By Falles Kamanga
PRESS STATEMENT BY PASTORS FRATERNAL AND CITIZEN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK CONDEMNING FRIDAY’S DEMONSTRATIONS
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
Members of the media, welcome to this news conference which has been organized by Pastors
Fraternal and Citizen Development Network. We do not take your presence for granted.
Without wasting your time, we are here to condemn the so called Human Rights Defenders
Coalition (HRDC) for organizing anti-government demonstrations tomorrow because we are
convinced that they are doing so to serve interests of their masters and not necessarily serving the
interests of Malawians. We are saying so because they snubbed government which invited them
for dialogue. They missed a big opportunity.
Secondly, we are convinced that the protests are organized in bad faith because of the
involvement of church organisations and politicians. Their involvement clearly shows that the so
called defenders of human rights in Malawi have hidden agenda. We call upon members of
different religious organisations not to participate in the demonstrations because they will just be
used to advance political interests of the organisers. We ask fellow church leaders to desist from
turning the pulpit into a political podium. We call on church leaders to continue promoting peace
and unity. We also call on politicians to continue their work of providing leadership and helping
one those in power to govern well. CSOs should also play their rightful role of providing checks
and balances in civil manner.
We would also like to remind Malawians that last month the court gave a ruling that said that
Civil Society Organisations in the country do not represent the interests of Malawians because
they do not have legal basis. The court clearly stated that CSOs cannot claim to represent
Malawians as only councilors, MPs and President represent Malawians because people elect
these officials not CSOs. This is in reference to the Court ruling when it ordered the unfreezing
of the accounts of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party over the K145 million donation case.
Now, the question that we are asking today is: Whose interests are they organizing the
demonstrations for?
Ladies and Gentlemen, as church leaders, we were happy when we heard that the CSOs were
invited for dialogue with the Government to find solutions to the issues they have. Unfortunately,
the CSOs decided to boycott the dialogue and proceed with the protests. That adamancy
demonstrated by the CSOs simply shows that they have hidden agenda for the protests. Anyone
can see that they are organizing the demos in bad faith. They want to please their masters. They
are not serving the interests of the general public as they claim. After all, it is the usual kind of
the so called human rights defenders that make noise all the time when the larger population of
CSOs is not in agreement with their usual sinister plans.
We want to state here that the reasons they gave for boycotting dialogue with government are
unfounded. They said they could not meet the Government team because the president and some
ministers were not present. We want to remind them that they should not exaggerate their
importance. They need to respect the Head of State. They are growing too big for their shoes.
They should not treat the President as their peer. We can conclude that they deliberately chose to
snub government to fulfill their political agenda.
In conclusion, as peace loving leaders, we would like to urge Malawians not to participate in the
demonstrations as there could be chaos. We also urge Malawians to stay in-doors so that they are
not used to advance the agenda of the organisers who in the end benefit when those that support
them by demonstrating get nothing.
Let us love our country. Let us respect our leaders.
Thank you for your attention.
Signed:
Bishop Joseph Kazembe:
Chairman for Citizen Development Network
Bishop Lazarus Gama
Chairman for Pastors Fraternal Association of Malawi
Chief Chiwere-Dowa
Executive Member of Citizen Development Network
Chief Chimwala-Mangochi
Executive Member of Citizen Development Network
