Pray To stop Bakili Muluzi

Pray To stop Bakili Muluzi

Malawi will hold general elections in 2009 .But there is a certain
person who answers to the name of Bakili Muluzi who MISRULED this country for TEN WHOLE YEARS without doing anything plausible to make him want to rule Malawi again.

This is a request for you to forward this email to
everyone you know to pray for this person so that he may not stand again.Pray and forward. It only takes a second to hit forward. Please do it and don't delete this, your prayer will save MALAWI's life.

Please pray and ask everyone you know to pray for this Muluzi Guy not to stand again, remove
all of all desires in his body and mind so he may enjoy all that former presidents benefits, and that MALAWI has to continue to be the wonderful country to its citizens,neighbours and visitors.

The power of Prayer is unsurpassed, unsurpassed. I want the whole world to have her in their prayers the next few weeks. God will hear our cry. Please do not be offended by my plea. This is only a request for your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this and helping with our request.. No words can express how much power we have when we do a little extra to come together.

Regards,

GOD BLESS MALAWI

_http://eltasmw.blogspot.com/

All you need to know about Malawi this month...
26 April 2007

It’s good to see that a number or Malawi’s tourist attractions have been highly ranked in the press when measured on a global scale. The Daily Telegraph asked a panel of experts to come up with the world’s top beaches and Likoma Island in Lake Malawi was chosen by the panel as one of the twenty-five outstanding locations. Home to the famous Kaya Mawa Lodge, Likoma Island certainly deserves this accolade.

The Independent went even further in their trawl of the world’s leading diving destinations. Lake Malawi came out as the top for freshwater diving. The lake has the largest number of freshwater fish species on the planet and a growing number of lodges offering diving as an activity, often with top-class instruction.

Tourism Update, the leading South Africa magazine, recently rated Liwonde National Park among the top fourteen ‘eco-treasures’ among the multitude of parks and game reserves across the whole of southern Africa. Mvuu Lodge and Camp is the place to stay to enjoy a safari by boat, on foot or by a night drive.

Finally, The Sunday Times surveyed the world’s ten top Pop Festivals if you fail to get into Glastonbury! Not surprisingly, the Lake of Stars Festival at Chintheche, on Lake Malawi was one of the ten. Taking place at the beginning of October, the festival is like none other; its mix of African and western music attracts thousands and takes place in one of Lake Malawi’s most beautiful settings.

MALAWI’S WILDLIFE RESERVES

Two of Malawi’s lesser known Wildlife Reserves, Majete and Mwabvi are undergoing a transformation. Majete, near the head of the Lower Shire Valley, is being systematically re-stocked. The programme for this is well advanced and plans to up-grade and extend tourist facilities are underway. Majete is close to Blantyre and, together with the well-established Lengwe National Park (Nyala Lodge), will attract those visitors who wish to explore the more southerly reaches of the country.

Still further south is Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve, for a long time neglected and inaccessible. No longer: Mwabvi, under the guidance of Project Africa Wilderness (PAW) can now accommodate visitors at Chipambere Camp and treat them to an experience like none other. Here the tourist can not only enjoy the wildlife but also make a real contribution to the conservation work being carried out.

Barefoot Safaris are the driving force behind the project and they’re able to offer their guests learning experiences in tracking, identification and conservation. This form of educational safari is a first for Malawi and comes with the knowledge that it really contributes to the environment. For more information visit Barefoot-safaris.com.

MORE WILDERNESS

Visitors to Nkwichi Lodge on the eastern side of Lake Malawi can now choose to explore the Manda Wilderness Community Reserve – a truly wild and unspoilt part of the lake’s littoral.

This experience can be either by walking safari, with one or two nights in a mobile ‘fly camp’, or by sailing by dhow and setting up camp on one of the many deserted white-sand beaches. Either will be one those unforgettable experiences you can dine out on for years. For more information, visit Mandawilderness.org

LAKE OF STARS MUSIC FESTIVAL

This festival (also mentioned above) goes from strength to strength. From its beginnings in 2004, this fantastic celebration of African and western music now has a worldwide reputation and attracts visitors from as far away as Australasia, Europe and North America. The brainchild of Liverpudlian music impresario Will Jameson, now based in London, the Lake of Stars Festival will be at the beginning of October.

For this year’s event he has attracted a host of internationally famous DJs and groups for this three day African Glastonbury. This is the only event of its kind anywhere and features the best of Malawian modern and traditional music and its followers across Africa as well as from overseas.

A LAKE EXPERIENCE

Sharing experiences is what a good holiday is about and it was pleasing to get this message from Danforth Yachting recently: “Last weekend we went out on a sunset cruise on the luxury yacht Mufasa with a group from the UK and Denmark. As we set off we had a shower of rain, yet the sun was still shining. The raindrops looked like huge glistening diamonds on the water.

“The next thing we saw was a rainbow in the sky, with the arc completely filling Cape Maclear. It was absolutely breathtaking and we all sat out on the deck getting wet but just glorying in the magnificent scene nature had set for us. Superb! Moments like that are quite unbeatable.”

For more information, visit Danforthyachting.com

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

• Luwawa Forest Lodge, on the beautiful Viphya plateau, is never slow to innovate. They report that their new sauna is up and running – just the thing after a day trekking on one of the wilderness trails. Horse riding is also to be introduced when an equestrian expert has been appointed.

• Recent high profile visitor to Malawi was pop star Madonna who took her children on holiday while she attended to the Raising Malawi charity which she sponsors.

• Malawi’s only ‘extreme sport’, the Mount Mulanje Porters’ Race will be on 14 July this year. Last year’s race attracted an international field of 438. There’s still time to register for the 2007 event. See the Nyasa Times report for more information

• Well-known, Lilongwe based, Kiboko Safaris are expanding into the top end of the market with some 5- and 7-day luxury tours while maintaining their programmes of value-for-money safaris.

• The Spectrum Guide to Malawi – the best of all Malawi guide books – is available direct from the Information Office in the UK together with Malawi’s No.1 touring map – both at discount prices.

Malawi doubles maize surplus

by Tadala Makata Kakwesa, 29 April 2007 - 06:48:49

Malawi expects to harvest 3.4 million metric tonnes of maize, up from 2.6 million metric tonnes last season, authorities say. The current yield, which is above the 2.1 million national consumption requirement, means that the country will have a surplus of 1.3 million this year, more than double the extra grain chalked in 2006. Apart from eliminating hunger, the private sector says the bumper harvest is also good news to local businesses since it will influence further slides to the national inflation rate. Maize, Malawi’s staple food, controls 58 percent of the consumer price index and has a macroeconomic destabilising force if in short supply. With low money supply, the Reserve Bank of Malawi should find space to slash the bank rate from the current 20 percent and allow the productive sector to borrow for expansion. Inflation currently stands at 8.6 percent. Confirming the high production, Secretary for Agriculture and Food Security Patrick Kabambe said the figures are likely to be higher since the current ones are provisional. Kabambe said government will sell part of the surplus to Zimbabwe while the private sector will be allowed to export the grain to any market of their choice. He said Admarc will buy part of the maize while government will store some of it in community silos, some of which are in their final stages of construction. “We are also encouraging industries to process the maize into, for example, animal feed, among other products,” said Kabambe. In an interview, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said government intends to increase its food security budget and accumulate a two-year food supply. He said Zimbabwe and other African countries, particularly ethanol producers, have increased their demand for maize. Gondwe, who confirmed that government intends to sell 400,000 metric tonnes to Zimbabwe, said it was not true that government has barred the private sector from selling its maize to Zimbabwe. “That’s not true, we have indeed said government will sell 400,000 metric tonnes to Zimbabwe but that doesn’t mean the private sector cannot do that, they are free to sell,” he said In an earlier interview, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) chief executive Chancellor Kaferapanjira said the private sector has been ordered not to sell maize to Zimbabwe, but that they should concentrate on other countries. Kaferapanjira said the private sector has no problems with the government’s decision to go solo on the Zimbabwe market as long as it gets paid. “We hope the government of Zimbabwe will pay our government, because that is the most important thing,” said Kaferapanjira who described the bumper harvest as good for the country’s economy as it will lower the inflation rate and interest rates. He asked government and the private sector to buy the farmers’ maize at reasonable prices. “But the only disadvantage is that when there is so much maize on the market, the prices go down, so when the prices are too low, it acts as a disincentive to farmers who will not feel encouraged to grow more the following year,” he said. The subsidy programme, computed to cost tax payers around K7 billion on average annually, has helped Malawi achieve food security over the past two years after years of starvation.

UDF gurus unhappy with Muluzi

by Anthony Kasunda, 29 April 2007 - 06:43:33

Old habits die hard, goes the saying. This is exactly what the United Democratic Front (UDF) National Chairman Bakili Muluzi is allegedly doing by imposing unilateral decisions on the party. The former president is accused of imposing himself as the party’s 2009 presidential candidate, entering into coalitions with other political parties and selling a manifesto at public meetings without the blessings of the party’s national executive committee (NEC). Some senior national executive members fear that this trend will plunge the party into more chaos than was the case in 2003 when Muluzi imposed Bingu wa Mutharika as presidential candidate, a development which led to several top officials leaving the party in protest. While the UDF gurus may also be unhappy with those entering into coalitions with Muluzi without their consent, one of the involved people, Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) president Kamlepo Kalua says the disgruntled members should take up the issues with Muluzi himself because he is the one who approached them. He said the alliance issue has been discussed at the presidential level and that it might come at national executive level at a later time when the parties involved are about to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU). “If the UDF executive members have issues, they have to query their chairman because it is him who approached us and we agreed to work together,” said Kalua. Chakuamba in an interview on Wednesday declined to comment on “the agreement” between his party and the UDF or Muluzi. When it was put to him that some UDF executive members have resentments because the matter was never discussed at any of their NEC meetings, Chakuamba said: “That’s their internal matter.” Muluzi has been holding political meetings in various parts of the Southern Region where he has paraded New Republican Party leader Gwanda Chakuamba, Kalua and Malawi Democratic Union’s Amunandife Mkumba as political allies in the 2009 general elections. “Honestly speaking, we have never met as NEC since November and I don’t know where issues of a UDF candidate or forming alliances with other parties were discussed,” said a senior NEC member. “Muluzi is using the tactic he used to bring Mutharika into the party. He is going through regional governors to promote his wish to be the presidential candidate,” he said, adding that the chairman had exposed himself to ridicule and insults from government machinery by declaring his interest to bounce back without waiting for the convention to decide. The source said as it was the case in 2003, Muluzi has chosen to sideline the UDF gurus and align with strangers to the party as evidenced during the political rallies where his allies are given priority at the expense of genuine UDF officials. “The time Muluzi was abroad for medical treatment, we worked very hard to rebuild the party he destroyed when he brought in Mutharika. He returned and started running party affairs using a kitchen NEC,” he charged. Another senior NEC member said Muluzi faces defeat more than victory because the Mutharika experience has taught people a lesson and the grassroots cannot be taken for granted. “The danger that the party is dying and disappearing if Muluzi continues to impose decisions on people is real. There are very serious signals that not all is well in the party.” However, another executive member said the issue of alliances was once discussed at a NEC meeting and that Muluzi was mandated to work on modalities of the partnership. “Maybe Chakuamba and others come to the rallies as guests of the chairman because NEC has not been told the outcome of their agreement,” he observed. But UDF secretary-general Kennedy Makwangwala admitted on Thursday that the national executive has never discussed the issues. However, he was quick to point out that whatever was happening now was being driven by the desire of party followers. “It is the people who want the chair to stand. So, NEC will meet to endorse what people want before the issue is taken to the convention. Those people with grievances will be free to air their views,” he said. Makwangwala admitted that the last NEC meeting was held in November and said such meetings are not held frequently because they are expensive. UDF director of economic affairs Friday Jumbe and co-opted member Brown Mpinganjira who initially showed interest to vie for presidency have since declared their support for Muluzi. Other aspirants like Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha, UDF spokesman Sam Mpasu and leader of UDF in Parliament George Nga Mtafu have not publicly withdrawn their presidential ambitions. Mpasu in an interview said nobody aspiring to be the party’s presidential candidate in 2009 has been barred from contesting at the forthcoming convention. “The UDF is a democratic party and delegates to the convention will rightly expect to exercise their right to elect a person of their choice as presidential candidate,” said Mpasu. But asked if the decision to field Muluzi was discussed by NEC, Mpasu said: “To the best of my recollection, NEC is yet to discuss these issues as a unit although some members of NEC have been involved.” On the alliances he said: “There is no official agreement in writing that I know of. However, there has been an explicit desire that people of the Southern Region should not be given too many presidential candidates as that will split their votes.” He said it was on that understanding that Chakuamba, Kalua and Mkumba have indicated that they will not stand if Muluzi will be the candidate.

Borrow a leaf from Mandela
Dear Editor,
The news that the former president Bakili Muluzi wants to run again in 2009 got me when I had just finished reading Nelson Mandela’s book Long Walk To Freedom and I would appeal to Muluzi to buy a copy of the same.
The book inspired me and already I am on course studying law so that I could one day be a politician and moving in the foot steps of Mandela.
After 27 years of incaceration at Robin Island, Mandela felt it wise to serve for only five years and pass on power to others and by doing so it did not imply that he was not popular but because he felt there will always be South Africa after Mandela, a thought that is lacking in most of Malawian politicians.
What a hero! Do we have such selflessness in our politicians. Some people feel they are the best thing to have happened to Malawi and they feel Malawi cannot do without them. By simply championing democracy, other people have taken upon themselves the status of heroes. Please sober up and follow Mandela.

William Matewere,
Blantyre

Muluzi danger for economy

by Rabecca Theu, 23 April 2007 - 11:29:04

President Bingu wa Mutharika on Sunday described the former Head of State, Bakili Muluzi, as a dangerous man who he claimed cunningly plants a spirit of dependency in Malawians so that he (Muluzi) should consequently become life president. But the United Democratic Front (UDF) described the accusations as “unfortunate”. Mutharika made the remarks at Ntambanyama ground in Thyolo, his home district, where he addressed a rally. He said the former president wanted people to be begging from him so that he becomes a life president and consequently the people would be depending on him. “Bakili Muluzi ndimpandu [is dangerous]. He is a dangerous leader. When he was leader of this country, he told people to stop farming, saying he would provide for their needs. “He wanted all of us to eat from his hands. He did not change things in 10 years. Can he change [things] today? Watch out! Watch out! He is cheating you,” said the President, attracting cheers from the crowd. Mutharika accused Muluzi, who is also UDF national chairman, of trying to hold political rallies on the same day as the State President. “I am not competing with Bakili, he is competing with me. I am ordering the police to allow Muluzi to hold a rally anywhere he wants. Allow him to hold a rally even at places where am holding rallies. This is not campaign time. “I can’t waste time with Muluzi. I allow you Muluzi to hold rallies even at a distance of one mile away from where I am holding a rally. We will see where people will go,” said Mutharika. He also accused Muluzi and UDF of trying to build enmity among the current government, Christians and Muslims. “The UDF has written letters to Arabic countries, accusing me of castigating Muslims. That is cheap politics. I am working with many Muslims. I have Muslim friends and my government has more Muslim ministers than the UDF regime had. So, how am I sidelining Muslims?” questioned Mutharika. However, UDF’s spokesperson Sam Mpasu said it was unfortunate for the President to speak on matters that do not contribute to political stability in the country. “It’s very unfortunate, especially when such statements are made by the Head of State. How can government say things without proof? UDF cannot write any Arab country about Muslims. He should provide proof,” said Mpasu, who challenged that Muluzi would not have handed over the presidency to Mutharika if he ever wanted to be life president. The President, who elevated two traditional leaders—Chimaliro and Nkanda—to senior chief status, also branded tobacco buyers as ‘colonialists’ who are taking advantage of farmers. “I have been fighting with atsamunda (colonialists) and you know it. Ngati pali ntsamunda wina ati nfwii, mawa akupita (If there is a colonialist who is adamant, he will leave immediately). “I sent my minister to Brazil and Thailand where the minister witnessed good tobacco prices...They [tobacco buyers] are taking advantage of us...If they are not careful, I will send them back, one by one. Tobacco buyers [should] take me seriously, I am government,” said Mutharika, promising he will be announcing new cotton prices shortly for farmers to benefit from their sweat. Member of Parliament (MP) for the area where the rally was held, Trifonia Dafter, was missing from the rally when the master of ceremonies asked her to address the people. The MP went to Parliament on a UDF ticket and she has not joined Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). “She has run away,” said the master of ceremonies while laughing, attracting applause from the crowd. Speaking earlier, DPP secretary-general Hetherwick Ntaba, who is also chief political advisor for the President, announced names of new members that have joined the party. These include 25 members of the Kamuzu family from Chiwengo Village who, he said, have dumped the Malawi Congress Party (MCP); former president of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) Eston Kakhome and Tim Mangwazu, former president of the Malawi National Democratic Party (MNDP).

Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe bemoans Malawi politics
BY FRANCIS TAYANJAH-PHIRI
12:37:47 - 23 April 2007

FINANCE Minister Goodall Gondwe on Saturday complained about the way some politicians press for their own partisan agendas at the expense of the majority poor.
Speaking during a pre-budget consultative meeting in Mzuzu, Gondwe said Malawi’s politics needed to be transformed from “finishing one another to a game of compromises”.
“The wrong thing we did during independence time was that we translated politics as ‘ndale’, hence the reasoning is that it is a game of finishing one another. Politics must be a game of compromises and finding a common denominator in the interest of all Malawians,” said Gondwe.
Gondwe also shared concerns with some delegates that it was ironic that Parliament shot down the mid term budget he recently presented in the House.
“It would be difficult for honest people like [Raspicious] Dzanjalimodzi, Friday Jumbe and others to stand up and say they rejected the budget because I did not answer questions on how we spent our money vote by vote. The real reason as I have said before was merely politics after someone had allegedly made a derogatory remark on the Leader of Opposition,” said Gondwe.
The finance minister said all the reasons advanced by the opposition to justify the mid term budget rejection were a mere scapegoat.
Gondwe said the opposition benches had over seven people who had been finance ministers before and all knew the requirements of the Public Finance (Management) Act.
The finance minister urged parliamentarians and all policy makers to first think of Malawi as a nation before making decisions that would affect poor people.
“It is sad that at this age, some people in localities around Limbe are sharing drinking water with dogs as they cannot access clean and potable water. The same is happening in Chilinde in Lilongwe. Poor people are in dire need of water and yet these are the people who would have benefited if the budget was passed,” said Gondwe asking all Malawians to be patriotic.
Gondwe, however, said he was optimistic that since the MPs represent poor people in their constituencies, they would reflect on the impact of budget rejection and support him when he presents another one.
During the pre-budget meeting, many delegates commended government for attaining debt relief.
However, the delegates called for government to ensure that the hard-earned tax money was spent prudently on projects that benefit the masses.
Gondwe said it was important for Malawi not to be complacent about the debt relief but work extra-harder to continue enjoying donor confidence.

UDF adamant on Muluzi comeback
By DICKSON KASHOTI - 23 April 2007 - 12:41:17

Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) says it will still field former president Bakili Muluzi as presidential candidate in 2009 despite fresh interpretation of Section 63 by the Special Law Commission on the review of the Constitution.
UDF spokesperson Sam Mpasu said in an interview Sunday that what commissioners of the Special Law Commission said about presidents serving only two terms was just an opinion because the commission does not make laws and neither does it interpret them.
“The legal position is that whatever is decided now, it cannot apply to Dr. Muluzi. You do not apply the law retrospectively,” said Mpasu.
But a Blantyre lawyer who did not want to be named said the law could not apply to Muluzi retrospectively if it was changed because he was not yet a candidate.
Muluzi, out of office since 2004 at he end of his second term, has threatened to challenge President Bingu wa Mutharika, who is going to run on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) standard bearer John Tembo in the 2009 presidential polls.
Asked if the Law Commission anticipates any legal challenge over its interpretation of the presidential terms, especially by the UDF, Law Commissioner Anthony Kamanga said:
“I do not think they would have basis to challenge the views of the Special Law Commission…. Ours are just recommendations. Anyone would be entitled to an opinion. The Special Law Commission is merely expressing an opinion. I hope we won’t reach a stage where the Special Law Commission is taken to court.”
Kamanga said nobody should think that any specific recommendation was targeting the former president.
“Personally, I have very high regard for the former president. We would not use a Special Law Commission to target anybody. The Law Commission has been fairly independent. Our reviews of the Special Law Commission in this report are the views of the commissioners, there has been no one who has come to say do this.
“To ensure transparency, the moment we announced that this report is available, we released copies to certain authorities. We also put it on the website,” he said.
Kamanga said this was the first time the Law Commission has done broad countrywide consultations, adding the commission had spent close to K27 million to reach out to people throughout the country.
He said the money used was from government, United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and the National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice), among other donors.
Asked how delegates reacted when the commission said the Constitution bars retired presidents from bouncing back, Kamanga said there were mixed reactions.
“Unfortunately, they came out as if it were a partisan issue. The bottom line for the Special Law Commission is this and comes out very clear in the report:
“The Special Law Commission does not subscribe to the view that on the current wording of Section 83 (3) having regard to the mischief, having regard to the intention, a former president or vice-president who has already served two terms can bounce back.
“The Commission is very clear on that, they don’t subscribe to that view but the commission does say that the current provision is a bit misleading. Take the case of somebody who served five years, then comes back.
“The technical issue is that if you serve one term, can you subsequently serve two consecutive terms? Obviously no, that is not the intention because otherwise you would be defeating the purpose, the mischief,” he said.

-Dailytimes

No, our MPs need good qualifications
BY The Daily Times
09:15:20 - 19 April 2007

Some of the reasoning by some delegates at the on-going national Constitution review conference in Lilongwe leaves a lot to be desired, that is to say the least. It is absurd that in this day and age we cannot appreciate the role of good education for any office, let alone one of a legislator.

The fact that the majority of Malawians are uneducated or illiterate does not mean that we do not have enough well educated people to lead the uneducated through parliamentary representation.

After all, it would not only be in Parliament that the educated would be representing the uneducated. This is happening at almost all levels of representation, be it in churches, schools and even at presidency level although this does not mean that the representative should be the most educated in the group.

To ask for mere speaking and reading of the English language as a qualification of Member of Parliament is trivialising the level of business that goes in the House. It is in Parliament that members scrutinize government bills that are themselves not the stuff of average intelligent people. Actually, we need people with a good understanding of issues in the House to contribute effectively to the business and not mere command of English. There are some children who speak good and read English very well but, as we all know, their level of understanding is below par. The same applies to adults who we want to go to Parliament on the same strength. No wonder deliberations in our National Assembly are mostly chaotic because MPs want to buy time as they have nothing to contribute on national issues that demand high level of understanding and acumen. Lowly educated MPs would rather preoccupy themselves with political bickering that is not even in English to avoid exposing their inefficiencies in real parliamentary business matters.

Using the same argument that we cannot allow the minority educated to rule the majority illiterates, it would also be an insult to let the uneducated, with all their negative attributes rule the educated and knowledgeable. It is sad that at a time when many school leavers with genuine MSCEs are loafing in our societies, we should believe that an MSCE is such a high qualification only a few have it. Actually, an MSCE is a modest qualification for such an important office of the Member of Parliament.

Setting high academic qualifications for the House would help to improve the level of deliberations and add meaning to the importance of Parliament and its business. It is a joke to suggest that anyone with a good command of English is material for MP, surely we can be more serious than this.

Let us be ambitious and allow the academic entry qualification for Parliament to be at a minimum of MSCE. It does not make sense to mix PhD holders with mere speakers and readers of English and expect them to speak the same parliamentary business language. We just can’t afford this mediocrity in the 21st Century.

Malawi donates K11 m to Mozambique flood victims
BY Caroline Somanje
08:20:21 - 16 April 2007

The Malawi government over the weekend donated assorted items worth K11 million in aid of over 300,000 Mozambicans affected by floods earlier this year.

Most of the people were left homeless and without food when Cyclone Flavio hit the country.

A three-man delegation of defence minister Davies Katsonga, disaster preparedness minister Richard Msowoya and deputy minister of transport and public works, Charles Mchacha presented the donation to Mozambique on Friday.

The donated items were 100 metric tones of maize flour, one tone each of beans and rice, 2,000 litres of cooking oil, 2,000 plastic plates, 5,500 plastic plates, 5,500 plastic cups and 8,000 plastic spoons which were given at Caia, Provincial capital of Sofala Province.

Sofala province is located some 510 kms South of Nsanje.

Speaking in an interview Sunday, Katsonga said the donation was made as a kind gesture in response to Mozambique’s calamity.

“The idea was presented to cabinet where it was debated and passed. On Friday, we found helicopters still dropping relief items to the area symbolising a dire need,” said Katsonga.

Asked whether the gesture was not hypocritical considering that Malawi has a fair share of her own problems, Katsonga said, “We have enough food to deal with our issues. We have had no complaint from any of the flood affected areas in this country so there is no reason for self-pity”.

Part of the donation was K500,000 cash from a Mr. Kassam, owner of Manobec mining company.

Arkay industries also donated 2,500 each of plastic cups and plates.

where has the love for the country gone???

-Except from www.news.com.au

We had to show this except to try and show how irresponsible some of us can be when writing for some International News Agencies at the country's expense. Reading the article we were appalled by the writer's introductory background notes on the country the writer calls home. At the same time we wonder how Africa does not get the majority of the Foreign Investments continents like Asia are enjoying today. Malawians should try to think positive and write positive things for it is only in the positive we can be a great nation.

K3bn overdrawn from govt, donor accounts in the 2003/4 Financial year

by Maxwell Ng’ambi, 14 April 2007 - 08:10:49

The latest audit of national accounts has revealed that government in the 2003/4 financial year overdrew K3 billion from both the consolidated advances and deposit accounts, which acting auditor-general Lantone Gomani described as a breach of statutory provisions.
Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (Pac) chairperson Respicious Dzanjalimodzi said on Wednesday his committee received Gomani’s report and will at the end of this month summon the controlling officers to explain the transactions.
Gomani says the overdrafts from the consolidated deposit account impacts on the recurrent budgets of individual ministries once they settle the overdrawn accounts.
The 2004 audit of government accounts is the latest so far as there are no audit reports covering years between 2005 and 2006.
Former Finance Minister Friday Jumbe says he cannot remember off hand why government overdrew from the consolidated advances and deposit accounts because it happened some time back.
Gomani, who released the 2004 audit of national accounts to Parliament in March this year, said on Monday government is only allowed to use K450 million from the consolidated advances account but ended up overdrawing K350 million. This, said the current top state auditor, is a great concern.
Gomani explained that a consolidated advances account is an account Treasury allocates to individual ministries to deal with personal advances of civil servants such as general purpose, education, emergency and motor vehicle advances while consolidated deposit accounts deal with donor funded development projects that do not appear in the main budget.
In the year under review government departments overdrew K361,7766,566 from the consolidated advances account with the Ministry of Disabilities being the highest for having overdrawn by K74,222,449 and Education Ministry is second at K42,929,719.
The other departments that overdrew from the consolidated advances account are State House, Judiciary, Office of the President and Cabinet, Defence, National Roads Authority, Police, Treasury, Home Affairs, Accountant-General and National Economic Council.
Gomani said because government has already breached statutory provisions, the solution was to regularise the status quo by increasing the ceiling to a much higher figure than the present K450 million. He said the revisions can be made in Parliament because it was the same House that came up with the figure for the consolidated advances account.
In the report Gomani says: “I inquired from the controlling officer whether corrective measures have been put in place to clear the overdrafts, but as of writing this report I had not received any reply”.
When he was asked on Monday if he had now received a reply from respective controlling officers, Gomani said he had not.
On the consolidated deposit account which covers donor funded projects that do not normally appear in the national budget, Gomani laments in his report that in terms of Treasury instructions (Finance) deposit accounts are not supposed to be overdrawn.
The report reveals that government overdrew about K2.7 billion from donor funded projects.
“Gomani said it is now up to Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to summon them. Pac will summon controlling officers to explain,”

Cracks in the wall

by Bright Molande, a Correspondent, 11 April 2007 - 12:44:08

What is the best way to get political credit and votes? In Malawi the opposition thinks voting against government bills is one way. But it is not. The rejection of the recent supplementary budget works against the opposition, not the Executive. There are souls labouring so much, sweating blood, but earning so little. They are labouring to get money, their means and survival. But there are those with so much money, and their problem is how to spend it. And in spending their money, they spend their life too. There are those wriggling, struggling and clambering to get to the heights of power. Then there are those with so much corrosive power, and their problem is how to use it. And in using their power, they spend their own political souls. And, it is either “you get busy living, or get busy dying,” according to the composer of “The Shawshank Redempetion”. There are many who are busy politically dying, instead of being busy living. This is what the opposition in Malawi is often doing; plunging so deep into self-destruction at the moment. The trouble with most African leadership since independence has been that we do not know what to do with our own Africa, with our own power, our own destiny. When a leader emerges who knows exactly how to develop our people, we labour and toil to destroy him. While Joseph Kabila is labouring to bring peace and stability to the bleeding war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, the opposition won’t let him work for the people. While President Bingu wa Mutharika is fast salvaging Malawi from the moral and economic ruins, the opposition sings tunes of its own wisdom. At first, it was like a cruel joke spoken of The Wretched of the Earth. This is a book in which Frantz Fanon, the legendary nationalist whom Sam Nujoma found in Ghana dining ideas with the likes of Dr Kamuzu Banda “in the centre of the campaign for African independence and unity”. Fanon said, if we do not know what to do with Africa, then sell her to the Europeans and Americans. The least of their kind know what to do with Africa better than the most intelligent of you. Maybe so. Yet, we are the best qualified people to take charge of our welfare and destiny, no matter what! Four decades after this conclusion of The Wretched of the Earth, the opposition (or the government in-waiting) in Malawi does not know what to do with and for us, the people. When Members of Parliament contemplate and plan to reject a national budget meant for the welfare of their own people, just for the spite of putting government in a fix, this is worse than self-destruction. Wisdom would be to scrutinise, advise and monitor. If anything, corner the government when it spends outside approved budget lines. But they choose to spite their own people. Old wisdom said it many seasons ago: when you hurl stones into a market place, you should not be surprised when your own mother comes blinded and with blood bathed. Somewhere, the piercing pain of voting down a budget becomes real, really painful to the souls of the wretched of earth. There is the school teacher some of whose students is now Parliamentarians receiving over K200,000 a month while she has to make do with a K9, 000 per month. After many years of service, and she has a family of human souls whose survival is on the salary bait. Her house is grass-thatched, and somehow rain finds its way in. Government says this is the house that should have been renovated with the supplementary budget. Well, our MPs know and understand the social needs of people like this teacher, even better. There are many who once served our beloved nation as (primary school) teachers. These are teachers we spite yet they must teach our nation. We spite the policeman and the soldier, those “forgotten heroes”, who do not sleep just to ensure that you and I are secure and safe. Well, it does not matter that the lizard who swore to spite the rock by scraping his belly hard against the rock ended up spiting his belly. John Tembo, the leader of the opposition in Parliament, has sworn that proudly, “we will reject the budget again if government...” this or that. He said, contemplating rejection of budget in advance. The listeners to this vow jeer, clap and laugh at it within as they walk home while Tembo drives back to the city. Yet, they are the underdogs wriggling like maggots in the mire of poverty, the people who must suffer the worst consequences of rejecting a budget. Perhaps, maybe, Malawians are that naive. Tembo’s voice in Parliament hurls weight, his say in the Malawi Congress Party is said to be final. He is said to have so much power in the party. And one remembers chilling whispers of how much “power of association” he commanded in the Kamuzu Banda regime. But bragging to voters that “we will reject your budget again” is being in self-destructive and plotting doom of the people. These people want to hear articulation of policies that will out-compete those of Mutharika. They want to hear someone who out-competes Muluzi’s most colourful dream of distributing free fertiliser, certainly more meaningful than the free shoes Muluzi distributed in his 10-year rule. The MCP leader ought to be busy cementing the foundations of the party. And Kasungu has been the base of the MCP for the decades. Here, 65.5% of voters swarmed after Kamuzu in 1994 just when Aford was commanding fire in part of the district. Then 74.8% voted for Gwanda Chakwamba in 1999, but only 48.4% voted for Tembo in the 2004 elections. Tembo’s popularity has been falling here, a district accounting for one tenth of the Central Region population where the party is strongest. Now Kamuzu’s spirit is walking out of the MCP, slowly. And Tembo has publicly fallen out with the Kamuzu family. Ken Kandodo Banda, nephew to the first president, told him off the fortunes of Banda which now the party is yearning for to run its affairs. In voting terms though, Lilongwe has been the iron heart of the MCP. But of all those who have led the party, Tembo has been least charismatic. In the 1994 elections, 71.7% voted for old Kamuzu, then 73.3% voted for Chakwamba who came from the South. Now, 67.7% voted for Tembo for presidency in 2004. Yet, this district accounts for over one third of the only region where the party has roots. Tembo has a party, and an image to build. Besides, as we move towards the 2009 elections, another crack is clearly predictable. There are those who silently yearn for younger blood to lead the MCP with new ideas. But they can’t speak before Tembo. It has been in whispers for time to tell. The wisdom that generally lacks in Malawi’s politics is the question of where to get voter credits. You do not get credit from voters for rejecting their own budget. Certainly, there is deep rooted wilful ignorance among opposition parliamentarians of what government is, whose budget is “government’s budget”. Sadly so. Those opposition members who aspire for political immortality beyond should have been aligning themselves (even without changing their party) with whatever is good for the people, even if it is pioneered and steered by the ruling side. But one opposition MP is off record, saying “I cannot ask for a road construction for my area because I know the government will not hesitate to build it.” He does not want credit to go to government at the expense of his people, whatever government is! I am yet to understand the opposition. Bright Molande is a poet, political commentator and lecturer in English Literature at Chancellor College in Zomba.

Of rallies and security

On March 26, 2007 my brother called in the evening to ask me if I’d seen the editorial in The Nation of that day. I had not and he wasn’t happy. He felt the comment lacked balance and fair comment.
The editorial centered the March 25, 2007 abortive political rally in Mulanje by the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) following intervention by the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) personnel who had mounted road blocks in several strategic places.
It was that intervention that had prompted The Nation and others like the Malawi Commission for Human Rights (MHRC) to unreservedly condemn the action by the Army.
As it turned out there was no attempt on the part of the paper to balance the commentary by, say, giving government the benefit of doubt as to why they decided to employ the services of the MDF to stop the Chisitu rally or, for that matter, why the meeting itself was stopped.
The paper even quoted sections on freedom of association and the freedom of movement in the Republican Constitution. Well, The Nation is entitled to its opinion.
First, let us go back to what has been happening in this country. The government does not stop anybody, including the UDF to hold a rally. After all Bakili Muluzi and other opposition leaders have held public meetings in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Balaka, etc.—nobody stopped them.
Neither the UDF nor anybody is stopped from holding a rally anytime and anywhere, including at Chisitu. In fact, Muluzi and his supporters held two public meetings in two consecutive days: a mini-rally at Muluzi’s BCA Hill residence on Sunday and another one the following day in Mulanje.
Muluzi or indeed anyone are not stopped from associating with anybody they please to. Neither is their freedom of movement infringed upon, otherwise they wouldn’t have travelled to Brown Mpinganjira’s home for the mass rally on Monday.
We should understand why the UDF were advised (not stopped) to hold their public meeting on another day other than on the very day the President was addressing a rally 30 minutes drive away from Chisitu.
Malawians are a peace-loving people. It is the responsibility of all well-meaning citizens to encourage and promote peaceful co-existence by checking inflammatory or provocative language or confrontation.
And potentially explosive situations between supporters of opposing political groupings ought to be avoided by all means. One can imagine what would happen if political antagonists are allowed to intermingle within a relatively small radius where each group fights for recognition and the glorification for their beliefs and leaders.
Tensions and tempers are bound to flair up among supporters of rival political parties that have no love lost between them. And we are all aware of the strong influence of ‘group think’.
Imagine the situation of a former ruler gunning for a return to state house at the expense of a sitting President whose followers are intent on safeguarding the presidency from a hostile opposition. There is no trust and therefore no love.
Under such circumstances where passionate opposing views meet or interact, complete in their party colours, the imminence of burning pride, high tension, confrontation and clashes would perhaps be an understatement.
Some decisions are made for political and national expediency. After all, the Constitution is there to serve and safeguard the national interests and not to enslave or endanger citizens.
Why were the MDF officers engaged to disperse the meeting in Mulanje? That question has been ably and professionally handled by army spokesperson Lieutenant Frank Kayanula who told the media that the Malawi Police Service (MPS) could not be deployed for the occasion because they were restrained by the court injunction and, as law-abiding professionals, were incapacitated by the law.
To say that the MDF’s duties do not provide for internal security at times other than when there is a state of emergency is completely missing the point.
The MDF have always been called upon even within the country to enhance peace and internal security. Whenever there is a general election our officers and men from the barracks serve the nation and very well. And the MDF, in conjunction with the MPS, have been instrumental on important assignments such as ‘Operation Chotsa Mbava’, and ‘Operation Dongosolo’.
On top of that the MDF have also constructed bridges when the urgency of the situation calls for their intervention.
—The author is a lecturer at the Malawi Institute of Tourism.

Personal pride costs Malawi

by Ephraim Munthali, 08 April 2007 - 08:29:56

It never came as a surprise to many. It has happened before. In fact, some even expected it to happen and would have been surprised if it hadn’t. Ever since President Bingu wa Mutharika took over government, rejecting the national budget has been an anticipated occurrence—premeditated and systematically executed by the all-powerful opposition. Critics say the opposition is abusing its numerical strength by irresponsibly using the political muscle to elbow out critical government policies, cripple the popular administration and render it unstable in the eyes of the voters. It is a cockfight likely to continue until the country holds the next general elections in the next two years. But like in any other battle, there are always winners and losers. In terms of political supremacy, the opposition surely has the upper hand. But for the grass that is being destroyed as the elephants fight, it is a sad story of what night have been had the budget passed. Memories are still fresh of how Malawi almost lost the US$55.9 million (K7.8 billion) Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to squabbles over the national budget. The three-year PRGF, which was initially suspended during the Bakili Muluzi administration in 2000, was the key performance indicator of whether Malawi would qualify for debt cancellation or not. After pressure from the media and civil society, the opposition finally but grudgingly nodded to the budget and Malawi immediately had an economic programme with the Fund. The resumption of the PRGF saw the boards of the IMF and the World Bank last August announcing that Malawi had made enough progress to be the 20th country to reach the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (Hipc) Completion Point and qualify for debt relief. Since then, government creditors in the Paris Club and non Paris Club members followed suit to forgive Malawi’s foreign debt which, before the multilateral cancellation, stood at around US$3 billion (K420 billion). The debt cancellation is poised to leave the country with annual debt service savings of over US$100 million (K14 billion) annually over the next 20 years. This translates to 1.7 months of additional import cover. Thus, apart from helping to boost donor and investor perceptions, the write-off is tipped to improve the country’s balance of payment position which is always in the red largely because its trade account has traditionally maintained a deficit. Analysts at the Standard Bank Group say debt cancellation, buoyed by the downward trend in Malawi’s inflation rate, enabled the Reserve Bank of Malawi to cut the benchmark bank rate by 500 basis points to 20 percent effective November 13 last year. The analysts already see a modest downward trend in interest rates over this year as long as government maintains fiscal discipline; donors continue to pour in aid and money supply growth and inflation remains under control. It is part of these Hipc resources, roughly K8 billion since the other savings were already incorporated into the main national budget, that Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe presented in Parliament. “The main loser in this case are ordinary Malawians who could have benefited more from all these programmes since debt relief savings are supposed to go to pro-poor activities,” says Mavuto Bamusi, director of programmes at policy lobby group the Malawi Economic Justice Network. “As long as government spends on priority pro-poor programmes and later account for it, I would urge the government to use the rejected expenditure plan and ask Parliament to validate it later,” says Bamusi. The private sector and the financial market in particular also have a lot to lose from the budget rejection. According to deputy finance minister Ted Kalebe, out of the total supplementary budget, government planned to spend K5 billion to retire the domestic debt which still hovers around K50 billion. “Imagine what that money, released to the banking system and lent out to the private sector could do. It’s a lot of capital whose multiplier effects can benefit businesses and the economy as a whole,” said Kalebe. Even Malawi Congress Party spokesman on finance Respicius Dzanjalimodzi, a former secretary to the Treasury, appreciates the need to retire the domestic debt. His party led the pack that threw out the mini-budget. “Repayment of the domestic debt should be treated as a priority if we are to move in the right direction after debt relief,” says Dzanjalimodzi in his comments on the Mid-Year Budget Review which Gondwe tabled ahead of the actual supplementary budget. The MCP parliamentarian added: “This [public debt repayment] will rejuvenate the private sector and the productive sector of the economy, particularly given the atmosphere of low interest rates.” How the former fiscal technocrat expects such benefits to trickle down to the private sector without a Parliament approved budget is a question Dzanjalimodzi could not answer by the time we went to press as he could not be reached. But as far as minister Gondwe is concerned, the opposition rejected the budget not due to lack of accountability by the Executive but “because someone in government said something they [opposition] didn’t like.” It is a case of putting personal pride above the national good. As veteran politician Aleke Banda says, there should always be a time when national interests should override personal interests if Parliament is to earn respect both in the eyes of local people and international partners. -The Nation Newspaper

Malawi tobacco sales open with better prices

Thu 5 Apr 2007, 8:48 GMT

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LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi's tobacco auction floors opened this week with prices supported by a smaller-than-normal crop, officials said on Thursday.

The biggest auction floors, which opened in the capital Lilongwe on Wednesday, saw farmers sell their crop between $1.70 and $1.60 per kg compared to last year when the leaf at the opening sold at about $1 per kg.

"With such prices, I am assured of making a profit and continuing tobacco farming," said Samuel Mbewe, a small tobacco farmer.

Official figures indicate that a farmer in Malawi spends about a dollar to produce a kilogram (2.2 lb) of tobacco.

"So far, so good, we have started so well considering that this is the first crop," Godfrey Chapola, general manager for Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) told Reuters.

Limbe Leaf Tobacco, majority owned by the Swiss-registered Continental Tobacco Company, and U.S.-based Alliance One Tobacco, are the active buyers who were last year ordered by Wa Mutharika to leave the country or offer better prices.

Wa Mutharika imposed a minimum price of 110 U.S. cents per kg and 170 cents for higher grade leaf. But buyers boycotted, raising fears the standoff could hit Malawi's forex earnings.

For many years tobacco prices have hovered around 70-90 U.S. cents per kg.

Wa Mutharika, who also farms tobacco, accused buyers of running a cartel to fix prices. The companies have denied the allegations

This year, the government registered another international buyer, U.S.-based based Premiere Leaf, in a bid to break the alleged cartel.

Tobacco accounts for over 70 percent of Malawi's exports and 15 percent of its gross domestic product, but for the last two years low prices have led to cuts in production.

Industry regulator Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) last week said this year's low production of 141,000 tonnes from 158,000 tonnes last year would result in better prices at auction.

Malawi's tobacco auctions run to mid-September.

Around 2 million of Malawi's 12 million people depend on tobacco and related industries for their livelihood.