malawi republic day supplement - 6th july 2013

7/28/2019 Malawi Republic Day Supplement - 6th July 2013

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HasMalawibecome

DenmarkofAfrica?P2

nGains, losses in 49 years P6

nWhat shameful 49 years of independenceKapito P4


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Special pullout weekend nation 6 july 2013Ufulundi mazikoachitukuko

Has Malawi become

Denmark of Africa?

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Dr Banda cheering people during Independence Day celebrationsPHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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On April 1 1960, thesecretary of State for theColonies, Ian Macleod,

released Dr Hastings KamuzuBanda from Gweru Prison inwhich Prime Minister of theFederation Roy Welensky hadincarcerated him.

The two men, Macleodand Banda, held discussionsat the government house in

Zomba about the future ofNyasaland.

The colonial secretary wasquite willing to grant theconstitutional changes thatwould lead Nyasaland toan independent State called

Malawi.But he advised Dr Banda

to let independent Malawiremain a member of theFederation.

No, said Dr Banda, anindependent Malawi withinthe Federation would onlybecome a glorified province ofSouthern Rhodesia.

After the discussions

and before MacLeod leftfor Mauritius, he issued apress statement in which heexpressed disappointmentthat Dr Banda was indifferentto the economic needs of hiscountry or something to that

effect.But was Dr Banda forgetful

of the economic needs of hispeople? Far from that. He was

soon to issue a statement thathe wanted to make Malawithe Denmark of Africa,

FAC

TS

ARCHIV

EF

AST

Ecobank1.

Escom2.

Illovo Sugar3.

Limbe Leaf4.

Malawi Revenue5.

Authorty

Mardef6.

National Library7.

Nico Holdings8.

Northern Region9.

Water Board

Roads Authority10.

Teveta11.

lThe headcount poverty slightly declined

from 52.4 to 50.2 percent between 2005

and 2011 according to the recent Inte-

grated Household Survey (IHS)

lOn April 1 1960, the secretary of State

for the Colonies, Ian Macleod, released

Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda from Gweru

Prison

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Kamuzu saw MW prospering through farmingSpecial eSSay

Denmark had prospered outof its agricultural resources,so would Malawi.

Though Malawi gained itsindependence from Britain onJuly 6 1964, Dr Banda had beenin charge of all internal affairsincluding economic mattersfrom February 1963 whenBritain granted Nyasalandself-government and Dr Banda

became prime minister.President Banda left office

in June 1994 31 years afterhe became the first primeminister, and then presidentof Malawi.

By that time, had Malawibecome wealthy or prosperousenough to be dubbed theDenmark of Africa? You betnot.

Hitherto, Malawi had onedaily and one weekly paper,both owned by the president.They had only been publishingthe success stories of theKamuzu/Malawi CongressParty (MCP) regime. Anythingnegative was concealed.

But by 1994, a dozen or soindependent newspapers hadsurfaced, most of them hostile

to the regime.Through these papers,people came to know that 60percent of Malawians wereliving below the internationalpoverty line.

This was despite theroads and railways that DrBandas government hadbuilt; secondary schoolsmushroomed, there was anational university and anew capital city. Indeed, timeand again Dr Banda boastedthat he had transformedMalawi beyond recognition,an assertion that was close totruth.

One thing that must be saidin favour of Dr Banda wasthat he was a man of clear andquantifiable visions.

He wanted Malawi to be to

Africa what Denmark was toEurope. Some of his aspirationswere more modest.

He said it did not matterwhat we, his people lacked solong as we had enough food,decent clothes and slept in

houses that did not leak.His successors were less

visionary. They have not quiterescued Malawi from thepoverty trap, 20 years afterthe new era started. In relativeterms, Malawi remains oneof the poorest countries in

Africa.Neighbouring countries such

as Tanzania and Mozambique

had per capita incomes not verydifferent from that of Malawi,but are on the threshold ofprosperity courtesy of their oiland gas discoveries. Even withthe exploitation of uranium,Malawi still trails well behind

most African countries.Does this mean in the

past 49 or 50 years Malawiseconomy has been at astandstill?

Does it mean thatMalawians have remainedas poor as they were duringthe pre-independence days?Nothing could be furtherfrom the truth.

Economists these daysdiscuss economic growthtogether with economicdevelopment. The latterprincipal relates to economicgrowth to its impact on thewelfare of the people. Have

there been changes in the livesof the people? You comparephotographs of Malawians 50years ago and now and youwill see that these days theylook better dressed, healthier.Even in rural centres, manypeople sleep in brick houseswith iron roofs; most of thevehicles on the roads areowned by Malawians.

Still there is no gain sayingthat Malawi is a poor country.What can we do to make ourcountry join middle-incomegroups?

A good deal will dependon visionary leadership. The

practice so far has been tostep into office and do thingsin the manner the predecessorwas doing.

In the book, Think and GrowRich, Napolean Hill addressesindividuals or private people.But the book offers lessonsthat presidents and theircabinets can find helpful; freshideas are required, presidents

should be surrounded by topnotch technocrats; the Statemust be developmental andcommitment to developmentshould be higher. Leadby example in matters ofdiligence and probity.

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Dr Banda inspecting a tobacco garden

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Feature

What shameful 49 years

of independenceKapito

O

u t s p o k e nconsumer rights

activist, JohnKapito has describedthe countrys 49 yearsof independence asshameful, arguing thatpeoples quality of lifeis still deteriorating andthe gap between the richand the poor continues towiden.

He says for Malawi,independence after 49

years should be measuredby the quality of lifepolitically, economicallyand socially; he howeverargues that it is hard tosee any improvement onthose indicators.

He further notes thatMalawi as a country ismore of a beggar thanbefore independence.Its leadership is ready topounce on any opportunityto enrich themselves,their family members andclose friends.

Wherever they are,the strong Malawiansthat fought for ourindependence areashamed to see a Malawithey fought and died forturned into a bananacountry. The current cropof Malawians continuesto be afraid to participateand demand democraticvalues that can be used tosustain the independencethat our leaders movementfought for.

Because of politicalpatronage, we havebeen turned into passiveobservers with no voice,whose main job is toclap hands and dancefor the dictators that weare putting into officeevery five years with nounderstanding on how wecan demand the fruits andbenefits of independencetrickle down to us,

BRENDA TWEAStaffRepoRteR

argues Kapito.He observes that after

49 years, the country hasonly managed to keep itsname as Malawi, its peoplestill impoverished whilethe rulers get richer.

While the level ofpublic participationhas been taken awayby the rulers, there isneed for Malawians tostand up again and fightfor their independenceirrespective of status. Ourfight now is not againstthe colonialists, but thecorrupt leaders that wehave been putting intooffice since independence.That requires all of us totake part, he implores.

In his e-mailed responseto questions, humanrights activist Rafiq Hajatwonders what Malawi hasto show after receivingbillions of dollars of aidfrom well-wishers, havingmeandered down the roadof development for 49years.

Malawi is one of theworlds poorest countries,ranking 160th out of 182countries on the HumanDevelopment Index(HDI). Progress towardsreaching the MillenniumDevelopment Goal (MDG)of eradicating extremepoverty has been limited.

According to the UnitedNations Development

Programmes HumanDevelopment Report for2009, about 74 percentof the population stilllives below the incomepoverty line of $1.25(about K437.50) a dayand 90 percent below the$2 (about K700) a daythreshold. The proportionof poor and ultra-poor ishighest in rural areas ofthe southern and northernparts of the country, hepoints out.

In addition, Hajatstates that access toassets, services andeconomic opportunities isprofoundly unequal acrossthe population.

Larger households are

more likely to be poor,particularly those withmany children. Access toeducation, a major driverof relative wealth, ishighly inequitable as well.Almost 30 percent of poorchildren do not even startprimary school, which isfree in Malawi. Secondaryand higher education islargely confined to non-poor households, mainlydue to the requiredenrolment fees, he says,adding that less than onepercent of the populationhas access to tertiaryeducation.

Limited access tomarkets and servicesis another constraint,

according to the humanrights activist.

Hajat points out thatthe rural poor tend tolive in remote areas withfew roads and means

of transport, whichlimits their economicopportunities

He further notes thataccess to financial servicesis severely restricted,especially for smallholderfarmers.

The litany goes onand on, but the questionthat should be asked is:Why are we still in this

abysmal situation despiteall the help that we havereceived over the past 49years?

Why are our peoplestill suffering in the throesof unremitting povertyand hunger despite livingamidst such fertile landand abundant waterbodies, that virtually anyseed that is planted herewill grow with minimalcare. Is our poverty dueto extraneous factorsor self-inflicted? Hajatquestions.

He says the currentquagmire is a result ofyears of cynical socialengineering which gaverise to the hedgerowmentality; the culture ofsilence; the atmosphereof fear and insecurity;as well as the suspicionand jealousy which haveprevailed for so long.

In short, my theory isthat our current situationhas been deliberatelycultivated by power elites,who subscribe to thedictum: if knowledge ispower, then all knowledgeshould be controlled bythe authorities and areguided by the philosophywhich expounds thatmasses who are kept poorand ignorant are easier torule with a few crumbsbrushed off the elitetable, he says.

Forty-nine years after independence most Malawians are still lacking clean waterPHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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On 6th July2014, Malawiwill turn 50

years! Yes, its been

BRENDA TWEAStaffRepoRteR 50 years since weattained political

independence fromBritain. Nearly 50years later, we arestill economicallydependent on our

former colonialmasters and a fewother donors. Isthis normal? Isthis right? Shouldwe be celebratingthat we are an

independent nation?These were thewords of one of thecountrys economiccommentators, HenryKachaje at a BusinessConsult Africa (BCA)

conference.With age, one

expects somematurity andresponsibility.Unfortunately asobserved by Dr. JohnMaxwell, a worldrenowned leadershipguru, age does not

always come withmaturity. Sometimesage comes alone!

In the case of ourbeloved nation ofMalawi, Kachajenoted that age hasindeed come alone,leaving maturitybehind.

Why at the age of50 as an independentnation are we stillclinging to the breastof our mother? Whyis it that after almost50 years of age, weare still patheticallydependent on

other nations tobarely survive,economically? hewondered.

Kachaje observedthat in 1964,when the countryattained politicalindependence, it waseconomically ahead

of China, SouthKorea and Singapore.

Just about 33years ago, Malawiwas economicallyahead of China ona per capita incomebasis; but today,Malawi is lookingup to China for

financial handouts.Should we be proudas a nation of about50 years that ourparliamentarians, thehighest law-making

body for the nation,meets in a donatedbuilding? Wouldthey think beyonddonor-dependencewhilst meeting in adonated building?he questioned.

Nearly 50years after

attaining politicalindependence,Malawi has apopulation of about14 million people,out of which, henotes that only sevenpercent (less thanone million) haveaccess to electricity,leaving the rest ofthe 13 million indarkness.

Kachaje furthernoted that it is stilla major challenge togenerate just about$300 million (K103.5billion) to cover the

countrys fuel importbill for the few whocan afford a used carfrom Japan.

Nearly 50years afterattaining politicalindependence, eachyear, our majorconcern is whether

we have enoughmaize to feed thepopulation. Thedebates by ourparliamentarians,who gather in thebeautiful donatedbuilding, havelargely focused onmaize: How do we

produce enougheach year? Is thisa true reflection ofthe kind of maturity

FeatuReS

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Gains, losses in 49 years

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we have attainednearly 50 years afterattaining politicalindependence? hewondered.

On the otherhand, well knownhistorian, DesmondDudwa Phiri notes

that what the countrywas in 1964 is totallydifferent from whatit is now, in manyaspects.

If you look atphotos of Malawiansin 1963, 1964 mostpolicemen wentabout wearing shorts,but now they weartrousers. At the time,only few women hadshoes; people thesedays dress muchbetter and they lookhealthier althoughnot contentedbecause as people

develop, their desiresalso change, he says.In addition, Phiri

notes that 49 yearsago, there were onlyabout 100 vehicles,most of which wereowned by foreigners,but now mostvehicles belong to

Malawians.This means that

Malawians todaylive more affluentlives than before.Even the roads nowhave tarmac up toKaronga; but atthe time, only theBlantyre-Zomba Road

did, and part of theBlantyre-LilongweRoad.

Beforeindependence,the students who

passed Cambridge

examinations wouldgo to South Africa,Uganda or SierraLeone because wehad no collegesof our own. Andeven then, onlyfew people wouldget scholarships tostudy, said Phiri.

CorroboratingKachaje, thehistorian indicatedthat compared toother countries,Malawi is poorer,and countries suchas Mauritius andSingapore are farahead of us.

Even countriessurrounding us:Mozambique,

Tanzania and Zambiafor instance, aredoing very welleconomically but weare still in stagnationas a country. Backin the day, the per

capita income ofthese countries andthat of Malawi wasnot very different.

These countries havefound resourcessuch as oil andgas with whichtheir economiesare booming.

Comparatively,Malawi has not foundresources exceptfor the uranium atKayelekera Mine, butit is small, he says,adding that Malawishould intensifyon searching forresources, suchas minerals foreconomic growth.

According to Phiri,it is important thatMalawi learns fromother countries that

have done well and

that parties electedinto office shouldhave visionaryideas to develop thecountry.

The parties that

we elect just repeat

the very same things;they do not reallyhave proper visionsfor the country.Malawi needsrevolutionary ideas to

transform and, in the

absence of such ideas,it is why developmentis growing at a slowerpace, he said.

Malawi becameindependent on

July 6, 1964 with

Dr. Hastings K.Banda as firstpresident. Two yearslater, it became arepublic within theCommonwealth ofNations.

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Has MW met expectations of its people?PAGE 6

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A display by secondary students

Military parade mounted by the Malawi Defence Force Doing it the military way: Beni from Mangochi

Masewe boys show their dancing anticsAmitofo youths show their martial arts skills

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Independence celebrations through the lens

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Mulli Holdings Limited showcasing its products



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Breakthroughs.The IMF though once

advised: no amount ofbegging for alms acrossthe globe will pull thepeople of this country out

of wretched poverty, muchless bring prosperity tothe nation.

The way forwardAll is not lost. Malawi

can be emancipatedfrom the jaws of socio-economic stagnation. Ina democratic State suchas Malawi, the effectiveparticipation of the

general citizenry is key inrowing the developmentboat. All Malawians,therefore, should assumeresponsibility of pushingthis country forward in

all aspects including thearea of governance.Various stakeholders

should again aim to armthe citizenry with relevantclues, signs and facts that

would help them to keepvisionless and voraciousleadership away frompublic offices. That way,Malawi should be able tolive its adulthood.

Malawis fourth president: Banda

FeatureS

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reflections on

independencePAGE 11

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formulae the populacedo not own their countryagainst the most quotedmantra of the 35th UnitedStates president John F.Kennedy: Ask not whatyour country can do foryou; ask what you can dofor your country.

The structure has alsoled to the destructionof the civil serviceprofessionalism, makingit too corrupt andincompetent to propel thecountry to affluence.

Thirteenth centuryphilosopher ThomasAquinas, just likeAristotle, argues that the

aim of practical reasonis the final end and thefinal end of human life ishappiness or beatitude.

Unfortunately, Malawismediocre, selfish, corruptor myopic political class isdearth of practical reasonin Aquinas sense suchthat being a rich politicianbecause a person nextdoor is poor and derivingsome satisfaction is now anorm.

Most of all, politically,the country sinceindependence have hadpredatory, visionless orfirefighting leadership Bakili Muluzi and thesitting President JoyceBanda (JB) probablycombining all the threetraits to engineer itto social and economicsuccess as well asindependence it desires.

In the words of SamMpasu, Malawi has hadleaders without thealtitude and vision of theeagle, to see far, but thealtitude and vision of thecrow, to see no furtherthan the next rubbishdump, for scavenging.

For example,immediately the JBadministration took thereins of power in April

2012, it introducedreforms to reversesome of the harmfulpolicies of the previousBingu wa Mutharikaadministration. Thereforms includedevaluation andfloatation of the kwacha,spending within nationalbudget and automaticprice adjustmentmechanism for fuel andother energy sourcessuch as electricity.

These were directresponses to theInternational MonetaryFund (IMF) and World

Bank demands that ourkwacha was overvaluedagainst other currenciesand that governmentwas overspending onthe budget by way ofoversubsidising for fueland electricity.

This article wouldbe saying more thanit should if it faultedJB administration fortaking that course:there was no betteralternative. However,the IMF rationale behindthe advice is to makeMalawis exports cheaperin the export market. In

turn, the country woulduse the price reductionas an advantage to exportmore, hence earn moreforeign exchange.

Sadly, the country hasfailed on the IMF theorybecause it lacks a fiscallyprudent leadership tostimulate the exportsector of the economyto produce and sell moreexports.

Instead, the JBadministration cannotintensify on dealing withthe cause of the economicdisease of which IMFadministered economic

quinine to the country,but rather, apart fromthe ongoing superfluousgovernment expendituresthis article need notrehearse, it throws awhopping K60 billion inits K603.1 billion 2013/14national budget on aconsumable Farm InputSubsidy Programme,the programme whosebenefits in its almostseven-year running canhardly be quantified; orelse, it is just a hub ofhideous corruption.

Certainly, at the ratethe country is going, as

a recent University ofOxford study contends,it will take a minimumof 74 years for Malawi tolift its people out of abjectpoverty. Thus, at 113since independence, asit is today at 49, Malawiwill still be a babylooking up to its parents(development partners)for all sectors of lifessupport. That does notresonate with todaystheme of independencecelebrations: 2013,Peace, Prosperity and

Kamuzu dancing with his Mbumba during Independence Day celebrations

advertorialfeatureS

why Mw performed badly in 49 yrsBACK PAGE

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ndi mazikoachitukuko

Malawi today has clocked49 years of independenceand the key question

is whether the reality on theground reflects a nation that isnearly half a century old.

In this article, therefore, it

is all about defining Malawisadulthood.

Apparently, with ananticipated increase in wisdom,at 49, Malawi should be ableto take stock of its life, solveits problems and improve itscognitive performance.

Has the country achievedanything as a nation in 49 yearsof independence? Perhaps yes.

Politically, Malawi is wherewe need to be in the processtowards gaining competencein living a democratic status,but the colossal economicand social letdowns dwarf theaccomplishments.

Achievements at 49

Malawi has been independentfor 49 years and that is somethingto be grateful for. The country

has had four presidents sinceindependence. Interesting tonote is that to this point, therehas been smooth exchange ofpower. The last three decades ormore have shown the dangersand devastating effects of ethniccompetition and civil wars thathave rocked some parts of Africaand underscore the importanceof celebrating the peace Malawi

has had.Several stakeholders such as

civil society, members of theacademia, members of the clergy,the media, etc, furthermore, tosome extent can question anyleader that wants to assume themammoths proportion of hisor her power.

Considering that it took agesfor even the worlds greatest

democracies to live pluralisticlife capably, the somewhatamount of freedom of speech isalso a feat to boast about.

Failures at 49Economically and socially

WANANGWACHAFULUMIRAStaffWriter

it was 49 years ago, and thereare telling signs the countrywill stagnate economically inprobably another 50 years fromnow.

At 49, for example, povertyand inequality in Malawi remaindistinct although there havebeen slight improvements inthe recent past. The headcount

poverty slightly declined from52.4 to 50.2 percent between2005 and 2011 according to therecent Integrated HouseholdSurvey (IHS). On the other hand,the proportion of the ultra-poor

The gini-coefficient, whichmeasures the gap between therich and the poor, worsenedfrom 0.39 to 0.45.

The prediction by KarlMax that the majorityproletarian would overthrowthe bourgeoisies and set upa classless society might notcome to pass in Malawi. The

existence of rigid stratification,however, deters economicdevelopment.

At 49, the 2013 HumanDevelopment Report indicatesthat life expectancy at birth

Infant mortality rate is at 58 per1 000 live births while maternalmortality is 581 deaths per100 000 according to 2010Demographic Health Survey.

At 49, 80 percent of Malawipopulation live in rural areaswhere the majority depends onrain-fed subsistence farming. Thecountry ranked 170 out of 187

on 2013 Human DevelopmentIndex (HDI) statistics usedto rank countries by level ofhuman development.

At 49, Malawis trade deficitratio to gross domestic product

economic survival let alonedevelopment. The countrysmonthly import bill is peggedat $188.3 million while 2013annual tobacco sales areestimated to rake in $300million. And tobacco is thecountrys main foreign exchangeearner as other exports such astea, sugar, mining, tourism, etc,generate less than $200 million

annually.At 49, more ink can be spilton paper to let somebody seethat poverty in Malawi remainsdeep, widespread and severewhile the gap between the richand the poor keeps widening.

Yet our neighbours, Zambia,Tanzania and Mozambique havemade tremendous economicadvancement. Mozambique

a country once embroiledin a 16-year-old civil war ishitting headlines for havingexperienced growth rates at orabove seven percent for morethan 10 years.

Again, smaller countries suchas Mauritius and Singaporethat were as poor as Malawiis, if not worse, when theyattained independence, are nowprosperous.

Today, Mauritius has thelargest bank in eastern Africa,according to one issue of AfricanBusiness Magazine.

Why lacklustre achievementThere are so many reasons

for the economic backwardnessof Malawi that can be classifiedinto structural, altitudinal andpolitical.

Structurally, for example,Malawi since independencelacks the effective participationof the citizenry in governance.Thus, Malawian politics fromDr Hastings Kamuzu Banda tothe present is dependent on aparticular personality ratherthan a particular system.

Despite our State having theJudiciary, the Executive andthe Legislature, there is anoveremphasis on the presidency.As such, the citizenry act asspectator ions in the countryssocio-economic development

Widespread poverty continue to characterise independent Malawi

Malawi Still a BaBy at 49

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malawi republic day supplement - 6th july 2013

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