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How did Socrates end misogyny and gender inequality? Lessons for Malawi
More than 400 years before Christ, Socrates ended gender inequality and misogyny. He made a compelling argument for gender equality and against misogyny and sexism, asserting that there are no inherent differences between men and women in terms of abilities and roles – even unveiled the hypocrisy of society’s position in policing women on matters of dressing but not men – remember than argument that men tend to make against girls and women who are victims of rape. Lero ndikugule!
I digressed (are you not used?)! Socrates asserted, “And if, I said, the male and female sex appear to differ in their fitness for any art or pursuit, we should say that such pursuit or art ought to be assigned to one or the other of them; but if the difference consists only in women bearing and men begetting children, this does not amount to a proof that a woman differs from a man in respect of the sort of education she should receive; and we shall therefore continue to maintain that our guardians and their wives ought to have the same pursuits”.
Such a fascinating argument. Within this discourse, Socrates inferred that any perceived superiority of men over women is solely based on differences in ‘education’, not some inherent ability. Thus, he established while setting the strong foundation for gender equality, that men and women should have the same education – that there should be no discrimination.
“Then let the wives of our guardians strip, for their virtue will be their robe, and let them share in the toils of war and the defence of their country; only in the distribution of labors the lighter are to be assigned to the women, who are the weaker natures, but in other respects their duties are to be the same. And as for the man who laughs at naked women exercising their bodies from the best of motives, in his laughter he is plucking ‘A fruit of unripe wisdom’, and he himself is ignorant of what he is laughing at, or what he is about; for that is, and ever will be, the best of sayings, ‘that the useful is the noble, and the hurtful is the base’”.
With that line, nearly 2,500 years ago, Socrates ended gender inequality and misogyny.
“Then, if women are to have the same duties as men, they must have the same nurture and education…which they must practice like the men”[.] That was in the 5th Century BCE.
Chapter 5 of The Republic is a must-read. As I have previously argued, Philosophy should be a mandatory course in our secondary schools, if not in primary schools, throughout Malawi. This is particularly essential in light of Malawi’s quest and commitment to gender equality, as outlined in the country’s Gender Equality Act and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Kwapatakwapata! Mbenjere’s Dissection of Liberalised Economy and Capitalism
‘Mwina tizalemera iwe,
‘Galimoto tidzakwerako’‘“Olakwa inu makolo”, ohh a chimwene!
‘Adatitsiya pa mbalambanda pa Dzuwa’
“Ehhh inu a Mbenjere, tidalakwanji anafe
“Popeza ndikadadziwa nkadaka nawo ku masano”‘Pilira iwe, mwina uzalemera iwe,
‘Kutha kwa Nyengo, galimoto udzakwerako iwe’The conceptualization of what constitutes a ‘better life” and ‘living with dignity’ in Lawrence Mbenjere’s music is truly fascinating. His song ‘Kwapatakwapata‘ stands out as particularly unique, being rich in themes. When listening to it, I advise focusing on one theme at a time. Don’t let the other themes be your detractors. You can return to the song, at a later date of course, to explore another theme – probably give a single theme a day – or even more.
In this particular song, Mbenjere serves as an exemplary case study for analysing how the liberalised economy, fuelled by the IMF and the World Bank through Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), and as championed by both the US and the UK – Malawi’s two dominant “donors” (one, the country’s colonial master, the other, Malawi’s neo-colonial master), has failed – leaving many ordinary Malawians like Mbenjere still suffering the consequences and nursing the wounds today. Or, how the whole capitalist state is a farce for Malawi, retained only to serve the imperialists as Vladimir Lenin and Kwame Nkrumah had once argued respectively.
He challenges the argument that hardworking is the reason someone leaves the gutter. And, aligning indirectly with Karl Marx, Mbenjere throws in religion as truly the ‘Opiate of the Poor’, while highlighting the exploitative nature of capitalism towards the rural and lower classes, particularly the ordinary farmers. Do I have to ask: Who really benefits from Tobacco farming in Malawi?
‘Anzathu a chuma mudapita pati?’
“Nanu a Yehova mukanandiona ndili pano
“Ntchito yomwe akugwira yawayi
“Njomwe nduchita ineyi pano
“Ndimamva kuti mulibe tsankho Chauta!
“Kumvala matsanzamatsanza ndatopa nako”‘Mwina tizalemera ife!’
‘Galimoto tidzakwerako’What sustains poverty at the household level in Malawi? Or, broadening Mbenjere’s question, why is Malawi still in the chokehold of poverty? The looting machines of imperialists continue wreak havoc on Malawi (read Africa), if I am allowed to borrow Tom Burgis’ phrase. If not through tobacco (ignore the debt that serves as the anchor holding the country down the depth of the Trans-Atlantic trade), then it is evident through the mining sector – the latest frontier.
Independence did not end the Scramble for Africa, rather, as Susan Williams’ puts in in White Malice, just opened a new chapter. Take, for instance, a British mining company, named ironically after the King of the Jungle; or the Australian miners extracting uranium from Malawi to the benefit of Britain, Australia and France; or that Portuguese company that has been ‘winning’ government tenders amidst corruption allegations. I did not forget that French cement/lime company or the British kingpin (Malawi’s Guptas) embroiled in corruption involving nearly every door at Capital Hill. Or consider companies that have a name of an East Asian country. Have you ever wondered why those companies bear that name? State-funded exploitation of Malawi (read: Africa) didn’t end in the 60s or the 90s!
I digressed.
Mbenjere queries, like most Malawians, why is it that we are stuck in poverty or driving in reverse gear? We can find his proposed solution in ku Malikete.
When you take his conceptualisation of a better life, and the obstacles to achieving it, one particular aspect becomes clear: Mbenjere positions himself, not only in this song, but several other compositions, as a critical voice in the discussion of, to borrow Yanis Varoufakis concept, the “Death of Capitalism”. Is there any other musician in Malawi who dissects the failures of liberalised economy and capitalism as a whole as decisively as Mbenjere does? (Let me acknowledge my bias here).
In recognition of his significant contributions, I intend to formally propose that he be awarded an honorary doctorate in Gender & the Liberalised Economy. Furthermore, I plan to advocate for Joseph Nkasa and Wambali Mkandawire to receive honorary doctorates in Politics/Political Philosophy. To initiate this process, I will soon draft a letter to persuade my colleagues at UNIMA to propose to the senate, and make this dream a reality. Who would like to join me in this cause?
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Homosexuality is Foreign to Malawi! But So Is Your Religion!
…and which one, therefore, should we ban between the two?
In my forthcoming paper, I argue that as Malawians, we must choose one thing regarding homosexuality. We cannot have it both ways!
If, as a county or society maintains that homosexuality is Foreign, ungodly, Western, (and/or, therefore), un-Malawian (whatever that means, really), then that’s very fine with me. I am, in Polemarchus’ words, “ready to do battle” at “Malawi’s” side and defend this position, with my life even, taking “up arms against anyone” forwarding a proposition to the contrary, that Homosexuality is not un-Malawian or not un-sub-Saharan Africa.
However, if we accept and adopt this premise, and within this line of reasoning, call for the banning and criminalisation of homosexuality and anyone who identifies as an LGBT+ person, then we should also consider placing all foreign religious beliefs, be it Christianity and Islam, within the very same pot where we place homosexuality. Under Sections 153 and 154 of our Penal Code (ignore the fact that most of the sections introduced before 1994 are deep-colonial-rooted), we shall have a sub-section banning these foreign religions as un-natural, foreign and contrary to the order of Malawian (read African) nature – and criminalising anyone practicing and identifying with these foreign beliefs. This would be our State!
As we take up arms against homosexuality for being foreign to what constitute Malawian or godly or natural, let’s make such religious beliefs illegal for being unMaravian – the weaponry through which the colonial masters weaponised to sabotage not only Malawi but almost the whole of Africa, from Cape Town, down South to Cairo, up North; and from Eritrea in the East to Freetown and Dakar in the West!
A 14-year prison sentence could also be imposed for those who practice any religion that the Bantu, the Zulus, or other indigenous groups did not have prior to colonialism and slavery. Isn’t it a fact that these religions are indisputably not native to Malawi or Africa, and are relatively recent, having, for example, been introduced to the people of Malawi around the mid-1800s, less than 200 years ago?
It is my strongest belief that we must avoid cherrypicking what is Western or Eastern and therefore foreign between homosexuality, on the one hand, and Malawi’s predominant religious beliefs, on the other. Of course, one can even argue that if sections of the penal code that are against homosexuality have deep roots in colonial era, then there is something the colonialists saw was native and, therefore, against their foreign religious beliefs which they were introducing to control the natives.
Could it be that the natives were engaging in practices that the colonialists viewed as contrary to the colonialists concept of the ‘order of nature,’ similar to how these colonialists perceived gender according to their prescribed norms of womanhood – reduced to that of a housewife, a mere child bearer – which the natives normalised and adopted? Were such conceptualisation not the basis that even transformed ‘gule wa mkulu‘ into a dance mainly performed by men, while reducing women as backing vocalists – a transformation traced to the men’s desire to escape ‘Thangata,’ a form of slavery the British and other colonialists in Malawi and other parts of Africa practice which eliminated the need to transport people to the Americas following the abolition of slavery as men were being commanded to work in estates – a transformation that left the colonialists with villages full of women and ancestral spirits but not men – since women were housewives and men were the ones who were expected to be working in estates and mines? Ohh excuse my ignorance, I digress! Of course, we can re-open this premise for debate at a later date.
What I mean here is, between homosexuality and the religion currently dominant in Malawi, which foreign phenomenon holds more significance, considering the core argument is that the former is un-Malawian and goes against Malawian culture? So, where do we position the latter? Is it not just as uncultural to Malawi as is homosexuality – if I am allowed to use that line of reasoning? Which foreign element, then, should we ban – even though, just as Angela Davis puts it, and rightly so, “we know that gender, and especially the binary structure of gender, is totally constructed”?
As Angela Davis argues, not so long ago, these same religions, much like we are doing with sexuality now, did not consider non-white people as humans. Race, as socially constructed as gender is, was the backbone through which religion defended the enslavement of people based on their race; supported the partition, colonialism, and illegal occupation of lands in different parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas. And most importantly, in most of these parts, these foreign religions to these lands also fuelled and defended with scriptures the genocide of people like aboriginals (all on the basis of race).
To conclude this entry, just replace ‘race’ with ‘sexuality!’
*Religious organisations, led by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) in Malawi, and a similar body in Zambia, have opposed in strongest terms Pope Francis’ approval of same-sex blessings.
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Chiwede Unveils Lawrence Mbenjere’s Feminist Perspectives
In the spirit of #16DaysActivism, I present to you Lawrence Mbenjere.
One aspect that often goes unnoticed about Mbenjere, and which I deeply appreciate, is his consistent portrayal of the persona of a woman in the majority of his songs. He serves as a vessel, embodying the experiences and narratives of women navigating patriarchy.
Take Chiwede, for instance, a song that heartrendingly captures the resilience of a woman in rural Malawi and how she navigates intersectional exploitation and abuse. This song is not of a victim. While we are introduced to this woman who on first glance, you would regard as someone who feels defeated (by various structural inequalities), Mbenjere shows us that she is a survivor who has been fighting against the empire. Mbenjere never position the Malawian woman as a passive victim. Rather, as an active agent – a soldier!
The song, in the typical spirit of popular culture, also touches on other themes like poverty and a liberalised economy that goes back to the Bretton Woods’ structural adjustment programs that Mbenjere explores in depth in songs like Ku Malikete – which serves as another glue connecting nearly all songs by Mbenjere. That its not my focus today.
In the opening lines, Mbenjere introduces the central theme of the woman’s resilience and agency, challenging the mostly accepted position of the man as the breadwinner as her lamentation as a victim of abuse and exploitation (is this a lamentation or a warning?).
In Chiwede, she is the breadwinner, the provider who has been exploited countless times.
Tatede! Tatehe! Tateee!
Tate-nu! Tate! Tate!
Wamuna nchidakwa (hiii toto!)
Wamuna nchimwa mowa (ayi toto!)
Kukhalira kupilira za zako(?) toto
Kupilira n’dayamba kale ine aye Chiwede
Kwamakolo n’dapilira kale poti makolo’ooh
Ku tchalitchi ndikapilirenso, mwina n’kalowe ine
Chiwede! Chiwede’we nzipita’ne
N’khalire khumakhuma ngati nkhuku ya Chitopa? (Mhhu Mhuuu)
N’khalire khumakhuma ngati nkhuku ya Chitopa?
The verse that follows is where the woman declares that she’s done, unveiling the power she possesses and her reasons for calling it quits. While doing so, she also lays bare another sense of pressure that we have seen in Mbenjere’s other songs which is placed on women regarding fertility – a topic for another day.
In the second verse, she acknowledges that, although it’s taken her this long, it is better for her to walk that last mile alone without Chiwede – the husband. What remains fascinating is there refusal to the normalisation of banja nkupilira that only applies to women, urging them to embrace their abuse and exploitation by living with an abusive husband – as long as people see that she is married; marriage is everything; the rest is secondary noise. No!! She refuses to have that as her story.
I met Mbenjere in September 2021 The second verse is her deep reflection of her prolonged survival, asserting that leaving or divorcing her husband won’t be a new struggle, given her life’s history of deprivation, violence, and abuse as a story of survival – therefore leaving is not going to be a new struggle; even the social struggle that she will be regarded as a ntchembere of 3 children who is unlikely to remarry – a reality she accepts in the second last line in this verse saying she is going back not to remarry but for her amai azikaona pofera. With this lines she rebukes the ‘here comes that woman who dumped her husband’ from people who don’t know her story. With what she has been subjected to, she accepts this as the small price she will have to pay – remember, from the first verse, she has already told us Kupilira n’dayamba kale ine aye Chiwede.
She is off – but she won’t be khumakhuma – or silenced to stay because banja nkupilira!
Kodi n’dalankwanji? N’dalakwa’ ine n’dalakwa’ne!
Kodi n’dalankwanji? N’dalakwanji, n’dalakwa’ne!
Ukamatha mwenzi telo munyumba ine anzanga/Kalanga(?)
Akayela manja kubwera ndi mawa (toto ine)
Ana atatu kumativutatu kudyetsa
Pomwe anzathu atha masing’anga kuyenda
Ndipite ku mudzi nkapume kaye ine toto
Ndipite ku mudzi amai azikaona pofera
Iwe Chiwede! Chiwede iwe ndalema ine
Enough!
This above verse, and the one that follows, details what breaks the elephant’s back. The husband is hardly home, leaving in the evening and returning the following day intoxicated – the level of exploitation not usually conceptualized as such where the woman, as long as there is no physical abuse. Yes, it is possible Chiwede does not physically abuse her. However, Mbenjere lays bare another form of gender-based violence that this woman has been enduring in this marriage. For example, he fails to provide for her and their three children!
She can’t take it anymore.
As is familiar in all of Mbenjere’s songs, social inequality as a byproduct of liberalisation, as I have mentioned, is a never-detached topic. In this particular case, it centers on how she is used by the husband—a common theme among tobacco farmers in rural Malawi, where men tend to exploit their wives, enjoying the proceeds with others who were not there during farming — the wife is a mere slave. The status of a man as a farmer is not one that the woman is counted as part of. It is only the status of the man who uses it to his own advantage of sleeping around or alcoholism. We probably all know how tobacco framers spend their cash – pa Kachere, Lunzu, Luwinga, Chigwiri etc.
Nyesi kuthilira ndekha, ayee
Fodya kuthyola ndekha, toto Chiwede!
Olo mikangala kudula ndekha, aye
Okadya chuma ali chete inu amnzanga
kungoti mpite ku Bank omwewo, wakalala/waa(?)
Mpakana mwezi kumatha aye Chiwede
Wana kumangolowa nayo njala
Ndilibe n’khale lobowola khobidi ine
Iwe Chiwede! Chiwede nzipita ine!
I strongly believe in Chiwede, Mbenjere echoes Chimamanda Ngozi’s Why we should all be feminists call for action. My own call is Mbenjere would make an excellent HeForShe ambassador as his voice is often a vessel that brings to light the stories of women in rural Malawi to the men in challenging structural factors that continue to fuel intersectional vulnerabilities and exploitation of women in my village – and may be yours too. This is a common theme. His songs typically revolve around women’s empowerment, resilience, and agency to combat structural inequalities that persistently place women as second-class citizens – that continue to fight – even when The Patriarchy Strikes Back – resulting in a vicious cycle!
I have the song for those who would like to have a firsthand listen (correct some errors in the lyrics) – but remember to send him something to his mobile money if you would like to get the song so he benefits from his labour. I have said before, the complex rhyming scheme in Mbenjere’s songs is not accidental (check the second verse).
#16DaysAgainstGBV
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My personal advice to Chilima: You are declaring too many wars
After making noise on social media, this is my last take on Vice President Saulos Chilima (SKC). I hope.
Let me start by saying that whoever advised SKC to stage whatever you would call what happened yesterday made a very big mistake. Uncalculated gamble that exposed him.
Yesterday, Malawians saw a different Chilima. Not the SKC who would do 20+ pushups. Not the SKC who would carry a bag of fertilizer. Not the SKC who would die for the Malawi flag. But the SKC who is in government, and eager to remain in power for himself. A selfish Chilima.
A Chilima who, as previously feared but confirmed with the Act of 1 July, is as faster as the speed of light at shrugging off any responsibility over any mess he creates. When cornered, Chilima’s only way out is to point fingers.
For the first time, we saw a lost Chilima. One without any throttle of strategy. We saw the ‘khoswe wa padzala’ sort of Chilima.
The Angry. The Bitter. The Bruised. The Lost. Above all, we saw the Selfish Chilima.
With his display yesterday, there was only one take home message that stood out at the core of his undertakings. That message has already driven other people to allege that SKC somehow confessed to being an accomplice to the Sattargate. That he indulged himself in the looting of public funds only that he does not want to face the music alone when other accomplices are basking in the gory of their spoils with Mr Zuneth Sattar. It is suggested that someone who he should face the music with is protected by certain constitutional provisions, hence his call to remove the presidential immunity. The rest was noise. But one wonders, where was he 2 years ago? Ohh, one president at a time – unless when there is a hurricane approaching.
He played this card with DPP. Chilima successfully convinced us DPP had corruption as its lifeblood, doing so only after being denied the opportunity to serve as its 2019 presidential candidate. A recipe for disaster, he called it. He saw corruption in DPP only after 3 years – remember what happened in July 2018? UTM was formally formed and DPP was formally corrupt. Do you recall why he convinced you to being an IT guru on elections?
After 2 years as bedfellows with MCP, his prospects of ever leading the Tonse Alliance is predicted to follow on the same footpath that DPP walked ‘with’ him. Undoubtedly, Chilima is re-animated. His ‘eyes’ opened. He can now see which Constitutional provisions needed changed in August 2020, because there is a slightly bigger fish that swallowed a similar bait Sattar dangled before Chilima.
The NCA (UK’s National Crime Agency)…see what you have done to us.
Let me digress. I know there are no permanent enemies in Malawian politics. Would DPP offer SKC an olive branch. I strongly doubt that possibility? Both DPP and MCP are without doubt aware of the cloak that Chilima now wears.
Also, I think the two parties know they can go to the polls alone without UTM – placing their hopes on the possibility of a return for the top two presidential contenders should no candidate manage to score 50%+1 vote. I know most pro-Chilima supporters tend to say we don’t have money to stage reruns after the first run of voting. But if SKC has managed to convince himself (and his group of supporters) that termination of the Tonse agreement invalidates Chakwera’s presidency. He said Malawi would require a snap presidential election just like we did in 2020 following the nullification of the 2019 Presidential Elections. If there is money for such a snap election, then clearly money for a rerun does exist.
As for SKC, I wish I could advise him to find refuge in the catacombs where he can silently fight his looming fraud and corruption case. I think he has already assembled a strong team of lawyers spiced up with some few rogue names here and there. Unfortunately, it is too late for such an advice – especially for one who hungers for the spotlight.
He now faces more than one front of war that will accord him that spotlight. Be warned, however, that the Art of War is never fair on any general who forges multiple wars. The first war SKC faces is his eligibility having served two terms as a vice president and owing to the 2009 court ruling against Bakili Muluzi’s third term bid which bars a third term for those who occupy the sear presidency – even if Chilima convinces himself of one president at a time, an argument I believe will be his basis when he fights his eligibility war. It’s possible he is eligible. But, there are others, legal minds even, who believe SKC, much as he has convinced himself (of one president at a time), he can’t have a third term in the office of the presidency. May be MEC will side with him. May be not. Time is cruising fast. We will find out in 2025.
The second front of war is his looming corruption case (which may also impact on his eligibility if the first battle is won where this second war is lost).
Lastly, he has declared a third war against President Laszarus Chakwera, Malawi Congress Party and nearly the whole of Tonse Alliance. How many wars can a general forge on one go?
Who the cap fit.
MCP is the best – Chakwera: Ignoring Tonse agreement is a recipe for disaster, warns Chilima!
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MCP is the best – Chakwera: Ignoring Tonse agreement is a recipe for disaster, warns Chilima!
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has emerged from its cocoon. Its head honchos have said in black-and-white that the party will field President Lazarus Chakwera as its candidate in the 2025 Malawi Presidential elections. Without any sense of doubt, this means delegates at the party’s forthcoming convention will only rubber-stamp the incumbent.
You would be a fool to think these declarations don’t have a blessing of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), on which Chakwera sits.
Nonetheless, what Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara and her MCP colleagues have done by endorsing Chakwera remains divisive.
On one end, there are people on social media who believe MCPs’ decision to start flying Chakwera as the party’s 2025 candidate as early as 2022 is retrogressive. This group believes the move by MCP will draw Chakwera’s attention away from developing the country. All this despite the undisputed fact that Chakwera is yet to deliver on both, key and basic even those imagined promises he made in 2020 – that he would steer the country straight to Canaan; away from Singapore where President Peter Mutharika was juggling to land Malawi.
There is no denying that Chakwera would have secured an automatic second term landslide victory if he walked even a mile of his 2019 and 2020 talk. This, however, is a topic for debate on another day.
Now that we are in Baghdad, would Malawi end up in that promised land if MCP doesn’t declare Chakwera as its torchbearer 3 years before the elections? I honestly doubt he has a magic wand to turn things around.
So, does it really matter or surprise you that Julius Caesar has his name put forward by a gang of his Mark Antonies as MCP’s 2025 presidential candidate?
Mwina!
Even before end of two years into his first term, and with most of his election promises proving difficult to fulfill and corruption getting worse under his administration, the party of Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has started a campaign for his re-election in 2025… pic.twitter.com/MYYUjtjGx3
— Idriss A. Nassah (@mynassah) May 10, 2022
I think that there is too much talk of 2025 among our politicians. The focus has shifted to the elections already and we're in campaign mode. Who will deal with the present? Who will focus on the problems we currently face?
— Onjezani Kenani (@onjezani) May 9, 2022
Tonse Alliance Agreement will be made public – Chilima
There is also another group that is faulting MCP’s approach on the basis of a mystery 2020 electoral agreement between MCP/Chakwera and UTM/Chilima. It is widely speculated, on the basis of what Chilima said then at Njamba Freedom Park, that MCP and UTM agreed to rotate the presidency between himself and his current boss.
In principle, and if such an agreement does indeed exist, it pins Chilima as an automatic presidential candidate for 2025 with the incumbent as his running mate. May be Chilima is banking and barking on this when he told some media outlets that Tonse Alliance agreement will be made public when the time is right.
With that in mind, this school considers recent declarations by MCP, albeit being unofficial, a deal breaker. But this can only be a valid argument if both MCP and UTM or Chakwera and Chilima were to retain this electoral pact of the Tonse Alliance come 2025. Yet, no political party or candidate can be forced to retain its seat within any alliance if such an alliance does not align with that party’s plans. This is why when Joyce Banda and PP saw that Chilima ignored what was agreed for a PP/UTM electoral alliance, she quickly jumped ship and endorsed Chakwera – making PP/UTM one of the shortest electoral alliances in Malawi’s history.
They say Karma is a bum. What Chilima did to Joyce Banda has moved full circle to serve him breakfast.
We also have to consider the fact that Tonse is not a political party – as if that would matter.
This school also believes Chilima is dying to remain in this alliance despite the common knowledge that Tonse Alliance (read MCP and Chakwera) is increasingly becoming unpopular. Unless you are living in some caves somewhere in Mulanje Mountain, the support this regime once commanded is lost. Who in their right mind would therefore want to remain in such an Alliance that has failed and continue to lie to Malawians? I could be wrong, but Tonse is like a ticket to losing an election, at par with DPP in 2020. So who would want to stand on Tonse Alliance ticket? May be Chilima. If he is not as smart as some people make him to be.
I digressed.
MCP is the best party in Malawi- Chakwera
I am of the opinion that with these proclamations, MCP is already on the runway. Everything is set for lift off – without UTM, Chilima and Tonse Alliance. To MCP, Chilima is as dead as Mgwirizano Coalition.
Tonse was an Alliance for 2020. 2025, argues the party, requires re-strategising.
Understandably, MCP has been attacked from all sides for its current approach. But I choose to disagree with either the attacking or the reasons given by the attackers. I am of the opinion that there is nothing wrong or surprising with Chakwera being nominated by his own sons and daughters within MCP at this hour. The party is setting a tone for its prospective alliance partners (including Chilima and UTM), that the top seat isn’t negotiable for anyone who wants to join arms for the 2025 race.
During a “fundraising” gala where he was endorsed for 2025, Chakwera had this to say of his party: “MCP is a national party. The only party with structures across the country, from Chitipa to Nsanje. The best party in the country”, declaring further that “MCP has the best policies and strategies”.
What Chakwera said without being open is that MCP will not be toyed around by anyone to give up the 2025 presidential seat, either on the basis of the 2020 Tonse Alliance agreement or not. In other words, neither him nor MCP will be a second fiddle to someone (read Chilima) or political party (read UTM) that does not have structures across the country or parliamentarians large enough to be counted with more than fingers on a single palm.
The Optical President
Others would be fooled by a photo-op Chakwera performed a couple of hours after the Gala, to say the two are not at loggerheads. He met Chilima at Capital Hill and invited the veep to State House. But in that photo op, Chakwera revealed even more than he probably intended, saying it has taken 2 months for the two to discuss the progress on “charting a recovery path for Malawi”. Remember, Chakwera is the only president who has harnessed the art of photo-ops – the bicep Optical President. Ohh who did not talk about the presidential biceps a couple of months ago? What was the issue before those biceps? Was it the misappropriation of more than K6.5 billion of Covid-19 funds under Chakwera’s watch? Who knows how that story ended after those presidential biceps? The Optical Photography President.
Chakwera and Chilima are not really walking on the same path. This is not news. A few weeks before this covfefe blew up over the weekend, a group of Catholic Bishops visited State House to reconcile the 1st citizen with his number two. Ironically, Chilima is a Catholic.
Beware the Ides of March!
Prior to 2020 Presidential elections, some soothsayers warned of the mystery 2020 Tonse Alliance agreement, “Beware the Ides of March!” Their prophecy, that the agreement would never stand the test of time, was ignored.
It is of no concern to either MCP or Chakwera on how other Tonse Alliance partners, particularly, Vice President Saulos Chilima and his UTM decide to make sense of what Gotani and her colleagues have been saying. Whether ignoring of the Tonse Alliance agreement to rotate the presidency means, as Chilima once warned, “a recipe for disaster, again” only time will tell. MCP is ready to fight him. And Chakwera, for those who did not listen to his speech during the fundraising event, is also ready to fight.
The truth, as bitter this pill is for some interested parties to swallow, daggers have openly been drawn. The alliance between MCP and UTM is in shambles. Tonse is in ICU, more like on its deathbed. Even if Chilima and his UTM or those close to him decide to leak the details of the agreement, MCP won’t budge. As highlighted in his fundraising speech, the gloves are on. Chakwera is ready to jump in the ring and fight with MCP, and MCP alone.
But can MCP or any other party go to the polls alone without a partner? I think so. We might have 2 runs, with the first run eliminating other candidates for a 2-horse second race for those with the upmost votes to satisfy the needs of the 50+1 electoral system.
Without such an electoral alliance, a re-run will be inevitable. Chilima will possibly be eliminated in first round – unless the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) decides to allow voters to have on the ballot an option for a second choice on the list of candidates during the first run. MEC could then add the second choice votes to the top two candidate to determine who the winner is should we not have an outright majority.
But this is merely hypothetical grounded on the basis that Chilima still considers the presidency a holy grail; and that Justice Twea’s opinion on the presidency as determined in 2009 during Bakili Muluzi’s attempt for a third term bid won’t dent SKC’s quest. From what I have gathered, he has already put up a swamp of lawyers – including those who were involved in the 2019 presidential election court case – salivating to fight his case should MEC turn his bid down.
Interesting times ahead!
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Why did Paul Kagame set Rwanda as UK’s dumping ground for non-blue eyed immigrants?
President Paul Kagame, levered by many in Malaŵi, portrays himself as a pan-Africanist. My personal interpretation is that a claim of pan-Africanism to be credible demands free-movement of people within Africa or wherever. Now, the anti-immigrant-UK government agrees with Mr Kagame to set Rwanda as dumping site for immigrants headed for the UK. Rwanda’s acceptance of this policy is a bit (read extremely) confusing.
Like Malaŵi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) which always parades corrupt chiefs to back any unjust policy and fraudsters masquerading as saviours of the Land of the Flames, BBC is listing other countries (namely: racist Australia; Israel – how funny; Denmark – surprised? Don’t be, because the Danes have a commitment to have “zero” refugees on their land) that dump immigrants elsewhere. With its list of countries, the BBC aims to set a public discourse that the UK isn’t alone. What’s more interesting are places where these countries that the UK is modelling its policy on dump such immigrants. All the dumping sites are former German colonies except for 1 – Uganda; a country whose human rights record is heavenly (pun intended).
What a fallacy! By listing these countries, BBC is close to telling you that it’s justifiable and rational for you to be a thief or racist (replace with any abhorrent crime), so long you know someone who shares your despicable ideologies.
You can’t make this sh!t up pic.twitter.com/64lFi4SEZK
— Pearson X. Nkhoma (@NkhomaPearson) April 14, 2022
This UK policy reinforces observations made by other commentators that immigrants and refugees are welcome in the UK but not those immigrants from… I proceed to listens to the recent speech by WHO’s director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Just a recap before I conclude this covfefe. Official records on immigrants show that 12 percent of those who cross the English Channel are children (under 18) with 26% of them being girls – some who are unaccompanied. There remains “a greater mix of nationalities making the crossing since 2020” with the majority (slightly over 50 percent) being from Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Sudan. As I said, all are not welcome here, unless…
But what is not being openly said is that just like Denmark, the UK is set to create a zero-immigrant country. Brexit, remember? The immigrants can go anywhere but not here – here being any country in the West unless such immigrants are white, Christian, blue-eyed and blonde.
Even the Pope agrees that “The refugees are divided. First-class, second class, by skin colour, whether you come from a developed country or a non-developed one,” emphasising in his interview on Easter Friday that “We are racists”, where WE means countries in the Global North and their non-people of color.
Back to the UK. By dumping the immigrants in Rwanda, the UK is shifting its responsibilities. This implies that Rwanda can treat these refugees and asylum seekers as it pleases. Their rights can be violated without blinking an eye. Of course, who does not know of Rwanda’s recent human rights record?
It within this spirit that even the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, accused the British government of “subcontracting [its] responsibilities” with what he described as the ungodly policy.
The Archbishop lambasted the policy in his Easter Sunday sermon, saying the grounds on which this new immigration policy is founded on “are for politics and politicians. The principle must stand the judgment of God, and it cannot…And it cannot carry the weight of our national responsibility as a country formed by Christian values; because sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God”.
The policy is undeniably unpopular just like the Prime Minister who is implementing it. But why does Rwanda accept to be used? Are such policies not against the principles of social justice and pan-Africanism? So, why does Rwanda cosy up to the colonial and racist North for such inhuman policies?
Reporters expressed shock over war happening in a "relatively civil" country like Ukraine… pic.twitter.com/ePEDZ1GKAd
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) March 1, 2022
But again, who am I fooling? Why shouldn’t Rwanda be? I mean my Malaŵi would also have accepted from its largest bilateral donor a 4 to 7% of its national budget (or 3 times of the UK aid) pay check just to dump at Dzaleka (read: locking & sending back to their home countries) all immigrants headed for the UK with no regard for laws and human rights. We are in this together. Which other Western country wants to dump immigrants. Malaŵi is ready to be your dumping ground – just give us some greens, and leave the rest to us.
It’s not like the lives of non-white immigrants matter at all – just like black people in the West. Unless your are someone who ticks all the boxes of being white, Christian, blue-eyed and blonde.
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Martha Chizuma and Corrupt Judges
#IStandWithMartha has been a trending hashtag on social media – on Twitter, Facebook & WhatsApp statuses. It has been a trend to share the #IStandWithMartha. If you ask me, at par with the BBC onslaught. You were seen as less patriotic, I mean less Malawian for not sharing some expletives directed at BBC. Similarly, not posting #IStandWithMartha and her photo set you as a disciple of Sattar and a friend of Kezzie Msukwa.
However, I think we should all rejoice at that leak. I don’t think the reaction would have been the same if the leak was Sattar’s. There would have been a national holiday. No professor of law would have condemned the “whistleblower”. Even if such a leak did not have anything incriminating. Why do I say the leak is a wake up call? Personally, I strongly believe public officials and anyone who occupies an influential position like Martha Chizuma does need to always be on their toes – at all times. With that leak, Martha clearly did not. If she had any, she let her guard down.
Some have already highlighted, and I agree with them, that Ms Chizuma did not share anything that STRONGLY compromises her position. As such, as I have written elsewhere, she does not deserve the firing whip – not that she would resign anyway or Chakwera has it in him to fire her had it been she had shared something that would compromise the integrity and credibility of her position – ask Kezzie Msukwa.
Rather, she has highlighted two things that I believe deserve our serious attention than what the #IStandWithMartha [hashtag] is getting.
Firstly, the audio alleges that President Lazarus Chakwera hasn’t been supportive. Chakwera rose to prominence because of his commitment to fight corruption. But Martha’s leaked audio exposes the other side of Chakwera that explains why he is yet to fire Kezzie Msukwa despite a warrant of arrest looming on the minister’s head.
In layman’s term, Martha Chizuma implies in her leaked audio that Chakwera is not as committed to the fight of corruption. This calls for concerted public pressure on Chakwera. The rhetoric is redundant now. Walk the Talk Mr President. Support Martha NOW! Ms Chizuma needs the much needed presidential support and one which could start with the firing of Kezzie Msukwa. Failing which means Martha Chizuma is right and Chakwera lied to Malawians that he is the seer we could count on to give corruption the boot.
Secondly, Chizuma made a very serious allegation against some members of the judiciary. A name or two were [subtly] dropped. The burden now falls on the Judicial Service Commission to set up an internal investigation to examine the validity of the allegations she makes against members of the colonial white wigs. If this is not done, how credible can the public make of the whole judiciary and some of the judgements – particularly the ones that have raised eyebrows?
Remember the Thom Mpinganjira case? A magistrate issued a midnight bail. Venue: Zomba. Kezzie Msukwa’s attorneys are said to have travelled all the way to Zomba for an injunction against the ACB’s warrant of arrest for Msukwa. This is the case that directly connects to a case that Chizuma alleges an accused person was bailed out because a judge/magistrate was palm-oiled by the accused. Will the Judicial Service Commission sweep her allegations under the rug? Hope not. Should we just focus on I stand with Martha without demanding action from the Judicial Commission? Certainly not. She even cried for what can be construed to be judicial activism.
Lastly, Ms Martha Chizuma also alleges that there is a sea of corrupt lawyers and that it is nearly impossible to find one clean grain of sand on the beach. But that is a place for the Malawi Law Society to act. If her allegations have conclusive evidence, then her office and MLS should work together and act as a matter of yesterday.
I MUST Highlight that I wrote this blog a couple of hours before President Lazarus Chakwera’s speech last night in which he dissolved the whole cabinet and promised not to retain Msukwa. In his speech, Mr Chakwera described Chizuma’s remarks in her leaked audio as painful and embarrassing warranting her dismissal. The President said he chose to retain Chizuma against all legal advice given to him.
In his written speech which leaked immediately after the broadcast, Chakwera is said to have put Chizuma under disciplinary action. It is yet to be established whether that is a direction the President will take. But if this is true then the whole speech that Chakwera is retaining Chizuma is just a facade. She will be an island without his support. And might as well be fired soon.
Conspicuously missing in his speech is the President’s call to both the Judicial Service Commission and Malawi Law Society to establish the credibility of the two heinous allegations that Chizuma made which are at the hub of my blog. By the way, President Chakwera authenticated the leak – if you were still in doubt.