Malawi electoral campaign smooth: EU observer

BLANTYRE (AFP) — Malawi's electoral campaign, which ended on Sunday
morning before next week's elections, has been "smooth, very calm and
peaceful," said a European Union official.

"Overall, the
campaigning seems to have been all right. Freedom of expression has
been assured by everyone in accordance with international standards,"
Luisa Morgantini, head of the EU's observer mission, told AFP.

The
EU, with 83 observers on election day, will be the largest
internatiuonal observation mission in the southern African country's
fourth parliamentary and presidential elections since the end of the
Kamuzu Banda dictatorship 15 years ago.

The EU's core team and long-term observers will remain in Malawi until mid-June to cover the post-election period.

Other
observer missions are from the Commonwealth group of nations, the
African Union (AU), headed by John Kufuor, former president of Ghana,
and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Campaigning kicked off on March 20, after parliament had automatically dissolved.

However,
the EU observer chief noted that incumbent President Bingu wa
Mutharika, had "more public media coverage" than all contestants.

"It was clear, there was total difference of participation in the public media," she said.

The Mutharika administration gave a total news black-out to the opposition on state radio and television.

However,
she said the mission was in the country to "observe and make
recomendations. We hope the Malawi people will choose the best
candidates."

Mutharika will slug it out with main contender John
Tembo of the Malawi congress party (MCP), who is in alliance with
former president Bakili Muluzi's United Democratic Front.

About 5.8 million people are registered for the presidential and parliamentary poll on May 19.

Some 1,151 candidates, including independents, are vying for 193 parliamentary seats.

Muluzi election bar brings 'relief' to Malawians

BLANTYRE (AFP) — A constitutional court ruling dismissing
ex-president Bakili Muluzi's application to run for president for a
third time had "brought relief" to Malawians, the media said Sunday.

"The
ruling did not come as a big surprise to many... the fact that the
issue was settled by the courts has brought a lot of relief to
Malawians," the Sunday Nation said in its editorial.

It added:
"The political tension created by the debate on whether the
constitution allows a former president to bounce back after serving two
terms is almost over.

"With this matter settled for now, the focus of every Malawian will now shift to Tuesday's presidential and parliamentary poll."

Some
5.8 million Malawians are due to vote on May 19 in the country's fourth
multi-party since the end of Kamuzu Banda's dictatorship 15 years ago.

Constitutional
court judge Edward Twea said in the ruling that Muluzi, who served his
two terms as president from 1994 to 2004, is not eligible to bounce
back, as the constitution limits the president -- and also the vice
president and the second vice president -- to a maximum of two
consecutive terms.

Kalekeni Kaphale, lead lawyer for Muluzi, said they would appeal the decision.

Muluzi,
66, who defeated dictator Banda in the country's first multi-party in
1994, was in March disqualified from running for a third term.

The
electoral commission said he had hit his two-term limit, although
Muluzi had consistently argued the limit applies only to consecutive
terms.

Muluzi said he had only served for two consecutive terms
and was thereafter succeeded by the incumbent state president, saying
there was no possibility of life presidency.

Banda had declared
himself president for life, and the term limits were introduced to
prevent another ruler from making a similar move.

Muluzi has
entered an unlikely electoral alliance with the Malawi Congress Party,
once the instrument of Banda's oppressive rule.

He's supporting
John Tembo, Banda's former lieutenant, in his bid to unseat President
Bingu wa Mutharika, his handpicked successor and now estranged protege
who ditched Muluzi to form his own Democratic Progressive Party.

Muluzi
had selected Mutharika as his successor after failing to convince
parliament to amend the constitution to allow him a third consecutive
term.

LUCIUS: WRITING HIS OWN BIBLE?

By Mankhokwe Namusanya

NEITHER you nor I authored the story nor did we - even humorously - contribute anything to the story; it is said that it was God the almighty (Allah) who authored it indirectly through some people who are now in paradise enjoying with Him as do most Malawians now with the food security they have in total contrast to the famine they experienced during the tenure of one Elson Bakili Muluzi, a man from Machinga district, Kapoloma village to be specific.

The story mentioned earlier is in the Bible and it is about Moses - Moses and the Israelites. It also concerns Joshua and, of-course, Pharaoh who was the ruler of Egypt then. For further reading one can consult any holy Bible that contains the books; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges, and read the said books or just consult any theologian, pastor, apostle, reverend, sheikh, etcetera.

The period 2007 saw Malawians (some not all) christening some person the title 'Moses' and therefore, by default, christening another 'Pharaoh'. The man who was awarded the title 'Moses' is the now president, Bingu wa Mutharika PhD., and his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi, was the one blessed with the title 'Pharaoh'. Some quarters then disagreed with the man who did the naming, Phungu Joseph Nkasa, but as of late it seems the same quarters are agreeing with him completely.

One guy who seemed, by all signs and symptoms, to disagree with Nkasa's observation was one Balaka-based musician, 'soldier' Lucius Banda JCE., who had his own version of Pharaoh as he explicitly announced in his hate-filled song Farao which appears in one of his recent albums, perhaps Cell 51, I am not really certain on that. But, recently, the man who was once an MP for Balaka north, has caught up with the truth and has come to agree that Bingu, the man who has heavily delivered despite being faced by an extremely hostile opposition, is indeed the latter day Moses.

Lucius, in his song Ndi Moto in which he is campaigning for John Zenas Ungapake Tembo - the one whom Muluzi said is a murderer - and therefore de-campaigning Bingu - the one whom the same Muluzi said is an economic engineer - has audibly audible accepted that Bingu is Moses. The guy cites the Bible and the very story of Moses to be painfully specific but, it is doubtful if he really cites the same Bible that is read in our churches each and every Saturday and Sunday including the one that was patronized by Crook (thus according to Muluzi) John Tembo and Katangale (thus according to Makande and BJ Mpinganjira) Bakili Muluzi that is located somewhere in the city of Mzuzu which connects to Chitipa district where Muluzi promised to construct a road which he is yet to construct.

In the same song, Lucius says that Tembo is the latter day Joshua who is to take over the mantle of leadership from the latter day Moses and lead us into Canaan - strange, isn't it? All the original Bibles on earth indeed do agree that Joshua succeeded Moses but not with the help of Pharaoh. If Lucius accepts that Bingu is Moses, then he is also accepting that Muluzi is pharaoh since it was Moses who succeeded Pharaoh in leading (is it leading really?) the Israelites.

Now, if Tembo is to be Joshua it means that he comes from the Israelite family and has no agreement with Pharaoh who in this case is Muluzi. And, Joshua was never an opposer of Moses but rather his supporter and therefore it is somehow blasphemous to call Tembo Joshua for the entire world knows how this Tembo fought against all the developmental projects that Moses Mutharika undertook including the national budget. Tembo himself is also being sponsored by Muluzi, who is pharaoh in this case, to remove Mutharika, who is Moses in this play, from power; this simply makes the whole process of naming Tembo as Joshua illogical and to say the least, CHILDISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Lucius accepts that Mutharika is Moses then he is also surely accepting that Mutharika will win the general election this coming 19th for Joshua has not yet come as he is to come from Bingu's camp that comprises of his supporters as was Joshua to Moses, which in this scenario is the DPP. As of now, we are still in the wilderness being pursued by Pharaoh (Muluzi) and his army that is being commanded by commander Tembo who is trying to cheat us that he is the savior.

I said it before and I say it now again: we did not write the Bible nor did we write the story but God wrote it through his holy ones. As they say, 'history repeats itself.' GO and READ the Bible once again, the story of Moses and the Israelites, and see how Pharaoh pursued the Israelites and how they (the Israelites) became tensed as Malawians are now. Do not stop there but also see how Pharaoh, his armies and his commanders ended.

Was it good? I ask you. 

Feature

QUOTES THAT ARE TO LIVE

By MANKHOKWE NAMUSANYA

History safuta ayi. (Literally meaning, history is never erased.)

—Atupele Muluzi’s father, Elson Muluzi

THERE was once some cartoon in some newsletter on some campus about some certified professor who always began, progressed and ended all his lectures with quotes. The good professor always started his lectures by saying so and so said such and such, and so and so said this and that, a habit that also went on in the course of his lectures all the way through to the end of the lectures up to a point that one male student wondered on who was going to quote the intelligent professor for he never said anything himself but just repeated what others already said long before he was even born.

And, talking about quotes and quoting, many intelligent people nowadays seem to be solely surviving on quotes to look very intelligent and one of those quotes which is mostly quoted and drives many in their quests and, I strongly believe, shall stand the taste of time is that from the current US president Barrack Obama. It is a simple and straightforward quote and not unusual; it proclaims: ‘YES WE CAN!’ end of quote.

The quote, as used by many, does not go any further than that, does not elaborate what is it that we can, how we can, why we can, when we can, where we can, etcetera. It just says we can without elaborating and I also believe, yes we can. That quote is one of the quotes that I strongly do suppose shall live for it unusually inspires and provokes -in a positive way- ambitions specially hidden in us as individuals. One great thing that I learnt from that quote the first time I heard it was that I and you also can; yes we can also use quotes as all important people do like the professor in that cartoon that really did not impress me until now.

If you think that no we cannot then I say let us try using quotes and bring them out here; real quotes that have and will always stand the taste of time, quotes that are original and were said by people who were purely and soberly sober, and really meant what they said, real quotes ladies and gentlemen like these:

• "Of all people I know Tembo better. I cannot allow him to succeed me and I can’t recommend him."

-Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

• Tembo is a crook. He is a criminal!
• Mr. John Tembo is the one who killed the three ministers in Mwanza. There’s a record on Mr. Gadama, as you all know he was a catholic, gripping his rosary and pleading with Mr. Tembo saying, ‘mukundipheranji?’ (Why are you killing me?). Inu a Malawi lero ati tikakhale pansi ati tivotele John Tembo? (Malawians, do you think it’s logical for us today to be saying we have to vote for John Tembo?)
• I have a tape with me here in which Tembo together with other MCP members were plotting to kill all the catholic bishops for authoring the pastoral letter of 1992.
• Boma la MCP linali boma lankhanza kwambiri. Eti lero pawailesi n’kumanena ati tikavotere kokoliko. (The MCP government was a very cruel government. Strangely, they were saying on the radio today that we vote for the same cruel government.)
• Tembo is an ungrateful fellow. I gave him money to pay for water and electricity, and also buy clothes for his party women.
• Brown Mpinganjira is adulterous; he snatched another man’s wife – the wife of Mr. Lossa, a church elder at CI. Inu, kodi mwamzimayi wa ana faivi umvamo chani, osangobwera kudzatenga ma D7 ali panowa bwanji? (No translation please, please, please!)
• Kamlepo Kalua wachamba. (Kamlepo Kalua smokes marijuana)

-Bakili Muluzi, malawi’s former head of state and UDF national chairman (NB: all these things were spoken on public rallies)

• Boma la MCP/UDF coalition lizakulolani a maminibasi kukhala folofolo. (The MCP/UDF government will allow you minibus owners to overload your minibuses.)
• Things have changed, MCP has changed and I also have changed.
• Ine ndi puludzu (or buluzu?), sin’lapa ayi. (I am  unrepentant (or lizard?), I don’t repent)

-Mr. John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, MCP president.

Have you now seen? We can also use quotes and believe them and let them be our drive. I tell you that the people quoted above meant what they said and therefore we are more than safe if we trust those quotes.

‘YES WE CAN’ – one of the quotes that are to live.

Vuto liri ndi a Malawi n’loti sitichedwa kuiwala.

(The problem with Malawians is that we forget very easily.)

• Patricia Shanil Muluzi’s husband, Elson Muluzi.

Bingu praised at US summit

President Bingu wa Mutharika continues to receive praise for his policies on agriculture with the latest being recognition from former United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s envoy on HIV/Aids to Africa, Stephen Lewis.

According to Malawian Mpanje Phiri, who attended a conference on reviewing the relationship between food shortage and the HIV/Aids crisis and held in the United States last month, Lewis lauded Mutharika for standing up against pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) against subsidising fertiliser prices.

“I thought I should share the good news about our country’s image abroad since I was the only Malawian invited to the conference held in Kansas, Missouri,” said Phiri, a programme coordinator for a local relief NGO.

“Lewis singled out Malawi for achieving food security. He said Malawi has a president with rare skills and who successfully stood up to pressure from the World Bank and IMF against subsidising fertiliser prices.”

Asked if he broke the news to drum up support for Mutharika ahead of the May 19 polls, Phiri said he was not a politician and that if he were one, he should have gone on a political podium to announce the news.

In his speech, which Phiri showed to The Daily Times, Lewis said Mutharika made Malawi the only country to transform from a hungry nation to a food donor in the developing world because of his determination which also saw him stand pressure from some European countries and the US.

“Mutharika told these nations that if they were able to subsidise farm inputs for their farmers, there was nothing wrong with Malawi doing it for its farmers,” he said.

Phiri said other delegates, drawn from across the world, mobbed him during tea break to find out how Malawi achieved the feat and to congratulate him.

He added: “I felt very proud to be associated with such success. The moment he mentioned Malawi, I raised my hand to show that I was from the country.”

Canadian Lewis, now Coordinator of the Aids-Free World – an advocacy organisation promoting urgent and effective response to HIV issues, served as UN Secretary General Special Envoy on HIV/Aids to Africa between 2001 and 2006.

Lewis is the author of one of the bestselling books Race Against Time. He also served as United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Deputy Executive Director from 1995 to 1999, and has been awarded up to 28 honorary degrees by Canadian universities.

Africa would not only remember Lewis for his role in fighting HIV in the continent but also as a member of an International Panel of Eminent Personalities to investigate the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and its surrounding events to which he was appointed in 1998 by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

He also served as Canadian ambassador to the UN from 1984 to 1988.