28th September, 2011
For Immediate Release
The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has
learnt with dismay that journalist Joseph Mwale is receiving death threats
following his alleged publicising of a recording of private conversation
between Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Peter
Mutharika and former Deputy Minister of Sports and Culture, Charles
Mchacha.
Mwale was recently fired by one of the country’s broadcaster and
Journalism training institutions, Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ), for
allegedly publicising the recording.
In an interview with MISA Malawi Wednesday, Mwale indicated that he has been
receiving death threat text messages through mobile phone. Said Mwale
“...one text message said...how dare you shame our next president? You
thought you were a hero? We will make you a villain because you will soon
die. Mind you, we monitor you and we control everything. We threatened
them and they sacked you. Now they are quite. This is operation 2011. You
will soon go to HHI.”
HHI stands for Henry Henderson Institute where there is a cemetary in the
Commercial City of Blantyre.
The journalist was fired for allegedly circulating Peter Mutharika’s
conversation with Mchacha on the internet. Peter Mutharika is currently
the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) anointed torch bearer in the
2014 presidential elections.
MISA Malawi deems such threats as barbaric, retrogressive and unwarranted
in an open and transparent democracy.
We also deem such acts as deliberate attempts at instilling fear to curtail
meaningful dialogue and debate on pertinent issues that affect our country.
We therefore strongly condemn such acts and call upon the authorities to
thoroughly investigate the matter.
We applaud Mwale for having taken up the matter with the police who have
since promised to investigate the threats. MISA Malawi is, however,
calling on the authorities and the police to openly denounce such barbaric
acts and for the law enforcers to protect journalists and indeed members
of the public who are constantly receiving threats from unknown persons.
Both Mutharika and Mchacha who were mentioned in the chit-chat have chosen
not to comment on the clip, which is circulating on social media including
You Tube. In the clip, Mutharika is analysing the loyalty of some top DPP
leaders, bringing in the question of trust in the run-up to the 2014
presidential elections.
In the clip, apart from talking to MIJ’s Mwale, Mutharika wondered whether
MIJ was DPP loyalist and what he should tell the reporter about his
endorsement as DPP presidential candidate in 2014. Mutharika then
discusses potential presidential candidates from other parties who he
believed had started campaigning for the 2014 presidential race.
MISA Malawi is encouraging journalists in the country, including members
of the public, to report to police whenever their lives seem to be in
danger. We further advise journalists to be on the alert whenever they are
executing their duties.
Finally, we appeal to DPP heavy weights to strongly condemn these threats
which are likely tarnishing the image of the party and top party officials
and to take meaningful steps at ensuring sanity and democratic mentality
amongst party loyalists.
Signed
Anthony Kasunda
MISA MALAWI CHAIRPERSON
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Good Governance Should Start in Opposition Parties
Governance has become the buzz-word even to people who cannot answer, at first instance, on what figure of speech it is.
That is how things go nowadays, anyway; people get so much used to what they do not know. They, then, sing it like a song.
They may not understand the meaning, they may not understand the meaning behind the meaning; but they will sing, anyway, because the neighbour sings, too.
That is the danger with some words. Their meaning gets lost in the maze of excitement; yes, it gets lost in the bushes of misunderstanding.
This bush has become to be called democracy nowadays, a bush in which many get lost, and afew find their way to the village of tradition and sense- a village inhabited by the Aubunthu.
But it is not the few who find the right way who win; the stakes are stuck in favour of the many who have lost their way to Ubunthu Village. Those who wonder about looking for answers to questions that come naturally.
The right way, for once, can be lost in so many ways. There is semantic noise, that mist between the road of clarity and understanding. There is ignorance. There is misinformation. And many things, also.
But the right still has its way of standing its ground.
And justice always prevails.
However, there seems to be justice and honesty crises ripping through Malawi's opposition parties. Opposition leaders, it seems, have gotten intoxicated with words that have, for long, gotten married and stuck to democracy.
One such word is good governance- a word that took centre-stage at the turn of multiparty democracy in 1994.
Now, you hear all sorts of opposition leaders yapping this term 'good governance'. They have even made it a game to toss President Bingu wa Mutharika with it. What they do is set the word good governance over the jags of political campaigns, rhetoric, propaganda and misinformation, and make it appear as if the public service has no jags of its own, no measurement systems, no...
Heysh, my time is gone. I will continue next time! Sorry for that.
That is how things go nowadays, anyway; people get so much used to what they do not know. They, then, sing it like a song.
They may not understand the meaning, they may not understand the meaning behind the meaning; but they will sing, anyway, because the neighbour sings, too.
That is the danger with some words. Their meaning gets lost in the maze of excitement; yes, it gets lost in the bushes of misunderstanding.
This bush has become to be called democracy nowadays, a bush in which many get lost, and afew find their way to the village of tradition and sense- a village inhabited by the Aubunthu.
But it is not the few who find the right way who win; the stakes are stuck in favour of the many who have lost their way to Ubunthu Village. Those who wonder about looking for answers to questions that come naturally.
The right way, for once, can be lost in so many ways. There is semantic noise, that mist between the road of clarity and understanding. There is ignorance. There is misinformation. And many things, also.
But the right still has its way of standing its ground.
And justice always prevails.
However, there seems to be justice and honesty crises ripping through Malawi's opposition parties. Opposition leaders, it seems, have gotten intoxicated with words that have, for long, gotten married and stuck to democracy.
One such word is good governance- a word that took centre-stage at the turn of multiparty democracy in 1994.
Now, you hear all sorts of opposition leaders yapping this term 'good governance'. They have even made it a game to toss President Bingu wa Mutharika with it. What they do is set the word good governance over the jags of political campaigns, rhetoric, propaganda and misinformation, and make it appear as if the public service has no jags of its own, no measurement systems, no...
Heysh, my time is gone. I will continue next time! Sorry for that.
One More Song
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair.
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair.
Journalists face threats in covering Isaac imprisonment in Eritrea
New York, September 26, 2011—A Sweden-based journalist was publicly threatened Friday in connection with her reporting on the case of Dawit Isaac, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for a decade without charge, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for the Eritrean leader Isaias Afewerki pushed and threatened two Swedish journalists seeking to speak to the president about the Isaac case, the journalists said.
Meron Estefanos, a contributor to the leading Eritrean diaspora news site Asmarino, was confronted Friday by Tedros Isaac, a brother of the detained journalist whose strong support of Afewerki is extensively documented, after a public forum on the Isaac case at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden.
“You mention my name and write about Dawit Isaac's family one more time I'll cut your throat,” witnesses and Swedish Radio SR quoted Tedros Isaac as telling Estefanos. In a 2010 column published on Asmarino, Estefanos wrote about the deep political divisions that have split Eritrean families into pro- and anti-government camps. In the column, Estefanos had contrasted Tedros Isaac’s ongoing support for the government that arrested his brother with the extensive advocacy to free the journalist that has been undertaken by other brothers.
Sweden’s Expressen newspaper reported Friday that Estefanos had given a statement to the police and quoted Thomas Fuxborg, a local police spokesman, as saying that a preliminary police report had been written.
The confrontation occurred on the 10th anniversary of Isaac's September 23, 2001, arrest. Detained in a broad crackdown on independent journalism, he has been held without charge or trial since that time, with only brief contact with his family in 2005, according to CPJ research. Estefanos, who spoke at Friday’s forum, has been one of the leading activists in Sweden campaigning for the release of Isaac and other political prisoners in Eritrea, according to CPJ research. At least 17 journalists are now being held in Eritrea prisons, according to CPJ research.
A statement released by the Gothenburg Book Fair and signed by Nobel prize laureates Mario Vargas Llosa and Herta Müller, as well as John Ralston Saul, president of PEN International, called on Sweden and the European Union to take a tougher approach toward Eritrea to secure Isaac's release. CPJ research shows the Eritrean government has used agents and proxies to intimidate the country’s exile press.
A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for Eritrean President Afewerki roughed up and threatened two Swedish journalists seeking to ask the president questions about Isaac, according to CPJ interviews. “I got an elbow in the stomach,” Mats Larsson, U.S. correspondent of Expressen newspaper, told CPJ, describing how he and photographer Axel Oberg were pushed aside after they approached the president as he walked near United Nations headquarters. When Oberg later tried to take photos of Afewerki, the journalist told CPJ, another bodyguard attempted to seize his camera and made hand signals as if to slit his throat.
“We’re relieved that Swedish police are investigating the reported threats against Meron Estefanos,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “It’s disturbing that bodyguards for President Afewerki tried to intimidate journalists Mats Larsson and Axel Oberg in New York. There is no place for threats against reporters trying to do their jobs.”
Meron Estefanos, a contributor to the leading Eritrean diaspora news site Asmarino, was confronted Friday by Tedros Isaac, a brother of the detained journalist whose strong support of Afewerki is extensively documented, after a public forum on the Isaac case at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden.
“You mention my name and write about Dawit Isaac's family one more time I'll cut your throat,” witnesses and Swedish Radio SR quoted Tedros Isaac as telling Estefanos. In a 2010 column published on Asmarino, Estefanos wrote about the deep political divisions that have split Eritrean families into pro- and anti-government camps. In the column, Estefanos had contrasted Tedros Isaac’s ongoing support for the government that arrested his brother with the extensive advocacy to free the journalist that has been undertaken by other brothers.
Sweden’s Expressen newspaper reported Friday that Estefanos had given a statement to the police and quoted Thomas Fuxborg, a local police spokesman, as saying that a preliminary police report had been written.
The confrontation occurred on the 10th anniversary of Isaac's September 23, 2001, arrest. Detained in a broad crackdown on independent journalism, he has been held without charge or trial since that time, with only brief contact with his family in 2005, according to CPJ research. Estefanos, who spoke at Friday’s forum, has been one of the leading activists in Sweden campaigning for the release of Isaac and other political prisoners in Eritrea, according to CPJ research. At least 17 journalists are now being held in Eritrea prisons, according to CPJ research.
A statement released by the Gothenburg Book Fair and signed by Nobel prize laureates Mario Vargas Llosa and Herta Müller, as well as John Ralston Saul, president of PEN International, called on Sweden and the European Union to take a tougher approach toward Eritrea to secure Isaac's release. CPJ research shows the Eritrean government has used agents and proxies to intimidate the country’s exile press.
A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for Eritrean President Afewerki roughed up and threatened two Swedish journalists seeking to ask the president questions about Isaac, according to CPJ interviews. “I got an elbow in the stomach,” Mats Larsson, U.S. correspondent of Expressen newspaper, told CPJ, describing how he and photographer Axel Oberg were pushed aside after they approached the president as he walked near United Nations headquarters. When Oberg later tried to take photos of Afewerki, the journalist told CPJ, another bodyguard attempted to seize his camera and made hand signals as if to slit his throat.
“We’re relieved that Swedish police are investigating the reported threats against Meron Estefanos,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “It’s disturbing that bodyguards for President Afewerki tried to intimidate journalists Mats Larsson and Axel Oberg in New York. There is no place for threats against reporters trying to do their jobs.”
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
One Day
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
In the land where sadness makes no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
Robert Chasowa Some Day
Robert Chasowa will sing again,
In the land where sadness chalks no gains,
Where anger’s paws touch no brains,
Somewhere unreached by pens;
Ah, I remember, somewhere hoped by planes.
There, Robert Chasowa will shine under joy’s big flair
There, where life is all about fun-fare
After the inhabitants say their first prayer.
Forget, my friend, about many a Polytechnic soccer player
Who things that, if you be a skilled player, then, you must keep long hair..
End note: One day, the truth (real truth) about Robert Chasowa's death will be known!
Big Hand
And asking questions in the heart.
Questions whose answers shall never be known, because of long, big, hairly hand that shuts people's mouths.
Ah, and their hearts too.
A big hand that shuts veins.
And hopes, too.
A big hand.
Questions whose answers shall never be known, because of long, big, hairly hand that shuts people's mouths.
Ah, and their hearts too.
A big hand that shuts veins.
And hopes, too.
A big hand.
UNESCO must stop discredited prize-CPJ
New York, September 26, 2011—UNESCO should reject a new bid to honor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea and now Africa's longest serving ruler, with a prize in his name, a group of nine human rights organizations said today.
UNESCO’s executive board, which is meeting in Paris until October 6, 2011, is to consider a proposal for a $3 million UNESCO life sciences prize, to be funded by the “Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Foundation for the Preservation of Life.” The prize was suspended last year after an outcry from concerned Equatoguineans, human rights groups, anti-corruption campaigners, and prominent literary, scientific, and cultural figures.
An effort by the Obiang government to reinstate the prize in May failed to make it onto the agenda. But the current initiative has the nominal support of other African countries following an African Union resolution at its summit meeting in Equatorial Guinea in July, which President Obiang hosted as this year’s AU chairman.
“UNESCO should not honor President Obiang,” said Tutu Alicante, of the nongovernmental human rights organization EG Justice. “If he wishes to fund science and education around the world, he should start with his own country, where many still lack basic services such as electricity and clean water, while the president and his family flaunt an extravagant lifestyle that is the subject of legal investigations around the world.”
According to evidence produced in 2004 and 2010 investigations by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, President Obiang and close family members have diverted tens of millions of dollars from their country's natural resource earnings to their private benefit.
The 2010 US State Department human rights report decried “official corruption at all levels of government” and noted that “[t]he president and members of his inner circle continued to amass personal profits from the oil windfall.” Equatorial Guinea is consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries on the globe by Transparency International.
The $3 million UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences was set up in 2008 but has never been awarded. Implementation of the prize was frozen pending further discussion in June 2010. In October, the UNESCO Executive Board voted to suspend it until a consensus on the matter could be reached by member states.
That action came about after prominent African figures, Latin American writers, Nobel laureates, scientists and public health professionals, press freedom groups, Cano prize winners, and rights organizations from around the world came together in an unprecedented effort to challenge the prize, citing serious concerns about President Obiang’s record of corruption and abuse.
Public figures involved in the campaign against the prize have included: Nobel laureates Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and John Polanyi; author Chinua Achebe; human rights advocate Graça Machel; and over sixty professionals from Equatorial Guinea.
Critics of the prize have highlighted the contrast between the mandate of UNESCO to promote human rights along with its work to defend free expression, and the record of severe repression and official corruption that have marked President Obiang’s 32-year rule. Severe restrictions on press freedom, together with self-censorship, make it difficult for citizens of Equatorial Guinea to challenge the government from inside the country over sensitive topics such as ongoing foreign investigations into the alleged corruption of President Obiang and his close associates. The government has been repeatedly condemned by UN and other human rights monitors for its systematic use of torture. Recent elections have been criticized as neither free nor fair.
Oil and gas exploitation has made Equatorial Guinea the wealthiest country in sub-saharan Africa in per capita income, yet the International Monetary Fund and others have expressed concern that government spending on social needs is very low in light of its high levels of poverty. According to an analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Equatorial Guinea spends less on education as a percentage of GDP than neighboring countries such as Cameroon and Gabon.
In August 2010 President Obiang's government shocked the world when it executed four dissident exiles within an hour after a summary military proceeding found them guilty of treason and attempted assassination.
The following organizations signed the statement:
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España
Association Sherpa
Center for Economic and Social Rights
Committee to Protect Journalists
EG Justice
Global Witness
Human Rights Watch
Media Legal Defence Initiative
Open Society Justice Initiative
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
UNESCO’s executive board, which is meeting in Paris until October 6, 2011, is to consider a proposal for a $3 million UNESCO life sciences prize, to be funded by the “Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Foundation for the Preservation of Life.” The prize was suspended last year after an outcry from concerned Equatoguineans, human rights groups, anti-corruption campaigners, and prominent literary, scientific, and cultural figures.
An effort by the Obiang government to reinstate the prize in May failed to make it onto the agenda. But the current initiative has the nominal support of other African countries following an African Union resolution at its summit meeting in Equatorial Guinea in July, which President Obiang hosted as this year’s AU chairman.
“UNESCO should not honor President Obiang,” said Tutu Alicante, of the nongovernmental human rights organization EG Justice. “If he wishes to fund science and education around the world, he should start with his own country, where many still lack basic services such as electricity and clean water, while the president and his family flaunt an extravagant lifestyle that is the subject of legal investigations around the world.”
According to evidence produced in 2004 and 2010 investigations by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, President Obiang and close family members have diverted tens of millions of dollars from their country's natural resource earnings to their private benefit.
The 2010 US State Department human rights report decried “official corruption at all levels of government” and noted that “[t]he president and members of his inner circle continued to amass personal profits from the oil windfall.” Equatorial Guinea is consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries on the globe by Transparency International.
The $3 million UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences was set up in 2008 but has never been awarded. Implementation of the prize was frozen pending further discussion in June 2010. In October, the UNESCO Executive Board voted to suspend it until a consensus on the matter could be reached by member states.
That action came about after prominent African figures, Latin American writers, Nobel laureates, scientists and public health professionals, press freedom groups, Cano prize winners, and rights organizations from around the world came together in an unprecedented effort to challenge the prize, citing serious concerns about President Obiang’s record of corruption and abuse.
Public figures involved in the campaign against the prize have included: Nobel laureates Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and John Polanyi; author Chinua Achebe; human rights advocate Graça Machel; and over sixty professionals from Equatorial Guinea.
Critics of the prize have highlighted the contrast between the mandate of UNESCO to promote human rights along with its work to defend free expression, and the record of severe repression and official corruption that have marked President Obiang’s 32-year rule. Severe restrictions on press freedom, together with self-censorship, make it difficult for citizens of Equatorial Guinea to challenge the government from inside the country over sensitive topics such as ongoing foreign investigations into the alleged corruption of President Obiang and his close associates. The government has been repeatedly condemned by UN and other human rights monitors for its systematic use of torture. Recent elections have been criticized as neither free nor fair.
Oil and gas exploitation has made Equatorial Guinea the wealthiest country in sub-saharan Africa in per capita income, yet the International Monetary Fund and others have expressed concern that government spending on social needs is very low in light of its high levels of poverty. According to an analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Equatorial Guinea spends less on education as a percentage of GDP than neighboring countries such as Cameroon and Gabon.
In August 2010 President Obiang's government shocked the world when it executed four dissident exiles within an hour after a summary military proceeding found them guilty of treason and attempted assassination.
The following organizations signed the statement:
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España
Association Sherpa
Center for Economic and Social Rights
Committee to Protect Journalists
EG Justice
Global Witness
Human Rights Watch
Media Legal Defence Initiative
Open Society Justice Initiative
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
FUEL SUPPLY UPDATE
Tuesday, 27th September, 2011
LILONGWE AND THE CENTRE
PETROL
PETROL IS AVAILABLE AT:
LILONGWE MAIN – Area 2 close to PMF
M1 – Bunda T-Off
MAULA
MBOWE
DEDZA
DWANGWA
KASUNGU
LINTHIPE
MCHINJI
NAMITETE
MTUNTHAMA – Kamuzu Academy
NKHOTA-KOTA
NTCHISI
SALIMA
DIESEL
DIESEL IS AVAILABLE AT:
GEMINI
CROSS-ROADS (To finish any time)
KANENGO
NAMITETE
SALIMA
BLANTYRE AND THE SOUTH
PETROL
PETROL IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE IN THE SOUTH
Any specific information will be provided on request
DIESEL
DIESEL IS AVAILABLE AT:
CENTENARY GARDENS – Opp. Illovo – Limbe
CENTENARY MAIN – Limbe Post Office
CHILEKA
KABULA (To finish any time)
LIWONDE
LOTUS MOTORS –Pa Hardware – Limbe
MWANZA
NAMIWAWA
DELIVERIES (PETROL & DIESEL)
NYAMBADWE -PETROL (done)
ZOMBA MAIN – Chanco T-Off -DIESEL (in progress)
CHIKWAWA -PETROL & DIESEL (later)
LAKEROAD – Mangochi -PETROL
MZUZU AND THE NORTH
PETROL
PETROL IS AVAILABLE AT:
KARONGA
MZUZU MAIN – Opp. Mzuzu Escom – To finish any time
DELIVERIES (PETROL & DIESEL)
DELIVERIES ARE BEING MADE TO:
MZIMBA -PETROL & DIESEL (afternoon)
RUMPHI -PETROL (later)
MZUZU MAIN – Opp. Mzuzu Escom -PETROL (later)
LILONGWE AND THE CENTRE
PETROL
PETROL IS AVAILABLE AT:
LILONGWE MAIN – Area 2 close to PMF
M1 – Bunda T-Off
MAULA
MBOWE
DEDZA
DWANGWA
KASUNGU
LINTHIPE
MCHINJI
NAMITETE
MTUNTHAMA – Kamuzu Academy
NKHOTA-KOTA
NTCHISI
SALIMA
DIESEL
DIESEL IS AVAILABLE AT:
GEMINI
CROSS-ROADS (To finish any time)
KANENGO
NAMITETE
SALIMA
BLANTYRE AND THE SOUTH
PETROL
PETROL IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE IN THE SOUTH
Any specific information will be provided on request
DIESEL
DIESEL IS AVAILABLE AT:
CENTENARY GARDENS – Opp. Illovo – Limbe
CENTENARY MAIN – Limbe Post Office
CHILEKA
KABULA (To finish any time)
LIWONDE
LOTUS MOTORS –Pa Hardware – Limbe
MWANZA
NAMIWAWA
DELIVERIES (PETROL & DIESEL)
NYAMBADWE -PETROL (done)
ZOMBA MAIN – Chanco T-Off -DIESEL (in progress)
CHIKWAWA -PETROL & DIESEL (later)
LAKEROAD – Mangochi -PETROL
MZUZU AND THE NORTH
PETROL
PETROL IS AVAILABLE AT:
KARONGA
MZUZU MAIN – Opp. Mzuzu Escom – To finish any time
DELIVERIES (PETROL & DIESEL)
DELIVERIES ARE BEING MADE TO:
MZIMBA -PETROL & DIESEL (afternoon)
RUMPHI -PETROL (later)
MZUZU MAIN – Opp. Mzuzu Escom -PETROL (later)
Monday, September 26, 2011
United States Embassy to Host Bass Guitar Workshop
Lilongwe – The Public Affairs Section of the American Embassy in partnership with the Department of Arts and Crafts is pleased to announce that it will host a bass guitar workshop at the Public Affairs Section Auditorium, Old Mutual Building, City Center, Lilongwe on Friday, September 30, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
Professional bass player Chris Baio of rock band Vampire Weekend will conduct instruction in an exciting learning environment for players of all abilities. Attendants will be exposed to various styles and techniques of bass, and they will be able to choose an area of focus in smaller groups. Ability to read music is not required for the training session.
Although the clinic will be led by a bass player, other players such as percussionists/drummers, guitarists, keyboardists, horn instrumentalists and vocalists are invited to the workshop for a lively exchange of music ideas between Malawi and the United States.
The workshop will conclude with a special participants’ performance featuring all instruments but with emphasis on the bass.
Baio is an American musician best known for being the bassist for the New York City-based indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He will be in Malawi to perform at the Lake of Stars Festival.
Baio was turned on to music at an early age, purchasing his first album at the age of seven and going to his first concert, a live performance by the band Cracker, at the age of nine. Baio said that as a child, he would go to sleep listening to “Doolittle” by The Pixies.
Baio attended Columbia University in New York, majoring in Russian and Eurasian Regional studies and minoring in Math, finally graduating in May of 2007. He served as College Rock Music Director of WBAR during his time at university.
--
Professional bass player Chris Baio of rock band Vampire Weekend will conduct instruction in an exciting learning environment for players of all abilities. Attendants will be exposed to various styles and techniques of bass, and they will be able to choose an area of focus in smaller groups. Ability to read music is not required for the training session.
Although the clinic will be led by a bass player, other players such as percussionists/drummers, guitarists, keyboardists, horn instrumentalists and vocalists are invited to the workshop for a lively exchange of music ideas between Malawi and the United States.
The workshop will conclude with a special participants’ performance featuring all instruments but with emphasis on the bass.
Baio is an American musician best known for being the bassist for the New York City-based indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He will be in Malawi to perform at the Lake of Stars Festival.
Baio was turned on to music at an early age, purchasing his first album at the age of seven and going to his first concert, a live performance by the band Cracker, at the age of nine. Baio said that as a child, he would go to sleep listening to “Doolittle” by The Pixies.
Baio attended Columbia University in New York, majoring in Russian and Eurasian Regional studies and minoring in Math, finally graduating in May of 2007. He served as College Rock Music Director of WBAR during his time at university.
--
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tennis ace Serena Williams appointed UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador
NEW YORK, 20 September 2011 – UNICEF today announced tennis champion Serena Williams’s appointment as international Goodwill Ambassador.
Williams is one of the all-time greats of professional tennis, having achieved a decade-long dominance of the game. While she is best known for her power and finesse in competition, her generous philanthropic endeavors off the court are just as dynamic.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake welcomed Williams to the UNICEF family today at the 2nd Annual Social Good Summit in New York City.
“Serena Williams isn’t just a world tennis champion, she is a champion for children -- and a passionate advocate for providing every child with a quality education,” said Lake. “We are delighted that Serena is joining us as UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador and look forward to working together to win for children.”
Williams first teamed up with UNICEF in 2006 when she traveled to Ghana, on her first visit to Africa, for the country’s biggest health campaign. During her visit, she joined a team of volunteer health workers who immunized children against deadly childhood diseases, distributed free mosquito bed nets to help prevent malaria and joined local authorities in a demonstration of how to use the life-saving nets.
In her new role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Williams will use her popularity and personal interest in children’s issues to support UNICEF’s mission to provide a quality education for the most vulnerable children through the Schools for Africa programme and the upcoming Schools for Asia initiatives.
“I believe all children deserve the chance to make something of their lives,” Williams said. “I am committed to helping UNICEF provide a quality education to children to help them build a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.”
The newly minted ambassador is one of the most dominant figures in tennis. To date, Williams has won a total of 13 Singles career Grand Slams and was a Gold Medalist at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics.
Williams joins a famous roster of past and present UNICEF Ambassadors that includes Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, Harry Belafonte, Mia Farrow, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Yuna Kim and Shakira.
###
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org
About Schools for Africa
Schools for Africa is a joint initiative founded in 2004 by UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Peter Kramer Stiftung aimed at providing quality basic education to millions of children in 11 countries in Africa. Following the success of Schools for Africa, UNICEF is replicating the model for Asia. The purpose of both initiatives is to provide access to quality basic education to millions of children in with a special focus on the most marginalized, including girls, orphans, children from disadvantaged ethnic groups and children living in remote areas and/or in extreme poverty.
Williams is one of the all-time greats of professional tennis, having achieved a decade-long dominance of the game. While she is best known for her power and finesse in competition, her generous philanthropic endeavors off the court are just as dynamic.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake welcomed Williams to the UNICEF family today at the 2nd Annual Social Good Summit in New York City.
“Serena Williams isn’t just a world tennis champion, she is a champion for children -- and a passionate advocate for providing every child with a quality education,” said Lake. “We are delighted that Serena is joining us as UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador and look forward to working together to win for children.”
Williams first teamed up with UNICEF in 2006 when she traveled to Ghana, on her first visit to Africa, for the country’s biggest health campaign. During her visit, she joined a team of volunteer health workers who immunized children against deadly childhood diseases, distributed free mosquito bed nets to help prevent malaria and joined local authorities in a demonstration of how to use the life-saving nets.
In her new role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Williams will use her popularity and personal interest in children’s issues to support UNICEF’s mission to provide a quality education for the most vulnerable children through the Schools for Africa programme and the upcoming Schools for Asia initiatives.
“I believe all children deserve the chance to make something of their lives,” Williams said. “I am committed to helping UNICEF provide a quality education to children to help them build a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.”
The newly minted ambassador is one of the most dominant figures in tennis. To date, Williams has won a total of 13 Singles career Grand Slams and was a Gold Medalist at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics.
Williams joins a famous roster of past and present UNICEF Ambassadors that includes Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, Harry Belafonte, Mia Farrow, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Yuna Kim and Shakira.
###
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org
About Schools for Africa
Schools for Africa is a joint initiative founded in 2004 by UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Peter Kramer Stiftung aimed at providing quality basic education to millions of children in 11 countries in Africa. Following the success of Schools for Africa, UNICEF is replicating the model for Asia. The purpose of both initiatives is to provide access to quality basic education to millions of children in with a special focus on the most marginalized, including girls, orphans, children from disadvantaged ethnic groups and children living in remote areas and/or in extreme poverty.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Crying for Blantyre Flea Market Vendors
A day never passed without me going to the Blantyre Flea Market; that is, whenever I was in Blantyre Central Business District, and the time was on me.
I used to go a man, a man with a small shop, little voice, and portable wife. He is a good man, this one- with his small shop, voice and...oh, I now remember: he sits on a small chair, too; a chair that, to him, is big enough for comfortability!
Did I say the chair 'is'?
No, I was not supposed to 'speak' like that. That chair, small and black and worn out, is now gone. Diluted in the fire that started, according to unofficial reports, early this morning.
Now, that is sad news.
Sad because in the small shop of my small friend with a relatively 'small' wife was what I have come to accept as 'the smallest room with the biggest cash'. Yes, that's how it was.
The shop was so full of everything. Everything digital. Everything up-to-date. Everything that matters in the lives of people so eaten up by the digital age.
It was a small shop, yes, one that would not have enough room to accommodate 10, 000 mice.
But there were millions of Kwacha in that shop; literally millions.
They were there, these millions, as my friend and his happy wife went home yesterday evening. They have been doing this for the past three years- going home in the evening, to eat and drink and sleep. They would, then, come back the following morning. Smartly dressed. Always smiling.
They were two, always; my friend and his wife. When he was away, the wife would stay in the shop. When she was away, he would be in the shop.
Rumour has it that the wife found the shop. That the wife found the man and the job. That is, they met when the shop was already there with the man.
Evenings are the only time they both went home, leaving nobody in the shop.
If anything, they left 'hope' in the shop.
They did the same yesterday; like the rest of the vendors, going home. Leaving hope and watchmen and the full darkness. It was dark yesterday the starts went to sleep.
Today, going back to their office at the Blantyre Flea Market, they found it razed to the ground by fire. Gutted by the cowardly fire that came under the cover of darkness.
All their property is gone. Their millions gone.
When I heard the news that Blantyre Flea Market was gone, I rushed there to see my friend.
I found him, and his wife, at the entrance.
They were crying.
Tears rolling down their cheeks.
Tears that never seemed to cease.
Today.
I used to go a man, a man with a small shop, little voice, and portable wife. He is a good man, this one- with his small shop, voice and...oh, I now remember: he sits on a small chair, too; a chair that, to him, is big enough for comfortability!
Did I say the chair 'is'?
No, I was not supposed to 'speak' like that. That chair, small and black and worn out, is now gone. Diluted in the fire that started, according to unofficial reports, early this morning.
Now, that is sad news.
Sad because in the small shop of my small friend with a relatively 'small' wife was what I have come to accept as 'the smallest room with the biggest cash'. Yes, that's how it was.
The shop was so full of everything. Everything digital. Everything up-to-date. Everything that matters in the lives of people so eaten up by the digital age.
It was a small shop, yes, one that would not have enough room to accommodate 10, 000 mice.
But there were millions of Kwacha in that shop; literally millions.
They were there, these millions, as my friend and his happy wife went home yesterday evening. They have been doing this for the past three years- going home in the evening, to eat and drink and sleep. They would, then, come back the following morning. Smartly dressed. Always smiling.
They were two, always; my friend and his wife. When he was away, the wife would stay in the shop. When she was away, he would be in the shop.
Rumour has it that the wife found the shop. That the wife found the man and the job. That is, they met when the shop was already there with the man.
Evenings are the only time they both went home, leaving nobody in the shop.
If anything, they left 'hope' in the shop.
They did the same yesterday; like the rest of the vendors, going home. Leaving hope and watchmen and the full darkness. It was dark yesterday the starts went to sleep.
Today, going back to their office at the Blantyre Flea Market, they found it razed to the ground by fire. Gutted by the cowardly fire that came under the cover of darkness.
All their property is gone. Their millions gone.
When I heard the news that Blantyre Flea Market was gone, I rushed there to see my friend.
I found him, and his wife, at the entrance.
They were crying.
Tears rolling down their cheeks.
Tears that never seemed to cease.
Today.
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