Kondwani Munthali -Malawi

Kondwani Munthali Personal account of July 20, 2011 Sunday: July 16: A vehicle belonging to Zodiak Broadcasting Station is smashed in broad day light by seven men with hummers and panga knives. A colleague who is at the scene calls me and gives me details. Zodiak confirms. Monday July 17: Another ZBS vehicle is torched at around 11pm. I am called by colleagues at the station around midnight. Tuesday July 18: DPP Youth cadets are seen in Blantyre brandishing machete in public. This is under the laws of Malawi an offence as machetes are considered as ‘dangerous weapons.’ Police take no action and the ruling DPP spokesperson backs them up. 11pm: Some unidentified man calls saying Chiza Mbekeani has been granted an injunction stopping the demonstrations. I confirm the same with Court clerks after doubting its authenticity. I ask them to drop it at Area 18 filling station as they insist on trying to get it to me at night. JULY 20 06:15: I arrive in town with a colleague Brian Satha who will...

I had to rush and buy Political Philosophy's controversial book The PRINCE, by Niccolo Machiavelli from Harvard Bookstore during my short trip to Cambridge earlier in the month. I remembered Bentrand Russell reference to the book in the History of Western Philosophy as I reflected on the current crisis affecting Malawi. The crisis has been well documented and Government has become so defensive that it has lost the plot in the eyes of the public, its antics of survival do not inspire any hopes and His Excellency President Bingu wa Mutharika looks like a man on the corner. This is a President, institutions World over invited to lecture on food security and democracy, an achiever whose light went off faster than it stayed in office. Bingu is a man let down by his team of advisers, aides and Cabinet but to a greater chunk he has let down himself. Here is a President who has always been said to be in charge of things, having his World crumble before him. His leuitanants have resorted to...

On Monday night, I joined thousands of people at Arlington in Boston, Massachussettes to watch beutiful fireworks commemorating the 235th Independence of the United States of America. Over the Weekend I was among the Malawian community in Washington DC, who came together to commemorate our 6th July indepence celebrations. In between the two events, ny thoughts turned to those women who die every minute during or post delivery period. Those Malawians who today are being subjected to very poisonous Anti-Retroviral Drugs because Government claims it cannot afford the other type of drugs. My independence thoughts, created more of a gloomy picture as thousands of vehicle owners and drivers are being denied a rest as they stay all night looking for fuel which has become a precious commodity. My thoughts wondered how could my President, someone I admired and still hope will come to his senses and save his reputaion, could change so much and fail to grasp the basic details like the lowest paid...

John Tembo in his many quirky answers to the press, when asked by a reporter in 2005 about the "development" by President Bingu wa Mutharika of building a moseluem for the First President Ngwazi Hastings Kamuzu Banda, he quickly retorted a question back to the poor reporter- when you construct a memorial pillar for your loved ones, do you call it development? He asked. Many thought he was just being political, but to those that suffered under the regime of President Kamuzu Banda, were shocked that even Tembo was not celebrating the misuse of their pain and suffering to reward the departed dictator. I was reminded of this story this week when I read that the United Democracti Front wants to celebrate June 14 as a Yellow Day. Comments from some Malawians on the Nyasatimes online edition however clearly show how much people misunderstood the intentions of the the former ruling party, the party first democratically elected since Malawi became independent in 1964. June 14 has a me...

Everybody but us is a well known nature of any politician, especially those graced with power. The same can be said about the June 3 Budget presented by the Honourable Minister of Finance Ken Kandodo, it is everything for the poor but for the rich ones, it remains the same. There were no austerity measures announced for the President, Vice President, his cabinet and Members of Parliament whose combined total of allocation for salaries and allowances is close to K2 billion in salaries and allowances are not facing any cuts in their allocations. Malawi is one country where inequality in terms of income and real livelihoods are wide apart between the rich and the poor. In essence the budget will tax the poor more, cripple businesses who will lay off many employees creating greater unemployment in an already crowded unemployed market and widen the gap between the rich and the poor. The lowest paid Civil Servant is grade R whose salary is pegged at K8,000 a month while the majority of Civil...

Imagine a woman without breasts? What would be your reaction? There many survivors of Cancer around the World, who had their breasts removed to beat off the deadly condition. But to Malawi, cancer remains a rarely spoken topic. On May 27, 2007, Cancer claimed the life of the country’s mother –The First Lady Ethel Mutharika, there was a talk of a need for specialist cancer centre, hope was created to many cancer survivors that something would be done. Almost three years later, a retired politician-turned- cancer activist Aleke Banda breathed his last on 9 April, 2010, the mourning nation remembered that we were yet to honour our promises as a nation we made in 2007 when we mourned the passing of the late First Lady. A cancer clinic is still far away from the cards. With the emergence of HIV and Aids, cancer patients now even have to live with stigma of being accused of having acquired HIV which has seen many in rural areas shun seeking medical treatment in public hospitals. The lack of ...

If you ask anybody who will run for DPP in 2014, even a child will scream that Professor Peter Mutharika is the likely candidate for 2014. The same question sent to the Malawi Congress Party will produce a variety of answers. Some believe John Zenus Ungapake Tembo and others will give you a litany of excuses. In UDF, there is emerging acceptance among many politics weary Malawian that Atupele Muluzi has become a defactor leader of the UDF and the youthful generation in Malawi. He has better chances than any other competitor, his main strength being age, reason and conduct in our muddy politics. But reality is that Atupele has to manage excess baggage that characterises the UDF, that is trying to tame the ever combative George Nga Mtafu, balance the needs of Friday Jumbe and find space to accomodate Cassim Chilumpha. Unfortunately for the young Muluzi, Jumbe and Chilumpha believe its their turn to try their luck at the national ballot. That is where the current fight will not go away so...