Update :
Scores of Malawians that included politicians, journalists, and ordinary people drawn from all corners the country on Saturday gathered to celebrate the life of renown columnist and BBC correspondent Raphael Tenthani at Agabu Village, Traditional Authority (T.A.) Ganya in the central district of Ntcheu.
The late Tenthani, who was also senior reporters at The Maravi Post, tragically died at the age of 43 in a car accident on May 16, 2015.
The Death of Malawi famous reporter Raphael Tenthani died May 16, 2015, in Mwanza District. His death led the news in Malawi and President Mutharika led the nation in grieving for one who was so critical of his administration.
Raphael (Ralph) Tenthani was a freelance journalist from Malawi. Tenthani was a BBC correspondent and a columnist for The Sunday Times. He was a respected journalist in Malawi well known for his popular column, “The Muckraking”. He was well known for providing political analysis on topical issues. He had been the subject of controversy for his candid reporting on political issues. He was very critical of the crackdown on journalism during the Bingu WA Mutharika administration. He was also a columnist for Associated Press, Pan African News Agency, and our own Maravi Post.
Malawi Floods:
Tenthani reporting for the MaraviPost wrote the following in the early days of the flooding that was going to cost lives and have such a disastrous impact on the economy
President Peter Mutharika declared 16 of the country’s 28 districts ‘disaster areas’ and appealed for international assistance.
Paul Chiunguzeni, Secretary for Disaster Management Affairs, said while local and international donors have reacted positively there was still need for more assistance.
“Since rains continue to come every day we are having more and more displaced people,” he said.
Because of the crammed conditions in the IDP camps, there are fears of an outbreak of diarrheal diseases. Already, according to the Belgian medical charity Medicines Sans Frontiers, two people have been confirmed dead from cholera with at least 60 others infected by the disease.
The cholera situation in neighboring Mozambique is much worse with nearly 40 people killed by the disease which also affected about 3,500 others, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Former President Joyce Banda self-exile
Malawi former President Joyce Banda has been away from the country since losing the elections in May of 2014. Late this year she was telling many of her followers that she was ready to come. However we wrote the following
According to reports former president Joyce Banda is scheduled to return home in October from South Africa, where she had been operating from. Same reports said they based this on reports that Hubby Richard Banda was busy looking for housing in Malawi in readiness to the homecoming of Amai.
Stop the Presses, People in the know doubt that this will happen as planned. There are so many reasons to believe that the former President is now in more danger of being prosecuted for Cashgate.
Many court observers believe Oswald Lutepo is being prepped by Mary Kachali to testify against the former President Joyce Banda. According to earlier reporting, sources close to the investigations had indicated that prosecuting agencies held discussions with Lutepo prior to his conviction on K4 billion fraud and money laundering charges.
So it is coming to pass that the former President fearing of going to jail has chosen to stay away from Malawi.
Failure of Mutharika to improve lives of Malawians
President Peter Mutharika has now had a full year to implement his programmes in the country. So far it has been a mixed bag of results. It is true he inherited a failing nation from Joyce Banda what with the Cashgate scandals and donors reverting back to their old tricks. Withholding Cash support. But he does shoulder some of the blame. Appointing of Goodall Gondwe was supposed to help the economy but maybe mother time is catching up with the financial wizard. Inflation continues to rise, Kwacha continues to decline muting the positive impact of declining petro prices.
Peter Mutharika continues to be pre-occupied and distracted by the likes of Joyce Banda, Allan Ntata and a toothless opposition party that know just to needle and irritate him.
Peter Mutharika should have been more prepared to run Malawi than he has shown so far. While in the USA he was involved in drafting the Malawi Constitution. Under studying of his Presidency should also have helped him in knowing what to do and not to do. He gets a C grade for his efforts so far. 2015 was a year of missed opportunities for Peter Mutharika.
Malawi Civil Society/ Gay rights
Now we know United States has allocated a budget to change Gay’s law in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is therefore not surprising that The US Ambassador Palmer was the first to make threats on the arrest of the Gay guys.
Malawi Civil Society while serving as moral compass for the Mutharika Government has at times jumped the Gun in rushing to be critical instead of being part of the solution. Many suspect there are some groups that are just anti Peter Mutharika. However 2015 brings a score of B+ for our Civil Society. They are making sure another Cashgate does not happen.
People like John Kapito however do stand out for protecting the Malawi Consumers. Billy Mayaya even though he has detractors has rallied the nation against corruption and deserves special mention in 2015.
Malawians are divided on Sodomy laws and whether they need to be changed. However many Malawians are in agreement that we do not need outsiders agitating for trouble. The Message was sent loud and clear to Ambassador Palmer that let us come to our own result.
Re-election of Walter Nyamilandu at FAM
This was shameful and Malawians deserve losing football. Walter Nyamilandu had three terms to prove himself and he failed. What did he get elected once again to do or achieve? Many Malawians saw this as a popularity contest, but it was not.
If we want to be a nation of winners people should be measured by their results not what they say they will do. Walter Nyamilandu has been a failure and should not have been afforded another chance to be a loser.
Social Media and Opinion Makers
Special mention should be made of the effect Malawi Social commentators like Chinsinga have had in 2015. People like Chinsinga have spoken truth to power when it was not easy to do. Jimmy Kainja questioning of Peter Mutharika was the source that BBC used for the interview with the Malawi President.
Wise one from the East has done some investigative work on 577 Billion Missing from Malawi Coffers that has kept the story in the eyes of many Malawians. Steve Sharra also needs to be commended for the attention he has brought through social Media on corruption and poor service in Malawi organizations. These Malawians have taken time from their busy lives to shine light on corruption in our country and as such they earned an honorable mention for 2015.
The list is great and we apologies to those we might have omitted…
