As the story on plunder and looting of state resources (cashgate) slowly fades from serious public discourse, the New Year (2014) emerged with the news that prisoners have not been spared the blunt of mismanagement of state resources. Inmates at Maula Prison were spending the festive season on empty stomach due to lack of foodstuffs. Maula is 800 prisoners capacity prison but currently accommodates almost three-times as much prisoners, 2,300.

It is not surprising that average Malawians have a low opinion of prisoners, and you cannot blame those holding this view. Prison is supposed to be home for unruly and dangerous people that are harmful to society and people that may be a threat to national security and peace. Yet the state is supposed to look after their welfare. This is why the shortage of food in prisons, like cashgate revelations are symptoms of a broken and failed system of governance, transparency and accountability.

Failure to accept these facts leave us with symptoms and not root causes to deal with; failure to deal with root causes means that we are always living to fight another day. If not the same problem, a different one from the same root will crop up somewhere.

Look at cashgate, it is now a political battlefield for politicians and clash of elite personalities, no longer a symbol of bad governance, lack of transparency, lack of accountability and impunity that allowed civil servants to steal as they pleased. Likewise, the lack of food in our prisons has turned out to be a political issue and not a humanitarian problem caused by poor governance and a system that is happy to trample on the most vulnerable among its citizens.

Taking someone’s civil liberties away is what a prison punishment is. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is fine and sometimes necessary that society debates about lenient or harsh prison sentences – based on crime committed versus sentences given. Those not satisfied with sentencing have channels within the justice system to convey their grievances but disregarding sadistic prison conditions is a simple case of cruelty and not punishment.

This is why I agree with human rights activist, themselves former detainees, Billy Mayaya and Habiba Osman who recently called on Malawi government to respect and guarantee prisoners’ rights.

It is the government’s duty to look after its prisoners’ health and general wellbeing. It is not an act of charity, it is an obligation. Prisoners, though deprived of some freedoms, remain citizens of Malawi. That is one of the reasons they vote, and yes politicians in this country are aware of it and they want prisoner’s votes. This explains why some politicians, in good faith or otherwise, were quickly to offer foodstuffs for the starving prisoners. Yet they failed to put pressure government to ensure that this does not happen again. What happens when the donated foodstuffs are over?

True compassion, argued Martin Luther King Jr., is more than flinging a coin to the beggar, instead, he added, true compassion comes to see that an edifice which producers beggars needs restructuring. Indeed, feeding prisoners in times is need is commendable but can we also try to address social factors contributing to the ever growing prison population. People are products of their environment. This does not a need political solution because it is a social and human rights issue. Because of politics, some incompetent officials are getting away with a serious violation of the republican constitution.

Section 42 (1)(b) of the constitution provides that any person who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner shall have the right to be detained under conditions consistent with human dignity, which shall include at least the provision of reading and writing materials, adequate nutrition and medical treatment at the expense of the state.

There it is, plain and simple. Prisons are not much different from outside world; some of the pertinent problems faced in the outside world are in prisons too. There are HIV positive people in jails whose lives depend on ARVs to remain healthier and prolong their lives. For these drugs to work effectively, patients need good nutrition and X amount of meals a day.
The Nation newspaper reports that Home Affairs Minister has conceded that there is not enough money to cater for all the prisoner’s needs.

By the way, why are Malawians not debating the overcapacity in prisons? Why are prisons this full? Is it to do with the justice system or broken socioeconomic fabric that is increasingly leading people to disregard laws? Do we need more prisons, as the Home Affairs Minister say the government is planning to do, or do we deal with socioeconomic problems leading to increased crime levels?

Whatever the case, over-capacity in prison is violation of people’s rights and it cannot be tolerated. It is inhuman and it is an act that defines Malawi as a country more than it “punishes” those in jail. The idea of a modern prison is not to punish the body and torcher one’s soul, it is to reform prisoners into better citizens. Nelson Mandela once argued: “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” Now what is your judgement on Malawi?

ATLANTA – The Moral Monday protests that began in North Carolina in 2012 in response to extreme right-wing policies are spreading to Georgia.

Over the past year, droves of activists in North Carolina have descended on the state legislature building to demand that lawmakers reverse some of their more brutal policies such as cutting unemployment benefits, refusing to expand Medicaid, and rolling back voting rights. Thousands of people showed up for North Carolina’s Moral Mondays to disrupt the legislative session with acts of civil disobedience, resulting in the arrests of more than 900 individuals.

 

Now Moral Mondays are coming to Georgia.

Progressives from across the state will gather during the legislative session beginning on January 13 to express their concerns about what the Atlanta Progressive News calls the “extremist veto-proof Republican-led Legislature that is working in concert with a like-minded Gov. Nathan Deal.”

Georgia progressives’ complaints will sound familiar to the North Carolina Moral Mondays crowd: Governor Deal’s failure to expand Medicaid, efforts to put restive voting measure in place, and education spending policies that divert funds from public schools to private schools.

Moral Monday Georgia describe themselves as “a multiracial, multi-issue coalition of citizens working for positive change for the public good.”

The GA Voice:

“Georgia has gone hard right at a time when income equality is at its height, unemployment is high, we have the creation of an economy designed to provide low paying, dead-end jobs, and we need an effort to respond to that,” said State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who will be speaking at the rally. “Moral Mondays is exactly that kind of effort.”

Speakers in addition to Fort will include Rev. Timothy McDonald III from First Iconium Baptist Church, Georgia NAACP President Francis Johnson, North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber, and Georgians directly affected by lack of access to Medicaid. Barber started the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina.

Tim Franzen, from the Quaker social justice organization American Friends Service Committee, as well as Occupy Atlanta and Occupy Our Homes, told The GA Voice he is very excited that Moral Mondays is coming to his home state.

“We’ve been really inspired and it’s like nothing we’ve seen since the civil rights movement. It has forced people in North Carolina and all over the country to look at state budgets not as a random shopping list but as a list of our moral priorities,” he says.

Franzen added he’s distressed by Governor Deal’s decision not to accept federal funds for the Medicaid expansion.

“It’s the ultimate insult to hardworking people, to struggling folks who are working their butts off at a fast food joint or Wal-Mart, and here’s an opportunity where they can get free healthcare,” he says. “We’re talking about real lives here, real beating hearts that are going to die because of ideological stubbornness. We find it unacceptable, both morally and fiscally.”

But organizers caution that the first Georgia Moral Monday won’t be on the same scale as the North Carolina protests, and might not feature arrests. Rather, the January gathering will set the tone for future actions.

Franzen told The GA Voice, “We hope the governor will come to his senses and do what is morally right, and if not then people might fill up the jail.”

“These opportunities for educational outreach will bring together a remarkable cross-section of people representing different groups, causes, and identities, coalescing around a common agenda of fundamental human rights and equality,” the Atlanta Progressive News explains.

Reverend Timothy McDonald from First Iconium Baptist Church in East Atlanta wants members of his congregation to join the Moral Monday protest.

WABE 90.1 FM:

“Georgia is one of those states, and we aren’t surprised, who doesn’t want to extend Medicaid. It would help over 600,000 Georgians, and it would bring in all kinds of money, federal money, into our state.”

After the service, McDonald said expanding Medicaid would greatly help his churchgoers.

“There are people in our congregation and probably every congregation who don’t have any kind of health care”.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 400,000 people in Georgia will be denied Medicaid coverage by state leaders.

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“The fact that Governor Deal would turn down Medicaid money is a shame and a crime before God. Folks under the Gold Dome say that [Medicaid] is a Grady problem or an Atlanta problem. Let’s be real—what they are saying is that Medicaid is a black problem, but it’s about hospitals statewide,” State Senator Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said at a recent rally outside of Grady Hospital, the largest hospital in Georgia.

“There are six hospitals in the Piedmont Healthcare System. One in Pickens County, one in Henry County, and one in a rural county in North Georgia. Some of these hospitals are in counties that are not predominantly African American or Democratic. Some are in Republican, rural and suburban counties. This is not an Atlanta problem, but a Georgia problem,” Sen. Fort said.

He added: “Every year, a thousand people die for every one million people who don’t have health care. Don’t take my word for this, the Harvard Medical School did this research. Because of Governor Deal’s partisan politics, the six hundred and fifty thousand Georgians who do not have health care, six to seven hundred of them will die next year.”

 

Note: Concerned Malawians in Diaspora and our motherland can learn a lot by these peaceful protests being staged in Capitals in the USA. We can learn a lot from this movement.

Originally posted on the thenation.com website

It started as a promising journey. For the first time we saw the buzz and excitement amongst the youths. They refused to be made spectators but most of them wanted to be part of the game. Am talking about the road to May 2014.

 A lot of youths declared their interest to challenge their way to the August house. They really wanted to go to parliament and make a difference. We all rallied behind them and touted them big. Regardless of which political party they represented but I would say it was encouraging seeing most of us teaming up to get rid of these political old guards. We believed deep down our hearts that the old team had given us a raw deal. They were not representing the wishes and aspirations of the now generation. This was the year to get read of them and so that the youths take charge of the affairs of the country.

Hey, wait a minute; we are now talking a different story all together. Most of the youths that we know tumbled during primary elections. The question is what went wrong? Some small answers are being whispered into my mind on this one. My conclusion is that we were far away from deserving even a seat at local assembly level. We are better off as facebook hand-clappers.

Of course I know a few who are so matured and really deserved to make it but have been frustrated by the system. In some cases the old guards were using dirty tactics just to get rid of the brilliant chaps, I have examples in mind. This was because so and so is a friend to so and so within the hierarchy of the party, or even just because the party didn’t want to loose a particular “party heavyweight” so way to go was to impose their favourite candidates on the people.

Why am I saying all this? Just take time and look at how we conduct ourselves in these facebook groups and pages. I am not afraid to touch on several nerves if I conclude that these people could have been the worst crop of parliamentarians ever. It was a pity seeing an aspiring MP clapping hands almost to nothing as long as he or she is seen to be loyal to the party. Even the words and language being displayed in these groups so pathetic. To think that these were aspiring to be accorded the title “honourable” you would be shaking your head without stopping.

Most of them thought they were politicians but in actual fact they were far away from being
one. They thought by being administrators of a particular group or page that automatically made them politicians therefore qualify to make it to parliament.

Others thought by uploading pictures of their party leaders was a ticket to parliament. There was a group of them who thought by calling Peter Mutharika “Matchona” Joyce Banda “wa mandasi” Lazarus Chakwera “Yona othawa ntchito ya Ambuye” and Atupele Muluzi “Bebe olira ndi mkodzo wake” that made them better politicians. Just imagine how the situation would be like had it been that these people made it to parliament? Believe you me we were seating on a ticking bomb.

If what has been displayed in these groups by aspiring members of parliament is what we have been calling “political participation” then eish! The facebook generation is really corrupting our system.

This is where I salute some brilliant young men and women that I know who have always been shining examples and really deserve to represent us in parliament from May 2014. They are so smart in their approach to issues. They display substance not arrogance. They have impacted positively on the lives of many in the country and are seen adding essence to their political parties (I have names in mind and am sure you have your names as well)

However, am afraid to say that some of these young men and women that I have discussed who wanted to be called “honourable” deserve to be limited in their political participation to facebook hand clapping. Even some of those that have won made it because people in their area were tired of the seating MPs.

It’s good that they are here now. These are the kind of politicians who could have been voting yes to anything even without securitising the merits and de-merits of their vote. They have already displayed their lack of mental power to discuss issues of national importance on the social network like facebook. All they know is cursing and swearing, making noise, uploading pictures, attacking personalities, operating pseudo accounts and name calling.

They belong to a bunch that is bundled in pickups painted blue, orange, yellow and green, sucking masacheti while dancing and singing in praise of their leaders.

It is crystal clear that patriotic Malawians have followed the issue of cash gate as it unfolds with keen interest. One interesting branch of cash gate scandal is the arrest of former Justice and constitutional affairs minister, Ralph Kasambara SC. Kasambara is known to be one controversial and successful lawyer Malawi has ever produced.

The court is his play field that Kasambara has no fear though that does not guarantee him frustrating the charges against him successfully also. It is one thing to be a defendant and another to be in a court dock. While there are many things being said about the cash gate and the shooting of the budget director, President Joyce Banda has a lesson or two to learn from these issues. While there may be many lessons learnt by Abiti, she should learn how to speak little and listening more though this time around, in a hard way, unfortunately she is continuing to speak carelessly.

The chewa proverb goes on to say that ukayenda uzisiya phazi osati mulomo chifukwa ukasiya mulomo udzakutsata (when you go around leave the foot stamp only and not the lip for the lip will haunt you.” Unfortunately, our president has in some circumstances left the lip which seems to haunt her now. Kasambala named president Banda to be one of his key witnesses in his attempt murder charges. One wonders as to why Kasambala of all people would drag the whole president in such charges.

If you recall very well, you find that it was shocking that President Banda was shocked with Kasambala naming her to be a witness. While she remains in shocked state till now, one thing is clear that Kasambala cannot just drag her into this case for nothing; there must be something Kasambala is convinced about for him to name the president as his witness. Kasambala may not be honest in naming the president as a witness but may take advantage of the president’s unreflective speeches and claims which will teach the president a lesson to be quiet at times if she is not sure of what to say. It is right to speak when you really have something to say other than just for the sake of speaking. Not all people in jail were really wrong; some of them are there for just using their tongue recklessly and their accusers took advantage.

It was clear to everyone that the issues of Mphwiyo shooting would be the easiest to investigate because the president claimed knowing the shooters. After her return from UN meeting, it was shocking to hear the whole president making the U-turn. Though the president was trying to refrain from implications of such claims, Kasambala took that serious and an advantage and he is geared to use it to reclaim his freedom. When it comes to law, saying the truth is not always the reality but rather evidences, witnesses and constructive arguments on the matter. This, Madame forgot. The issue of Mphwiyo’s shooting is criminal and has to follow legal process, it is not just political where people can stand on the podium and say anything unreflectively.

While other experts said that, the president by virtue of her position cannot stand in the court of law to testify, it is clear that even if that may hold water now, Kasambala may ask for suspension of the case up until such a time deemed convenience for JB to testify. Kasambala will not just let it go. On the same note, other law experts said that the precedence was set in 2003 when former president Muluzi stood in court to testify about signature forging while others are saying that there is no law barring the president to testify but protecting him/her from prosecution.

So, you can see the implication of unreflective speeches which are meant to please the segment of sympathisers. It is unfortunate to hear the president standing on the podium and say, “you can drag me into the matter but you will rot in jail” just because she is married to one of the best lawyers on earth. In all these careless speeches Kasambala is just listening without saying anything while quietly recording such speeches for a testimony in court soon or later.

You also recall when our madam claimed that Dr. Zikhale confided in her about the money from Taiwan DPP which she made the nation believe that Bingu Banked in his account. One wonders if the president knows many criminal activities taking place and never blows the whistle to suppress such acts. Leadership is not about speaking but acting. Thank you madam that you are now acting on Mphwiyo’s shooting and cash gate issues though it’s just like fighting the effects instead of causes of crime. We just hope the prosecution will go in favour of the common citizen other than being a cover-up.

My advice to you madam president is that from this learn to listen more and speak less to avoid avoidable mistakes which end up compromising justice. The more one speaks the more mistakes are made. Wish you the best Madam.

 

 

“The past is our history, the present is our life we live and the future is our destiny” (author)

It is now a week in the most anticipated year 2014. The rising and the sating of the sun is the same, blowing of the wind is the same, people’s faces are the same, friends are the same, going to the same shops with the same unbearable prices, using the same roads, working in the same places and led by the same government etc.

The question is what makes the New Year, new? It is time to reflect on the past year for it is our history where we can learn from our mistakes so that we can correct the present for the better future. The past is our history, the present is our life we live and the future is our destiny.

It is said that we learn from our mistakes. It is also said that, making mistakes is inevitable but making the similar mistakes time and again is being stupid. With that in mind we need to do things in a way that we avoid mistakes we made in the past year. Note that, doing the same thing the same way is likely to bring the same results and if 2013 was a pathetic year for Malawians when it comes to socio-economic development, then we need to change the way we do things this time around so that we can achieve better results to make this year new to us.

The concern however is that people who created problems cannot bring solutions to the same but rather, just a cover-up, thus we need new minds to clean up the mess which could otherwise be avoided.

The late few years were not the best years to most Malawians at all. If the past is reversed, most Malawians would rather skip 2011-2013 to the preceding years except few who benefited from the mess. There are a number of mistakes which were made in the just ended year which I believe have to some extent tossed the wrath of God.

Malawi has entertained homosexuality to the point of repeating laws which criminalise the same, human rights activists have been pushing for legalisation of abortion, Madam president has been disregarding some good advices for political reasons, the president lied to have forgiven her opponents equating herself to the freedom icon, the late Nelson Mandela while she is witch-hunting them for political reasons, atheism is being tolerated than the years before, commercial sex workers have been allowed to establish an association as if there is no other means of survival they can embrace, mob justice has increased as a result of insecurity which was to some extent promoted by madam president by repealing the shoot to keep policy of security promotion, poor leadership has brought hunger to the ever hunger free nation in just 18 months, after observing Malawi’s weak leadership, Tanzania has taken advantage to claim part of Lake Malawi which has never been theirs, there is increased corruption leading to the shooting of the budget director, skyrocketing of prices and deteriorated economy and many other manifestations of Malawi’s poor leadership.

Wisdom is no longer with Malawi leaders because the spirit of God has left them. Remember, one can still lead God’s people without the spirit of God as was the case with Saul but such a leadership is fatal. Where is that Holy Spirit which our mum felt during inauguration ceremony as she claimed? Oh, power corrupts indeed! Take note that the bible says, if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Isaiah 1:19-20).” Is the later not what Malawi is facing?

God made the nation of Israel prosperous when it was led by a righteous leader but for the wicked leader, the results were despicable (1 Kings 14-17). Once the leader disregards ruling people with fear and trembling to the Lord, what Malawi is experiencing is axiomatic.

Our leaders and the entire nation need to repent. John Maxwell said, “Everything rises and falls on the leader”. The leadership has failed us and the leadership must realise that if we are to be any better this year, a bona fide repentance is inevitable not a cosmetic one, for God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7).

If our leaders were in the time of ignorance, we would expect God to pretermit their blunders but a large number of our leaders claim to be God fearing and as such, God cannot tolerate any evil doing but to punish it as a result the entire nation is suffering from the sins of our leaders (Deuteronomy 5:9).

This means that our leaders as our parents have to make the right decision to avoid national catastrophe. We are heading towards election and we need to at all cost avoid what Kenya faced in 2007/8 and what South Sudan is now facing and the only way is to fear God and follow His ways.

All countries surrounding Malawi are much better when it comes to socio-economic development, what is wrong with Malawi? We have traded our integrity, customs, traditions and ethics for aid. Where are donors, now that we have disregarded the wishes of Malawians to please them? Is Malawi any better now?

Repentance that Malawi needs has to be called by the Malawi leader while admitting that she has led the country astray by disregarding the ways of the Lord. In the book of Esther we read that Esther, the Queen saved Israelites by leading them into prayer and fasting before asking for the King’s favour to save the Israelites (Esther 7:1-9).

Remember that God puts people on leadership to do a noble task and if the contrary is done, consequences follow. You may be on this position for such a time as this and if you don’t do the right thing, God will save Malawi in His own ways but unrepentant leaders will suffer the consequences of their sins (Esther 4:14).

It will no matter whether one is married to the best lawyer or not, God judges justly. After king David had sinned in 2 Samuel 11, he realised of his sins after being warned by a prophet in 2 Samuel 12 and in Psalm 51, David repents. David was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22) and after sinning he repented what about our leader Joyce Banda? I am not judging but a leader is like a house built on the mountain which everyone sees.

We have the present to correct our mistakes for a better future. To do this we need God. Any sin which is done deliberately is punishable by God. God loves His children and when they sin, He whips them to correct their evil ways. Our leaders think that God can be mocked by hiding under His name while doing the contrary. For God’s sake, how can a spiritual renewed leader disregard people’s lives as it is seen with inmates? Our leader prefers inmates to die than receiving maize from the opposition parties.

Note that any law, policy, procedure or whatever you call it that risks people’s lives is evil. At times, it is wise to breach bureaucracy to save lives. Politics which disregard lives is wickedness and such leaders are not fit to rule Malawi. Risking lives for political reasons is iniquity and a bad beginning of a New Year.

I am convinced that it doesn’t matter whether opposition parties want to give maize for campaign purposes or not, what matters most is that lives are saved. As Phil 1:18 notes, “the important thing is that in every way, whether from false motive or true, Christ is preached…” What will make this year new is new ways of doing things for the better Malawi; such ways must be in line with God’s will.

The case against Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court (ICC) appears to be on the brink of collapse. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told judges this week that she had insufficient evidence to bring the case to trial.

The case was scheduled to start on February 5 next year, but Bensouda has asked for a delay of three months so she can look for more evidence.

Kenyatta is facing charges of crimes against humanity which stem from electoral violence that hit Kenya following a disputed presidential poll in December 2007.

 

He is charged with murder, persecution, forcible population displacement, and rape as an indirect perpetrator. The crimes allegedly took place in the towns of Nakuru and Naivasha in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

In a separate case, Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang went on trial in September on similar charges.

In a December 19 submission to judges, Bensouda revealed that in recent weeks she had dropped two key witnesses from her case, meaning she did not have enough evidence to bring it to trial.

“Having carefully considered my evidence and the impact of the two withdrawals, I have come to the conclusion that currently the case against Mr Kenyatta does not satisfy the high evidentiary standards required at trial,” Bensouda said in a statement released the same day.

“I therefore need time to complete efforts to obtain additional evidence, and to consider whether such evidence will enable my office to fully meet the evidentiary threshold required at trial.”

FALSE TESTIMONY

One of the witnesses who has been withdrawn, known only as P-0012, told prosecutors on December 4 that he was lying about events at the centre of the case. He was subsequently removed from the witness list.

“P-0012’s account lay at the heart of the prosecution’s evidence, providing a critical link between the accused and the crimes in Nakuru and Naivasha,” Bensouda informed judges.

In October, Kenyatta’s lawyers told judges that P-0012 had been paid to change his evidence.

“The defence for President Uhuru Kenyatta warned the pre-trial chamber and the trial chamber of the falsity of the allegations and the evidence,” Kenyatta’s lawyer, Steven Kay, told IWPR after Bensouda’s latest submission to judges. “Our warnings were not heeded. We now have from the mouth of the witness that he lied, just as we advised the judges he was lying.”

Kay alleged that the prosecution has failed in its duty to consider and investigate evidence that could exonerate his client. Kay said he would file a response to Bensouda’s filing in the New Year.

The second witness, known as P-0011, had to be dropped because he refused to testify. According to Bensouda, this witness had been expected to give evidence “regarding the intermediaries who allegedly oversaw the attacks on the accused’s behalf, as well as evidence regarding the logistical support provided to the attackers”.

The defence had previously complained that witness P-0011 had collaborated with P-0012 to incriminate Kenyatta.

The revelations follow the withdrawal of a third witness in the Kenyatta case on December 16 after she refused to consent to the disclosure of her identity.

Bensouda told judges that this witness “still has strong concerns for her personal safety and that of her family”.

The prosecution has repeatedly complained of widespread intimidation and “unprecedented” levels of interference in its cases against the Kenyan president and his deputy.

In October, the court charged a former journalist with bribing and attempting to bribe witnesses.

PROSECUTOR STILL HOPEFUL OF SECURING EVIDENCE

The prosecutor told judges in her filing this week that further lines of inquiry, some of which were “not previously open to the prosecution”, could provide the evidence she needs.

“There is potential for these investigative steps to produce evidence shedding light on key allegations in this case,” she wrote. “The prosecution believes they must be pursued in accordance with [court procedures], to ensure that every effort has been made to hold to account those most responsible for the crimes committed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence and to seek justice on behalf of the victims.”

Bensouda submitted that as well as giving her more time to find evidence, the proposed delay to the trial start date would also give judges time to rule on her request for a finding of non-compliance against the Kenyan government.

Bensouda wrote to judges on December 2 informing them that Kenyan officials have failed to hand over Kenyatta’s financial records, as her office requested as far back as April 2012. She asked judges to rule that Kenya had failed to meet its obligations to the court.

Bensouda said that if this request was successful, it could compel the Kenyan government to hand over the information.

“It is necessary to exhaust this line of inquiry – hitherto blocked by the [government] – to determine whether the existing witness testimony regarding the accused’s alleged funding of the [electoral violence] can be corroborated by documentary evidence,” Bensouda stated.

She said that despite the current setback, she remains committed to pursuing justice for victims of the 2007-08 violence.

“It is precisely because of our dedication and sense of responsibility to the victims in this case that I have asked the judges presiding over the case for more time to undertake all remaining steps possible to strengthen the case to ensure justice for the victims,” she said.

“My decision to apply for an adjournment today was not taken lightly, and I have explained fully to the judges the reasons for my exceptional decision. I have and will continue to do all that I can to realise justice for the victims.”

J.J. Wangui is a freelance reporter in Nairobi.

Before travelling for a special official mission, Corporal Benjamin Gabriel of the Nigerian Police Force, had been given a copy of one of Prophet T.B. Joshua’s sermons, known as an ‘MPG – Mouthpiece of God’ titled, You Must Be Born Again. Although he had never visited The SCOAN before, after reading the message, his faith in Christ Jesus increased. He took his photograph by faith and placed it inside the sermon leaflet as a point of contact for God’s intervention in his life.

 

He then placed the sermon leaflet inside his travelling bag and said he believed that the yoke in his life was broken, in Jesus’ name. While he was on the special assignment, armed robbers suddenly surrounded him and his fellow officers and started firing at them at close range. The officer beside him was shot dead instantly and others were severely injured. Corporal Gabriel shouted the name, “Jesus!” as bullets flew towards him, tearing through his combat boots and uniform. They continued firing at him at close range and he continued shouting the name, Jesus.

As the armed robbers continued firing, they were shocked to see the bullets ripping apart his uniform but not piercing his body. The Corporal started firing back at them but they rushed forward and collected his gun. The armed robbers then shouted to each other that they should kill him but the power of God came upon Corporal Gabriel and he marched towards them with boldness and collected their guns! He recalled, “They collected my AK-47 and I collected their AK-49s!” Full of fear, the armed robbers ran disarmed and in confusion. The enemy in his life had been paralysed and demoralized.

Corporal Benjamin Gabriel, the bullet-proof officer, showed reporters the very uniform he wore that day. The uniform is full of bullet holes, including his underwear but miraculously, not one of the bullets had entered his body! The bullets destroyed his boots but his feet were untouched! He said that when he told the Commissioner of Police in his State and his superiors, they couldn’t believe what had happened and questioned him about his unexplainable, unharmed and untouched body. He showed them his photo, inside the sermon of Prophet T.B. Joshua from The SCOAN. “God made my body bullet-proof!” was his ecstatic reply.

Like Pope Francis, President Banda does not play by the book. She says her mind and damn the consequences. 

This other day Abiti sent her legal advisors scurrying around for holes in which to hide when she turned the whole legal maxim of ‘ignorance is no defence’ on its head by saying those who benefit from proceeds of theft are not guilty of anything.

The guilty, she said, are the actual thieves and only them should be sent to the cleaners, not the beneficiaries of their thievery.

And, in trying to absolve her boys and girls of the cashgate imbroglio last Friday, she said her cabinet comprises people who cannot even type their names on a computer keyboard to manipulate such a complicated machine like Ifmis. 

To my dear president, it is the junior boys and girls who ‘played monopoly with real cash’ with the Ifmis. 

My! God save us! So we are lorded over by men and women who are literally illiterate? How safe are we?
I have some news for Abiti, cabinet ministers are supposed to be political heads in ministries and government departments. They have to be aware of policies of the administration they are serving and be able to guide technocrats in the ministries or departments of the same.

If what Abiti said were true then we could as well do away with ministers. Why should we pay millions to zombies who are not aware of what their technocrats are up to?

Cabinet ministers cannot plead ‘ignorance’ from the cashgate affair and hope to get away with it. If they were not aware of what was going on in their ministries because they were incompetent – as Ama is trying to tell us – then they were not supposed to be there in the first place. 

Need I say more? They all have to fall on their swords. Ignorance, forget what Ama is trying to inculcate in us, is no defence.

“The demagogue
is one
who preaches doctrines
he knows to be untrue
to men he knows to be idiots”

Henry Louis Mencken

 

I am writing this piece knowing pretty well the irony of religion. If there have been great wars on earth with massive loss of life, religion claims a fair share as the cause. We have read about crusades and jihads – wars sponsored by two great world religions, Christianity and Islam, respectively. 

Matters of religion and faith can be contentious and touchy-feely. That said, let me declare, for the record, that although I may not congregate with other worshippers as much as I should, I am nowhere near the “faith” of our man without faith, George Thindwa. 

 

And my knowledge of the Bible, well, the text of the Bible (perhaps not its interpretation) is above average because in my youth I was an ardent reader of the Big Book. I liked those mythical stories, Jonah and the big fish, Moses and the burning bush, Mary and the virgin birth…you cannot beat that! 

Anyway, I have always been fascinated by the celebrity status of the self-styled prophets, apostles, pastors and people – often men – of such ilk, both local and international. 

And I have always held the view that poverty and desperation force people into following and believing these so-called men of God because these categories of people are susceptible to manipulation. I have seen people who struggle to make ends meet making handsome contributions to causes of some church or fellowship in the hope that their fortunes would be turned around…somehow. 

Others, not exactly poor, but desperate in one way or the other, have also been seen making obscene contributions to some pseudo-churches or fellowships just because they think some luck will befall them. (Things like finding ideal marriage partners, conceiving babies or getting cured from some seemingly incurable afflictions top the list for such desperation). 

And these so-called men of God have mustered the art of exploiting this poverty and desperation, if not gullibility, to mint money out of these poor or desperate souls.

For some reason, none of their followers is bothered by the affluence they exude. 

People who do not question the obvious are, however, either indoctrinated or radicalised, if not fundamentalist.

That is where the problem begins. 

Fundamentalists or radicals are often not rational when doing things. Further, these people are often manipulated (almost hypnotised). They would do anything – and literally everything – that their ‘prophets’ tell them without question. 

Have you not heard of those people who massacred themselves in Uganda believing their preacher that Armageddon was nigh or, closer home, that family in Ndirande that barbecued itself in the name of the Lord? To say nothing about those who allow their children to die of otherwise curable conditions simply because their beliefs bar them from seeking medication. 

It is in the same vein that I am getting rather uncomfortable, if not apprehensive, with President Joyce Banda’s apparent obsession with Temitope Balogun Joshua, who trades as Prophet TB Joshua. 

Certainly, Abiti does not come anywhere near poor. (How could she burn jet fuel just to ‘worship’ in Nigeria?) Desperate, perhaps she could be; what with all the litany of ills besetting her government less than five months to a crucial do-or-die election? 

Ama calls TB Joshua her ‘spiritual father’. She could as well be turning to him for guidance and inspiration as her political world threatens to implode from the cashgate fall out. 

And, being the shrewd businessman he is, TB Joshua seizes the opportunity to exploit the presence of the whole president of a country to market himself. Did you not see how Emmanuel TV of his Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) gloated over President Banda’s visit? 

Now, get me right, I have no qualms with how the President chooses to live her spiritual life. After all she is Joyce Banda the person first before she is Joyce Banda the president. 

But I am worried we just might have a president that is getting unwittingly radicalised. We might realise rather too late that our country is being run on the power of some prophesies whose veracity we may not ascertain. Indeed, some big decisions may be made based on prophesies our leader may be too indoctrinated to question. 

I mean, how does one fly thousands of kilometres just to pray at some prophet’s synagogue? My quick check with regular airlines tells me a round trip for three people flying business class to Lagos costs no less than K4,900,000. (That is enough for some 980 bags of 50 kilogrammes of maize selling at K5,000 each to save the starving people of Dedza!) 

And that is before we factor in lodging, local travel, security and, of course, the little issue of the offering to the temple! 

Now, come to think of it, why should an honest prayer to God be that expensive? That surely must be the power of manipulation and a tell-tale sign that someone is being radicalised. 

The prophets of old emphasised the existence of one God and warned people of the punishment that would befall them should they depart from God’s ways. And God’s ways were simply sanctity, justice and mercy to one another, especially to the oppressed. 

Fidelity to God and averse to obsession with the material earthly things were also central to the prophets’ teachings. 

I wonder how the latter-day ‘prophets’ like our TB Joshua measure up, suffice to say their obsession with earthly wealth and Armageddonic prophecies is scary. 

The prophetic ministry ought to be concerned with the consequences of “sin”. But woe betide us if we begin to revel in predictions of death of leaders, loss in elections, accidents or results of football matches! I mean, a loss in a game of soccer is expected and has nothing to do with sin or the establishment of the kingdom of God. 

And what has a plane crash got to do with sin? 

I would not be surprised if my reflections above would anger quite a few people. But, like I said, major wars of the world were fought on religious beliefs. 

Suffice to say that I am in no way suggesting that Abiti should cut her ties with TB Joshua, no. If she finds spiritual purity after interacting with him, so be it. 

But she must remember she is president of a country. And the presidency brings with it some dignity. 

In my book, it is embarrassing for my president to be seen in a trance before some prophet live on international TV. When you are in a trance (malilme) you are possessed by some powers and therefore you are not in control of all your faculties. Can that not qualify as some form of incapacity? 

As my senior colleague Zebedee would put it, let us think of these things.