UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
MALAWI NEWS ONLINE #34

Malawi News Online (34) - 09/19/97

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE

Edition #34 19 September 1997

In this edition:

Feature:

MY HANDS ARE CLEAN

Stories:

1. SOUTH AFRICA NOT LAND OF PLENTY

2. SADC SUPPORTS KABILA

3. CHILUBA DEFENDS 'AFRICAN DEMOCRACY'

4. HOSPITAL FEES HIKED BY 400 PERCENT

5. SADC MINING INDUSTRY DECLINE

6. MULUZI WARNS MOONLIGHTING TEACHERS

7. ADMARC RUNS OUT OF MAIZE

8. INTEREST RATES AND INFLATION SET TO RISE

9. MZUZU UNIVERSITY TO OFFER DISTANCE LEARNING

Feature:

MY HANDS ARE CLEAN

Few politicians who served in senior positions in the former regime can claim innocence in the more than fair share of torture to which the past regime subjected its citizens. State president Bakili Muluzi is one such person who until the early 80s was the former leader's number two in government. He now wants the nation to believe that his hands are clean.

Aged former leader, Kamuzu Banda, acknowledging the atrocities his government inflicted on the people of Malawi during his 30 year rule from independence in 1964, last year asked the Malawi nation to forgive him and his government for the suffering and humiliation they were subjected to at the hands of his government.

Thousands of Malawians were subjected to untold misery either by being thrown in jail or by fleeing into exile in fear of victimisation for being perceived as rebels or for harbouring views different from the ruling clique. Many were thrown into detention camps where they were left to 'rot' for years on end without being charged or tried in a court of law. Many politicians who fled into exile were followed by Banda's special secret agents and butchered, mostly by the notorious and now defunct Malawi Young Pioneers. Most prominent of those who perished abroad were journalist and politician, Mkwapatira Mhango. He was petrol-bombed together with most members of his family in Kamwala township in Zambia in 1987.

In 1983, in Zimbabwe, another political activist, Attati Mpakati was also killed by a letter bomb, suspected to have been the machination of Banda's agents. In the same year, four cabinet ministers, Aaron Gadama, Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala and MP David Chiwanga, were murdered in typical Mafia style. The government said, however, that the four had died in a car accident. Surprisingly, no inquiry was instituted to establish the circumstances leading to their deaths. Nobody, not even relatives, was allowed to mourn their deaths. As a result, the four men were not accorded burial ceremonies befitting their status.

In 1994, when president Muluzi came to power, he hurriedly instituted a commission of inquiry into the deaths of the four politicians. The findings of the inquiry led to the arrest and then prosecution of former president Kamuzu Banda, his confidante, Cecilia Kadzamira, MCP strongman, John Tembo, former police chief late Mac Williams Lunguzi and two other policemen, for murder. However, both the High and Supreme Court of Appeal cleared the seven people, a development that apparently has not gone down very well with the authorities in the Muluzi government, judging from Muluzi's recent remarks on the subject.

The president surprised many at a rally he addressed in Nkhata-Bay this month when he asked the opposition Malawi Congress Party to apologise to the nation for killing the four cabinet ministers, an issue which after going through the courts of law, was considered to be a closed one. Many lawyers lashed out at Muluzi for his statement which they said was aimed at interfering with independence of the judiciary.

In what was seen as an attempt to gain political mileage, the government in 1995, set up a body to compensate all those who suffered various types of atrocities during the reign of the former regime. Quite a number of people have benefited from the scheme, although those who have had the lion's share are the bigwigs in the ruling party.

There are many people though who are of the view that Muluzi is himself not free from the blood with which former leaders are smeared. MCP's administrative officer, Brian Mungomo, says Muluzi should lead the nation in apologising for any atrocities that the former regime committed. "Was MCP free from blame during the nine years he led the MCP as secretary general?" queries Mungomo.

After the inquiry into the deaths of the four cabinet ministers, Muluzi has lent a deaf ear to calls for the institution of more such inquiries to establish circumstances leading to the deaths of people like Mkwapatira Mhango and Attati Mpakati. The latter was killed while Muluzi served Kamuzu's government, and in the powerful position of secretary general, a position which most people associate with the brutality of the past regime.

At the Nkhata-Bay rally, Muluzi for the first time defended himself against the growing chorus of accusations that he might have played a role, or knew something about the deaths of some of the brutal killings. "The truth is that my hands are clean. They are not smeared with the blood of political opponents killed during the reign of Kamuzu," he said. Muluzi went to mention a long list of people who perished under the former regime either at home or in exile. Surprisingly, whether deliberately or not, this list did not include Mpakati.

Some political commentators are wondering whether Muluzi's public declaration that his hands are clean could signal the government's willingness to set up commissions of inquiry into the deaths of Mpakati, Mhango and others who were slaughtered in similar circumstances. Many Malawians are interested in seeing justice given to all those who suffered at the hands of the former administration - a good number of whom are today in Muluzi's government.

And until such commissions are set up, pleas of innocence by people like Muluzi and many others will not be taken seriously.

Stories:

1. SOUTH AFRICA NOT LAND OF PLENTY

South African president Nelson Mandela on September 8 asked people in the region not to expect too much from his country as a bastion for employment and a land of milk and honey.

Briefing journalists at a press conference at the close of this year's SADC heads of state and government summit which took place in Blantyre, Mandela said his country had not been spared the problems of unemployment.

He said SA was grappling with a lot of problems which it had inherited from the past regime, one of which was joblessness. Given such a situation, he said it was necessary to fill all jobs that were created, with local people.

He said the issue of immigrants to his country not only affected people in the sub-region but also those from as far afield as West Africa, a number of whom claim to have harboured South African nationals in exile.

2. SADC SUPPORTS KABILA

At the end of the September 8 SADC summit held in Malawi, the group grew larger by admitting two new members to its family

The two are the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, and the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles, which swelled the regional body's membership to 14. The admission of the two countries follows consultations and evaluation of their applications during the summit.

Chairman of the summit, SA president Nelson Mandela, said the summit was impressed with how president Laurent Kabila was working on efforts to bring real democracy to his country which had for a long time been under the dictatorship of the late Mobutu Sese Seko. Kabila ousted the late Mobutu from power in May after a bloody six months war.

"We are impressed with Kabila's democratic advancements and that he has shown interest in holding local government elections and establishment of democratic institutions," said Mandela.

He said, however, Kabila needed the support of a body like SADC to bring real democracy to his country and that his application to join SADC was timely.

3. CHILUBA DEFENDS 'AFRICAN DEMOCRACY'

Zambian president Frederick Chiluba on September 8 defended the brand of democracy in developing countries saying that democracy in developing countries should not be compared to that of Britain or the USA.

Speaking at a banquet President Bakili Muluzi hosted for SADC heads of state and government at the end their three-day long annual summit held in Blantyre, Chiluba called on his colleagues to beat the dependency syndrome.

Chiluba said democracy in Africa cannot be achieved within a short period of time. "We are on a long journey to democracy and this requires our patience," he said. "The danger in Africa is that there are some people who go abroad and stay there for three weeks and when they come back, they compare our democracy to that of Britain. Do you want Malawi to democratise as America within five years," he queried.

He warned opposition leaders who want to ascend to power to wait until those in office finish their tenure.

4. HOSPITAL FEES HIKED BY 400 PERCENT

The Ministry of Health raised hospital fees recently in paying wards at the country's two referral hospitals of Queen Elizabeth and Lilongwe Central hospitals by up to as much as 400 percent, rendering treatment at the hospitals an expensive affair.

Before a patient can even be shown a bed in the less congested sections of the two hospitals, authorities demand to see MK600 (USD35) cash deposit or proof that one has secure medical cover. "No money, no admission," said principal secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Wesley Sangala. Prior to this change, the hospitals were charging a deposit of MK150 (US$9) which many people found affordable.

As if MK600 -- which excludes the cost of drugs and consultations by doctors - is not enough trouble for patients, nightly fees of MK300(US$17.5) and MK150 are levied for a bed in the side wards and open ward of the paying wing respectively. This represents an increase of 400 percent and 300 percent respectively for the two types of paying sections.

Sangala said in an interview that the fees have been increased to raise funds for the construction of a fence around the hospital in Blantyre. This was because the hospital has been dogged for a long time by thefts perpetrated by outsiders as well as staffers. He said the money will also be used to make improvements at the hospitals such as painting the rooms and carrying out maintenance He also said that part of the money will also be used to purchase ambulances.

5. SADC MINING INDUSTRY DECLINE

SADC's mining industry has declined recently due to lack of investment in the sector in most members states.

SADC's co-ordinator of the mining sector, John Chanda, briefing journalists at a recent press conference, said the community was aware that the region was competing for investment with other mining regions like the United States, South America, Australia and Eastern Asia.

Harmonising of our mining policies and regulations will greatly enhance SADC's investment. "We should not be following policies which may result in us trying to out do each other as this will dilute our comparative advantages," he said. Chanda noted that there had been a growing trend by the mining companies and financiers in adopting hard and uncompromising stands on African countries towards the mining sector. "They have down played the attractive geographical potential by pronouncing lack of physical infrastructure, security and the political risks as major factors affecting investment in Africa.

Chanda said the SADC region was endowed with the world's most important minerals such as platinum group metals, nickel, chromite, diamonds, copper, gold and cobalt, adding that the mining industry contributes about 60 percent to the region's foreign exchange earnings, an average of 10 percent to Gross Domestic Product and about five per cent to the total employment.

While Botswana's mining industry contributes 33 per cent to GDP, Malawi's non-existent mining industry contributes only 0.1 percent.

6. MULUZI WARNS MOONLIGHTING TEACHERS

Teachers caught attending to private classes at the expense of the pupils they were employed to teach in government schools, will be fired, president Bakili Muluzi warned recently.

"I am really disturbed to hear that some of you are ignoring the work for which government is paying you and engaging in private teaching for which you demand money from the pupils," said Muluzi.

Muluzi was reacting to reports that some teachers had almost abandoned government work for private teaching which earned them extra money, noting that this undermines the free primary education programme his government introduced in 1994. Muluzi said he would not hesitate to fire teachers should reports persist of teachers dodging their classes in favour of part-time classes.

7. ADMARC RUNS OUT OF MAIZE

The Agricultural development and Marketing Corporation, the country's leading agricultural inputs and produce buyer, has no maize this year for sale. Admarc board chairman Kaphwiti Banda said the statutory corporation had no stock.

"I don't want to frighten people, but I feel it is better to tell the truth," he said in an interview, adding that farmers did not harvest enough maize to sell to the corporation this year. This was because of poor rains as well as floods in some places.

He said Admarc expected to buy 130,000 metric tonnes from local farmers "but up to now we have not even bought 12,000 tones". He dismissed speculation that Admarc failed to buy the maize because it had no money, adding that local farmers failed to sell maize to Admarc even when the buying price had been raised by 30 percent.

He said in view of this Admarc has asked government to assist it in the importation of maize.

8. INTEREST RATES AND INFLATION SET TO RISE

Increased government borrowing for the past five months is likely to hike inflation and interest rates and lead to further devaluation of the Kwacha by Christmas, Stockbrokers Malawi Limited, chief executive, Rob Stangroom has said.

"The market should brace itself for increased inflation and interest rates and further devaluation after tobacco sales close," he said. He also said it was doubtful if enough money could be raised to cover the huge budget deficit created by increased government borrowing and spending since April.

Reserve Bank general manager for economic services, Ian Bonongwe, admitted inflation is expected to rise between 10 to 15 from the present 7 percent and that there could also be a slight rise in interest rates.

He however said the bank did not expect any further currency devaluation this year. The Kwacha is currently pegged at K17.2 to the US dollar from K15 some three months ago following a plunge of the currency by 12 percent in July.

9. MZUZU UNIVERSITY TO OFFER DISTANCE LEARNING

At a distance education review three-day workshop held in the capital, Lilongwe, and attended by participants from Canada, Tanzania and other neighbouring countries, tertiary level distance education was discussed. The university is expected to offer distance learning to students from next year.

Some 120,000 secondary school pupils fight for a place in the constituent colleges of the University of Malawi every year, but less than 3,000 get a place.

An official of the university's working committee, Ron Mkomba, said that when the university opens its doors early next year, it would start with the faculty of education to address the shortage of secondary school teachers.

Livingstonia Synod general secretary Overtown Mazunda has been appointed chairman of Mzuzu University board of trustees.

******************************************* From: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk (Africa_news Network) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 16:22:31 +0200 Subject: MALAWI NEWS ONLINE #34 Message-ID: <1262325599.20725337@inform-bbs.dk>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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