HAPPY NEW YEAR! (from the Editorial)

We hope you all had a very succesful 2008. Looking forward we can only be hopeful for the future. 2009 looks bright despite the global financial crisis. Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States and with your help Bakili Muluzi will be denied the keys to the State House

The outcomes of this year will solely depend on our actions. In order to realize the Malawian dream we all seek, our actions this year will matter. Our destiny shall not be determined by another, but ourselves. This year we are up against the old who are stuck in their old ways. They will stop at nothing to reclaim what they think is rightly theirs. However Malawians are tired and craving for something new and greater, a government that serves the people. They are yearning for a leader who will tell them the truth, a leader who will not heap promises on the people without delivering on his promises, a leader who will lead the people with both vision and intergrity, an educated leader. As we look forward to the future, we cannot afford another ten years of Bakili Muluzi.

This election season, we should not leave any stones unturned in our quest to preserve democracy and ensure prosperity for the people of Malawi. Your efforts are required in this quest, we urge you to be more involved whether it is in your neighbourhood or in the village. By simply talking with your neighbours and relatives on the future of the country and which direction we should take, you will help each other bring the issues into perspective, healthy debates are always welcome.
We must also remember that registering alone is not enough, we need all the votes to succeed this year especially with the urban vote. With this in mind encourage your neighbours and relatives to turn up on Election Day to vote. Again we need all the votes out this year to help us make our statement loud and clear, we are the chosen generation to make this very important choice.

The battle will be epic, monumental and will not be easy, but with your help we will make the right decision for future generations by sending BAKILI MULUZI back to retirement where he belongs and this time, for good.


A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

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Bakili Muluzi should quit now to avoid embarrassment

It will be a day of celebration for some and a day for sorrow for others. May 15th will be the day Bakili Muluzi will be put in his rightful place, away from tax payer's and donor money and away from the most powerful seat in the country. Oh what a great day it will be, when the Malawian people once and for all stand up against the foolery of Muluzi and company.We shall celebrate with pomp and ceremony. I get great strength from the words of Barack Obama when he says, YES,WE CAN and Malawians YES WE WILL. Next year parliament will be singing a new tune. We shall be able to move away from the petty politics that have characterized parliament for four years now. Most of all, we will move away from turning our beloved country into Bakili Muluzi's play ground. We shall bring back values we have lost over the years like believing in working hard honestly to be rewarded.

Freedom Day will indeed bare a stronger meaning after we are done away with Bakili Muluzi next year. We will know on that day that neither Malawi nor the presidency belongs to a single individual.We shall celebrate a government of the people by the people and for the people. Hopefully it will also mark the beginning of a prosperous future for our children and grand children. Already Malawi for the past 4 years has performed remarkably by all measures with a new philosophy of managing courtesy of the current administration. I certainly hope this is the calibre of the next generation of politicians we are seeing today, people like Goodall Gondwe. They should be commended for the job they are doing. The President too should be commended for allowing Goodall Gondwe to carry out his duties without any interference as it was in the Muluzi administration.

All I can do now is encourage my whole village to go to the polls on May 14th to be part of history when we will tell Mr Muluzi once and for all in a single tick that Malawi needs serious leadership and can actually survive without him, something he obviously still has not come to terms with.

After all is said and done, Muluzi should ask himself this question as we near the elections, is it worth it? For all the false hopes given to his supporters, for all the travelling (whistle stops?), all the fees for the battalion of lawyers he has hired to get into office through the back door and for all the time and resources wasted on rallies. Is it really worth it? I figured I should poise this question now so he starts thinking about it before he faces reality on May 14th. I am no psychologist but I understand it is a good coping mechanism to prepare one self for the worst case scenario.

Next year will surely be an eventful year. I am also keen to witness the loyalty from Muluzi's new found friends in Mr Chakuamba, Mr Kasambara and gang.

I have renewed faith in the Malawian people and know Freedom, justice and prosperity will carry the day on May 14th. This is a new Malawi and definitely a new and consious generation. No amount of foolery will fool Malawians. Not this time.

Emmanuel K
Lilongwe

Should Malawi sell its maize surplus to neighbours experiencing food shortages or should we just donate it

THE Malawian government has responded to the
current food shortage and hunger situation in the country by donating
over 5 000 metric tonnes of maize.

This
consignment was officially handed over to government yesterday by the
Malawian high commissioner to Swaziland, Dr. Martin Kansichi and
received on behalf of government by the Minister of Regional
Development and Youth Affairs Chief Sipho Shongwe at the National Maize
Corporation yesterday.

Speaking during the occasion, Dr. Kansichi
said upon hearing about the acute food shortage in some countries in
Southern Africa including Swaziland, Malawi was seriously touched
especially because that country had experienced similar problems for a
long time as well. He said Malawi had ever been assisted by development
partners as well as countries from within the SADC region whenever
there were food shortage problems, hence the decision to reciprocate
the favour. “Our President therefore saw it wise to assist our brothers
and sisters as a sign of good neighbourliness and good will. We belong
to SADC as a regional bloc and it will not be good for Malawi to sit
down and watch when neighbours are suffering. It is our strong belief
that as members of SADC, we should be able to assist one another in
times of problems like food shortages first before asking those outside
our region to help,” said Dr. Kansichi.

Meanwhile, the high
commissioner said the food shortage problem slows down development
because resources are quite often diverted to programmes aimed at
mitigating the food deficit.

“If you are importing food the
country loses the scarce foreign currency. You definitely can not avoid
spending more than what has been budgeted for because every citizen has
the right to food and needs social protection from government.

Making
his remarks upon receiving the donation, Minister Chief Sipho Shongwe
registered his concern with the fact that the prevalent hunger
situation was seemingly here to stay in the country. He said there are
clear indications that there shortfall of maize and food may continue
if the dry spells and erratic rainfalls are anything to go by. He also
lamented the recent storm winds and veld fires which devastated a
number of homesteads.

It is unjustifiable to reject Ministry of Information vote

By The Daily Times - 26 August 2008 - 11:24:29

The rejection of a vote for the Ministry of Information and Civic
Education by members of Parliament (MPs) Monday is unwarranted and
misguided.



The MPs wanted just to get even with Minister of Information Patricia
Kaliati, whom they have failed to admonish for her outspoken approach
to the opposition.



This was an unfortunate thing for the MPs to do as they only disturbed
a somewhat smooth flow of Committee of Supply stage of the budget
sitting.



For starters, this is not the first time that MPs have rejected the vote, for reasons that are more personal than objective.



It is a known fact that Kaliati, outspoken as she is, has crossed paths
with her opposition opponents. During last budget sitting, the
opposition rejected her ministry’s vote purely because they wanted to
punish her and press her to apologise over some mudslinging she was
involved in at a public function.



In our view, the rejection of her ministry’s vote yesterday was a
repeat of the emotional and hateful approach towards her that we all
witnessed during the 2007/08 budget debate.



The minister, for goodness sake, is a mere political head of her
institution, the Ministry of Information. She does not own it like a
farm. The President, in exercise of his powers, can choose to reshuffle
cabinet and shift her to another government portfolio, or fire her from
the cabinet altogether. It, therefore, wouldn’t make sense to reject
the vote for the ministry because that entails victimising innocent
staff at the ministry, whose salaries are factored into the vote, which
the MPs mercilessly rejected yesterday.



Again, linking her ministry to state media houses, MBC and TVM, is
another argument that does not hold water at all. The MPs do not solve
the problem of biased coverage of politics by the two institutions by
rejecting the Ministry of Information’s vote. After all, when the House
last year approved a nominal allocation of K1 each for the two
institutions, which in essence was a rejection of their votes, this
only boomeranged on the MPs themselves as the two institutions went on
to launch hard-hitting programmes namely Makiyolobasi, Mizwanya and
Mpungwepungwe Pandale.



In our view, the solution, like we have always advocated, is for the
MPs, especially the opposition MPs, to use their numerical strength in
the House to change the legal framework under which the two
institutions operate.



The MPs could move a motion in the House to make the media houses truly
independent, by for instance, changing the law that empowers the
President to appoint the boards for the two institutions.



However, our honourable MPs are hypocritical and they let MBC and TVM
operate the way they do so that one day when they get into government,
they could equally abuse the media outlets in the manner in which the
incumbent government is or previous ones were doing.



Why is it that for 10 years, the UDF did not bother to change MBC and
TVM so that they cover all parties in a balanced, fair and impartial
manner? Why did it have to take them to land in the opposition for them
to realise that MBC and TVM cover politics unprofessionally?



Certainly, it could have appeared wise of UDF if they had corrected
things when they were in power than to assume a holier than thou
attitude today.



All in all, we condemn the MPs for rejecting the vote for the Ministry
of Information. It was purely personal. We implore them to look at the
vote soberly and realise that Kaliati is not the Ministry of
Information, and conversely, the ministry is not Kaliati. Let them pass
the ministry’s vote.

It is sad we do not appreciate one another until one is departed, RIP Respicious Dzanjalimodzi

Dzanjalimodzi:Voice of reason gone for good

By The Daily Times - 15 August 2008 - 10:49:43

Parliament is supposed to be a House of honour and substance. But for
the most part, the Malawi Parliament has not lived up to this public
expectation--certainly not in recent times.

However, there are names of parliamentarians such as the Goodall
Gondwes, the Aleke Bandas and the Malewezis of this world who have
given the nation some hope that there are still some truly honourable
people out there that are in Parliament to serve the country. This list
of men of honour in Parliament would not be complete without the
mention of one Respicious Dzanjalimodzi.

When the news broke Thursday morning that Honourable Dzanjalimodzi had
breathed his last in South Africa after a short illness, it came as a
shock that the country had just lost a beacon of hope. It had lost yet
another true patriot who stood head and shoulder amongst those who
understood that there was no greater honour than serving one’s country.

Some of our parliamentarians have never done anything of substance in
their own lives. So, some of the things that they do in Parliament
should not be entirely surprising. But late Dzanjalimodzi came from a
completely different mould of politicians.

Dzanjalimodzi had a distinguished career in government as a technocrat
and administrator, serving in various capacities including Secretary to
the Treasury. He was, therefore, someone who understood the functioning
of government. When he stood to contribute, the House listened.

As secretary to the Treasury, he had served many organisations where he
was an ex-officio board member representing government interests. He
had many times assisted ministers put together the national budget and
also prepare responses to queries from members of Parliament.

So when the current budget session reconvened last week and there was
the conspicuous absence of Respicious Dzanjalimodzi, his constructive
comments and suggestions were greatly missed. Little did his colleagues
know that he would not be returning to the august House.

Many Malawians have greeted the news of his death with disbelief. Once
again, the country has been robbed of an illustrious son who was
destined for great things in the political arena.

As the country struggles to find its feet on the political and economic
front, it was people like Dzanjalimodzi who were providing some form of
comfort that no matter what our different political persuasions might
be, we are first and foremost Malawians.

As we mourn this great son of the land, we need to reflect on what we
want for our country and what legacy we would like to leave behind for
our children.

This soul-searching is not just for parliamentarians but by all who
would like to serve the public whether it be in government, commerce
and indeed in politics itself.

If there is one lesson that Dzanjalimodzi has left behind, it is that
being in opposition does not mean opposing everything and anything and
that it is possible to be down to earth and make meaningful
contributions and not just engage in the tongue lashing, which has
characterised the debates in the House.

We hereby join the family and the nation in mourning this great son of
Malawi. A true patriot is gone when the country needed him most. His
contribution to the nation will always be remembered by his colleagues
and even those who were on the opposite sides.

Opposition should learn to be sincere

By The Daily Times

There is something extremely wrong with our National Assembly that
beats common sense. Only on Tuesday leader of the opposition and elder
statesman John Tembo told the House that he did not want the wrangles
between his side and the government benches to derail the budget. He
said the misunderstandings were a thing of the past and wished
government well in its implementation of the financial blueprint.



Most Malawians breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that. Some of
them could not believe what they had heard since Tembo has been the
choirmaster in the song that wants Section 65 first and budget later.
These skeptics were proved right less than 24 hours later and those who
were gullible enough as to trust the leader of the opposition’s
cleverly delivered sentiments ended up completely in the wrong.



Alas! Come Wednesday, the opposition in the House did not go into the
committee of supply to finalise the budget as most well-wishing
Malawians had hoped for after Tembo wound up the debate on the budget
with a sweet promising and flattering speech on Tuesday. The opposition
were shamelessly back to their old antics demanding Section 65 and
mounting other hurdles in the way like asking government to explain
over-expenditure from last year before the House could plunge into the
committee of supply.



One thing came out clearly from this unpredictable behaviour of the
opposition, either Tembo is a fluent liar, which we would hate to
believe, or he does not command much respect among his ranks.



Yes the opposition is supposed to demand an explanation on
over-expenditure in the votes that it passed last year to keep the
government in check but not while sacrificing the budget. In fact, this
process is supposed to start immediately after the budget is passed and
not wait to be used as a means to reject the next budget.



Simply put, what the opposition has done is hypocrisy. All along the
government side has been portrayed as the devil’s advocate especially
when they refused to sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU),
crafted by the clergy to end the impasse in Parliament. From their most
recent actions it is apparent that the opposition is not sincere and
that could be the reason why the government is cautious not to take
them on their word.



But as we have said before, Malawi is our country as most of us have
nowhere else to live and, therefore, those in leadership, most of whom
have flats abroad and go to hospital in South Africa, should not play
with innocent lives. Our children learn in Malawi schools, not in
London and the majority poor need the subsidised fertiliser to push up
yields, more so with the increase in global food prices. Please pass
the budget.

When does a gift cease to be a gift and become a bribe that compromises a public officer

Dorothy Kweyu
Nairobi

A
MALAWI HIGH COURT JUDGE is making waves for unusual reasons. In a
corruption-prone continent, Mr Justice Edward Twea has caught the
nation's imagination after rejecting a cash "gift" from former
President Bakili Muluzi.

Mr Muluzi is the man
who made history when he dislodged President Kamuzu Banda to become
post-independence Malawi's second president in 1994.

And the good judge, according to media reports, handled the rejection
rather dramatically; he had the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal
deputy registrar return Sh7,000 (15,000 kwacha) to Mr Muluzi, who had
given him the "gift" when the former was admitted to a hospital in
Blantyre last year.

Mr Justice Twea had good cause to reject Mr
Muluzi's cash gift; he happens to be one of the three constitutional
court judges handling a case that seeks to interpret Section 83(3) of
Malawi's constitution, which seeks to restrict the president, the
vice-president and the second vice-president to a maximum two
consecutive terms.

Mr Muluzi became president
on a crest of popularity following decades of the Banda dictatorship.
Then, Malawi Young Pioneers held sway.

The
Pioneers literally forced beleaguered citizens to buy membership cards
from the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which alone guaranteed
their access to markets, grinding mills, hospitals, transport, you name
it.

The Young Pioneers would simply leave a batch of cards at an office, only coming back for the money.

Pregnant women had to buy, not only their cards, but also for their yet-to-be born babies.

These Pioneers had a military wing reportedly trained by Israelis, which was better equipped than the national army.

IT
WAS, THEREFORE, WITH A HUGE sigh of relief that Mr Muluzi took the
reins of power a year after a successful referendum for multiparty
politics in 1993.

But Mr Muluzi's good will
among the people was short-lived - a fact that was amply demonstrated
when he failed to convince Malawians to allow him to run for a third
term.

Enough about historical background; the
issue at hand is Mr Justice Twea's rejection of Mr Muluzi's K15,000.
Not only that; the country's Anti-Corruption Bureau is currently
investigating the former president on another case involving bribery of
court clerks.

While the amount involved may be
trivial, there is no escaping the judge's own explanation: " it would
be inappropriate and unethical for him to accept the money that
accompanied your good will message", wrote the registrar of the High
Court.

Given that the money was linked to Mr
Muluzi's visit to the judge, who had been admitted to hospital when the
gift was made, it is easy to accuse the judge of being petty.

After all, isn't common for relatives, friends and well-wishers to offer gifts to those in hospital?

And
yet, Mr Muluzi was not your normal well-wisher; he is a former Head of
State seeking another term. It is, therefore, common sense that his
financial gift should raise a red flag.

Secondly, Mr Justice Twea's rejection draws attention to the thin line
between traditional hospitality and graft. When does a gift cease to be
a gift and become a bribe that compromises a public officer in the
execution of his duties?