HRCC, Mwakasungula holds the banner of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (HRCC), an organization started by brains that, had it not been for the re-advent of multiparty democracy in 1994, after the tragic accident that was the 1964 State of Emergency, would have been laid to waste in exile.
But back home they returned, and became part of those early waves pushing against the shore of impunity, disrespect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and other blocks standing in the way of good governance.
Mwakasungula remembers those early days, when the most overriding voice was that crying for the respect for human rights. It was a general cry because human rights are general.
That could be the reason why issues like gender never appeared as priority areas during the 1994 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. They never appeared as ‘real’ issues because Malawian women were just waking up from an era of deep slumber where they were largely used as objects, flowery objects of political gratification.
Yet, after Malawi’s second turn of elections in 1999, some strange, audible voice begun to rise above the other voices, bringing more noise to the single house with many mansions. It was the voice of gender equality- a biased voice because it advocated for greater women participation in politics and public life.
Where were the men? They were the ‘oppressors’ whose time to be discarded had arrived. The campaign reached a crescendo in 2004, when women, backed by regional protocols, started demanding benchmarks in a quest to improve their, and national, well-being.
A 30 per cent Southern African Development Community (Sadc) protocol on women empowerment set the pace, a goal political analysts criticized for being too ambitious to be real. And Malawi’s political legs gave way somewhere between the start and finish line, typical of a baby who is about to take its only third step in life.
The first step (1994 elections) was a feel of how things should work; the second, 1999 elections, an assignment aimed at gauging whether the student is getting the gist of the lessons; and the third, the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2004, a revision exercise for a novice still learning how to throw guarded steps.
However, it was gender activists’ bloated ambition and arrogance- almost total disregard for Malawi’s cultural stereotypes on women participation in public life and politics- during the May 19, 2009 elections that captivated public attention. The 50-50 Campaign on women participation in politics came as a bang, demanding that men spare half of every public cake they cut through for women.
The goal was faulted for being too general to achieve specific results; too present-oriented to register clear long-term impact. It was like digging a shallow grave on the sands of Lake Malawi, fully aware that soil erosion and heavy rains may wash it away.
The heavy rains and soil erosion could be the many pressing needs awaiting government’s attention. The public healthcare service delivery system is still reeling from the effects of brain drain and poor perks; education is another area demanding government’s attention, what with revelations that some 4000 primary schools lack toilets, among others. Just how sure are gender activists that women empowerment issues will still be in government’s priority tray come the 2014 elections?
That is the sheer folly of it all. However, Noel Msiska, Association for Progressive Women’s (APW) acting executive director chooses to differ with those who accuse women empowerment activists and groups of being poor drivers, drivers who run far much ahead of the vehicle they were supposed to drive. Just such a vehicle will not move.
“All these efforts- goals, campaigns, protocols, instruments, conventions and tools- on women empowerment have begun to bear fruit. People have quickly come to embrace the element of women empowerment, something that has started tilting the balance in favour of women, both in public and private spheres. Of course, we still have a long way to go to achieve full balance,” said Msiska.
APW is one of the organisations that have contributed greatly towards women empowerment. Although ‘progressive’ women abound in every sense of human activity, the organization’s zeal has been more pronounced in fighting for the cause of Malawian women taking part in politics and decision-making bodies. Reen Kachere, APW’s founding director, just walked the talk during last year’s elections, beating seasoned politician and People’s Progressive Movement president Mark Katsonga Phiri on the race to Parliament.
She now acts as Minister for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, a development Msiska said had already started changing people’s perceptions about women capabilities in Neno.
“The balance of power is never static; it changes with the times,” said Msika.
Nothing strange in that. After all, democracy is there to help people achieve a balance in all aspects of life. This is because the world we live in is not a moral world: it is a world of more power or less power, of more goods or less goods, of greater security or lesser security, women empowerment or women marginalization- a world in which people are always striving to achieve a balance.
Only that, in this balancing equation, everything seems to be taking a direct relation with politics. So many things begin or end with politics, including our power to effect political choices. That is where women want to be now- the baking pot of sustainable, social-economic development.
In the reckoning, the fault lies not in the instruments used to promote women participation, but in the way they (instruments) have been employed and the end to which they have been directed.
Malawian women empowerment and gender activists have tried all this, quips Faustace Chirwa, executive director for National Women’s Lobby Group (Nawolg). But something seems amiss, and this is affecting sustainability of women empowerment efforts, she says.
“After national elections, most women empowerment organisations go into hibernation. This is partly because of lack of long-term strategic planning and in part due to dependency on donors. This raises sustainability questions, and may impact negatively on long-term women participation in public life, politics and general decision making positions,” said Chirwa.
Chirwa also points a finger of blame at special interest groups’ tendency of being too much event-driven. The event, mostly, is the national elections campaign, after which the NGOs simply hibernate only to resurface a year or two before elections.
“This is frustrating women empowerment efforts. In fact, there is need for pragmatic plans of action, plans that outlive national elections’ euphoria,” said Chirwa.
Lack of resources, she enthused, could be behind all this. Activists should now begin to focus on Zero budget-implication programmes in between elections to make the best out of people’s votes.
The Zero budget implication areas include granting media interviews, writing opinion pieces on various issues pertaining to women empowerment, building close relationships with organisations sharing similar objectives, and working closely with community volunteers, and have proven successful in the case of Nawolg.
Chirwa is not speaking from a vacuum. Her organization has been in existence since 1995. As Malawi’s democracy comes off age, so does Nawolg.
In 1998, the organization played a key role in the election of women Councilors. With funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), Nawolg criss-crossed the country with one message: Councils need Women! It received its just desserts as a considerable number of women made it to various assemblies, apart from campaigning for the cause of women during Malawi’s various elections.
That is enough to create lasting memories. Not with Chirwa: When women make it to Parliament, she becomes worried about the future. It is the way women behave when elected that makes her restless.
“You will find that women politicians disappear as quickly as they appeared onto the political scene, and this is worrisome. The main problem lies in the fact that there is no clear feedback strategy for women elected into various public positions. There is need to establish a clear strategy; a strategy that carters for donors, constituents, special interest groups (civil society organisations and NGOs), among others,” said Chirwa.
So, apart from NGOs going into hibernation after national elections, elected women also dig their own graves by not providing feedback to other stakeholders. That way, we could have avoided the catastrophe that befell women during last year’s Parliamentary elections, when almost an entire generation of women politicians went with the political tide.
Legislators like Patricia Kaliati, Anna Kachikho are some of the notable survivors. But there were also the likes of United Democratic Front’s Lilian Patel (Chairperson for Women Caucus in Parliament), Malawi Congress Party’s Nancy Tembo, Esther Chilenje-Nkhoma- they all went with the May 19, 2009 political winds, and little is heard of then now.
They are formidable women who graced the political scene; they are also living lessons to other women, in a way. The lesson: Women in politics should stop wasting and buying time in a world that offers no spare time.
Chirwa also says women politicians must stop toeing party lines wholesale. So far, the trend has been that a politician in Malawi should be an individual of the political party; never an individual of the whole country.
“Narrow partisanship is killing us. In fact, it is both inter-elections inactivity and women’s lack of ability to stand for other women that has affected the number of women in politics. We needed to have, at least, 80 women in Parliament now,” said Chirwa.
Emmie Chanika, Chairperson for the NGO-Gender Coordination Network’s Permanent Committee on Women in Politics, sees shifting fortunes, however. She says, with time, the Malawian woman will not only learn to fight for what belongs to her, but also retain what she has already laid her hands on. Things like holding political office.
“That is why we have the permanent committee. It’s because we realize that fighting for women empowerment is a continuous process, and we have been trying our best,” said Chanika.
In other words, the Committee she chairs is permanent, until women attain what is theirs; her position is not, it is temporary.
Gender, Children and Community Development Minister, Kaliati, also sees changing fortunes for Malawian women in politics and decision-making processes.
“I must say that we are lucky in Malawi because we have visionary leaders. The administration of Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika has been in the forefront promoting women, so much so that we have women Ministers, Principal Secretaries, High Commissioners and heads of government departments. It shows that we are moving in the right direction,’ said Kaliati.
Up against life’s artificial boundaries
RICHARD CHIROMBO
A smiling youth, 30, craws impatiently in the mud. Just some two hours ago, it was the sun, brazing heavily over his back.
Not the best of days, it seems- this Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
People pass him by, unperturbed, caught up in the web of thoughts on how to escape the rains pouring heavily in Blantyre.
The man, Andrea Kanama from Khuguwe village, Chief Mchiramwera, Thyolo is not worried about the rains; all he cares about is the guitar strapped onto his back.
“It’s all I have that gives me my daily bread. Let me say, also, that I am satisfied with the income I earn daily, and will never go about the streets asking for alms,” says Kanama, wearing a smile that seems never to dry up from his face.
Kanama says he was born in 1980, but is unsure of the exact date and month- only saying “It was during the rainy season”.
That is the day Kanama’s life went into the shadows. For physically challenged persons like Kanama, to live was trouble, to look for alms was trouble, getting access to a Primary School trouble.
“So, I stayed home while other ‘normal’ children went to school. There was also a great distance between my home and school. I wish I had the opportunity to go to school,” says Kanama.
That is the challenge faced by a myriad of families with physically challenged children in rural areas, too; it is either they are too poor to afford a wheelchair and access to education institutions that carter for these children or the question of distance. Many things may happen on the way between home and school that put the child at the mercy of foreign devices.
Little wonder that, in the 1980s, having a disability became an impregnable fortress that, like all fortresses, limited the view of the outside world and distorted perspective. The future was too blurred to offer any clear perspectives, and Kanama quickly learned to live with this “painful fact; it was also a dilemma”.
“Not that I blame it on other people, though most people with physical challenges cannot pretend, also, that government policies and people’s perceptions of disability were a faultless paragon of virtue and courtesy,” said Kanama, adding:
“To the contrary, people and government institutions could sometimes be too distant from the real challenges facing us, could be vituperative in their classification of us and could often blame it on lack of resources instead of concentrating their energies upon the merits of our cause,’ said Kanama.
This had a ripple effect on people’s perceptions, he said, because disability became a special interest groups’ cause instead of a national issue. The likes of Kanama were left to fend for themselves in a world already programmed to loathe them.
The problem, it seems, has over the years developed a deep surface and continues to date. Take, for instance, the plight of special needs education pupils in Blantyre. Special needs education teachers like Christopher Mpakeni move about from one place to another just because all public primary schools are far from having this rare specie of compassionate teachers.
So they move, with miserable stipend, from Machinjiri primary schools to Chirimba, a distance of sorts for teachers whose transport allowance is but a mockery. Often, they dig deeper into their pockets- and equally deeper into their reserves of passion- just to help these kids.
It is the best they can do. Their operating philosophy is that, at least, if they cannot give these pupils light now; they will show them where the light is. How to walk towards that light is a government’s responsibility.
Non-Governmental Organisations have also come in to help, but their efforts have been hindered by their zeal to invest in short term initiatives. Sight Savers International has been one of the international organisations to come to the rescue of government, but things went haywire over a year ago when the organization withdrew funding for a programme that lessened teachers’ burdens.
Special needs education teachers were receiving about K1, 500 a month to help them easily move from one school to another. The end of the programme meant that the teachers, already poorly paid, would now find means of fending for themselves.
It also took more than a year for the teachers to receive what they had already worked for.
“It pains to find that, despite many years of fighting for our rights, things have not changed. We still struggle to get access to many public resources and infrastructure,” said Kanama.
Kanama thanks his parents- Carlos and Emily- for inculcating a hard working spirit in him, though. He also hails a friend, Feston Samola, for teaching him how to play a guitar, which has now become his sole source of bread and butter.
“Disability has not stood in my way because I am able to fend for myself and other people. I stay with four other people in Thyolo and am able to fend for the group. I am also able to move about, from Thyolo, Blantyre, and Zomba to Machinga, where I get paid for playing music. In fact, I have just recorded a music album,” he said.
Kanama is a also an artist of sorts. He even challenges that he can have a successful attempt at murals, that is, if given the chance in terms of capital.
“I earn between K2,000 and K2,500 a day, far much better than what other working class people are getting per fortnight. My dream is to raise K600,000 and venture into irrigation farming. It pains me to see able-bodied people complaining of hunger when they have all it takes to rise above hunger and poverty: no food for lazy man,” said a brunt Kanama.
Not that life is all rosy. He says challenges abound, and points at verbal and physical abuse as some of the challenges. Just on the Wednesday of March 3, 2010, he decided to travel from Thyolo to Blantyre on a mission.
The mission was his forthcoming music album, Tikutha ndiEDZI, which he wanted to promote at state-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. This was after he appeared on Malawi Television some three weeks earlier.
He came back a shocked man.
“I was turned at the gate. They said I could not go inside the studios because I did not have K10, 000. I later learned that it was a hoax; I did not need to pay money to speak on public radio. It will take me time to go back there because I still feel that I was discriminated against,” said Kanama.
That is not all. Some drivers spill rainwater on him when it is raining. This pains Kanama, who enthuses that, while the sight of him clawing in the mud or basking in the October sun portrays a picture of someone who is so slow in mobility, his mind is always far ahead of him.
That means, as the makes his way through the rains and heat, his mind is always in the next possible shelter where people are hiding from the two natural fruits. When rain water is spilled over him, he is always safe and clean- somewhere in his mind.
Only that resource inadequacies and people’s negative perceptions prevent him from physically getting to his mind, in real touch with what goes on in his mind.
The draft Bill on Equalisation of Opportunities for People with Disabilities could be the sure link between what goes on in his mind, and the physical world he lives in.
The Federation for Disability Organisations in Malawi 9Fedoma) has been pressing hard to get the bill enacted. The organization’s spokesperson, Pamela Juma, says she is getting impatient.
“It’s taking too long. We needed to have that piece of legislation yesterday,” said Juma.
But government, through Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with Disabilities Reen Kachere, says there is some headway towards enactment.
Kachere says, in the meantime, patience is all that is needed.
But Kanama does not care about some piece of paper causing such problems. Sometimes, he says, he feels like disability organisations (and that includes Fedoma) do not really stand up for their cause.
“Organisations representing the interests of people with disabilities also stand in the way of us, the people they were supposed to represent. Look at the Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha), for instance. Ten years ago, some officials from Macoha came to my home in Thyolo, and promised to enroll me at a vocational school in Magomero. They have never come back to me. Isn’t that ironical?” queries Kanama.
So, he doesn’t care about mere pieces of paper that may, in the end, be as good as nothing. The challenge is life itself; how people with disabilities make the best out of it.
The EU assists Malawi to improve 1,500 km of rural feeder roads
During the month of March, the European Union (EU) Delegation to Malawi has agreed to finance contracts worth € 13.15 million – approximately MWK 2.7 billion – with a view to assist in improving rural feeder roads in Malawi. The EU-funding will help upgrade 1,500 km of feeder roads to ensure year-round access. It will contribute to increasing the roads' capacity to carry more and heavier traffic, which will promote agricultural production in the rural areas concerned. Six contracts have been signed with small and medium size Malawian companies.
On 26 March, the Government of Malawi and Malawian contractors signed works contracts worth € 4.13 million to cover activities on road sections in all three regions of Malawi. Activities include gravelling of short-sections, improved drainage facilities and repair and replacement of bridges. These spot improvements on rural roads will mainly use labor intensive constructions techniques, favoring employment of local communities. They will make the selected sections accessible throughout the year. Another contract, signed with a South-African construction company in consortium with a Malawian company, will ensure the upgrading of 26 km of the S118 Mchinji-Kawere road. To date, this road provides access from an area of strong agricultural production to the main Lilongwe-Mchinji road, but it carries a level and type of traffic that is far beyond the capacity of an unpaved feeder road. This road will now be surfaced with a bituminous seal to a standard that is appropriate for the traffic level and type.
In order to prepare the District Assemblies for their increased role in managing the local road network, yet another contract was signed with a European consulting company to put in place the road management tools required by the Assemblies to plan, prioritise and manage the maintenance of local area road networks that fall under their direct responsibility. This will be complemented with a training and skills enhancement programme for rural road network managers. The project features a study which specifically examines impacts of improved rural transport for women.
The Rural Feeder Road Programme of € 15 million falls under the 9th European Development Fund. Its overall objective is to improve food security and increase small-holder farmers' incomes by better linking growth areas to the main road network. The Roads Authority will supervise the contracts in close collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the District Assemblies.
On 26 March, the Government of Malawi and Malawian contractors signed works contracts worth € 4.13 million to cover activities on road sections in all three regions of Malawi. Activities include gravelling of short-sections, improved drainage facilities and repair and replacement of bridges. These spot improvements on rural roads will mainly use labor intensive constructions techniques, favoring employment of local communities. They will make the selected sections accessible throughout the year. Another contract, signed with a South-African construction company in consortium with a Malawian company, will ensure the upgrading of 26 km of the S118 Mchinji-Kawere road. To date, this road provides access from an area of strong agricultural production to the main Lilongwe-Mchinji road, but it carries a level and type of traffic that is far beyond the capacity of an unpaved feeder road. This road will now be surfaced with a bituminous seal to a standard that is appropriate for the traffic level and type.
In order to prepare the District Assemblies for their increased role in managing the local road network, yet another contract was signed with a European consulting company to put in place the road management tools required by the Assemblies to plan, prioritise and manage the maintenance of local area road networks that fall under their direct responsibility. This will be complemented with a training and skills enhancement programme for rural road network managers. The project features a study which specifically examines impacts of improved rural transport for women.
The Rural Feeder Road Programme of € 15 million falls under the 9th European Development Fund. Its overall objective is to improve food security and increase small-holder farmers' incomes by better linking growth areas to the main road network. The Roads Authority will supervise the contracts in close collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the District Assemblies.
Congratulations Teresa Chirwa
Teresa Chirwa, you have made Zachimalawi proud.
Keep it up; continue to work hard.
It is good to be nominated for the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award (2010).
You no longer belong to your mum and dad, or whoever calls you 'Dear'; you belong to Malawi now, you belong to us.
Whatever you do, we are proud of you.
To Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS)I say You Guys are Great. You have done a lot, Gospel Kazako, Wisdom Chimgwede and friends.
You are gurus.
Good luck.
Keep it up; continue to work hard.
It is good to be nominated for the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award (2010).
You no longer belong to your mum and dad, or whoever calls you 'Dear'; you belong to Malawi now, you belong to us.
Whatever you do, we are proud of you.
To Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS)I say You Guys are Great. You have done a lot, Gospel Kazako, Wisdom Chimgwede and friends.
You are gurus.
Good luck.
Malawian journalist, Teresa Chirwa, on CNN final list of 27
Teresa Chirwa of Zodiak Broadcasting has made it into the final list of 27 for this years African Journalist Competition run by CNN.
Finalists in the prestigious CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2010 Competition were announced today by Joel Kibazo, Chair of the independent judging panel. The competition is now in its 15th year.
This year the competition received entries from 975 journalists from 40 countries throughout the continent, including French and Portuguese speaking Africa.
There are 27 finalists from 15 countries:
• Halima Abdallah Kisule, East African, Uganda
• Kofi Akpabli, freelance for Daily Graphic, Ghana
• Njaka Andriamahery, TV Plus, Madagascar
• Pelu Awofeso, freelance for NEXT on Sunday, Nigeria
• Najlae Benmbarek, 2M TV, Maroc
• Teresa Chirwa, Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Malawi
• DispatchOnline Team, Daily Dispatch, South Africa
• Mustafa Haji Abdinur, co-founder SIMBA Radio, Somalia
• Thanduxolo Jika, Daily Dispatch, South Africa
• Zipporah Karani, KTN, Kenya
• Charles Kariuki, World Vision Kenya for NTV
• Alexandre Lebel Ilboudo, Le Patriote, Côte d’Ivoire
• Lucas Ledwaba, DRUM, South Africa
• Tsitsi Matope, Public Eye, Lesotho
• Emmanuel Mayah, Daily Sun, Nigeria
• Kassim Mohamed, Star FM, Kenya
• Oarabile Mosikare, Botswana for Mail & Guardian, South Africa
• Francis Mugo Mwangi, freelance for NTV, Kenya
• Boniface Mwangi, freelance for The Star, Kenya
• Rose Ramsay, eNews, South Africa
• Sam Rogers, e.tv, South Africa
• Sergio José Sitoe, Rede de Comuniação Miramar, Moçambique
• Leon Ssenyange, NTV, Uganda
• Lamia Tagzout, El Watan, Algérie
• Sebastião Vemba, Novo Jornal, Angola
• Kaara Wainaina, NTV, Kenya
• Roseline Wangui, NTV, Kenya
This year the recipient of the Free Press Africa Award is Mustafa Haji Abdinur, co-founder of SIMBA Radio in Mogadishu and founder of Somali Media for Peace and Development (SOMEPED). He is awarded this prize for his work in Somalia including the ‘Peace Journalism’ initiative which he launched with the help of fellow Somali journalists. The Award is also in recognition of all the journalists in Somalia who have put their lives at risk in telling the story. There are nine journalists who died during 2009 whilst fulfilling their professional duties:
Abdulkhafar Abdulkadir Hasan, freelance
Mohamed Amin Adan Abdulle, Radio Shabelle
Hassan Zubeyr Haji Hassan, Al-Arabiya
Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf, Radio IQK
Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe, Radio Shabelle
Nur Muse Hussein, Radio IQK
Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame, Radio Shabelle
Said Tahlil Ahmed, HornAfrik
Hassan Mayow Hassan, Radio Shabelle
The winners of the competition will be announced at an Award Ceremony and Gala Evening in Kampala, Uganda on Saturday 29th May 2010.
The hosts for the evening will be Isha Sesay, presenter of CNN International’s weekly programme ‘Inside Africa’ and Dr Ronnie Mich Egwang, a well-known Ugandan presenter.
Announcing the finalists, Joel Kibazo said: “2010 is a record breaking year for entries to these awards. Not only do the numbers continue to grow each year, but the standard rises too. I was particularly impressed by the increasing number of journalists that crossed borders in pursuit of stories. This maturing of journalism, across the continent, combined with technological advances, created a greater body of work and made the awards more exciting to judge.”
Reflecting on the role of the awards, Kibazo added: "The competition is now truly established as a way for African journalists to better their lives. I firmly believe the quality and number of people entering reflects the fact that the awards offer a fantastic opportunity to change an individual’s future.”
The independent judging panel, chaired by Joel Kibazo, journalist and media consultant, includes: Ikechukwu Amaechi, Editor, Daily Independent, Nigeria; Jean-Paul Gérouard, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, France 3 TV; Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa; Arlindo Lopes, Secretary General, Southern African Broadcasting Association; José LuÃs Mendonça, Press Counsellor, Angolan Permanent Delegation to UNESCO; Zipporah Musau, Managing Editor, Magazines, The Standard Group Ltd, Kenya; Kim Norgaard, CNN Bureau Chief, South Africa.
The prestigious sponsors include: Coca-Cola Africa; Ecobank, IPP Media, Tanzania; Kampala Serena Hotel; Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD); NN24 Nigeria; Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution; Safebond Africa Ltd and A24 Media.
The Kampala Serena is the delegate hotel for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2010. The hotel extends a truly warm Kampala welcome to finalists, judges, attending media and guests from across the continent. The finalists will enjoy an all expenses paid five day programme of workshops, media forums, networking and have the opportunity to see some of the sights of Kampala.
Tony Maddox, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of CNN International said: “The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, coinciding with CNN celebrating 30 years as the world’s pioneering news provider. As CNN encourages, promotes and recognises excellence in journalism at all levels, we are particularly pleased to be able to support journalists who represent our future. I have witnessed the quality and excellence of work in this competition strengthen year on year, and am proud that it continues to maintain its place as the most prestigious Pan African journalist awards.”
Collins Khumalo, President MultiChoice Africa, said: “We congratulate the 27 finalists of this year’s awards. The great success that this event has enjoyed over the past 15 years makes the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards the one honour that journalists and media houses throughout the continent want to be associated with. Through these awards, MultiChoice in partnership with CNN, continue to acknowledge and celebrate the best journalistic talent and skills that Africa’s media have to offer.”
About the award:
The CNN African Journalist of the Year Award was founded in 1995 by Edward Boateng (formerly African Regional Director for Turner Broadcasting System Inc., CNN’s parent company) and the late Mohamed Amin, to recognise and encourage excellence in journalism throughout Africa.
Note to Editors: Competition Criteria
To enter the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2010 competition the journalist must be an African national and work on the continent for African owned, or headquartered, media organisations that produce a printed publication or broadcast through an electronic medium (television broadcaster, radio station or website) primarily targeted at and received by an African audience.
Entries were published or broadcast in 2009 for the following awards:
Arts & Culture: Digital Journalism Award; Economics and Business: Environment: Free Press Africa; HIV/AIDS Reporting; MSD Health & Medical: Mohamed Amin Photographic; Print General News; Radio General News; Sport; Television Features; Television News Bulletin; Tourism; Francophone General News Awards (Print and Electronic Media); Portuguese Language General News.
www.cnn.com/africanawards
Issued: 8th April 2010
For further information please contact:
CNN International: Joel Brown + 44 20 7693 0967 joel.brown@turner.com
MultiChoice Africa: Caroline Creasy + 27 11 289 3081 ccreasy@multichoice.co.za
MultiChoice South Africa: Marietjie Groenewald + 27 11 289 3067 Marietjie.Groenewald@multichoice.co.za
Finalists in the prestigious CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2010 Competition were announced today by Joel Kibazo, Chair of the independent judging panel. The competition is now in its 15th year.
This year the competition received entries from 975 journalists from 40 countries throughout the continent, including French and Portuguese speaking Africa.
There are 27 finalists from 15 countries:
• Halima Abdallah Kisule, East African, Uganda
• Kofi Akpabli, freelance for Daily Graphic, Ghana
• Njaka Andriamahery, TV Plus, Madagascar
• Pelu Awofeso, freelance for NEXT on Sunday, Nigeria
• Najlae Benmbarek, 2M TV, Maroc
• Teresa Chirwa, Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Malawi
• DispatchOnline Team, Daily Dispatch, South Africa
• Mustafa Haji Abdinur, co-founder SIMBA Radio, Somalia
• Thanduxolo Jika, Daily Dispatch, South Africa
• Zipporah Karani, KTN, Kenya
• Charles Kariuki, World Vision Kenya for NTV
• Alexandre Lebel Ilboudo, Le Patriote, Côte d’Ivoire
• Lucas Ledwaba, DRUM, South Africa
• Tsitsi Matope, Public Eye, Lesotho
• Emmanuel Mayah, Daily Sun, Nigeria
• Kassim Mohamed, Star FM, Kenya
• Oarabile Mosikare, Botswana for Mail & Guardian, South Africa
• Francis Mugo Mwangi, freelance for NTV, Kenya
• Boniface Mwangi, freelance for The Star, Kenya
• Rose Ramsay, eNews, South Africa
• Sam Rogers, e.tv, South Africa
• Sergio José Sitoe, Rede de Comuniação Miramar, Moçambique
• Leon Ssenyange, NTV, Uganda
• Lamia Tagzout, El Watan, Algérie
• Sebastião Vemba, Novo Jornal, Angola
• Kaara Wainaina, NTV, Kenya
• Roseline Wangui, NTV, Kenya
This year the recipient of the Free Press Africa Award is Mustafa Haji Abdinur, co-founder of SIMBA Radio in Mogadishu and founder of Somali Media for Peace and Development (SOMEPED). He is awarded this prize for his work in Somalia including the ‘Peace Journalism’ initiative which he launched with the help of fellow Somali journalists. The Award is also in recognition of all the journalists in Somalia who have put their lives at risk in telling the story. There are nine journalists who died during 2009 whilst fulfilling their professional duties:
Abdulkhafar Abdulkadir Hasan, freelance
Mohamed Amin Adan Abdulle, Radio Shabelle
Hassan Zubeyr Haji Hassan, Al-Arabiya
Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf, Radio IQK
Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe, Radio Shabelle
Nur Muse Hussein, Radio IQK
Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame, Radio Shabelle
Said Tahlil Ahmed, HornAfrik
Hassan Mayow Hassan, Radio Shabelle
The winners of the competition will be announced at an Award Ceremony and Gala Evening in Kampala, Uganda on Saturday 29th May 2010.
The hosts for the evening will be Isha Sesay, presenter of CNN International’s weekly programme ‘Inside Africa’ and Dr Ronnie Mich Egwang, a well-known Ugandan presenter.
Announcing the finalists, Joel Kibazo said: “2010 is a record breaking year for entries to these awards. Not only do the numbers continue to grow each year, but the standard rises too. I was particularly impressed by the increasing number of journalists that crossed borders in pursuit of stories. This maturing of journalism, across the continent, combined with technological advances, created a greater body of work and made the awards more exciting to judge.”
Reflecting on the role of the awards, Kibazo added: "The competition is now truly established as a way for African journalists to better their lives. I firmly believe the quality and number of people entering reflects the fact that the awards offer a fantastic opportunity to change an individual’s future.”
The independent judging panel, chaired by Joel Kibazo, journalist and media consultant, includes: Ikechukwu Amaechi, Editor, Daily Independent, Nigeria; Jean-Paul Gérouard, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, France 3 TV; Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa; Arlindo Lopes, Secretary General, Southern African Broadcasting Association; José LuÃs Mendonça, Press Counsellor, Angolan Permanent Delegation to UNESCO; Zipporah Musau, Managing Editor, Magazines, The Standard Group Ltd, Kenya; Kim Norgaard, CNN Bureau Chief, South Africa.
The prestigious sponsors include: Coca-Cola Africa; Ecobank, IPP Media, Tanzania; Kampala Serena Hotel; Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD); NN24 Nigeria; Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution; Safebond Africa Ltd and A24 Media.
The Kampala Serena is the delegate hotel for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2010. The hotel extends a truly warm Kampala welcome to finalists, judges, attending media and guests from across the continent. The finalists will enjoy an all expenses paid five day programme of workshops, media forums, networking and have the opportunity to see some of the sights of Kampala.
Tony Maddox, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of CNN International said: “The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, coinciding with CNN celebrating 30 years as the world’s pioneering news provider. As CNN encourages, promotes and recognises excellence in journalism at all levels, we are particularly pleased to be able to support journalists who represent our future. I have witnessed the quality and excellence of work in this competition strengthen year on year, and am proud that it continues to maintain its place as the most prestigious Pan African journalist awards.”
Collins Khumalo, President MultiChoice Africa, said: “We congratulate the 27 finalists of this year’s awards. The great success that this event has enjoyed over the past 15 years makes the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards the one honour that journalists and media houses throughout the continent want to be associated with. Through these awards, MultiChoice in partnership with CNN, continue to acknowledge and celebrate the best journalistic talent and skills that Africa’s media have to offer.”
About the award:
The CNN African Journalist of the Year Award was founded in 1995 by Edward Boateng (formerly African Regional Director for Turner Broadcasting System Inc., CNN’s parent company) and the late Mohamed Amin, to recognise and encourage excellence in journalism throughout Africa.
Note to Editors: Competition Criteria
To enter the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2010 competition the journalist must be an African national and work on the continent for African owned, or headquartered, media organisations that produce a printed publication or broadcast through an electronic medium (television broadcaster, radio station or website) primarily targeted at and received by an African audience.
Entries were published or broadcast in 2009 for the following awards:
Arts & Culture: Digital Journalism Award; Economics and Business: Environment: Free Press Africa; HIV/AIDS Reporting; MSD Health & Medical: Mohamed Amin Photographic; Print General News; Radio General News; Sport; Television Features; Television News Bulletin; Tourism; Francophone General News Awards (Print and Electronic Media); Portuguese Language General News.
www.cnn.com/africanawards
Issued: 8th April 2010
For further information please contact:
CNN International: Joel Brown + 44 20 7693 0967 joel.brown@turner.com
MultiChoice Africa: Caroline Creasy + 27 11 289 3081 ccreasy@multichoice.co.za
MultiChoice South Africa: Marietjie Groenewald + 27 11 289 3067 Marietjie.Groenewald@multichoice.co.za
Thursday, April 8, 2010
For Linly and Mathews in Australia
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
BY OWINGS CHAWANDA
The Ministry of Finance is the heartbeat of Malawi’s economy. It works like the human heart, pumping blood (allocating financial resources) to various line ministries in accordance with Parliamentary votes.
The ministry has also caught up with the drift of democracy rather quickly, and now runs budget consultative meetings in all three administrative regions of Malawi. This happens before the country’s new fiscal year, which starts on July 1, and aims at turning Malawi’s national budgets into all-inclusive programmes of action- turning the wishes and hopes of people into purposeful action.
So far, since the re-advent of multiparty democracy in 1994, so good. There has never been a single complaint about late disbursement of locally generated funds (through the Malawi Revenue Authority), though the country’s donors sometimes miss out on their own deadlines.
When this happens, the justification is always that they were waiting for the go-ahead from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This has had dire consequences in the past. The Ministry of Finance has done a commendable job trying to balance things up during such finically lean periods, making sure that such delays do not impinge on overall national development.
Currently, the ministry is headed by Ken Kandodo, grandson to Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda- father and founder of the Malawi nation. Kandodo took over from former World Bank economist Goodall Gondwe.
Gondwe will best be remembered for instilling fiscal prudence at a time overspending would have easily turned out to be a political tramp card for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). They say people form political parties to go into government; the DPP beat this logic by being formed by people already in government.
Such a development attracted some quick fire response from the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party- parties that pushed all corners to frustrate government’s development agenda.
This was confounded by the fact that DPP only had six MPs, as those who joined it after February 5, 2005 (the day incumbent president, Bingu wa Mutharika, announced his resignation from the UDF.
Yet, during this time of political turbulence, government did not overspend to make up for its lack of numbers in Parliament. Fiscal prudence became, sort of, its buzz word.
Kandodo, appointed Minister after the May 19, 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections, seems to be a quick learner. Contrary to fears of laxity and inefficiency at the purse-ministry, Kandodo has worn the garment of financial colours quite well.
Apart from being government gate keeper on finances, the ministry also carries out various other roles through statutory corporations under its arm pit.
One parastatal that comes quickly to mind is the National Lotteries Board (NLB), an institution mandated with the responsibility of regulating companies and organisations promotions and competitions.
NLB generates its income through license fees, which are then remitted to the Ministry of Finance. The statutory corporation also follows up on unfulfilled competition/promotional conditions, making sure consumers get their just rewards.
The Ministry also carries an oversight role over the Malawi Social Action Fund (Masaf), a rural development fund. Through the programme, primary and secondary schools, bridges, boreholes, among others, have been constructed in areas that once lagged behind.
In this regard, the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer (they call him/her Consultant) also doubles as Masaf spokesperson.
Many people have argued that the Malawi Gaming Board should have been under the same ministry, but government pundits feel the Ministry of Tourism is the best place because gaming complements tourism in income generation. There were, however, plans to place the Board under the Ministry of Finance during the UDF regime- nothing has materialized to date. In fact, the plans seem to have drowned under the winds of national elections.
That is pure politics. Never implement your competitors’ plans, change the names and do your thing. And that has happened. At whose expense is a question that needs to be critically looked into.
As for the institutions Minister of Finance can influence, here are some. Masaf, which means guaranteed contracts in bore hole drinking, school and hospital construction, as well as feeder roads construction.
In National Lotteries Board, the minister can influence tax holidays for institutions that carry out social promotional activities. After all, the ministry is responsible for offering tax rebates and holidays.
The Malawi Revenue Authority is another institution under the ministry. MRA collects local revenue through custom duty remittances, surtax, among others, and also extends tax rebates in consultation with the ministry of finance. This will help investors secure tax holidays on heavy equipment imports, as this type of equipment stand to benefit the country in many ways- employment creation, cheap goods/products, increased production and thus improved Balance of Payment.
In all, the ministry influences all other ministries, as they all look up to the ministry for sustenance. It is such a crucial ministry that its ministers are considered some of the most powerful under government protocol on hierarchy.
MINISTRY OF LABOUR
The Ministry handles employment matters pertaining to both private and public institutions.
It is responsible for setting Minimum Wages, fighting against malpractices such as child employment, workers ill-treatment but also acts as an arbitrator when conflicts arise between employers and employees.
The ministry also acts as an employment agency. Through its district offices, Labour officials receive requests for workers from various institutions, and then sources the much-required labour force. Most of the workers found through District and Regional Labour offices are unskilled, general fitters looking for some way out of financial problems.
These are people who bear the brunt of poor minimum wage statutes because companies pay them in exactitude of the same, or slightly higher- often, not higher enough wages to off set poverty. Employers cite the law, and the workers have no real chances of securing better employment elsewhere so they stay.
It must be noted that sourcing these unskilled workers is no big task. Why? Because these people flock to Labour offices and deliver letters of employment just in case some employers would like to hire them. But others think waiting and hoping solves no matters, so they go and sit outside Labour offices day in, day out.
It works most of the times, as desperate employers go to such offices and find readily available labour, workers they will easily handle by following laws on minimum wage to the latter.
That is one of the reasons Malawi is renowned for its abundance in cheap, readily available labour. And the workers are hard working.
In the past, when Malawians could work in South Africa under the TEBA initiative, the Ministry of Labour played a crucial role as well. Officials could work with their Foreign Affairs counterparts to make sure the right people went to work in South African mines. The programme was beneficial to many people because they could work in foreign lands in remit part of their income back home. The country’s economy benefited, too.
However, the down side was that many Malawians married and became South African citizens. The country lost some human resource in a way, but benefited even more through remittances of money back home. But only for those who cared to remember relatives back home.
The Ministry of Labour has recently come into the spotlight. This is partly because of new Minister Yunus Mussa. Mussa accepts no apologies where action would remedy a situation, and also bears some impatience with laws that are refusing to change with the times.
Some of these laws include provisions on Minimum Wage. Under the Employment Act, people are paid less than K139 per hour, a figure Mussa takes for the pittance it is. He has thus been moving up and down town, touring companies- mostly private- and plucking a few feathers here and there.
He has threatened to close others. Take, for instance, Shoprite Malawi. Some four months ago, all its Lilongwe (Capital City of Malawi) workers went on strike demanding a salary increase. They were not happy with what they were getting.
Instead of following proper channels, like discussing amicably with officials, the workers closed the Lilongwe shop and refused to work. Shoprite makes a lot of money, K25 million a day on average (one of the reasons workers cited for their demand). The strike meant loss of money.
The company’s headquarters in South Africa then decided to fire all the workers for that, but Mussa was there at hand and negotiated with the headquarters to reinstate the workers. He said Shoprite would stop operating in Malawi if it went ahead with the decision to fire the employees. The company obliged.
But Mussa also took issues with the workers for not following proper channels. But he won, anyway, and that shows how powerful a Labour Minister is in Malawi. This does not go for government institutions alone, even the private sector as the Lilongwe case indicates.
The ministry works with the Civil Service Trade Union (the representative body for civil servants) and the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions, the mother body for private workers. Every year, in June, the two unions hold closed meeting with Ministry of Labour officials and discuss challenges facing workers and proposals to improve their conditions.
However, there is bad blood between MCTU and government, so much so that President Bingu wa Mutharika and his predecessor Bakili Muluzi have never attended Labour Day Cerebrations. MCTU President Luther Mambala has openly criticized Mutharika, saying government seems not to care about the plight of Malawian workers.
This has meant most of MCTU concerns go unheeded.
MCTU has also accused the ministry of labour of conniving with foreign investors to reap Malawians through the Minimum Wage, which it claims is a pittance.
The Ministry of Labour also works with the Immigration Department on issues of foreign investors. They scrutinize applications, though the task also false under a host of other government departments. These include the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA) and the Malawi Export Promotion Council.
The Ministry also works with the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry since it is a representative body of private employers. Then, there is the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi. Every year, the ministry, labour unions and the Employers association meet to discuss crucial issues, issues that seldom see light at the end of the day.
The only issue that seemed to have worked is the issue of Severance Pay. It was a long battle but, in the end, trade unions won.
As for institutions Mussa can influence, we have many. MIPA, MCCCI (where the likes of Shoprite belong), Civil Servants Trade Union, and individual institutions. The minister is allowed to discuss individual challenges and solutions with companies, and investors can utilize this window.
That is why Chinese companies, mostly accused of exploiting workers, are getting a smooth ride. The Chinese government’s close relationship with Malawi has opened opportunities for Chinese nationals to negotiate for better conditions and amicable resolution of labour matters.
The Ministry is expected to play a huge role as Malawi plans to turn into a net exporter.
BY OWINGS CHAWANDA
The Ministry of Finance is the heartbeat of Malawi’s economy. It works like the human heart, pumping blood (allocating financial resources) to various line ministries in accordance with Parliamentary votes.
The ministry has also caught up with the drift of democracy rather quickly, and now runs budget consultative meetings in all three administrative regions of Malawi. This happens before the country’s new fiscal year, which starts on July 1, and aims at turning Malawi’s national budgets into all-inclusive programmes of action- turning the wishes and hopes of people into purposeful action.
So far, since the re-advent of multiparty democracy in 1994, so good. There has never been a single complaint about late disbursement of locally generated funds (through the Malawi Revenue Authority), though the country’s donors sometimes miss out on their own deadlines.
When this happens, the justification is always that they were waiting for the go-ahead from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This has had dire consequences in the past. The Ministry of Finance has done a commendable job trying to balance things up during such finically lean periods, making sure that such delays do not impinge on overall national development.
Currently, the ministry is headed by Ken Kandodo, grandson to Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda- father and founder of the Malawi nation. Kandodo took over from former World Bank economist Goodall Gondwe.
Gondwe will best be remembered for instilling fiscal prudence at a time overspending would have easily turned out to be a political tramp card for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). They say people form political parties to go into government; the DPP beat this logic by being formed by people already in government.
Such a development attracted some quick fire response from the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party- parties that pushed all corners to frustrate government’s development agenda.
This was confounded by the fact that DPP only had six MPs, as those who joined it after February 5, 2005 (the day incumbent president, Bingu wa Mutharika, announced his resignation from the UDF.
Yet, during this time of political turbulence, government did not overspend to make up for its lack of numbers in Parliament. Fiscal prudence became, sort of, its buzz word.
Kandodo, appointed Minister after the May 19, 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections, seems to be a quick learner. Contrary to fears of laxity and inefficiency at the purse-ministry, Kandodo has worn the garment of financial colours quite well.
Apart from being government gate keeper on finances, the ministry also carries out various other roles through statutory corporations under its arm pit.
One parastatal that comes quickly to mind is the National Lotteries Board (NLB), an institution mandated with the responsibility of regulating companies and organisations promotions and competitions.
NLB generates its income through license fees, which are then remitted to the Ministry of Finance. The statutory corporation also follows up on unfulfilled competition/promotional conditions, making sure consumers get their just rewards.
The Ministry also carries an oversight role over the Malawi Social Action Fund (Masaf), a rural development fund. Through the programme, primary and secondary schools, bridges, boreholes, among others, have been constructed in areas that once lagged behind.
In this regard, the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer (they call him/her Consultant) also doubles as Masaf spokesperson.
Many people have argued that the Malawi Gaming Board should have been under the same ministry, but government pundits feel the Ministry of Tourism is the best place because gaming complements tourism in income generation. There were, however, plans to place the Board under the Ministry of Finance during the UDF regime- nothing has materialized to date. In fact, the plans seem to have drowned under the winds of national elections.
That is pure politics. Never implement your competitors’ plans, change the names and do your thing. And that has happened. At whose expense is a question that needs to be critically looked into.
As for the institutions Minister of Finance can influence, here are some. Masaf, which means guaranteed contracts in bore hole drinking, school and hospital construction, as well as feeder roads construction.
In National Lotteries Board, the minister can influence tax holidays for institutions that carry out social promotional activities. After all, the ministry is responsible for offering tax rebates and holidays.
The Malawi Revenue Authority is another institution under the ministry. MRA collects local revenue through custom duty remittances, surtax, among others, and also extends tax rebates in consultation with the ministry of finance. This will help investors secure tax holidays on heavy equipment imports, as this type of equipment stand to benefit the country in many ways- employment creation, cheap goods/products, increased production and thus improved Balance of Payment.
In all, the ministry influences all other ministries, as they all look up to the ministry for sustenance. It is such a crucial ministry that its ministers are considered some of the most powerful under government protocol on hierarchy.
MINISTRY OF LABOUR
The Ministry handles employment matters pertaining to both private and public institutions.
It is responsible for setting Minimum Wages, fighting against malpractices such as child employment, workers ill-treatment but also acts as an arbitrator when conflicts arise between employers and employees.
The ministry also acts as an employment agency. Through its district offices, Labour officials receive requests for workers from various institutions, and then sources the much-required labour force. Most of the workers found through District and Regional Labour offices are unskilled, general fitters looking for some way out of financial problems.
These are people who bear the brunt of poor minimum wage statutes because companies pay them in exactitude of the same, or slightly higher- often, not higher enough wages to off set poverty. Employers cite the law, and the workers have no real chances of securing better employment elsewhere so they stay.
It must be noted that sourcing these unskilled workers is no big task. Why? Because these people flock to Labour offices and deliver letters of employment just in case some employers would like to hire them. But others think waiting and hoping solves no matters, so they go and sit outside Labour offices day in, day out.
It works most of the times, as desperate employers go to such offices and find readily available labour, workers they will easily handle by following laws on minimum wage to the latter.
That is one of the reasons Malawi is renowned for its abundance in cheap, readily available labour. And the workers are hard working.
In the past, when Malawians could work in South Africa under the TEBA initiative, the Ministry of Labour played a crucial role as well. Officials could work with their Foreign Affairs counterparts to make sure the right people went to work in South African mines. The programme was beneficial to many people because they could work in foreign lands in remit part of their income back home. The country’s economy benefited, too.
However, the down side was that many Malawians married and became South African citizens. The country lost some human resource in a way, but benefited even more through remittances of money back home. But only for those who cared to remember relatives back home.
The Ministry of Labour has recently come into the spotlight. This is partly because of new Minister Yunus Mussa. Mussa accepts no apologies where action would remedy a situation, and also bears some impatience with laws that are refusing to change with the times.
Some of these laws include provisions on Minimum Wage. Under the Employment Act, people are paid less than K139 per hour, a figure Mussa takes for the pittance it is. He has thus been moving up and down town, touring companies- mostly private- and plucking a few feathers here and there.
He has threatened to close others. Take, for instance, Shoprite Malawi. Some four months ago, all its Lilongwe (Capital City of Malawi) workers went on strike demanding a salary increase. They were not happy with what they were getting.
Instead of following proper channels, like discussing amicably with officials, the workers closed the Lilongwe shop and refused to work. Shoprite makes a lot of money, K25 million a day on average (one of the reasons workers cited for their demand). The strike meant loss of money.
The company’s headquarters in South Africa then decided to fire all the workers for that, but Mussa was there at hand and negotiated with the headquarters to reinstate the workers. He said Shoprite would stop operating in Malawi if it went ahead with the decision to fire the employees. The company obliged.
But Mussa also took issues with the workers for not following proper channels. But he won, anyway, and that shows how powerful a Labour Minister is in Malawi. This does not go for government institutions alone, even the private sector as the Lilongwe case indicates.
The ministry works with the Civil Service Trade Union (the representative body for civil servants) and the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions, the mother body for private workers. Every year, in June, the two unions hold closed meeting with Ministry of Labour officials and discuss challenges facing workers and proposals to improve their conditions.
However, there is bad blood between MCTU and government, so much so that President Bingu wa Mutharika and his predecessor Bakili Muluzi have never attended Labour Day Cerebrations. MCTU President Luther Mambala has openly criticized Mutharika, saying government seems not to care about the plight of Malawian workers.
This has meant most of MCTU concerns go unheeded.
MCTU has also accused the ministry of labour of conniving with foreign investors to reap Malawians through the Minimum Wage, which it claims is a pittance.
The Ministry of Labour also works with the Immigration Department on issues of foreign investors. They scrutinize applications, though the task also false under a host of other government departments. These include the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA) and the Malawi Export Promotion Council.
The Ministry also works with the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry since it is a representative body of private employers. Then, there is the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi. Every year, the ministry, labour unions and the Employers association meet to discuss crucial issues, issues that seldom see light at the end of the day.
The only issue that seemed to have worked is the issue of Severance Pay. It was a long battle but, in the end, trade unions won.
As for institutions Mussa can influence, we have many. MIPA, MCCCI (where the likes of Shoprite belong), Civil Servants Trade Union, and individual institutions. The minister is allowed to discuss individual challenges and solutions with companies, and investors can utilize this window.
That is why Chinese companies, mostly accused of exploiting workers, are getting a smooth ride. The Chinese government’s close relationship with Malawi has opened opportunities for Chinese nationals to negotiate for better conditions and amicable resolution of labour matters.
The Ministry is expected to play a huge role as Malawi plans to turn into a net exporter.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The road to 2014: paved or thorny?
Paved or thorny: Malawi’s democratic path to 2014
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Intolerance. Dissent suppression. Intra-party bickering. Suppressed egos. Hero-worshipping. Thin, if any, ideological differences. Twisted principles.
It does not take long to define the subject: Malawi politics.
Since multiparty politics of government came back home in 1994, and got three more turns of ‘welcome-home-parties’ in 1999, 2004 and 2009, the country’s political scene has become well-dotted with political events, most of which predictable.
Malawians have come to expect a stillness of political egos in ruling parties, especially when the incumbent president is running for the first five years, while intra-party bickering has become part of the ‘norm’ in opposition parties- a way, perhaps, of passing political sleep away in the long-wait for Sanjika Palace or New State House.
Long-wait because no opposition party has ever won Presidential elections since 1994, save, perhaps, for the unique case of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Former United Democratic Front (UDF) National Publicity Secretary, Sam Mpasu, had one political adage he so loved to press home: people, he argued, form political parties to win the golden ticket into government. That is common sense.
But some special breed of people, Malawians to our credit, went into government in order to form a political party! That fascinated Mpasu so much- much the same way as it reinforced the established point that Malawi is a country of great inventors (the likes of Gabriel Kondesi, William Kamkwamba and, after 2004, the political inventor that is State President Bingu wa Mutharika, among others).
As some form of artificial tranquility prevails in ruling parties, the parties in question soon ‘forget’ the contentious issue of succession, leaving all sense of judgment to ‘time’, which, they always argue, ‘will tell’. The reason for letting succession dogs lie is often that, because the leaders won their maiden Presidential contest, they will do it (win) again.
That is the reason nobody bothered former president Bakili Muluzi, within the ranks and file of UDF between 1994 and 1999, on succession plans; a honeymoon that continued between 1999 and 2004 when it became apparently clear that, while the driver was still enjoying the feel of the highway and wanted to continue cruising beyond legal speed, the road in front was fast disappearing into some peculiar, dusty path.
Such leaders quickly grow bigger than their sponsoring parties and develop quick-fire anger even to friendly advice. The end, in our case, has been a disaster for intra-party democracy because leaders are imposed on political parties to satisfy the insatiable anger of the powers-that-be.
Just such a disaster happened in the UDF, a party that once wore ‘mighty’ armor during its time of glory. Because it had everything at its disposal in those ‘mighty’ days, the party wore the ‘heavy suit of prosperity’ to withstand even the most volatile of forces; now, it struggles in the great sea of near-obscurity that it has adopted the weight-light life saving jacket to survive the stormy waters.
Ironically, the same argument that offers first-time ruling parties artificial tranquility has the opposite effect on opposition parties. Because their leaders lost one election, other aspirants begin to fume, saying chances are that they (losers) will loose again. Once beaten, twice shy; twice beaten? The answer is what they dread.
That answer is what Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential aspirants never wanted to be the unfortunate part of between 1994 and 1999, too. First President, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, fell against Muluzi in the 1994 race to Sanjika, and never sought to rise again.
He took the white flag to Mudi State Residence in Blantyre, where he went to stay after getting unceremoniously booted out of Sanjika Palace, but left the wooden post with the green lights to Gwanda Chakuamba- his vice presidential running-mate in the monumental polls.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, the ever-ambitious Dedza South Member of Parliament, was chosen MCP vice president. Political analysts saw them as the perfect example of a strange political pair, doubts that soon back-rode the horse of reality when time came to choose a presidential running mate.
Chakuamba, aware of Alliance for Democracy (Aford) president, Chakufwa Chihana’s, discontentment with the UDF administration, wanted to outsmart the ruling cadres by forging a working alliance with Aford. While common sense had it that Chihana gets the running mate slot, Tembo could have none of it.
Chakuamba and Chihana? These were strange bedfellows, too; more so because Chihana had fought gallantly against the one party regime, efforts that paid dividends at the ballot box. It was a common choral cord Chihana and the likes of Muluzi had touched, and they got their just desserts.
But politics is not a duvet you get into in the evening, and hope to still be there by sunrise: it is dynamic, and changes with the times. Chakuamba and Chihana got this wisdom quite well, and wanted to use it for a free tough lesson on the ‘big-headed’ UDF.
Because Tembo did not whole-heartedly support the two, the alliance- like the conflict it created- was not symmetrical. The space left between escalating disagreements in MCP, confusion over the ‘real’ MCP’s stand on Aford, and the ruling UDF’s campaign tactics was too small for the articulation of a viable alliance agenda.
To some extent, Tembo’s reluctance was an admission of the inadequacies of decision making in political parties, as well as the general lack of real grass roots’ representation in such processes. On this line of thinking, the alliance’s failure at the polls was a form of ‘voice’ for grass roots communities, a message that had no other form than ‘failure’.
All this happened some 11 years ago, and people expected new things and challenges. It has not been so, though, because, instead of taking the exciting political road replete with twists and turns, our politicians have chosen to take the straight road to the nearest elections. This is worrying Amunandife Mkumba, Malawi Democratic Union (MDU) president. When Malawians last saw Kamuzu on a presidential ballot box, Mkumba was there. He acknowledges being one of the most hopeful people then.
“After all, we had worked so hard to reach that level of going to the polls to choose the Head of state and government and Members of Parliament. Some of us risked our lives writing and distribution secret letters in the middle of night,” said Mkumba.
Now, after some 16 years of multiparty democracy, what does he say? Are we there?
“Not yet; we are still trying. It is all the same everywhere. Some democracies such as the US have come a long way. In fact, when people realize that some things have been predictable politically, it is a sign of political maturity,” said Mkumba.
MDU is one of the parties whose predictable pattern includes its dependence on alliances with relatively larger parties. Others include Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) of Kamlepo Kalua, Congress for National Unity, Peoples Patriotic Front, Peoples Progressive Movement, Maravi People’s Party, Malawi Forum for Unity in Development, among others.
“This has been one of the weaknesses in our democracy. We have far too many political parties it is difficult to understand their ideologies. That, too, has been one of the most predictable things: more political parties, little, if at all, differences in political ideologies,” said Edward Chaka, executive director for Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development (Pefenap).
Chaka said the country needed influential parties that worked on incorruptible principles, contrary to current trends where courageous politicians wither when caught up in a net of adverse circumstances. They also often drop into a vacuum of political objectives and offer no clear direction.
“We don’t need leaders who are always busy buying time in a world where there is no spare time. Each time, and thus election, is important; parties should be talking of making new in roads,” he said.
Others, like Institute for Policy Interaction executive director, Rafiq Hajat, and Human Rights Consultative Committee chairperson Undule Mwakasungula, feel that the road is partly paved and partly thorny.
The thorny area is that of political tolerance, both in ruling and opposition parties. The issue of suspension of three DPP parliamentarians for airing their constituents’ views on quota system of selection to public universities comes to the fore, so does the recent public fight of UDF supporters at Chileka Airport.
“Political parties need to embrace tolerance to dissenting views. We can then claim that we have come off age,” said Maurice Munthali, Public Affairs Committee publicity secretary.
The other thing winning politicians are likely to pursue is the arrest of perceived enemies. It started with Muluzi, when his administration arrested an ailing Banda. Now the UDF is crying foul, saying DPP is targeting its zealots on trumped up charges. Just who will be on the ‘crying list’ next is unknown, depends on who wins.
“Otherwise. Why is it that only those in opposition are in the wrong. People linked with government and the ruling party is spared,’ queried Friday Jumbe, interim UDF president.
But one thing is for sure. What US Senator John Tyler once said is true: “The man of today gives place to the man of tomorrow, and the idols which one worships, the next destroys.”
Suppression of dissent in ruling parties continues; political bickering and position tussling continues in opposition parties; small parties continue to wait for national elections to hatch the same, old idea of alliances; popular representation remains a fallacy; and, somewhere, handcuffs are waiting for the next politician.
Nothing really changes, although political commentators also agree that Malawi’s road to destination-democracy has been paved on elections’ conduct. Peace has been the buzzword, prompting others to suggestively joke that the country should replace tobacco for peace as the Number One forex earner.
But peace is never for sale. Regional voting patterns are also being dismasntled, a mature sign of unity in purpose, said Hajat.
So far, it has been a game of equal chances: thorns here, pavements there.
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Intolerance. Dissent suppression. Intra-party bickering. Suppressed egos. Hero-worshipping. Thin, if any, ideological differences. Twisted principles.
It does not take long to define the subject: Malawi politics.
Since multiparty politics of government came back home in 1994, and got three more turns of ‘welcome-home-parties’ in 1999, 2004 and 2009, the country’s political scene has become well-dotted with political events, most of which predictable.
Malawians have come to expect a stillness of political egos in ruling parties, especially when the incumbent president is running for the first five years, while intra-party bickering has become part of the ‘norm’ in opposition parties- a way, perhaps, of passing political sleep away in the long-wait for Sanjika Palace or New State House.
Long-wait because no opposition party has ever won Presidential elections since 1994, save, perhaps, for the unique case of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Former United Democratic Front (UDF) National Publicity Secretary, Sam Mpasu, had one political adage he so loved to press home: people, he argued, form political parties to win the golden ticket into government. That is common sense.
But some special breed of people, Malawians to our credit, went into government in order to form a political party! That fascinated Mpasu so much- much the same way as it reinforced the established point that Malawi is a country of great inventors (the likes of Gabriel Kondesi, William Kamkwamba and, after 2004, the political inventor that is State President Bingu wa Mutharika, among others).
As some form of artificial tranquility prevails in ruling parties, the parties in question soon ‘forget’ the contentious issue of succession, leaving all sense of judgment to ‘time’, which, they always argue, ‘will tell’. The reason for letting succession dogs lie is often that, because the leaders won their maiden Presidential contest, they will do it (win) again.
That is the reason nobody bothered former president Bakili Muluzi, within the ranks and file of UDF between 1994 and 1999, on succession plans; a honeymoon that continued between 1999 and 2004 when it became apparently clear that, while the driver was still enjoying the feel of the highway and wanted to continue cruising beyond legal speed, the road in front was fast disappearing into some peculiar, dusty path.
Such leaders quickly grow bigger than their sponsoring parties and develop quick-fire anger even to friendly advice. The end, in our case, has been a disaster for intra-party democracy because leaders are imposed on political parties to satisfy the insatiable anger of the powers-that-be.
Just such a disaster happened in the UDF, a party that once wore ‘mighty’ armor during its time of glory. Because it had everything at its disposal in those ‘mighty’ days, the party wore the ‘heavy suit of prosperity’ to withstand even the most volatile of forces; now, it struggles in the great sea of near-obscurity that it has adopted the weight-light life saving jacket to survive the stormy waters.
Ironically, the same argument that offers first-time ruling parties artificial tranquility has the opposite effect on opposition parties. Because their leaders lost one election, other aspirants begin to fume, saying chances are that they (losers) will loose again. Once beaten, twice shy; twice beaten? The answer is what they dread.
That answer is what Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential aspirants never wanted to be the unfortunate part of between 1994 and 1999, too. First President, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, fell against Muluzi in the 1994 race to Sanjika, and never sought to rise again.
He took the white flag to Mudi State Residence in Blantyre, where he went to stay after getting unceremoniously booted out of Sanjika Palace, but left the wooden post with the green lights to Gwanda Chakuamba- his vice presidential running-mate in the monumental polls.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, the ever-ambitious Dedza South Member of Parliament, was chosen MCP vice president. Political analysts saw them as the perfect example of a strange political pair, doubts that soon back-rode the horse of reality when time came to choose a presidential running mate.
Chakuamba, aware of Alliance for Democracy (Aford) president, Chakufwa Chihana’s, discontentment with the UDF administration, wanted to outsmart the ruling cadres by forging a working alliance with Aford. While common sense had it that Chihana gets the running mate slot, Tembo could have none of it.
Chakuamba and Chihana? These were strange bedfellows, too; more so because Chihana had fought gallantly against the one party regime, efforts that paid dividends at the ballot box. It was a common choral cord Chihana and the likes of Muluzi had touched, and they got their just desserts.
But politics is not a duvet you get into in the evening, and hope to still be there by sunrise: it is dynamic, and changes with the times. Chakuamba and Chihana got this wisdom quite well, and wanted to use it for a free tough lesson on the ‘big-headed’ UDF.
Because Tembo did not whole-heartedly support the two, the alliance- like the conflict it created- was not symmetrical. The space left between escalating disagreements in MCP, confusion over the ‘real’ MCP’s stand on Aford, and the ruling UDF’s campaign tactics was too small for the articulation of a viable alliance agenda.
To some extent, Tembo’s reluctance was an admission of the inadequacies of decision making in political parties, as well as the general lack of real grass roots’ representation in such processes. On this line of thinking, the alliance’s failure at the polls was a form of ‘voice’ for grass roots communities, a message that had no other form than ‘failure’.
All this happened some 11 years ago, and people expected new things and challenges. It has not been so, though, because, instead of taking the exciting political road replete with twists and turns, our politicians have chosen to take the straight road to the nearest elections. This is worrying Amunandife Mkumba, Malawi Democratic Union (MDU) president. When Malawians last saw Kamuzu on a presidential ballot box, Mkumba was there. He acknowledges being one of the most hopeful people then.
“After all, we had worked so hard to reach that level of going to the polls to choose the Head of state and government and Members of Parliament. Some of us risked our lives writing and distribution secret letters in the middle of night,” said Mkumba.
Now, after some 16 years of multiparty democracy, what does he say? Are we there?
“Not yet; we are still trying. It is all the same everywhere. Some democracies such as the US have come a long way. In fact, when people realize that some things have been predictable politically, it is a sign of political maturity,” said Mkumba.
MDU is one of the parties whose predictable pattern includes its dependence on alliances with relatively larger parties. Others include Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) of Kamlepo Kalua, Congress for National Unity, Peoples Patriotic Front, Peoples Progressive Movement, Maravi People’s Party, Malawi Forum for Unity in Development, among others.
“This has been one of the weaknesses in our democracy. We have far too many political parties it is difficult to understand their ideologies. That, too, has been one of the most predictable things: more political parties, little, if at all, differences in political ideologies,” said Edward Chaka, executive director for Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development (Pefenap).
Chaka said the country needed influential parties that worked on incorruptible principles, contrary to current trends where courageous politicians wither when caught up in a net of adverse circumstances. They also often drop into a vacuum of political objectives and offer no clear direction.
“We don’t need leaders who are always busy buying time in a world where there is no spare time. Each time, and thus election, is important; parties should be talking of making new in roads,” he said.
Others, like Institute for Policy Interaction executive director, Rafiq Hajat, and Human Rights Consultative Committee chairperson Undule Mwakasungula, feel that the road is partly paved and partly thorny.
The thorny area is that of political tolerance, both in ruling and opposition parties. The issue of suspension of three DPP parliamentarians for airing their constituents’ views on quota system of selection to public universities comes to the fore, so does the recent public fight of UDF supporters at Chileka Airport.
“Political parties need to embrace tolerance to dissenting views. We can then claim that we have come off age,” said Maurice Munthali, Public Affairs Committee publicity secretary.
The other thing winning politicians are likely to pursue is the arrest of perceived enemies. It started with Muluzi, when his administration arrested an ailing Banda. Now the UDF is crying foul, saying DPP is targeting its zealots on trumped up charges. Just who will be on the ‘crying list’ next is unknown, depends on who wins.
“Otherwise. Why is it that only those in opposition are in the wrong. People linked with government and the ruling party is spared,’ queried Friday Jumbe, interim UDF president.
But one thing is for sure. What US Senator John Tyler once said is true: “The man of today gives place to the man of tomorrow, and the idols which one worships, the next destroys.”
Suppression of dissent in ruling parties continues; political bickering and position tussling continues in opposition parties; small parties continue to wait for national elections to hatch the same, old idea of alliances; popular representation remains a fallacy; and, somewhere, handcuffs are waiting for the next politician.
Nothing really changes, although political commentators also agree that Malawi’s road to destination-democracy has been paved on elections’ conduct. Peace has been the buzzword, prompting others to suggestively joke that the country should replace tobacco for peace as the Number One forex earner.
But peace is never for sale. Regional voting patterns are also being dismasntled, a mature sign of unity in purpose, said Hajat.
So far, it has been a game of equal chances: thorns here, pavements there.
Friday, April 2, 2010
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