Malawi and African Media in General continued to Denigrate their own Leadership in their zeal to embarrass and settle purported political scores. Many African leaders including Malawi President Peter Mutharika gave powerful speeches that warranted full coverage, however they were mainly ignored by African Media.
In his speech, Peter Mutharika did not shy away from the controversy engulfing his country Following the May 21st Elections of which he was declared the winner, but the opposition led by MCP has disputed and took MEC and Peter Mutharika to court.
Mutharika addressed the controversy head on
This year, Malawi had an Election. I have come in my second term of office.
The process was duly audited by a United Nations affiliated network called BDO. This Election was unanimously declared free, fair and credible by the European Union, the African Union, SADC and the Commonwealth observer missions.
But the Opposition, led by Malawi Congress Party decided not to accept this very credible Election. This is the party that ruled Malawi under dictatorship for thirty-one years.
This time, they went to court but ignored the court process and waged a vicious campaign of violence in the disguise of demonstrations. Their violence betrayed a desire for ethnic cleansing, a desire for civil war, an attempt to demolish the economy and to make Malawi an ungovernable state of lawlessness.
We responded with peaceful resistance and insisted on the rule of law. We fought violence with peace; and fought hate with love. This is what saved Malawi from degenerating into chaos.
We have seen democracy and the rule of law at its best in Malawi. And Malawi remains a peaceful and stable country that we have always known. Malawi remains a beautiful destiny for tourists and investors.
Malawi is a beautiful place where we fight to make life better for everyone.
However, Malawi Media chose to talk about the lack of attendance of foreign dignitaries to the speech. This was not Peter Mutharika’s fault but of those head of states who missed a great speech by our learned President.
Embarrassing! UNGA Delegates shun Malawi President Mutharika’s address
Mutharika like other African heads of states also demanded that Africa needs a seat at the security council which for now has only five countries, United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia.
I repeat what I have said before: there are no small or poor nations in the United Nations. All we have are nations of the United Nations.
In fact, this organization would be more powerful, more effective if we all participated in the decision-making on security. But for some reason, there are nations that refuse to share power with African nations.
In this regard, the United Nations is undemocratic. And yet, the same countries and the UN are preachers of the gospel of democracy in
Africa. But Africans are sometimes more democratic than Western countries.
Therefore, let me call upon the United Nations to implement the Security Council reforms. Africa must be on the UN Security Council. Let me repeat Africa must be on the Security Council.
We cannot ignore and marginalize an entire Continent of 1.3 billion
people.
We cannot marginalize and repress one third of Member States of this organization. It is a mockery that we meet to galvanize multilateral efforts while we marginalize and repress other Member States.
I therefore urge the UN and the P5, to open the Security Council membership. Increase the number of Permanent Seats with Veto Powers and make the UN Security Council a true representation of all the UN Member States.
As Africa, we will never relent on this position. Our position is for the good of the United Nations and the global community. The more we allow a few nations to monopolize power in the Security Council, the more we make the United Nations look like an undemocratic organization.
The leader of Sierra Leone in an impressive speech which went ignored by African reporters also demanded Thursday that the U.N. Security Council reconfigure itself to add permanent representation for Africa, saying the continent’s “patience is being tested” by its long-standing exclusion.
Julius Maada Bio, president of the West African nation, used blunt words in his annual U.N. General Assembly speech to amplify calls by African countries that they have a more robust voice on the body that represents the most powerful political and global-security authority of the United Nations.
Bio, who also advocated for two additional nonpermanent seats to be held by Africans, was anything but indirect. “Africa’s patience is being tested,” he said.
For decades, there have been calls to expand the U.N.'s most powerful body. It has 10 members elected for two-year terms and five permanent members: The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
Competing national and regional interests have prevented council reform so far.
Africa has no permanent seat on the council, and three nonpermanent seats are allocated for the continent of more than 1.2 billion people.
Elwin Mandowa is the Managing Editor and Publisher of The Maravi Post
