Kondwani Munthali -Malawi

Today, my President is mid air travelling from Sudan, heading to Addis Ababa. Yesterday he was in Ivory Coast and later he went to Sudan, meeting Al Bashir before going to Juba for a meeting with officials of Southern Sudan. I would have said a lot, except that we are living in days of trying to define a direction for our country. Days of uncertainity, gossip and rumour mongering and at times sometimes the destruction of peoples careers based on pure hearsy. Last night I spent four hours on a petrol line and went to bed only around midnight, my bosses were expecting me at 7.30 pronto. I could not have given a damn about where my President was today, was it not for Uganda President who graced the BBC airwaves and could not say as to whether he will or not run again in 2016. Instead, he was busy saying his country might be a developed country by then. Might after almost 30 years in power he has yet to find solution to the basic challenges that millions of Uganda face. He has no shame tru...

There is a strong opinion, that President Bingu wa Mutharika does not keep freinds. He has nearly discharged all officers, politicians and even staffers that started him with the Presidency journey in 2005. A year after winning the Presidency under the UDF ticket. But at a close glance, most people that have been fired or removed, rarely do they generate sympathy from the public. In most cases, people smile and shout loudly 'good riddance'. I know several who drunk to the firing of Patricia Kaliati, while many in parliament were happy with the downfall of Khumbo Kachali. How many weeped for Ken Zikhale Ng'oma? I bet none, he had become as pompous that he was labelled as Prime Minister, the same happened with Gwanda Chakuamba, Uladi Mussa and many others that cannot be mentioned here. Humility has not been part of politicians in Malawi, that when they fall, they fall harder and the leave the public smiling. I recalled this last night after hearing the firing of Leckford Thot...

On 21 May 2010, the Malawi Parliament moved into its own new permanent and purposely built home, courtesy of the Chinese Government benevolence who pumped in K6 billion to transform Malawi’s capital city’s presidential way. The completion of the purpose built home of the national legislative body, augurs well with the proclaimed equality of the three branches of Government in a democracy namely Parliament, Executive and The Judiciary. Only the Executive had a permanent seat called Capital Hill. The expectations of a new era of a democratic and civilized politics were also raised days later on Tuesday, 25th May 2010, when in a landmark speech to parliament titled One People, One Nation, President Bingu wa Mutharika called Malawians to bury the past. “We have to move forward. We must come out of the past. We cannot live in the past permanently. The past belongs to history. There is no room in Malawi for politics of hatred. There is no room in Malawi for politics of vengeance or retributi...

A day in politics, they claim is too long. Just last Friday, President Bingu wa Mutharika shook hands and smiled at Joyce Banda his number two in the party and Government. Somewhere some party officials were meeting and confirming the expulsion of Joyce Banda from the party. Come Saturday, Joyce Banda knews, so too Khumbo Kachali that the meeting would discuss their fate and they were duly admitted into the meeting. The loudmouths of the DPP Governing Council, we are told, started with so many materials but the hits was when Youth Minister Lucius Kanyumba rose to speak. He delivered the matter of the day. I personally know Kanyumba from a long history we share. I have travelled with him in many places as a youth worker. I would not pass judgement on this particular matter on why it had to be a "youth" being asked to perpetuate a fight of two elephants. I know youth in Malawi, due to short sightdness or easy promise of good life- they have at times made hasty decisions and ins...

..the case of managing pediatric Aids A woman without a child in the majority of our communities is not a complete woman. A recent study by the National Association of People Living with HIV and Aids (NAPHAM) indicates that stigma against infertile women has forced many of them to take drastic measures to avoid ridicule. From committing suicide to prostitution, women without natural bearing capacity seem not to find solution in society already known for its conservative view of unmarried older persons. This is however an ignored area and many suffer or die in silence. The agony experienced by such women might seem to be lesser if one considers those that loose their children during delivery. After carrying a baby in the womb for nine whole months, the pain would be greater only to hear muted sounds of disbelief due to the early death of the newly born child. The realities are difficult to comprehend for males and many who have yet to experience the loss of their own child. However for ...

The end of colonialisation, unfortunately also marked the end of many original thoughts of patriotic Africans, that modernity today has overtaken culture and more people are less likely to converse in their own language than a foreign tongue, as Kondwani Munthali reflects over Africans diminishing culture. The coming in of missionaries and voyages of explorers in the 1800 brought to an end to one of the greatest human tragedies; Slavery. This worst form of abuse, seems to have had a lasting impact on the relationship between Africans and the rest of the World. While some used the bible to justify slavery of Africans, many who have failed to understand African cultures have simply called in primitive and uncivilized, yet the continent is the home to early civilization and great wonders of the World. Unfortunately Africans themselves seem to be on the fast track to adopting alien cultures than others who are trying to erase them from the global picture. Take example of the new generation...

At the peak of his singing career, deputy lands Minister, dubbed ‘Minister of the Poor” sang two songs. They were a hit to the ears of the majority of Malawians tired already of the UDF administration’s mismanagement of the country’s economy. One song was “Osauka alibe mawu” while the other was “Agalatiya.” George Orwell animal farm, is a powerful political piece that the Communists never wanted anybody to read, just like dictators in Africa would not like to anybody to see how equality during the struggle quickly turns into enmity once power is taken. In the two pieces of art by Billy Kaunda now a full time politician and George Orwell’s book clearly have one underlining denominator- that those that go into power through a promise of change, rarely do they stick to their initial proclamations. The power basically is now associated with ones financial muscle. The new decision maker in so called democratic parties other than the majority voices who are supposedly owners of the party. At...