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Malawi at the Intersection of Morality, Politics and the Economy

Sep 30, 2019
5 min

Malawi at the Intersection of Morality, Politics and the Economy

The Nation on Sunday of 15 September 2019 reported the government's position relating to the fears that many had in the heated parliamentary debate on the proposal to use public coffers to construct two stadia for Nyasa Big Bullets FC and Be Forward Wanderers FC (Nomads). The promise made by Peter Mutharika’s government is that, once the mega projects are completed, the Malawi Government would maintain and manage the proprietorship of the two stadia. In a normal world where t

The Marxist Lining in Malawi’s Post-Election Demonstrations

Aug 6, 2019
5 min

The Marxist Lining in Malawi’s Post-Election Demonstrations

Scenes of Malawi’s young women and (mainly) men looting places of business, performed in the name of a political grievance around the Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) handling of the 21 May tripartite elections, have become the new symbol of the country’s decay on a number of levels. The idea that the alleged sins committed by Jane Ansah, a supreme court judge and Chair of MEC, can be correlated with the display of shoes in a Bata Store seems a bit far-fetched. The harsh r

An Unhappy Independence: How Did Malawi Miss Her Vision?

Jul 15, 2019
5 min

An Unhappy Independence: How Did Malawi Miss Her Vision?

“By the year 2020, Malawi, as a God-fearing nation, will be secure, democratically mature, environmentally sustainable, self-reliant with equal opportunities for and active participation by all, having social services, vibrant cultural and religious values and a technologically driven middle-income economy.” ~ Malawi Vision 2020 Statement. In 1998, the faces of President Bakili Muluzi, Vice President Justin Chimera Malewezi, and then Leader of Opposition Gwanda Nguluwe Chakua

Is the Presidency a Win? On This and Political Trust in Malawi

Jun 10, 2019
5 min

Is the Presidency a Win? On This and Political Trust in Malawi

Patrick Otieno Lumumba, a Kenyan lawyer more famous for his oratory on political economy in Africa than the technicalities of law, has shared, among many insights, something that aligns with our article of last week [click here] where we lament the perception that failure to make it to Kamuzu Palace is synonymous with losing an election in Malawi. Malawians seem to love winning even when they are not winning. But Professor Lumumba makes another point that resonates strongly w

The Ghost of John Tembo’s ‘Leader of Opposition’ Office

Jun 3, 2019
6 min

The Ghost of John Tembo’s ‘Leader of Opposition’ Office

On 21 May 2019, two-thirds of Malawi rejected the comeback of Arthur Peter Mutharika to the presidency. However, the absurdity of a split vote, a Malawi Electoral Commission that concluded with too many questions unanswered, and the luck of a first-marks-the-post system of electing presidents collaborated well enough to usher him and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in government. Holding everything constant, the DPP and Mr. Mutharika must now operate on the minority si

The Pedagogy of the Malawian Voter

Jessica Mandanda

May 27, 2019
4 min

The Pedagogy of the Malawian Voter

Oppression—overwhelming control—is necrophilic; it is nourished by love of death, not life. While life is characterized by growth in a structured, functional manner, the necrophilous person loves all that does not grow, all that is mechanical. The necrophilous person is driven by the desire to transform the organic into the inorganic, to approach life mechanically, as if all living persons were things. . . . Memory, rather than experience; having, rather than being, is what c

Malawi’s Fate Tomorrow, In Numbers

May 20, 2019
6 min

Malawi’s Fate Tomorrow, In Numbers

A comment to a Nyasatimes news article that appeared last Friday, 17 May 2019, says, “Atupele likely to lead the pack with about 46% of the presidential vote.” In an ordinary election, one could dismiss this as aspirational disillusion or an excessive amount of false hope. But the 2019 tri-partite elections, in spite of a few polls indicating a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) win, are quite hard to read even at this late stage. The figure below gives a quick snapshot of th

Are Men of Virtue Called to Lead Malawi?

May 6, 2019
6 min

Are Men of Virtue Called to Lead Malawi?

“Heroes act courageously because they believe that their course of action is the best one. To stand for truth and fairness demands courage on the part of us all. But that is the only way to usher in a new era for Malawi.” ~ Pastoral Letter, 28 April 2019, Episcopal Conference of Malawi. The first Episcopal Conference Pastoral Letter appeared in Malawi in 1961. Twenty-four have followed it since. In later years, governments have not just seen successive bombardments from ‘the

The Value of Our Vote: Much at Stake as We Await the Vote in Malawi

Jessica Mandanda

Feb 25, 2019
5 min

The Value of Our Vote: Much at Stake as We Await the Vote in Malawi

T’is the Election year, the year Malawians decide the fate of their country after a questionable and quite trying five years. Highlights that saw to Malawians finally standing and saying enough is enough: we have and are experiencing the anger from women in Malawi standing and saying enough is enough, the youth standing up and demanding their rights and the rights to choose. We have experienced scandals, corruption on such interesting levels that we attracted international at

Sorry, But Not Sorry

Feb 18, 2019
5 min

Sorry, But Not Sorry

Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima must be applauded for taking responsibility and apologising for the ruffing up of Malawi Electoral Commission (EC) reporter, George Banda, by some members of his United Transformation Movement (UTM) on 6th February 2019 at the COMESA Hall in Blantyre. This was the day the UTM presidential candidate presented his nomination to the EC to compete in the forthcoming tripartite elections. Luckily for Mr. Banda, he was treated at QECH as an outpatient. None

My Name is Joyce Banda. Call Me Unreliable, Sometimes.

Feb 11, 2019
4 min

My Name is Joyce Banda. Call Me Unreliable, Sometimes.

The drama, anxieties and entertainment from the presentation of nomination papers and appointments of running mates are now fizzling out. For some like President Peter Mutharika, the decision of running mate has not only left us asking ‘what just happened here?’ but may well become a costly one on both the ballot as well as the internal cohesion of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The United Transformation Movement (UTM), which some expected would choose a woman to not

A Tip for 2019: Beware the Illusion of Big Numbers!

Jan 7, 2019
5 min

A Tip for 2019: Beware the Illusion of Big Numbers!

Happy New Year to all! The long-awaited 2019 is upon us. Nothing known today will be worth reckoning more than an election whose accurate prediction we remain in the dark about, beyond the fact that there seem to be three major forerunners: the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the United Transformation Movement (UTM) Party. This is by no means put in order of preference, nor by fame nor favorability. The upcoming elections are, at this m

The Greatest Error of 2018: How the DPP Created Itself A Nemesis

Dec 24, 2018
5 min

The Greatest Error of 2018: How the DPP Created Itself A Nemesis

8 December is now past. The United Transformation Movement (UTM) Party has had its elective convention and selected its torchbearer. An announcement that was made in June 2018, well-cushioned by Callista Mutharika’s courage to rally a challenge for her brother-in-law’s old-age ambitions to run again for the presidency, has materialized into probably the biggest political reflection of 2018. Peter Mutharika’s second half of 2018 has been muddled with negative adjectives and a

Rewarding Vanity: Malawi’s Political Loudmouths are Not Going Anywhere

Nov 12, 2018
4 min

Rewarding Vanity: Malawi’s Political Loudmouths are Not Going Anywhere

It’s 2018, and one would think our politics ought to have grown up a little. This website has twice written about how our politics cherishes loudmouthed politicians in advancing a party’s political agenda and denouncing critics (see this, and this). The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is no exception. And this past week, the ruling Party took to embracing an outspoken human being who proves such a role ought not be unique to females. President Peter Mutharika has re

Children and Politics - Are Rallies Harmful to our Children who Patronize Them?

Habiba Rezwana Osman

Sep 10, 2018
5 min

Children and Politics - Are Rallies Harmful to our Children who Patronize Them?

This article represents the views of the author and not of any other institution or person. A little more than week ago, I was on a ZBS Radio-managed WhatsApp group chat whose participants are the regular you and me. This WhatsApp group mainly generates and solicits opinions that otherwise would inform the content of public discussions or current affairs that the radio airs. On this particular chat I refer to, someone posted a picture of a political rally that took place in M

A Peek Behind the Masintha and Njamba Excitement

Jul 30, 2018
5 min

A Peek Behind the Masintha and Njamba Excitement

It’s safe now to say the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has more contenders to fear beyond the threat the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) posed in the running for the fast-approaching general elections. Since Masintha happened a week ago, the need to pull the straps and brace for the rather unkind reality of incumbents no longer easily pulling through elections became more apparent for Peter Mutharika’s party. With little stimulus to call for it, even Nicholas Dausi changed a

Has Malawi’s Independence only liberated us into instruments of the ballot?

Jul 9, 2018
5 min

Has Malawi’s Independence only liberated us into instruments of the ballot?

Written in commemoration of Malawi's 54th Independence In the inevitable discourse on Malawi’s state of maturity as an independent nation, someone asserted on social media that it is not important to use independence celebrations as a stocktaking opportunity about where we stand developmentally. Rather, he ranted to all the skeptics of the worth in celebrating a country headed for a downfall, a better use of our time as citizens is to use the occasion to celebrate the heroes

The Flipside of Malawi’s Educated Elites

Jun 11, 2018
5 min

The Flipside of Malawi’s Educated Elites

5 June 2018, a Tuesday Peter Mutharika promised Malawi would sublime into European-like infrastructural marvel and standards of living, is a sad day to reckon for Malawi’s future. The people at Makuwa Community Day Secondary School in Chiradzulu, who were probably most unfortunate to be the direct recipients of such a lie, even cheered at the prospect that the man murmuring in front of them had the right endowment of a leader who would fiercely transform Malawi. They would no

2019 Elections Must Be Different for Malawi

Habiba Rezwana Osman

May 28, 2018
5 min

2019 Elections Must Be Different for Malawi

Malawians remain on the fence insofar as politics is concerned. The craving to challenge the status quo is almost inexistent, and the vote – our ultimate mouthpiece – is slowly losing its luster in decisively placing us on the path to progress. I cannot exhaust all critical issues by this article alone but I try to tease out some aspects that I hope would bring some light. If what follows fuels enough passion for change, I will have achieved my patriotic duty. Let me begin wi

Too Much Governance for Too Little Local Development

May 21, 2018
6 min

Too Much Governance for Too Little Local Development

Early 2013, there was an outcry at Lunjika, Mzimba District. A Member of Parliament in one constituency had decided to apportion much of the Constituency Development Fund to building a bridge in one village on the side of the constituency where he got most votes in the 2009 Parliamentary election. The villages on the other side? They would have to fend for themselves as the harsh rains of January raged on. The village is the smallest unit of local governance in Malawi. Yet it

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