It has become one of the major political science paradoxes of Africa that a majority of nation states and/or their leaders in sub-Saharan Africa purport to be democratic or to espouse the principles and tenets of democracy yet struggle to live up to the standards of democratization.

The question that crops to mind with regards to this irony might be why such has been the case despite decades of post independence Western ideological exposure and institutional transfer between the West and Africa. Is it a question of deliberate sidelining of democratic principles or tenets thereof by the nation states and their leaders or is it a question of their apparent failure to appreciate and come to terms with the ideology, philosophy or cultural facet that is inadvertently alien or rather ambiguous to them.

It is the object of this appraisal to endeavor to explore albeit through conjecture one philosophical perspective to such deep-rooted paradox.

The premise on which l chose to base my argument is that Democracy for the West and Westerners is rather cultural, ahistoric and a product of Western heritage and civilization.

The association of democracy with ancient Greek civilization is unequivocal. It is pertinent however to highlight that the western democratic heritage shares little in common with the African or more precisely the sub-Saharan African cultural heritage. Western civilization has little in common with African civilization although that does not preclude the potential for ideological, cultural and institutional exchange within the prefix of acculturation and globalization.

It is also presumed in this appraisal that democracy as an ideology has a lot in common analogically with western cultural products like hip-hop or other forms of the popular culture in that western democracy is construed as rather a philosophy of life, an attitude, a mindset or more precisely a lifestyle.

With that as backdrop, the author endeavors to drive home the viewpoint that the ‘African democratic paradox’ imbued with failure by nation states and their leaders to come to terms with democratic principles is grounded on challenges to appreciate a lifestyle or culture that rather contradicts the historical norms, ideologies and values of African culture.

The point is that a majority of Western states and westerners experience democracy as a lifestyle or culture and therefore have the inherent potential to exhibit or portray democratic norms and values naturally because they are culturally socialized into such.

Democracy for them is their way of life and due of they do not strive or struggle from a practical and pragmatic perspective to practice or live democracy.

Westerners and their leaders live by epithets of freedom, they live and practice liberty, they live accountability, they live transparency, they live with and uphold human rights naturally and without much ado.

Upholding democratic principles, tenets, norms and values for a majority of western nation states contrary to the African experience is not a matter of paying pointless lip-service, emulation or double standards to the principles and tenets of democracy.

Tenets of democracy like freedom, liberty, good governance, corrupt free leadership, accountability, transparency and upholding human rights are a matter of attitude – a philosophy of life. Democracy for western nation states and their leaders is therefore not just a fancy political ideology, social construction, representation or social phenomenon. Democracy for the west is a lifestyle and a cultural attitude that has historical roots in western civilization.

For a majority of sub-Saharan African nation states and leaders it becomes problematic to live up to the expectations and standards of democratization because of their variant political values and norms relative to the western norms and values. With respect to cultural orientation a majority of westerners are individualistic hence their obsessions with individual freedoms and liberties for instance.

Contrary to that a majority of sub-Saharan African states are communalistic in orientation and the individual is considered with respect to the wider society or community to which he/she pays allegiance or is held responsible and accountable. Individual liberties and freedoms are therefore not construed as paramount for the communal nation states yet they are the foundations upon which democracy as a socio-cultural institution is hinged.

Espousing democratic principles, norms and values therefore becomes a dilemma for the majority of sub-Saharan leaders between their communal socialization and the expectations and standards of democratization. To abide by a philosophy and subscribe to its tenets and principles entails more than just blind allegiance or subservience. It demands that one have a comprehensive and deep-rooted appreciation of such a philosophy, its origins and even its pros and cons.

The fact that most African leaders and their respective nation states are still struggling or rather failing to come to terms with democratic principles as manifested by the gravity of strife, corruption, human rights violations and infractions of basic laws and liberties underscores the fact that the ‘African Democratic paradox’ herewith having been appraised might have its foundations in the failure of these nation states and their leaders to grapple with an ambiguous lifestyle or culture that they cannot understand or appreciate.

In the guise of brotherhood, global solidarity, unity, peace and co-existence it remains paramount that the west continues with its cultural exchanges and institutional transfers targeting leaders and especially the young generation of leaders if democracy is to be espoused and upheld not only as a political institution or ideology but rather as a culture or philosophy of life – a lifestyle.

Life is about making the right decisions and choosing the right path. I have always fancied living in the city and getting all the things I have always dreamed of since my childhood days. However, with time I have realized that there is more to life than just being born and raised in the city. When you grow up, what matters is the change you make in your society and the smiles you bring to other peoples’ lives.

I moved from Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi where one finds every good thing they would want in life, and decided to live in Neno, the most remote area in Malawi. I work for Partners In Health on a year-long Global Health Corps fellowship program. Having to leave my soccer life and ignore all the fame, my job with the government,and the comfortable life I lived in the city was not simple. I had to make a huge sacrifice and big compromise. Most people do not understand why I took this path and made such a decision.

Life in Neno is so hard. The biggest challenge about the place is the worst hilly and bumpy road connecting Neno to the main tarmac road as you go to Mwanza boarder or Blantyre. There is no bridge in one of the roads to Neno such that a vehicle literally passes through Lisungwi River. Due to the bad road, there is only one bus that goes to Neno, making the place very hard to reach. This limits access to essential goods and services. There are no big shops where one can find all the necessary goods and items, such that people travel to Blantyre to buy food stuffs. Moreover, there is no running water, which is provided elsewhere by the Malawi water board, such that people depend on untreated water from the borehole. There are only two banks, no filling station, and only one mobile phone operator.

I came to Neno to be part of the PIH family that brings change and provides hope to the people and to show that someone out there cares. The people in Neno do not understand why I left everything in the capital city and came to volunteer here. Being here for three months has given me so many lessons. Life is not as obvious as we see it in town. People struggle to get the basic items in life. The most unfortunate thing is that people do not even have hope that things will change.

Being here is a big sacrifice. However, seeing how happy people are with my presence in this area and the hope and joy I bring to their lives makes me believe I am in the right place. My goal is to help PIH in its supply chain management of drugs and other medical supplies and making sure that people here have good access to these drugs and medical supplies. In the end, people are proud I am part of their community. I play soccer with them and socialize in different ways and I am proud to be here where I have learned to appreciate life more than before.

There is only one reason why I came here, one reason why I abandoned all the fame, soccer life, city life and my job in the city. If we are to abandon these remote areas because of the conditions they face, then who will bring hope to these people? Who will bring the most needed change these places lack? There is a need for popular people in society to take a lead in reaching out to these people. We always expect other people to make these sacrifices. What if there is no one else who cares? What if I am the only one available to bring change and hope to the people? It feels good to see the change I am making in people’s lives; the joy and hope I bring every day I interact with them.  If most people shun this place, the question that keeps me going is: Who else if it’s not me will provide the change and bring hope to these people?

For many years, Malawi has been a country where politicians play blame shifting games and neglecting responsibility when things are messed up. Kamuzu blamed colonial masters for dehumanising Africans. Bakili Muluzi blamed Dr Kamuzu Banda for being a dictator, ruling the country with an iron fist. Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika blamed Bakili Muluzi for corruption. Joyce Banda is blaming the dead for messing up economy by waging war with the donors and MK61 billion believed by many that he stole from public coffers.

Bakili Muluzi arrested the old man, Bingu arrested Bakili, unfortunately Bingu died with cardiac arrest (May his soul rest in peace), but believe me if he was alive and his brother loses election next year, he was going to be arrested also. After stepping out of office, Joyce Banda may also be arrested on grounds her successor will find fit and believe me, with this feminist world, her arrest will draw many objurgations on grounds that the country is abusing her based on gender. In all these arrests tax payers’ money is used but no tactical upshots are coming out of such arrests. Unfortunate, after years of haunting, the citizens are gaining nothing but paying more.

Surely every citizen ought to love and defend his/her country. I am, like others, a patriotic Malawian but at times I get ashamed with what is happening in my beloved country and I happen to stammer on what good to speak about it since in development we are so far behind, only peace is realised. A song is sung, “I love Malawi, you love Malawi, we love Malawi, the warm heart of Africa” and yet Malawi’s cities are like townships even just in other African countries because of lack of good and visionary leadership, which should to some extent is attributed to the laws of the land.

This year’s corruption cases are the most shocking ones Malawi has ever experienced. Bingu’s DPP’s corruption was bad. Bakili Muluzi’s UDF’s corruption was worse. Bakili is believed to have pocketed MK1.7 billion. Bingu is believed to have pocketed billions of public funds also. BUT Joyce’s PP corruption is the worst where if many most top civil servants are caught with millions and billions, one wonders how much has been pipelined out by fat cats? This is no longer corruption but LOOTING. Some social medias are already speculating that JB is MK54 billion wealthy.

The rat from the roof has exposed the one in the dust bin; such is the case of the shooting of the budget director, Mr. Paul Mphwiyo. There are more revelations and arrests but many still believe that, the big fishes are under cover. It should also be noted that arresting a culprit is one thing, convicting him/her is another. Many corruption cases have been followed before but many of them end up being discontinued by the succeeding government and to our dismay, same people are rehired and entrusted with public purse, what are we doing. Sometimes I wonder if they are not rehired to tip the incumbents how to siphon tax payers’ money.

The consequences of corrupt in developing nations are obvious; hunger, pathetic business environment, poor tourism attraction, unemployment, increasing insecurity, low education quality, repelling investors, poor infrastructures and public services leading to more deaths in hospitals as a result of drug scarcity and loss of aid. Rumours are around that some donor partners are contemplating to withdraw their aids due to poor leadership in the country and if positive change is not guaranteed, these rumours will soon come to reality. After all is said though not yet done, the billion dollar question is “what should be done next”? To some extent the constitution has a stake in these issues.

Since 1994, our constitution has been amended for not less than five times already, others say more than ten times. I believe the constitution was done in a hurry and justifiable since the country was rushing for democracy. Now that Malawi has grown in democracy, let us have the second look on it.

Other countries which saw that their constitution brought more problems in political circle than it solved revised it. With such examples as Kenya which revised it in 2010, Zimbabwe just adopted the new one; Zambia is almost adopting the new constitution so that it goes with current issues and rectifying the loopholes. Why can’t we learn from them and revise ours to minimise venomousness in public offices and protect our leaders’ integrity and economy. We will say a lot of things against Kamuzu Banda, Bakili Muluzi, Bingu wa Mutharika and soon Joyce Banda but the abuse of office and public funds by top government officials will not end until the constitution is revised to protect both them and tax payers’ money.

While short term solutions to the recent corruption revelations are being laid, the following are my suggested long term solutions:

1. To change Chapter VIII. 83. 4 so that, after the president is dead, incapacitated or resign, the vice president should hold office in that capacity for only a period of three to six months, there after fresh election. Of course this does not solve the problem of corruption and looting but to allow citizens to re-authenticate one’s presidency, thus entrusting presidency to the one they can trust so that we do away with this monarchic way of filling presidential vacancy. Other countries are doing it, we can also do likewise.
2. Let a special independent body regulate how the president and first lady introduces foundations and how funds are earned and spent or let the seating president and first lady not run any foundation until s/he retires so that there is no loophole for the president to abuse donations and funds in the name of foundation.
3. Let the constitution stipulate how many internal and external trips of government business the president and first lady/gentleman should honour to avoid over-allowances at the expense of tax payers.
4. As others have suggested, independent auditor general office should not be appointed one but advertised and filled upon merit following successful public vetting process. In this way s/he will pay allegiance to the public and not the president.
5. Ministers not to be politicians or appointed by the president but hired on contract upon merit so that they concentrate on quality service delivery other than wasting time in politics and crowing before the president. They too should be vetted publically.
6. Let the constitution stipulate the number of ministries and cabinet ministers with gender and regional sensitivity to avoid cabinet blotting which is done to appease party sympathisers leading to wasting public funds.
7. Let corruption cases have maximum deadlines in court, so that tax payers’ money does not get overused by following one case for years.
8. Let the term for MPs be 2 five year term just as we do with the president so that we don’t recycle politicians who are not even fruitful but rather disastrous to the nation’s progress.
9. Let the bills pass in the national assembly with votes not less than half the number of members from the “opposition side” present in the house to avoid passing bills on the advantage of the government side having more members in the house. This will help reduce the abuse of power and office by the government officials. This will also ensure that all electorates are represented in decision making and at the same time bringing real checks and balances on government. Bingu did very well in his first five years of office because the opposition MPs were the majority in the house and he wanted to prove the opposition wrong but after winning with landslide in 2009, he disregarded the wish of the public with such people like Dr. Hertherwick Ntaba saying, “it is our time now that we are the majority, let the opposition not cry foul”. This was because the government had many MPs aiding to passing bills which were not even in favour of the public.
10. Let the heard of the graft body and chief justice’s positions not to be the appointed ones so that they pay allegiance to the citizens other than the president. The positions be advertised and the office holders to be hired upon merit and vetted publically.
11. Audit to be done twice or thrice in a year and the results should be made known to the public. In this case, every government ministry should be accountable to what they were expected to achieve with the money entrusted to them. Thus, they should tell the public why they failed to accomplish some projects publically and those who fail to account for any penny to be followed by an axe. For this to be effective, the special commission should be set to inspect the said completed projects/assignments on the ground not just on the papers.
12. Declaration of assets by top public servants (the president inclusive) to be annually for accountability purposes to get rid of any suspected looting.

Remember, prevention is better and cheaper than cure which is expensive. Thank you my fellow Malawians for reading this article and I beg you to pass this information to anyone responsible close to you. May God bless Malawi!

ATLANTA – The United Nations has seen off an attempt to suspend the trial of Kenya’s President on charges of crimes against humanity, a move that threatened the future of the controversial court.

The Security Council yesterday refused to back an African Union motion to defer the case which, had it passed, might have marked the 11-year-old court’s death sentence.

The proposal won seven votes in support – including China and Russia – with eight abstentions; it needed two more to pass. “This should put an end to efforts to undermine the ICC’s cases,” said Liz Evenson, of Human Rights Watch. “There were no grounds to justify deferral

Now the unprecedented case, in which Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, is accused of masterminding horrific sectarian violence following elections six years ago, will open in February. The trial of his deputy, William Ruto, has already begun.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto won office in March after a clever campaign in which they presented themselves as victims of a court leading a neo-colonial conspiracy against their country. The pair were advised by a British PR firm.

Since their victory, they have ramped up their campaign against the court. Victims of violence that left at least 1,200 people dead have also been bribed and intimidated, leading several witnesses to withdraw testimonies from the ICC case.

Last month, in a statement riven with self-interest, the African Union complained about “politicisation and misuse” of indictments against African leaders. It insisted serving heads of state should be immune from international law.

Some concerns are justified. The ICC has publicly indicted some 30 individuals from seven countries, yet all are African. Additionally, all eight cases currently before the court come from the continent. And why, ask critics, are George Bush and Tony Blair not in the dock for the invasion of Iraq? The answer, they say, can be found in the words of the former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who arrogantly declared this was not a court “to bring to book Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom or Presidents of the United States”.

Yet the creation of the ICC as the court of last resort for the globe’s most monstrous atrocities was a valuable step forward in the fight for human rights.

Although the United States shamefully refuses to submit to its remit it has been supported by 34 African countries, many of them weary of bloodshed and exploitation.

The smear this is “a white man’s witch-hunt” simply does not stand up. The chief prosecutor and five of the 18 judges are Africa, while half the current cases were referred by African governments themselves. There are also inquiries into possible cases in Afghanistan, Colombia and Georgia.

No one should be fooled those African leaders demanding immunity are driven by the interests of their citizens. As the former Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, they were “effectively looking for a licence to kill, maim and oppress their own people without consequence”.

It was noticeable the country pressing the proposal yesterday was Rwanda, whose own bloodstained dictator Paul Kagame deserves to be in the dock given his actions in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethiopia – another of the most repressive regimes on the continent – was another key backer.

And it is impossible to ignore that Kenya is a country scarred by a corrupt ruling class and cycles of political violence. This year’s election thankfully passed off peaceably, but those responsible for previous outbreaks in 1992 and 1997 evaded justice with impunity.

There is still some way to go before Kenyatta appears in the dock – but yesterday’s vote marked a triumph of human rights over realpolitik

At the heart of the “Cashgate” corruption scandal in Malawi is the call for President Joyce Banda to take the necessary bold and credible steps demonstrating that is determined to deal with the scourge in a practical way.

It is with a desire to give Lilongwe an added incentive to make these necessary steps that various stakeholders, particularly the government of the United Kingdom though their Aid Agency, the Department for International Development (DFID) have suspended aid to Malawi.

Sarah Sanyahumbi, the Department for International Development’s head in Malawi, is quoted in “The Telegraph” as saying that the “Cashgate” scandal, which saw central government pay out for goods and services that were never supplied and senior officials arrested with wads of banknotes in their car boots and houses, had demonstrated “serious weaknesses in the government’s financial systems”.

“This is not business as usual,” she said. “As far as we are concerned, the line has been crossed, so once the line has been crossed you cannot go back to what you had before.” The British government position follows the positions taken earlier by Malawi’s other biggest donor, the European Union and Norway.

In response to these developments, it appears, however, that intoxicated by the Cashgate loot, President Joyce Banda is not interested in restoring the substantive integrity of her administration, nor demonstrating her government’s commitment to bring economic stability to Malawi.

President Banda is more concerned in managing the damage done to her international reputation, as demonstrated by the engagement of the London based reputation management firm, Bell Pottinger. Embarassed by Cashgate and humiliated by her failure to so far present a convincing strategy for dealing with the situation, President Joyce Banda has turned to expensive reputation management experts who could cost the Malawi government as much as £250,000 (MK175 million) just to clean up her reputation to the international community.

The question that not even the reputation management firm itself is asking is whether at the height of the cashgate scandal that has stopped many crucial social services in Malawi because of the lack of funds, the Malawi Government can afford to be paying out this sort of money to them for this purpose.

Perhaps with its vast experience in reputation management, Bell Pottinger will somehow find a way to explain why Spending money on managing President Banda’s reputation is more important that having medicines in hospitals, books in schools and feeding starving mothers and children.

Additionally, if President Joyce Banda is paying for this service from her so called “personal funds”, then the question still persists: Where is she getting this kind of money?

For the benefit of all Malawians, and all those that may wonder how Bell Pottinger can accept such an ethically questionable consultancy, it is important to give a brief background of Bell Pottinger.

Bell Pottinger is the largest UK-based multinational public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income. It is known for representing dictators and other political leaders with questionable international reputations.

On 5 December 2011, the British national newspaper “The Independent” ran a front page story based on covert filming by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism which the paper claimed revealed executives from Bell Pottinger boasting of ways in which they burnished the reputations of countries accused of human rights violations. On 8 December 2011, the UK national newspaper “The Daily Telegraph” reported that some Wikipedia user accounts allegedly linked to Bell Pottinger had been suspended. Its report stated, “the company made hundreds of alterations to Wikipedia entries about its clients (…), some of them adding favourable comments and others removing negative comments. Alterations were said to have been made by a user – traced to a Bell Pottinger computer – who used the pseudonym “Biggleswiki On the same day, “The Independent” reported that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales had described Bell Pottinger as “ethically blind”, after it had admitted altering Wikipedia pages relating to its clients.

Thus while Malawi’s international donors such as DFID are making moves to persuade President Joyce Banda to practice fiscal integrity and accountability, and at a time when Malawians are expecting change and decisive anti-corruption steps, President Banda has turned at a huge cost to an ethically challenged reputation management firm to gloss her corruption with some sugar coating.

The fruits of Bell Pottinger’s work are already evident. Inexplicably, Richard Dowden, the Executive Director of the Royal African Society is quoted as opining that President Joyce Banda is unlikely to have been involved in Cashgate. Dowden does not give any basis upon which he forms this opinion. Not too long ago, Dowden wrote in his book, “Africa”, ‘The shit changes but the flies remain the same.’ He has written and commented on African politics for over 30 years. For someone with so much experience, it is amazing that he can he stand on the mountain tops of the Savanna and attempt to speak on behalf of the oppressed people in the valleys and not see the huge gulf of disconnectedness.

That Dowden is not competent enough to endorse Joyce Banda on this issue or any other is evident in the fact that he is just too far from the events in Malawi. This is evident in his comments about President Joyce Banda, for he seems unaware that President Banda is not immediately from the NGO community. She served at a very high level of the Bakili Muluzi administration, and served as both Foreign Affairs Minister and later as Vice President in the Bingu wa Mutharika regime. For the benefit of Dowden and others keen and anxious to comment but unfamiliar with the facts of Malawi and of the Cashgate scandal, this author’s report on Cashgate entitled “Licence to Loot” can provide the starting point as to who is at the helm of the scandal in Malawi.

In spite of the loss of confidence in her administration in Malawi, the breakdown of her relationship with her people, and moves by the donor community and other well-wishers to help her take the Cashgate corruption scandal seriously, President Joyce Banda is unconcerned about restoring popular trust in her administration. Her interest is in maintaining an appearance of a popularity that no longer exists, and managing a reputation in the face of the international community that largely is unaffected by the consequences of her looting and the bankrupting of Malawi happening under her watch.

Assuming that Bell Pottinger’s expertise in image bleaching succeed, do Malawians not deserve more in their leaders that simply a spuriously bleached Joyce Banda? Is a cosmetically burnished leader with no anti-corruption strategy whatsoever what Malawi deserves as it strives for economic development and fiscal independence?

One can only hope, for the sake of poor Malawians, that the international community will not allow itself to be misled and deceived by the machinations of the mighty Bell Pottinger, and begin to believe that President Joyce Banda is dealing with the corruption in Malawi when she is not, or that she is not herself implicated in it. This would be yet another betrayal of the Malawian people. With their leader more concerned about her reputation than about fixing the country, Malawians are counting on responsible stakeholders such as international donors and other international institutions to help them bring a sense of responsibility to their president, and some hope to their country.

If you have been paying attention you will have noticed that President Joyce Banda (JB) saves two, somewhat distinct constituencies – the international community and Malawians.

A year ago, I wrote a piece arguing that the JB the world sees is not the same JB Malawians know. Until the recent aid freeze by major donors, President Banda has been a darling of the West, she received people’s good will and most folks desperately wanted her to succeed as a president of Malawi, for various reasons.

Serving two masters is always a tricky business, and it is what JB has had to do. Juggling donors demands, especially fiscal measures and immediate needs of Malawians, majority of whom have suffered directly from donor imposed fiscal measures – notably the 49% currency devaluation about 17 months ago. Yet, President Banda cannot ignore either end of the contrasting interests. She is fully aware of how Malawi economy nosedived when her predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika lost Western backing, and she needs good will from Malawians, both for social harmony and, perhaps most importantly from her perspective, because there are elections next May.

The fear of losing elections next year when President Banda and her People’s Party will be contesting for the first, the fear of losing donors – which she has now through different circumstances; and the need to win rural votes has pitted JB against minority group of urban Malawians. Majority of this minority rely on public service delivery for day-to-day upkeep. Essential things as running water in their houses and workplace (Water Board), electricity, fuel etc. these services have become increasingly erratic at the same time when Malawians are being asked to pay more due to running away inflation, induced by donor-influenced austerity measures.

The embezzlement of state resources at the Capital Hill – cashgate, has turned out to be the unifying factor. The donor community and most Malawians are angry with Malawi government; they are demanding answers and action. Crisis at home and anger abroad – this is new insofar as JB’s 18 months presidency is concerned. The government is now tightening its fiscal belt. Among other things, it has imposed a travel ban on civil servants; they can only travel on crucial assignment. This is a good step and perhaps a condition that should always be there. Two many ministers following the president around on her everyday journeys, using state resources while skipping their ministerial duties.

The Cashgate induced aid freeze is an opportunity for the government to explore better and efficient fiscal measures. Instead, President Banda is hell-bent on protecting her international appeal and image.

According to The Telegraph, a British broadsheet, JB’s administration hired a London based public relations (PR) firm to manage JB’s international image. Her administration through the PR firm, Bell Pottinger, recently released a statement on behalf of Malawi government telling the Westerners that looting of state resources in Malawi started under previous administrations and “that Mrs Banda had consistently spoken out about, and act on corruption.”

I doubt JB can prove this; it is perhaps the reason why no examples of her fight against corruption was mentioned, let alone the fact that JB was a key members of all those previous administrations and she has been in power for 17 months without anything to show for her alleged fight against corruption.

Nonetheless, there are important questions that her administration needs to address: who accounts for the hiring of the PR firm? How long has this administration been hiring PR firms to manage JB’s international image? Does this explain why the JB Malawians know is not necessarily the same one that the international community see? Of what use is JB’s image management by a foreign PR firm to Malawi taxpayers? What is JB hiding?

By hiring a PR firm JB is admitting that she has an image problem – this is what this PR firm is there to fix, and the international community is buying it, not donors anymore, they have local representatives and they can see through the velvet curtain. Look around and see the amount of awards JB has won, awards that have no resemblance, whatsoever to realities on the ground.

Richard Dowden, Executive Director of Royal African Society, an influential London based think-tank specialising on Africa told The Telegraph that he would be “amazed” if JB was aware of the looing of state resources or allowed it to happen apparently because JB comes from an NGO background and not a political one.

Now if Dowden, a respected figure on African affairs has this skewed view of what is happening in Malawi, what more an average person? It is even more disturbing when Dowden’s inaccurate comments are picked by this news organisation and pass it on “news” for Malawians to read. That is what PR is for – passing on lies as truths.

*Jimmy Kainja is a MaraPost traditional Columnist 

BLANTYRE – South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has opened an exhibition about the life of the country’s first black leader, Nelson Mandela, in Johannesburg. 

Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential briefcase and handwritten notes are among the items on display at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory. 

 Zuma earlier visited Mandela, 95, at his Johannesburg home, where he is receiving intensive care.

Reports say Mandela remains in a stable but critical condition. 

The statement was issued after Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela said he was unable to speak but used facial expressions to communicate. 

Tubes that are being used to clear his lungs prevent him from speaking.

“He remains very sensitive to any germs, so he has to be kept literally sterile,” Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told South Africa’s Sunday Independent newspaper in an article published Sunday.

On Friday, November 15, Nigerian midfielder of the Super Eagles, Ogenyi Onazi, was quoted in an interview with Complete Sports, ‘We’ll beat Ethiopia 2-0’. 

Indeed, on Saturday, November 16, it came to pass when Nigeria’s Super Eagles triumphed over Ethiopia 2-0, winning them their ticket to the World Cup series.  At first, many found the young footballer’s prediction simply amusing.  Now, that it actually has come to pass, there is much debate about how he could make such an accurate prediction.  Some are proclaiming Onazi a young prophet, but many are pointing fingers to his spiritual father and mentor Prophet T.B. Joshua.  

T.B. Joshua is a well known televangelist who owns his own Christian television network Emmanuel TV and founder of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (The SCOAN) in Nigeria. 

He is known for his many prophecies about individuals and worldwide events including football matches. Onazi, who grew up in the church, started his football career in T.B. Joshua’s youth football team My People FC. 

After his latest football prophecy about the Super Eagles 2013 AFCON Cup victory, T.B. Joshua announced that he had officially stopped releasing football prophecies to the public, but could it be that he is still releasing them to his spiritual son Onazi?

If truth be told, if we have celebrity lawyers in Malawi Ralph Kasambara is one of them. My namesake has the aura that can mesmerise any magistrate or judge any time even when he is spewing out pure gibberish.

Despite his relative youth, Ralph is up there in the stars with Malawi’s veteran lawyers, the Mordechai Msiskas, the Khrishna Savjans and the Michael Bazuka Mhangos of this world.

So I was not particularly surprised with the theatrics that surrounded his arrest and subsequent appearance in court. Hey, did he not have the audacity to call Abiti herself to the witness box? Did he not say he is ‘Raphael’ and not ‘Ralph’? My!

I hear he even refused to name his village and traditional authority? Wow!

But on the latter, I am with my namesake. I always have issues with the police and the courts seeking to know my tribe, my village, my TA. What is the point? Can my postal or street address not suffice?

Or do they want to gather statistics as to who are the most troublesome tribes in the country? Is that not tantamount to profiling people according to tribes, a colonial mentality?

Be that as it may, Ralph, the lawyer, has ‘been there, done that’. He has been Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Indeed, he has been Attorney General, not once, but twice.

And he is an SC – Senior Council – to boot, the highest accolade any Malawian lawyer can aspire for.

Surely he was at a vantage position to tell the system that these archaic formalities were not only useless but nonsensical as well, and, therefore, of no consequence. He could have initiated change of what he now believes to be useless formalities.

I know Chief Resident Magistrate Ruth Chinangwa must have been bedazzled to have the whole Ralph Kasambara before her. Did he not teach her law at some point? Otherwise Her Worship should have slapped Ralph – or is it Raphael? – with an additional charge of perjury for lying.

Surely Chinangwa must have known that Ralph is busy campaigning to become a Member of Parliament for Nkhata Bay West. Surely he cannot bid for Parliament without paying a courtesy call to the traditional authorities in the area, Timbiri and Kabunduli.

Ralph was just playing games. He knows his village and his TA.

But he has a point; let us do away with this tribe, village or TA thing. Are we not all Malawians? Let us be satisfied with the postal or residential address of where I am domiciled the moment I am at variance with the law.

By the way, with the risk of being in contempt of court, Ralph’s trial will never be fair. He will certainly be before a judge he taught at some point or had crossed paths with. The judge will either be intimidated or vengeful; whichever the case Ralph’s trial will never be fair.

“Politics
have no relation
to morals”

– Niccolo Machiavelli

 Is JZU finally vindicated?

After years of fighting with the MCP giant, there came a rare moment of unity between Chris Daza and John Tembo. That was when the MCP was considering to screen aspirants for the presidency, a clever way of barring ‘strangers’ from contesting for the top job in the oldest party in the land.

But then the old man decided to fling the doors wide open, perhaps knowing that if the strangers were barred, Daza would certainly take the prize.

And true, Daza came a distant third leaving the first and second positions to the new men, Lazarus Chakwera and Lovemore Munlo. That Daza was bitter is without question. After the late Ishmael Chafukira, he was the lone challenger to JZU. He actually proved that one can challenge the giant and get away with it.

Daza certainly invested a lot of energy and resources for that cause, only to be denied the glory at the very end.

But now, by quitting at an unexpected hour, what image is he giving? Clearly, Chris Daza joins the bandwagon of power-hungry politicians. He gives the impression that he was not fighting for the good of the party, but for his own selfish needs.

If truth be told, Daza fought a good fight and he was the ultimate winner in that he fought for change of leadership in MCP and he achieved that. He could have been considered a loser had JZU retained his position.

But alas! All those accolades are gone because it would appear that Chris Daza was, after all, not fighting for the good of the party, but for himself.

Daza got an emphatic endorsement for the position of Secretary General of the MCP if the vote count is anything to go by. If authority to govern the party is derived from the people, Daza got an emphatic affirmation for the position of CEO, if you get my drift.

But, apparently, Daza does not agree with the verdict of the people; he possibly thinks that he was cut for the presidency.

Out of frustration, he has jumped to the ruling PP.

How much does the ruling party gain from Daza, and how much does the MCP lose by his quitting?

It is apparent that with all the goings-on at Capital Hill, PP needs a boost and a facelift. The open sesame at Capital Hill and the subsequent freezing of aid by donors can greatly affect PP’s chances of getting back KamuzuPalace and Capital Hill come May next year.

And who may benefit more from PP’s stumbling? DPP’s Peter Mutharika has a fair chance of winning the elections but his late brother’s legacy remains the albatross around his neck. Bingu wa Mutharika took the country to the precipice. Some voters may think it is too soon to have another Mutharika in State House.

That leaves us with the newly-wed Austin Atupele Muluzi. Atupele has everything that qualifies him for the top job. He is young and therefore appeals to the twitter and facebook age. He is mild mannered and does not shout obscenities unlike most of our politicians. And, to boot, he has a recognisable name.

But it is the latter that can be his making and unmaking. His dad is a likable fella, a generous man a lot of people miss. But to some his ten years in power was a disaster. Malawians enjoyed unfettered freedom during the old Muluzi’s tenure, yes, but it was on his watch when corruption was institutionalised. So Atcheya’s mixed legacy can rub off the son both positively and negatively.

And then comes Lazarus Chakwera, the man of the collar. He burst on the scene from literally nowhere. While all his main challengers – Abiti, Tate and Bebe – have links to all the three regimes Malawi has had, Abusa has none.

Frustrated by politics as usual Malawians may try politics unusual which benefits the new kid on the political block – the Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.

So while Abiti can fight Peter and Atupele with their brother and dad’s legacies, she has nothing to fight Abusa with. Which makes Chakwera the man to beat for Joyce Banda.

Therefore PP had to make in-roads in the MCP stronghold of the Central Region and try to destabilise the oldest political party in the land in whatever manner.

Plucking off the MCP CEO is certainly an ingenious idea.

But is Daza really the talisman PP needs to steal the MCP thunder in the Central Region and beyond? Here is somebody who failed to secure a seat in his Ntcheu bid for Parliament. In fact, he came a distant fifth. And he has just failed to make it to the MCP presidency.

So what value does he bring to PP?

Granted, PP can gain traction from poaching a whole Secretary General, the de facto CEO, of the main opposition party.

But we saw PP roping in Wakuda Kamanga from the DPP. He too was Secretary General, DPP’s CEO. But do we hear anything about Wakuda any more? Where is the guy?

Daza’s coming to PP does not benefit the ruling party that much, neither does it affect the MCP that much. It only benefits Chris Daza, the person. Has he not just landed a ministry whose ToRs beggars belief?