are the negotiations benefiting the average Malawian??

I have been following the negotiations between the civil society and the Malawi government with keen interest. As someone who truly believed in the need to make our demands known to the government through the 20 july demonstrations, i hoped that the dialogue way will help us. In fact i was happy that the civil society cancelled the august 17 vigil paving way for the UN led dialogue. If what we are reading in the papers and listening on the radios is to go by, the whole dialogue issue has lost track. It makes me wonder if the whole thing is for the interest of us, Malawians.

divisions in the civil society

The leaders of the civil society are taking for granted the support we gave them on 20 july and they now think that they have the mandate to speak on behalf of all Malawians. Much as we support most of the points they are raising in their petitions, there still need to consult the people on the ground on what they need to speak on the dialogue table. We now hear of divisions within the civil society groupings. These cannot be avoided because they have different agendas and opinions on various issues affecting Malawians. The fact that they came together on 20 july does not mean that they are one group and in fact they were operating using their different names. For example, Malawi Congress of Trade Unions, HRCC, Congoma and CEDEP are some of the groups that took part in those demonstrations.

One thing that we need to accept is the fact that most Malawians are keen to see a change in the administration of this country. The civil society are just one of those groups who are demanding for a change in this administration. As a grouping which is well placed in advocating for change, the civil society were better placed to mobilise people to demonstrate. But they remain different as they will always be. So we should not read alot from the fact that a section of the civil society has decided to revive the Forum for the Defence of Democracy which was very active during the time of fighting Muluzi's third term bid.

Malawi for Malawians

Some leaders think they are more Malawian than some of us. The fact that we chose them to represent us in various capacities does not make them superior. They might be rich, famous or well educated but they are just as Malawian as the rest of us. This country belongs to all of us. Am saying this because of some leaders who are lashing out at fellow Malawians simply because they have criticised their ideas. every Malawian has an opinion on an issue be it human rights, governance or any other issue. It is not possible for all the 14 million plus Malawians to agree on one thing. A good leader is supposed to respect other peoples views and opinions and make conclusions based on these opinions.

In a democracy, the fact that a ruling party is given a majority does not guarantee that we will be in agreement with every decision they will make. This is where some quarters of the ruling party are getting it wrong. It is a fact that Malawi is going through problems and it is good that all Malawians come together and find a solution to the problems. It is very unfair to ignore the views of us the common people who voted for you. We put you in power to make our lives better and with the same powers we voted you into power, we can take you out.

we need respect

The fact that we have different opinions with the head of state does not make us stupid or drunkards. It is very unfair to be insulted by the person who i voted into power simply because i cant agree with him on some issues. Malawians are not fools and will never be fools. They know what they need in life and they will fight for it if there is need to fight. To be called names in public rallies will not bring food on ones table and it will not bring water in the rural areas.

We all know what is needed in villages and towns so we dont need to be lectured whether fuel affects the villagers or not. Our leaders need to have our needs at heart and not their own needs at heart.

genuine dialogue

I believe that the majority of Malawians are in need of a genuine way of negotiations and not the lip service we are getting now. Its time to get serious and make our country a better place to live. I, like many other Malawians have no ther country to be proud of, thats why we are doing everything possible to make this country better for our own good and for the good of the coming generations. God bless Malawi

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What Malawi should learn from UK Elections

Someone recently said “if the same results of the UK elections were posted in Malawi, Brown would have been sworn in on Friday (a day after voting), Cameron arrested and Nick Clegg would have rushed to challenge the results in court.” Such is the case of Malawian politics in particular and Africa in general. Every time we have elections, we expect three things to happen; a rush in swearing in the ‘winner’, arresting opposition candidates for various reasons, mostly treason and the ‘loser’ challenging the results in court.

The recent UK elections offer three very good lessons to a Malawian politician and one who is aspiring to stand in the future elections.

1. A battle of ideologies not character assassination

Throughout the campaign it was clear that the three main parties believed in different ideologies and they were prepared to implement them if elected. It is very easy to distinguish one party from the other based on what policies they have on various issues like, immigration, education, political reform and the economy. Voters were given a chance to see the candidates debate on the policies that they believe. They had 3 live television debates.
In Malawi, the only thing that differentiates party A and party C is the name and the leaders. They don’t have clearly spelt ideologies or policies they subscribe to. In fact all the campaign rallies are almost similar. Just making empty promises and giving them handouts.

2. Acceptance of results

United Kingdom’s May 6 elections produced no outright winner because no one got the required 326 MP’s majority. All the contesting parties respected this outcome and they patiently waited for the next course of action. It was clear that the coalition meant that parties with different ideologies coming together to form the next government. All the negotiations were centered on what to change in the good interests of the country.

In the history of African politics, very few politicians have had the guts to digest the outcome of an election. Acceptance of results remains a challenge even in the countries we thought have mature democracies. A good example is 2007 elections in Kenya.

3. Transparency

The whole elections process was transparent even to an observer like me who is many miles away from UK. The campaigning period, the voting process, counting and announcement of the results were all transparent. Opposition parties were given airtime on the public radio and television. f course there were some problems which are normal in every election.

In Malawi, politicians are bosses and are not always accountable to us, the voters. In the run up to elections they make decision that only favor them or the candidates they like. The appointment of electoral commissions, the use of public resources and manipulation of traditional leaders do not level the playing field. What is expected of us is to keep quite and watch as the events unfold just like one legal advisor said that we gave them the mandate to run the government for the next five years so we should sit back and let them govern.

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