THE SERIOUSNESS OF MALAWI'S 2009 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Lets face the reality

By: Peter Qeko Jere

A quick analysis into the 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Malawi shows that these elections are very crucial in the life of the country. These elections are very important because the results there will determine the social, political, economic and spiritual destiny of the Church and entire Christian body in Malawi. Thouhg some may not like to hear this but it is an absolute truth as far as these coming elections are concerned. We have therefore put down some few points to show and demonstrate how serious these elections are to Malawians.

Firstly is that the 2009 General Elections will be about Malawian Christians response to the question of whether there are ready and willing to be ruled by a Moslem president for the second time. It is a fact that Christians who are 80% in the country have a larger voice or say in determining the political destiny of anyone who would want to rule the country which at the same time brings religion into the power of Christianity in Malawi. What we mean is that any politician who wants to rule Malawi can not avoid the church because it is in majority and controls the destiny of the country and that of any presidential aspirant. Thus next year’ s elections are about whether Catholics, Presbyterians (Livingstonia, Nkhoma and Blantyre CCAPs), SDA, Baptists, Assemblies of God, Living Waters, Calvary Family and all charismatic and Pentecostal churches are ready to be ruled by a Moslem president for the second time. Some would get angry as to why we are bringing this issue into the picture now because they don’t want people to talk about real issues in Malawi’s politics. They may as well rebel us religious confusionists or call us any name suitable for them but the truth on the ground in Malawi remain that next year’s elections are so much crucial in the live of Malawian Christians because the results will affect the entire destiny of individual Christians and the church. What we mean also is that these elections will decide the destiny of the church in terms of propagation of the gospel because things can’t and will not be the same in situation where a president is a Moslem as we witness the last decade of UDF rule. We don’t have to pretend but become so much real and face reality here because 2009 election is about the destiny of the church and individual Christian whether we like it or not.

We argue this because it was during that troubled and trying time when we had a Moslem President (1994-2004) that Malawians lost Bible Knowledge as a course for student to pursue. We have in memory how the Catholic Bishops and the clergy fraternity tried and worked so much hard to save bible knowledge that hour. This course which some of us took during our old secondary school days has been diluted and its not the same again and will also not be the same anymore. We need to understand and not pretend that in any situation what matters in the kind of president you have in a country because he is the one who is at the heart of any policy. The most worrisome and threatening thing in their campaigns today is that Bakili Muluzi and his entire team are not saying anything regarding what they will do with existing policies in Education, Religion and others. They need to come to the open and tell the nation what they have and what they plan to do and not surprise us as they did when they were removing the bible from its rightful place in the syllabus. We are skeptical because if he comes again he will end up completely removing the bible in schools. Since 80% of Malawians are Christians, what is needed is bible knowledge and not religious and moral education. Removing and playing games with bible knowledge as Muluzi and his government did was stepping on the foot of the Malawi Church and it’s from such actions that the church can not be comfortable to hear of his coming back into politics. Therefore, the church and church leaders should realize that next years elections are not just like the other elections they have been having in Malawi because these ones are crucial in the life of the Malawi church.

Secondly the 2009 elections are about the decision that Malawians will have to make in order to protect the economic destiny of the country from collapsing again. That vote will be crucial because it will have the power to decide whether Malawians are ready to have their economy flashed into the toilet again? Malawians are aware and have vivid memories of how the economy was quickly flashed into a deep toilet the past ten years of UDF rule. The economy that Dr. Banda left was messed up and ordinary Malawians became poor faster than they could realise. There was no food at all and this was terrible and every family was affected. For some of us who have relatives in our villages, life was never easy because even if you wanted maize, you couldn’t get any because we heard that it was sold to Kenya. That difficult time, people left their villages so that they should die in town with their relatives. The idea was that it was better to go to town and eat whatever little those in towns were eating to survive. At the same time, the national riches were being consumed by the few elite mainly those close the President. They became richer faster than never before and there was no one to question the source of their income. They became millionaires and billionaires and the poor Malawians continued to live in poverty and misery. Now that we have our economy restored and we have food again, next year’s election will be so crucial because it will be about protecting that which Malawian have and are enjoying at the moment.

Thirdly the election is about the impact of religion and tribalism in the country’s politics. There are some few indicators that shows that in Malawi religion and tribalism plays a huge role in the political decision that people can make. Some people make decision based on their religious beliefs and others its because of both religion and the tribe they come from. For instance, a critical analysis of Bakili Muluzi and those who follows him, reveals that they do so because of their religion and tribal affiliation. This is clear because the UDF catchments areas of Machinga and Mangochi are full of people whose key influence is religion and tribalism. They follow him not because he is a great man with great idea but because he is someone from their religion and also because they relate with him very well in terms of their tribal background. This is what we may called blind politics where key issues and ideology are not issues at all but religion and tribal background. It is worse because leaders like Bakili Muluzi know that the support they get from their catchment’s areas is not because of their political brilliancy but because of their religious and tribal affiliation. This is the way how politicians abuses the tribal and ethnic divisions which creates resentments from other quarters. Like wise John Tembo, has some support in the central region not because he is great politicians but because he is a home boy from among the chewa people. Therefore next year’s elections will show us which part of the country practice tribal politics.

Finally, this election is crucial in Malawi because for the first time MPs will the severely punished by the power of the vote because of playing games with the budget. It has become so much clear that some MPs openly advocate for the implementation of section 65 over the budget and the good thing is that ordinary Malawians, who have the destiny of these politicians in their hands, are aware of everything they are doing and they are waiting for the right time and right moment to have them punished. As we pointed somewhere else, section 65 has nothing to do with the poor people in our villages and these are two different thing and MPs don’t have to used this as an issue to the point of refusing to have the budget passed. Malawians MPs mainly those from opposition will be in for a rough ride because they have not done enough to develop their constituencies and have ended up enriching themselves and at the same time they refuse the have the budget passed something which is there to help the poor.

WHY CLERGY CAN'T SUCCEED IN MEDIATING PEACE TALKS IN MALAWI

BY: Peter Qeko Jere

In Malawi political economy, the church has been instrumental to help bring about change in the country. From time in memorial the church has been a the forefront helping in the struggle for change. We don’t have to remind you that it was the church in the late 1800s which saved the southern part of Malawi (then Nyasaland) from the Portuguese occupation. What we mean is that if it was not for the church, Blantyre and the entire shire valley could have been part of Mozambique today. But it took the church of Christ in Malawi to fight this war and save the situation. It was also the church which played a strategic role in the fight against colonialism in the country. It was the church again which helped a lot in the fight against Dr. Banda and bring about democracy in the country. In Malawi there is the unwritten law which states that you don’t talk of the birth of multiparty democracy without mentioning the church. We don’t have to forget the Roman Catholic’s Pastoral letter which revolutionize the country.
Due to the history and work the church has done in the past, Malawians have lived to trust that in times of any conflict, the church is the only institution to consult. It is in this vain that even in the madness in parliament over section 65 and the budget, politicians remembered that the best way forward to the issue was to involve the church leaders. Politicians realized that they not capable of bringing peace amongst each other because they don’t have that peace in the first place hence they called the clerics to mediate the political impasse. Many unfortunate things took place in the August house such that some wanted the house adjourned and give the chance to the peace talks.
While church leaders’ responsibility in our society is unique and appreciated, there are some few things that we want to bring to the attention of everybody so that you should know the exact position of the church in Malawi.
The first thing is that in Malawi, the church is badly positioned and can not be effective in mediation. The Malawi church need divine medication healing. There are issues in within the church body that need to be solved. Such issues include tribalism, favouritism, corruption and others. We have interchurch conflict between Livingstonia and Nkhoma Synod where this time around Livingstonia has penetrated part of the Central region. There are church internal leadership conflicts where leaders have taken each other to court and particularly in the Anglican, PIM and SDA. Church leaders have resolved to use the court to solve their issues since they fail to agree on one thing or the other. Also there are allegations of church leaders in the Blantyre Synod who pocketed some money from Bakili Muluzi, who is also a Muslim, with an aim of promoting him in within the Synod. This has shocked the entire Christian fraternity that church leaders can go this far and they ask that if the leaders are doing this then what about an ordinary member of the church? Unfortunately leaders have become instruments that politicians have targeted to manipulate and used in propagating their agendas.
The second thing is that the church in Malawi need to put its house in order first before it begins to get involved in mediating peace at the national level. This is because the church is not qualified to handle national issues this time around because its house is not in order. How can the church leadership be instrument of peace and unity when they themselves do not have the peace and can live in unity? How will they prescribe peace and unity to politicians when they don’t know the definition of peace and unity? Peace making is for those who stay and live in peace. You only give that which you have and you cant give something which you don’t have.
To our view, this team of religious leaders involved in the so called peace talks, should have convened to help solve all religious issues in the country. They should convene to help solve issues in the Anglican Church, the PIM, the SDA, the Nkhoma/Livingstonia Synod, Blantyre Synod corruption saga and others. Church leaders should help each other in unifying the broken churches so that they can be effective in peace making at a national level. Church leaders should be there for each other when the things are bad. Its not proper for leaders to convene with an aim of solving issues at a national level when hot and burning issues are destroying the church. Such meetings should be made to help solve church problems first before national issues are sorted out.
Thirdly is that the Church in Malawi should realize that mediating unity and peace talks is not just about sitting down and telling people what the bible say about unity and peace. They should know that this process to a large extend is about demonstrating what you have to those in conflict. This is about revealing the peace strategies that have sustained the church in years and ask politicians to emulate from the church. This is about giving out that which they live daily. Now it becomes a problem when church leaders’ lives are in a mess because many times ordinary people are too observant and they know the kind of life church leaders live and if they can be trusted. As earlier said here, you only give that which you have. If the church leaders have too much conflicts in within themselves, they can not be effective in any mediation talk.

ECONOMIC ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE MAIN ISSUE

BY: Peter Qeko Jere.

The common tradition all over the world is that when you leave office, auditors come to do their work on you and produce the audited report where they indicate if at all there are some money or office items missing. This is done so that anyone coming to take over should not be in trouble and be punished because of your sins or misdeeds. Audited reports have to be produced and clear your name so as to safeguard your integrity. In here I want to show and argue that something need to be done in terms of auditing all the ten years of Bakili Muluzi’s rule so that Malawians should be aware on how Muluzi used tax payers money and also how donor monies were used. We share this notion because we believe that just as Managers, Directors and others produce audited reports of their work before they leave office, those in high political offices too need to do the same.

We all are aware that in 1994 Bakili Muluzi took over from Kamuzu Banda to become the first President of the land in a multiparty democracy in Malawi. Dr. Banda who was a very old man this time around moved from Sanjika to Mudi house in Blantyre. While at Mudi, Banda though old, went through a very difficult time in the hands of the UDF government who terrorized him as they wanted him to account for all his three decades rule in Malawi. This was the most tiring time for the old man and we can as well say that he died a sad man and no wonder that some of the sickness he suffered had to do with the way he was treated in his old age. We should not forget that the late Dr. Banda was told to appear in the court of law and was saved by the MCP women who protested and vowed that they will do everything under their power to protect their nkhoswe NO. 1. All Kamuzu property was investigated including his Bank transaction in UK and all this left Kamuzu a very sad man in his old age. We should not forget that this time Kamuzu was over 95 years and if anything he needed 100% support from government and not the kind of torture he went through. Infact it unMalawian to mistreat someone who is old and in the 90s.

While Kamuzu was investigated and brought to the court of law after the 1994 elections, it is surprising and shocking that the same measure used on Kamuzu is not applied on Muluzi. Just as kamuzu was asked to give account of all his three decades rule, Muluzi is suppose to give an account of how he rule the country.

While Kamuzu was questioned and had his property scrutinized and his accounts in UK investigated, Muluzi is left free and nobody is doing anything because by now we could have been having a report on how Muluzi became a Billionaire within his ten years of rule. Malawians need to know how much is Muluzi having in his oversea banks and assets? Then how did he manage to buy properties (if any) overseas and where did he get the money from. Now if he has any oversea properties then when did he acquire them? Was it after or before he became president in 1994? Malawians have no problem with what he had before 1994 because we all know how much Muluzi had and there are records of this. However the interest for every Malawians is on anything that he acquired after 1994 when he was sworn in as the president of the country. From the day of his inauguration, everything he began to acquire became something of interest to Malawians because he was the president of the country. If it’s the case of gifts in monitory form from friends and donors, all this becomes a Government Issue and Malawian issue because when you become a head of state, people come with gifts to you as the president something they couldn’t do when you were just an ordinary citizen. The Chiluba UK judgment could as well be applied in this scenario because Chiluba also become a Billionaire within his ten years of rule in Zambia and the UK judge made it clear as regard to the gifts and other monies that Chiluba received as gifts. The question is where do you draw line when receiving gifts when you are a head of state?

Malawians employed Muluzi to rule for ten years and we have the right to know how he used the money in the country. We need to know exact figures as to how much was in government coffer when he got in and how much donor money government received. Also how much gifts and donations in terms of money did he received because all what he received when he was the president of the country came because he was the head of state otherwise nobody could have given him anything if he was an ordinary citizen. Therefore any money that he came from outside as gifts automatically belongs to government because they were giving it to him as a head of state. Therefore Malawians need to know how much of the foreign money came as gifts from overseas and from Africa and where is this money now? The only money we know is the US 12 million which is about K1.4 billion and nobody seem to know where the other money went. If there is this K1.4 billion Kwacha which came as gifts to Malawi then there should be more that is not counted for.

What about Physical assets? How many houses did Muluzi had before he became president? And how many did he acquire after he become president and how did the process like? Did they all went through a normal process or shot cuts were used?

We could have been having reports on where and how he acquired the extra millions and billions he has. We could have been having quantitive figure to explain his source of income that enabled him to amuse massive chuma like this. We believe that if Kamuzu was questioned and investigated on how he acquired his chuma, Muluzi could not have been left free but that he could have given an audited report on how he administered this country. He is not immune to investigation because he has to explain to the nation that employed him to rule for ten years. He is supposed to show that he is innocent and not be defensive as if he already knows that there are problems as to how he acquired some of the millions he has. Muluzi should know that Kamuzu went through the same process and that he also has to be investigated so that the nation can know how he acquired all the things he has.

Its interesting that injunction was filed so that he should not be questioned or investigated. What is the meaning of all this now? To our view, if Muluzi was a clean man and if he knows that he acquired all his millions and Billions in a clean way, he could not have gone to the courts for injunctions and other things. We believe he could have allowed the whole process go smoothly without any problems. He could have remained a man enough with that piece of mind and with a sober heart. But the frequent courts visit and the many lawyers he puts in place automatically shows that something is wrong somewhere and it creates suspicions in the lives of many. If Kamuzu allowed the rule of law do its work even though he was old and helpless, Muluzi is suppose to freely allow those who would want to investigate him do their job so that he clear his name. How will Malawians trust him again with their money and government??

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI RUNOFF WITHDRAWAL A DISASTER STORY

By: Peter Qeko Jere

The Movement for Democratic Change’s President Morgan Tsvangirai announced days ago that he has withdrawn from the Presidential runoff. He said that his party can not contest the election in a situation where MDC members are bitten and chased away from their homes so that they should not vote. There has been mixed reaction as to the timing of the withdrawal and as to what will happen to the election and a way forward for the country. Some mainly the western media houses have condemned and blamed Zanu PF for the violence and others have even gone to the point of saying that Zanu PF is committing crime against humanity which is arguable depending on the context one is operating from. Some have asked for the implementation of the Kenyan model into Zimbabwe political situation and they see this as the only hope for the country.

After analyzing and critically looking into the whole situation that led to the current political mess in Zimbabwe, we have the following key points for your attention.

To begin with, we recognize that the Zimbabwe issue is complex and no-one can easily solve it. The problem is historical, political, economical, social and involves a number of stakeholders. We also do not support the violence taking place which is making ordinary people’s life difficult

However one of the key formula to solve the problem was through the runoff which Tsvangirai has withdrawn due to the reason given in the various media houses world wide. Now the question could be is it wise to withdraw at the eleventh hour? Who was behind the decision that he should withdraw? What will be the impact of this withdrawal on the peace process and also will this withdrawal solve the problem? In response to this, we strongly feel that it is a mistake and suicidal and politically dangerous to withdraw in the midst of the struggle. The huge mistake any one can do in battle is to withdraw in the midst of fighting. We believe that this was part of the struggle for change and withdrawing is not a solution but its something which has retarded the process. Whoever gave the MDC this piece of advice has messed up the struggle because the momentum has been crashed and that it will not be so much easy for them to take off again. This withdrawal is suicidal because like any struggle, blood has to be shed. So people need to understand that in life there are principles that guide events and in case of the struggle, the key principle is that for victory to be born, blood has to be shed. This is the pattern of things biblically and through out history.

For instance blood was shed during the struggle against colonialism and people died. In the early 1990, the wind of change multiparty democratic change which blew across Africa led to the death of many people. The key principle in the struggle is that blood has to be shed if peace and victory has to come. In the bible it is very clear that there is no salvation without the shedding of blood and of course Jesus Christ died and sacrifice his own life for the sake of humanity. To shed blood in the struggle is to sacrifice for the future of your children and your great grand children and not for yourself. In the book of Exodus we see that its through the blood that Israelites were saved from the angel of death when he passed by their home. Without the shedding of blood there is no salvation and in other word, blood of those who die in the struggle is the fuel for the liberation of the oppressed.

Now the argument that Tsvangirani withdrew because many of his people are being killed is to some of us pathetic and directionless because this has highjacked the democratic struggle for Zimbabwe. The problem is that those who advice them have no knowledge and do not know key principle that guides liberation and freedom. Democratic freedom is expensive and does not come on a silver platter. To us Tsvangirai who is the movement leader need to be the first person to know that in the struggle blood is shed and people die. He needs to know that the key principle to any struggle and liberation is that you don’t separate salvation from the blood. He should know that as a leader, he should be at the battle frontline and not in embassy hiding. A liberation leader and human rights activists does not fear death or even hid but stay with the people and suffer with them.

Soon after the election, Tsvangirai was at large outside the country and was not suffering with the people. A great liberation leader is the one who suffer and cry with the people and he leads them as a great shepherd. Tsvangirai was not with the people but that he abandon them and they suffered alone. He was in Johannesburg and traveling across Africa to mount up support while his people were alone without a leader. In the struggle you don’t leave your people alone. As if this was not enough, Tsvangirai has pulled his party out of the contest and we are also that he is gone into hiding in the Dutch embassy while his people are suffering as it is been alleged. It is shameful and discouraging that a leader who was suppose to be at the frontline leading the struggle has gone into hiding. Now if he is in hiding what about his followers? To whom will they cry to or go for protection? Leaders like Tsvangirai need to know that it is not good to hid and leave your people defenceless.

Hiding in the European embassy makes things even worse for him because it is proving his opponent right that he is being supported by Europeans. Why didn’t he seek refuge in the Botswana embassy or any other African embassy so as to make things easy for him and the whole democratic struggle? It has to be mentioned also that in the struggle only those leaders who use their brains and think, survive and come out victoriously. Those who cant think always die on the way before the victory is attained because to be in a struggle is to put brains at work. Brains have to be at work because the struggle is about planning and strategizing so that you outmaneuver the enemy. If the leader has no capacity to think and use his brains, he will always trust any advice that comes his way without even having a thorough scrutiny of it. A leader doesn’t just take advice anyhow but spend time scrutinizing every piece of it.

The pattern of events after the election shows that Tsvangirai need to put himself together and take up his rightful position as a leader if he has to be victorious otherwise he will not make it. If he never realizes that his position in this struggle is the frontline then Zimbabweans should look for someone who shall accept to face the sound of gun and sacrifice his or her life for salvation of many. In this democratic struggle, the three major blunders are enough to make zealous and patriotic people loose trust in their leader when he hid and not suffer or stay hungry with them.

Also it should be noted that Africans always need a leader of the God Father or a hero type character. Tsvangirai as a leader need to be a man of focus and know where he is taking his people to. He also should know that in the process not everyone will reach the finishing line because the principle guiding the liberation states that in the struggle blood is shed and lives are lost.

One of the key issue as regard to Tsvangirai’s withdrawal is that this should pave way to the negotiations and creation of the government of national unity as was the case in Kenya when Odinga and Kibaki were brought together into dialogue. For those who share this notion however needs to think a big time because for some of us, we wonder as to how possible the national unity government can function in Zimbabwe. We feel it is wrong and a mistake to use the Kenyan model because Kenya and Zimbabwe are very different countries with very different liberation history. Also we need to point out the Kenyan liberation history did not play a major role during the elections while in Zimbabwe the entire election are closely connected to the war of liberation from Britain. Also the Kenyan liberation struggle from colonialism didn’t involve too much of a gun firing as was the case with the Zimbabwe issue which basically was about the use of a gun. In Zimbabwe, the liberation history deeply involves the army who by and large have huge influence in the way politics functions in the country while in Kenya, the army is basically outside and any idea of the national unity government will have to deal with a number of issues including the army which are part and parcel of the liberation history of the country


Others have argued that SADC, AU, USA, UK and the UN should put pressure on Mugabe so as to force him give in to the foreign demands. Some have gone as far as saying that South Africa should cut off electricity so that they should force Mugabe to give up. As earlier said, the Zimbabwe crisis is so unique and complex in that anyone who want to solve it should divorce him or herself from Europeans because any idea though good but for as long as it comes from Europe or anyone white can not easily be entertained and accommodated. This is because Zimbabwean suffered a lot under the British colonial rule under Ian Smith. It’s in this regard that Tsvangirai seem not to have huge support and is gradually loosing popularity because of aligning himself with Britain. We in this case are of the view that democratic struggle could have been an easy thing if Tsvangirai handled this outside European influence. In addition to this, it is a fallacy to say that SADC can help solve this crisis. SADC as a regional block can not effectively help solve this crisis because these SADC countries have similar land problem where majority of the people do not own land. Land is critical to African people and this is their only identify. It doesn’t make sense for SADC leaders to teach Zimbabweans on how to handle this issue which involves land ownership while these leaders themselves have similar land problems in their backyard. It is a fact that colonialism took away fertile land from black people who were forced to stay in the mountains. What we are witnessing now is the shift of things because it is a fact that many in the SADC region are landless and have no identity as African people. Land is the gold of African people and you cannot be rich in Africa unless you have land. So there a number of issues SADC leaders’ shall have to follow if they are to solve the Zimbabwe issue amicably because its not about politics only but also land.


Having said this, we finally want to point out that those involved in the negotiations should give chance to Zimbabwean themselves to sit down and solve their problem. Zimbabweans are very intelligent and wise people and this situation is too small for them to fail to solve. The solution to this issue is for the western nations to shut up and keep quiet and give space to Zimbabweans to sit down and talk over issues amicably. The problems come in because of USA, UK and other western nations and their media houses that continue to demonize Mugabe. The more they demonise Mugabe the more they unite the Zanu PF and the more they make him strong. The more they suppose Tsvangirai, the more they make things hard and difficult for MDC on the ground. The bad publicity and anti mugabe media makes Mugabe even more strong because Mugabe and Zanu PF have concluded that Tsvangirai is not alone but has USA, UK and all the European power behind him. So we strongly call upon the west to stay out of this issue and allow African people of Zimbabwe solve the problem the Zimbabwe way.

THE MEANING OF LIGITIMATE/ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT AND THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE IN AFRICAN POLITICS

By: Peter Qeko Jere

The Zimbabwe 2008 General Elections which included the Presidential runoff has raised two key issues in African politics today. These include the meaning of the people, legitimate and illegitimate government. The first round of voting produced two main contenders to the Presidency because none of them won the outright majority to form government. This means that Tsvangirai and Mugabe were to face each other in the runoff. However soon or later Morgan Tsvangirai pulled his MDC out the contest which gave room for the incumbent to go unopposed. Thus during the presidential runoff, Robert Mugabe won the elections and was sworn in for another term of office. This has left the MDC with no option but to begin to swallow their ego because it was suicidal for Tsvangirai to pull out at the eleventh hour. However even before voting, many western nations condemned the whole process and called it a sham or a scandal. The United Nations also condemned the elections just as the US and the EU. After Mugabe won the runoff, the condemnation went even louder mainly from the US, Britain and the EU who said that they will only recognize government formed by Mr. Tsvangirai and not Mr. Mugabe. To them they still do not believe that things have gone this far.

Here in Africa, our AU heads of states meeting in Cairo didn’t come up with a strong word of condemnation but asked the Zimbabwean politicians to put their house in order amicably. In Sadc, countries like Botswana with its new President, Khama have come out very strongly saying that Mugabe should be stopped from attending Heads of States meetings. The other strong word has come from Raila Odinga in Kenya who possibly sympathizes with Tsvangirai and he is vocal and anti Mugabe. Thabo Mbeki who has been greatly condemned by many with his quiet diplomacy has not been strong on the issue. Many expected Mbeki to strongly condemn Mugabe and they are angry that he has not done that.

In Zimbabwe itself, Mr. Tsvangirai himself calls the whole Mugabe inauguration as a sham and something which is against the will of the people.

Having said this, we want to discuss “who are the true people” in politics because like the Zimbabwe scenario, the Americans, Britain and the EU have argued that the results of the runoff did not reflect the will of the people. In this case who are the people? Who determines and qualifies who to be included in the people? Like the Zimbabwe situation, how do we define the will of the people? Is the will of the people in the opposition or the ruling party? In case where the opposition withdraws, do the the ruling party stops being part of the people? Or are we saying that the will of the people is determined and defined by the participation of the opposition in politics? Then what do you call those who support the ruling party? Are they not part of the people categorically?

Also the results have been categorically called a sham. Now why are the results a sham in the first place? Is it because MDC pulled out? Suppose they didn’t pull out what were they going to be called? Does the description of the results depend on the opposition’s participation for them not to be a sham? What quantitative indicators do you use to determine that the results are a sham or not? At the same time, what could they have been called if it was Zanu PF withdrawing? Would they have called this a sham or what could it have been and not MDC? And who determine that this result is a sham? What qualification should someone have to be able to make this determination? Finally these results are called a sham according to whose standards?

The US, EU and Britain are at pain and have called the Zimbabwe government an illegitimate one meaning that its an illegal administration. Now let’s look at this: if this is an illegitimate government, then who qualifies a government to be legitimate? What criteria and indicators do you use to qualify a government to be legitimate? Who has this power to make a country legitimate? In this case, does a country stop being legitimate because US, EU and Britain says so? What qualifies EU, USA and Britain to declare nations illegitimate or legitimate? Then how do you define the word legitimate or illegitimate in such situation?

A critical analysis of the situation on the ground had enable us to come up with what we feel is the proper definition and understanding of who the people are and also when does government become legitimate or not legitimate.

To begin with, we respect the position taken by western nations and African nations that have strongly condemned the Zimbabwe electoral results. We don’t have a problem with that because we realize people have freedoms and rights these days to express themselves on issues so are nations and their leaders. They can choose to remain silent or speak out depending on the political beliefs of their leaders. However we want to share something on the questions raised about how do we define the will of the people? As from western leaders’ comments on the issue, it is clear that the will of the people rests in the opposition hence even though Mugabe has been inaugurated for another term of office, they say they will only work with government that Mr. Tsvangirai will form. Now the question is when will this be and how will this be since a sitting president has been inaugurated already for another term of office? In this regard we feel the western nations approach to the issue of the will of the people is misleading because this can not only rest in the opposition. Like Zimbabwe, many African countries have the ruling party and those in opposition and it’s a terrible mistake to equate the people with only the opposition leaving out the other sector of society from the ruling party. So its scholarly wrong to limit the definition of the will of he people to the voice of the opposition. The question could be if the will of the people is limited and only rests in the opposition then what do you call the voice that comes from the ruling party? Now do those from the ruling party stop being people when the opposition withdraws from the contest such that their voice cannot be considered as the will of the people? We feel that this understanding propagated by western politicians is wrong because there is more to the will of the people than limiting it to the voice of the opposition only. Also that its wrong to say that they will of the people is in the opposition because there is enough evidence to show that in African politics today, many opposition parties have no ideology but that they only exist to oppose everything that comes from the ruling party even if government has such programs that are geared to benefits their own people in the constituencies.

As regard the element of calling the results a sham, this raises so many questions mainly when you have a very objective view to it. It is because this voice has by and large being influenced by external forces. The USA, EU and Britain has called the results a sham followed by all the nations that get economic support from them. At the same time, majority of the nations that belonged to the opposing side during the cold war, seem not to be so much interested in what the US, EU and Britain are advocating. In essence, the calling of these results a sham brings us back to the cold war and has divided African countries. So if we may ask, whose standards determine that the results are a sham or not? Should it the USA, EU or Britain? Are we saying that all African countries don’t have standards of their own? Should we as African people wait until the EU, US and Britain make a determination for the results to be fair? Is this in other way not a different version of colonialism that Western countries should have a say in the administration of internal issues affecting African countries? We strongly feel that though the Zimbabwe issue has gone overboard, it should still be left in the hands of Zimbabweans to sit down and solve it. This is because there is more to the Zimbabwe issue that western politician who many of them are too young to understand the histories of African countries. In fact majority of the western political leaders didn’t study African political history and they have no idea whatsoever to clearly understand the dynamics and ideals of African politics today. You can not understand and know the complex of African politics unless you know the histories of African colonialism and the liberation process. So the definition of whether the results in Zimbabwe are a sham or not has to a larger extent depends on what the Zimbabwean themselves say about it based on social, political and economic history of their country. It has to be the people of Zimbabwe because Zimbabwe belongs to the African Zimbabwean and not to the US, EU and Britain. What we mean is that this piece of land called Zimbabwe belongs to both the MDC and Zanu PF and they are the key players who have to come up with a final say as to what they think is good for their country and for their destiny.

Now on the question of illegitimate or legitimate government there are many questions again that need clarification. The US, EU, Britain and their economic partners, have by and large called the Zimbabwe government illegitimate one. In other ways they do not recognize it and they have nothing to do with it. So the question is what qualifies the USA, EU, Britain and their economic partners to categorically call a country illegitimate? Whose standards do they use to determine that the government is illegitimate or not? The irony is that the media says that the US will put sanction on all countries that are in close ties with Zimbabwe as a way of pushing them to pressure Robert Mugabe. Now is this morally good? Since when has it become a sin or criminal for nations to be in good terms? Should the US determine and pin point which country we as African should befriend? Should our friendship in Africa be controlled in Washington? We think things have gone overboard and there is too much sign of immaturity here because African sovereign states should be left alone to decide which nation to befriend based on what they feel is good for them as African people. Therefore the USA, EU and Britain should know that this is the 21st Centuary where African countries know what I good for them as African people. They should know that they do not have any constitutional right to declare that a particular country in Africa is illegitimate or legitimate unless they are part of the voting process. Those who take part in the voting process are the ones who declare that a system or country is illegitimate or not. That the legitimate of any country is in the power of the vote. That small vote we cast during the election has the power to declare a country legitimate or not. So spectators or observer’s job is to monitor and they cant go beyond that.

WHY AM A PROUD MALAWIAN TODAY

By: Peter Qeko Jere

As of late many people have questioned why I write a lot on issues affecting Malawi as if am a student of political science or if am planning to join politics in future. They question why Malawi has become so special to me this time around and why should it be today and not the previous time when I was here at the University of Fort Hare doing my Masters degree. Just a while ago someone emailed from the US and she is wondering why I write apologetically about Malawi. The shift around me is very clear for everybody to see and witness. I have therefore decided to respond to the many questions people have about my current position through this network.

To begin with, it is true that I spent some of my free time thinking and writing some things about Malawi. I have been compelled to do this because of the negative journalism out there against my country. There are some few confused and unprincipled minds whose main agenda is to write negative stories about this great land. They claim to be citizens of this great nation but surprisingly they continue to do negative journalism where the only thing they know best is to write against the land of my birth. As a patriotic citizen of the land, I have an obligation to defend my country from any form of negative journalism. There is this unwritten natural law which forces me to defend my country from such negative journalism out there.

How can they call claim to be true Malawians when they spend sleepless time planning to tarnish the good image of my motherland? Now how true Malawian are they, if they plan to write negative stories against their own land. For some of us, we don’t have any other home apart from Malawi and this is the land of our birth. That is why we take up the pen to fight back if anyone writes negatively against our only home in the world. We expect citizen of the land to do patriotic journalism where they have obligation to promote and not destroy the good image of the country. This is where you do everything under your power to protect and promote that which you have. The only thing that every citizen of this great nation have is Malawi.

I for one, Malawi is my very being and you don’t separate me from this rich heritage because this also represents the land, mountain, valleys, rivers, beautiful plains and our great lake. I am aware of my history and heritage which is so much rich and its all attached to this great land. So when I write, its something that comes from my heart not my head, as a way of protecting and promoting the land of my birth.

Secondly I write positively about Malawi because this time around we are so much privileged to have the Head of State, His Excellency Dr. Bingu Wa Muthalika who passed through the corridors of several Universities in the world attaining both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. What I mean is that in Malawi we have the President who is educated. He has a Bachelor of Commerce, Masters Degree and a PhD in Developmental Economics and he is also a writer and has several publications behind his name.

One of his masterpiece is the book called, ‘One Africa one Destiny” published by Sapes Trust in 1995 where in chapter 3 (Muthalika 1995:60-90) he deals with the definition and issues of democracy in relation to the will of the people. I think you all need to read this book and this chapter if you are to understand democracy as African people. I think politicians also need to read this so that they get a clear understanding of what the will of the people is all about.

In fact my President has written some more books related to his field of study (Developmental economic) like the following: Toward multinational economic co-operation in Africa (by Praeger 1972); The Vibrant Circle of growth; A Case study on Regionalism in Africa in Regional integration and the New International Economic order (UNITAR-CEESTEM-Perganom Press 1981); Transnational Corporation and Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries in The Challenges of South-South Co-operation (RCCDC-Westview Press 1983); Regional and Sub-regional Integration in Africa: Perspectives, Problematiques and Prospects (Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries/ EL Colegio de Mexico 1987 (Muthalika 1995).

In additional, our President is not only educated but has also worked in a number of well known international organization like the World Bank, United Nations and for a good number of years he was the General Secretary of PTA now called COMESA. This is the kind of a man you can comfortably associate with mainly when you are an upcoming scholar and a citizen of this great land. Thus I am proud that am a Malawian and a patriotic citizen of the land.

LILLIPUT ARTS AND CRAFTS

ALICE, EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA
LOCATION: BELOW STANDARD BANK,
ALICE BRANCH, OPPOSITE SHELL ALICE MOTORS.

Today I want to introduce you to two major items that may sound new and strange to a good number of you out there. These are the small town of Alice where the University of Fort Hare and Lovedale College are located. The town of Alice though small has a big history as far as African liberation and freedom is concern. It was it is in this town where most of the first crop of African Nationalists lived when they were doing their University Education here at Fort Hare. For instance, great African leaders and statesmen like Julius Nyerere, Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Oliver Tambo, Mangasutu Buthelezi, Manoah Chirwa, Orton Chirwa, Masauko Chipembere , Thabo Mbeki and others walked in the streets of this small town. They became great leaders because of what this small town provided for them. So you don’t separate African nationalism and struggle for independence from this town.

Now this town today has a well furnished shop which has many items that could remind you and I as regard our identify as African people and children of the soil, valleys and mountains.

This shop is called LILLIPUT ART AND CRAFTS and it’s located below the Alice Standard Bank, opposite shell Alice Motors. Key items in this shop include Beadwork, glasswork, wool craft. Lillian Nozuko Peter is available Monday to Saturday to have your designs done. Also in this shop, you will find various newspapers for both South African and international; Mail & Guardian, Sun, Job mail, King mercury, Daily Dispatch, Sowetan, Soccer Laduna, Die Burger, Magazines and many stationery for those who are students.

For more details Contact

Mama Sylvia Lillian Nozuko Peter
Phone: 27-406531215 (international dialing) or 0406531215 (local)
Fax : 27-406532754
Cell : 0843861018