Activist Chiza Mkandawire Hate for JB Administration: The Big Picture

All indications are that civil society activists left out in the cold without any appointment into Public Service Offices have had enough. The gloves have been coming out slowly and it now looks the battlefield is demarcated where revolutionary campaign to tarnish Joyce Banda administration is in an advanced stage.

Leading the pack is a self-styled human rights activist, Ben Chiza Mkandawire, who successfully managed to shake the feet of clay of the former deceased President Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika. Ben has an impeccable, energetic and fearless record of standing up to his apparent enemies driven by conscientious conviction of injustice in the land. He is a federalist in political thinking and has driven this message in length and breadth of his political lectures to the masses that admire him.

Under the DPP regime ,Malawi was an economy in death-bed. He was arrested and detained for being a political public nuisance while staging a four-man band demonstration with a placard that said Bingu was a Dictator.

He described the leaders of divided Civil Society as cowards and sell-outs after mass demonstration strategy was abandoned following the deadly demonstration on 20th July 2011 where 19 people were shot dead in cold blood by security forces. Kamuzu Chibambo of PETRA was once described as a mouse without a backbone.

Chiza has motor-mouth. One cannot avoid likening him to Julius Malema, the suspended leader of the ANC Youth League in South Africa who spared nobody in his vitriolic attacks on his political opponent who dared challenge his views. 
From his mouth, he holds a Law Degree from Hurdsfield University

Came 5th April 2012, the notorious Bingu sadly died of cardiac arrest. His inner-circle Cabinet embarked on elaborate plan to hide death while trying to by-pass the Constitution of the Republic on succession in case of incapacitation or death of the sitting president. The rest is history, what is not history is the support that Civil Society gave to Joyce Banda camp to make sure that she takeover the mantles of power. It happened three days later.

Political risks deserve political rewards.

Unfortunately, she inherited the government that was technically bankrupt. When it came to reorganize the Government, she was forced to cut down a number of portfolios or amalgamate them in an effort to cuts costs. 

Those that had supported Joyce Banda had already moistened their lips. They were ready for deployment into government offices. It never happened that way and not everybody is excited any more.

It is in this context that Chiza Mkandawire has resurfaced with vigour and political vitality to speak openly against the government that he was willing to die for only yesterday.

On 6th July, the Day Malawi celebrates Independence, Ben post a dry message. He wrote on his Facebook wall:

‘Ralph Kasambara and his mother Joyce Banda are fooling Malawians that they have reduced oil prices when it’s the world markets dictating it.’

Thus referring to announcement of price reduction on Diesel, Petrol and Paraffin. On the same day, he fired another missile, he wrote:

‘Joyce Banda has less than two weeks to declare her assets; before she does it would be appropriate to have her foundation independently audited for all the financial gifts she made. Time to act right ma’am’

If it was written by any other uninformed person outside Civil Society, nobody would have taken note of this status that aims to blow the whistle while standing on ridicule.

In understanding the bigger picture of the lead activist, Ben is said to be in serious financial position. In UK he survived on his girlfriend, Ms. Bella Kalua. She has since returned home. That he once entered University door and obtained a Law Degree is one of the seven wonders of the world.

His current status in Malawi is that of an ‘Executive Parasite’ on his longtime friend, Mbumba Banda, the Chief Executive Officer of the leading media house Nation Publications Limited. He enjoyed unprecedented publicity in his defiance campaigns against Bingu regime. To what extent he manipulates the paper’s thinking is something for the future.

BINGU'S ROLE IN THE CASH GATE SCANDAL, CAPITAL HILL THEFTY

It has been revealed that the Democratic Progressive Party DPP has a big role in the so called corruption case scandals rocking the country and involving government officials at capital hill. Our sources have revealed that many of those currently arrested have been working very closely with the late Bingu muntharika even before 2010. One of such a person is Maxwell and Alice Namata


Malawi’s graft-busting body Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested Maxwell Namata , a third suspect involved in a syndicate stripping finances from government through illegal encashment of cheques using companies that did not supply any goods or services 

Maxwell Namata owns Khanye Investments together with his wife Alice. His wife Alice Namata was also arrested by ACB a fortnight ago but was freed on bail.



Namata was arrested and charged for Corrupt Performance of functions by a public officer; abuse of office; theft by a person employed in the public service; (and) Obstructing officers of the ACB


The arrest of Namata followed complaints received by the bureau in October 2011, alleging that an officer from the Accountant General’s office was conniving with Malawi Police Service officers to corruptly defraud government of huge sums of money.

Since 2011 The Anti-Corruption Bureau instituted investigations which found that Maxwell Namata Principal Accountant in the Ministry of Lands now with Ministry of Labour authorized several payments to be made in favour of Khanye Investiments belonging to Maxwell and Alice Namata for goods and services which were not supplied to Ministry of Lands but the Namatas were spared from any arrests after powers from above during DPP rule tried to obstruct any justice on the matter 

Khanye Investments is connected to the illegal payments which were done after another suspect Robert Natchito who is also currently on bail, is alleged to have entered payments vouchers in favour of two companies that did not supply any goods to the Ministry of Lands as indicated on the vouchers.

Robert Natchito is also another Bingus right side home boy which were used by the DPP government to siphone money from government offices through dubious deals . 

The other company involved is Hannet Enterprises which belongs to Hunter Kavinya and it is alleged that the payment vouchers amount to K11, 598513.43 and K8,203,518.86. Kavinya is one of the Mlakho boys that have been working closely with Mwanamveka and Mulli to direct money from government offices and fund Mlakho wa Alhomwe activities 

Nantchito worked as an Accounts Assistant in the Ministry of Lands but is now working with Ministry of Trade and Industry while Alice Namata is a Principal administrative Officer in the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism.

The anti corruption Bureau investigations also found that Nantchito tampered with financial information from Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) amounting to K73, 355,924.27.

The above three families may also be linked to a syndicate that hired thugs to shoot the Budget Director in the Ministry of Finance Paul Mphwiyo three weeks ago as he was entering his residence which is located in Area 43, Lilongwe because he has been discharging his duties of controlling funds in the ministry of finance and was on the verge of busting a corruption ring.

Mphwiyo was behind the new measures come just a month after also government announced some reforms to the IFMIS.

The new measures include that apart from controlling officers or their designated senior officers all cheques from ministries and government departments should be countersigned by both the Accountant General and the Budget Director or their designated representatives.

Thomas Sankara speech at the United Nations General Assembly on October 4th, 1984

 “I speak on behalf of the millions of human beings who are in ghettos because they have black skin or because they come from different cultures, and who enjoy status barely above that of an animal.
I suffer on behalf of the Indians who have...

been massacred, crushed, humiliated, and confined for centuries on reservations in order to prevent them from aspiring to any rights and to prevent them from enriching their culture through joyful union with other cultures, including the culture of the invader.
I cry out on behalf of those thrown out of work by a system that is structurally unjust and periodically unhinged, who are reduced to only glimpsing in life a reflection of the lives of the affluent.
I speak on behalf of women the world over, who suffer from a male-imposed system of exploitation. As far as we’re concerned, we are ready to welcome suggestions from anywhere in the world that enable us to achieve the total fulfillment of Burkinabè women. In exchange, we offer to share with all countries the positive experience we have begun, with women now present at every level of the state apparatus and social life in Burkina Faso. Women who struggle and who proclaim with us that the slave who is not able to take charge of his own revolt deserves no pity for his lot. This harbors illusions in the dubious generosity of a master pretending to set him free. Freedom can be won only through struggle, and we call on all our sisters of all races to go on the offensive to conquer their rights.
I speak on behalf of the mothers of our destitute countries who watch their children die of malaria or diarrhea, unaware that simple means to save them exist. The science of the multinationals does not offer them these means, preferring to invest in cosmetics laboratories and plastic surgery to satisfy the whims of a few women or men whose smart appearance is threatened by too many calories in their overly rich meals, the regularity of which would make you—or rather us from the Sahel—dizzy. We have decided to adopt and popularize these simple means, recommended by the WHO and UNICEF.
I speak, too, on behalf of the child. The child of a poor man who is hungry and who furtively eyes the accumulation of abundance in a store for the rich. The store protected by a thick plate glass window. The window protected by impregnable shutters. The shutters guarded by a policeman with a helmet, gloves, and armed with a billy club. The policeman posted there by the father of another child, who will come and serve himself—or rather be served—because he offers guarantees of representing the capitalistic norms of the system, which he corresponds to.
I speak on behalf of artists—poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, and actors—good men who see their art prostituted by the alchemy of show-business tricks.
I cry out on behalf of journalists who are either reduced to silence or to lies in order to not suffer the harsh low of unemployment.
I protest on behalf of the athletes of the entire world whose muscles are exploited by political systems or by modern-day slave merchants.
My country is brimming with all the misfortunes of the people of the world, a painful synthesis of all humanity’s suffering, but also—and above all—of the promise of our struggles. This is why my heart beats naturally on behalf of the sick who anxiously scan the horizons of science monopolized by arms merchants.
My thoughts go out to all of those affected by the destruction of nature and to those 30 million who will die as they do each year, struck down by the formidable weapon of hunger. As a military man, I cannot forget the soldier who is obeying orders, his finger on the trigger, who knows the bullet being fired bears only the message of death.
Finally, it fills me with indignation to think of the Palestinians, who an inhuman humanity has decided to replace with another people—a people martyred only yesterday. I think of this valiant Palestinian people, that is, these shattered families wandering across the world in search of refuge. Courageous, determined, stoic, and untiring, the Palestinians remind every human conscience of the moral necessity and obligation to respect the rights of a people. Along with their Jewish brothers, they are anti-Zionist.
At the side of my brother soldiers of Iran and Iraq who are dying in a fratricidal and suicidal war, I wish also to feel close to my comrades of Nicaragua, whose harbors are mined, whose villages are bombed, and who, despite everything, face their destiny with courage and clear-headedness. I suffer with all those in Latin America who suffer from the stranglehold of imperialism.
I wish to stand on the side of the Afghan and Irish peoples, on the side of the peoples of Granada and East Timor, each of whom is searching for happiness based on their dignity and the laws of their own culture.
I protest on behalf of all those who vainly seek a forum in this world where they can make their voice heard and have it genuinely taken into consideration. Many have preceded me at this podium and others will follow. But only a few will make the decisions. Yet we are officially presented as being equals. Well, I am acting as spokesperson for all those who vainly see a forum in this world where they can make themselves heard. So yes, I wish to speak on behalf of all “those left behind,” for “I am human, nothing that is human is alien to me.”
Our revolution in Burkina Faso embraces misfortunes of all peoples. It also draws inspiration from all of man’s experiences since his first breath. We wish to be the heirs of all the world’s revolutions and all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. Our eyes are on the profound upheavals that have transformed the world. We draw the lessons of the American Revolution, the lessons of its victory over colonial domination and the consequences of that victory. We adopt as our own the affirmation of the Doctrine whereby Europeans must not intervene in American affairs, nor Americans in European affairs. Just as Monroe proclaimed “America to the Americans” in 1823, we echo this today by saying “Africa to the Africans,” “Burkina to the Burkinabè.”“

Homosexuality in Africa

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has sparked off controversy in the country, and the whole of the East Africa region, after it released a report on Friday, 11 May, 2012, on sexual and reproductive health rights, which amongst other things, called for an end to discrimination against homosexuality. This comes in the wake of US President, Barrack Obamas call for the rights of gays to be respected.
What is your opinion on the taboo placed on homosexuality in African countries, and those who seek to fight against homophobic laws and acts in African countries?

National flag likely to be reverted to the 'old one'

Henry Phoya

 

Government is likely to revert the national flag to the old one with its red sun rising after taking back the national flag bill to parliament. Members of the national assembly are likely to vote for the reverting of the flag as it was before.
The newly appointed leader of government business in parliament Henry Phoya made the revelation in an interview with state controlled broadcaster Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation MBC. The office of the speaker announced that parliament will be officially opened on Friday 18^th May for budget meeting.
“As government we want to have a national flag that will that every Malawian should be proud of not the flag that some quarters of the society will not be happy with. As government we are concerned so we are taking this bill parliament.” Phoya said.
He did not elaborate if President Joyce Banda’s administration was planning to have the old flag back which had a red rising sun. One of the agenda’s of People’s Party for the 2014 general election campaign was to revert the flag to the one with the rising sun and not with a full white sun on the middle.
Late President Bingu Wa Mutharika’s regime changed the flag using its enormous muscle in parliament despite public idea which was not in favour of the move. The former administration claimed that the full sun indicated that Malawi has ‘developed’ fully economically and development wise.
“We have put across 11 bills, among them we will look into the issue of Section 46 that infringes media rights, disability bill, injunctions bill just to mention a few.” Phoya said.
Chairman of National Media Institute of Southern Africa NAMISA Malawi Chapter Anthony Kasunda recently asked government to scrap off the ‘bad law’ describing it as repressive and undemocratic.
Section 46 of the penal code empowers the Minister of information to ban any publication that id deemed not to be of public interest. Media practitioners and the public have claimed that the section makes the countries democracy fragile and that the law was repressive.
“We just provide the platform. Our role is to provide platform and give questions to the people we have elected. We are in a democracy and it is in the public interest.” Alaudin Osman, one of Malawi’s veteran journalist and Managing Director of Capital Radio was quoted in Nation on Sunday of 24^th April, 2011.
The Mutharika administration also changed the injunction system where an individual was no longer allowed to obtain an injunction restraining government on any action without any representation from government.
Phoya who is the current Minister of Lands and Housing and also leader of government business in the national assembly was fired from the then ruling party Democratic Progressive Party DPP when he was personally against the injunction bill and reminded his fellow members how they were survived with injunctions when Mutharika’s government was in minority. He described the

Decision & Selection of Destiny

Written By: Joshua Chisa Mbele


I drive home very often. Passing through Zimbabwe. Mozambique. Along the way I meet a number of fellow Malawians stuck on the road. Car breakdowns. Accidents. Sometimes, you get fatalities. I know many that perished enroute home. They never made it back home. Today, I’m interested in those who came to South Africa, bought a car and picked it up from Beit Bridge. Off they went. I'm in interested in how they make decisions to choose a particular car from a sea of cars parked in a yard under  the scorching African sun. Second-hand cars from Overseas.

Well, I observe. It normally goes like this..

Upon seeing the cars from afar, usually from the roadside. They get closer. Peep through the window to see the interior.., They read documentation. Make. Engine Capacity. Model. Year of Make. Country of Origin. Km on the clock. They go around the car several times as they look at it from various positions. They ask if the agent can open the doors. They get in, feel the sterling wheel. shake the gear lever, press the pedals. Look around as they appreciate the cleanliness of the interior.

They ask if they can start the engine. It gets started. They rev the engine. With wrinkles on the faces and ears turned to the sound of the engine, the nod and say the car is fresh. New. Ikanali ya nthete....! They ask if they can see the engine. The bonnet gets opened. They look for oil leaks. Nothing.

How much? They ask. The agent says. US$6500.00. They say but I only have US$6000. The agent replies. No Sorry. I can give you this other car. The best I can do on this one is US$6400. They say...Pali bwino. Tiyeni timpatse.

The agent goes on to say.., It seems you know how to choose cars, this is the best buy. You are a very careful buyer. They smile and say.., we buy very often. We have learnt how to carefully select.

Transaction gets done, Paper work completed. Clearance Done. They cross the border. Driving carefully. They wish they entered Mwanza few hours later. The mind is already home. They drive on. Along the way, in the middle of nowhere the car breaks down. Gasket blown, water pump gone or some strange noise from the engine. Clutch Plate finished….etc..

Now they look for a rescue plan. Mechanic and Spare parts. Normally they will have to go to Harare or return all the way back to South Africa leaving the corpses of the car on the road. One of them sleeping in the car, waiting. Hungry. Dry lips. Thirsty. 

Recovering from a breakdown situation in a foreign territory is a nightmare. It is a definite financial ruin. Any assistance comes at a hefty price. Everybody is out there like a vulture to feed on you. They know you have some change left. They need it all. They know you are stranded and desperate.

Let’s stop here.

Assessing Bingu on a Machiavellian Scale

Late Bingu Wa Muthalika

The former Head of state, the late Bingu wa Muntharika was described as being autocratic by a great deal of personnel during his reign. The analysis of his evaluaters was based on varying reasons from his intolerant of criticism to his luxurious livity under the expense of tax payers money and so on and so foth. However, this article purports to assess Bingu on a Machiavellian scale with great emphasis on Niccholo Machiavelli's The Prince.
To start with, Machiavelli argues that a ruler has to reject classical model of politics as being moral, but shud believe that politics is confined strictly to the methods of acquiring and maintaing power.  This was evident in Bingu's reign and points to supplement this claim include the handpicking of his bro, Peter, as the heir to the DPP dynasty and the firing of those who opposed the move. In these cases, Bingu ushered in the sense of archaic tyranny to the new era reminding us of fierce african political figures such as Idi Amin, Gadaffi and DR Banda.
In addition, Machiavelli argues that for a ruler to reach his highest goals he will not always find it rational to be moral. Bingu was not always moral also as seen by his stubborn nature by going against the utility decision to expel the British High Commissioner. By this act, he undermined the democratic nature that the Republic of Malawi embraces. Further, the purchase of the presidential jet at an absurd price when public hospitals lacked medicine was an immoral crime committed by the former head of state. Moreover, who wud forget the extravagant revenue his wife received monthly for doing charity work? Is charity work not voluntary? And do we get paid if we are volunteering? No wonder they put up that 'unmalawian' magnficent mansion at Ndata.
Besides, Machiavelli argues that when one is in power he must try to weaken those who were in power before. Did we not see Bingu diminish Bakili Muluzi's authority? I bet we all remember his famous quote when he made that u-turn against Bakili and the UDF in general, 'wakukaliyala samaimba belu.' I wud say nobody to this date has ever applied this princely virtue awesomely than the counterfeit Ngwazi himself. Bravo!!!
Furthermore, Machiavelli asserts that a ruler must reconcile himself to the fact that he will often be necessitated to act contrary to the truth, charity, humanity and religion if he wishes to maintain his goverment. Several arrests that Bingu made almost 2 months before his 'shocking' death showcase his inhumane nature as there was not valid reasons to have the so-called offenders locked behind dirty bars. Moreover, his defiance on the resolutions made at the PAC conference and the attempts he made to have the meeting cancelled suggest that he had no problem acting contrary to religion.
Last, but not the least, Machiavelli argues that a ruler has to know which animals to imitate. Bingu's great qualities were those of a very savage lion and a very tricky fox, as a result of which he was feared though not respected by everybody. His fearless nature prompted him to act like an alpha male in the cirles of Malawian politics and he went on labelling all those who were in contrast to his style of rulling as being stupid. The donors, the opposition, civil society leaders, university lecturers etc all fell victims of this label... STUPID!!!!!
Nevertheless, Bingu acted contrary to Machiavell's virtue that a ruler has to always take the greatest care to avoid everything that makes him hated. He started serving his own selfish interests and neglected the society in general. He lost his popularity eventually and when he died people celebrated his death more than they mourned him. Even those who sorrounded him when he was at peak disserted him barely hours of his passing. 

Therefore, based on the presented points, I wud argue that Bingu deserves a distinction on the machiavellian scale. His style of leadership has to be given respect and honour in the world of the princely virtues argued for by Niccholo Machiavelli. However, the Republic of Malawi is a democratic state that has its own rules to help govern the nation. The constitution encloses all the guidelines and a breach to any of the laws is deemed as a violation of the constitution. A good number of Machiavellian principles lie in contrast to Malawi's constitution and this makes the late president unpopular to this date as the citizens suffered a lot from his dictatorial rule. Most of us 'kukhululuka ndiye tinakhululuka koma mabala ndi omwe akupweteka.'
Despite ALL, Rest in Everlastin Peace.