LOVE IS NO RESPECTOR OF CLASS BOUNDARIES

The late Soldier Lucious Banda in one of his albums did a song titled ‘Mphawi uja’ which in literal translation means ‘that poor man’.  

It is a song that tells a story of a poor young man, the son of a house servant called Chule who worked for a wealthy family. His family survived on leftovers from the rich household.

But life, as it often does, complicated the social order. Chule’s son fell in love with the rich man’s daughter.

Predictably, the relationship met strong opposition especially from the rich parents. And to separate the two, the daughter was sent abroad for studies.

Yet fate had other plans. It is Banda’s story in the song that Chule’s son later earned a scholarship through missionaries and went abroad as well. There he reunited with his childhood sweetheart the richman’s daughter. They replayed their love story from where it had paused and went ahead to build a family together.

Years went by and it was time to come back home; then came the shock.

On the fateful day the rich family and perhaps in company of friends thronged the airport, to welcome back their accomplished daughter.

The daughter disembarked from the plane carrying a baby, beside a familiar male face, Chule Jr. The very young man they once rejected and tried to erase from their daughter’s life. True love simply found its way back home.

The story, if you ask me, carries a lesson many parents struggle to accept. You can shape values for your children, but you cannot write their stories of love.

Do not get me wrong. Parents have a duty and a God given responsibility to intervene where there is abuse, danger manipulation or destructive conduct, but when they reject people simply because  they do not fit a preferred social standard, they may unintentionally be creating wounds that are deeper than they will ever know.

More importantly, in today’s social media age, parents must become extremely careful about how they handle family matters publicly.

Moments of anger can become permanent public records. Humiliating a daughter online, directly or indirectly, exposes her to ridicule, mockery, unnecessary pressure, and emotional distress from strangers who have no business caring about her wellbeing.

Even future relationships can be affected.

I say this not merely as an observer, but as someone who experienced a unique father-daughter relationship myself.

I love to say that it was a ‘Tom and Jerry’ kind of affair yet very special.

My late father anchored his parenting on values, education, discipline, and Christianity.

He protected without suffocating, corrected without controlling and guided without dictating. Thet perhaps is what true parenthood should look like.

Children do not need parents who micromanage every emotional decision they make.

Know when to hold tightly and when to slowly loosen the grip.

Having said that, it feels good to be back.  Better Sundays are ahead of us.

Chao!

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Rest in peace BBC Africa News

Last Tuesday ahead of the match between the Malawi National Football team we fondly call The Flames and Senegal, at the ongoing African Cup of Nations (Afcon) Tournament in Cameroon, President Lazarus Chakwera pledged to give each player among the first 11 one million kwacha  and half a million kwacha to each of the substitutes if they secured a win. 

For everyone who follows football and is following events at Afcon, this was no mean assignment for the flames.

Senegal are among the best football sides not just in Africa but also in the world as they are ranked 20^th globally, Malawi were the underdogs.

I doubt anyone gave Flames a chance apart from us Malawians, we had faith in our boys and so did The President.

Coming from a win against Zimbabwe, the morale was still high in the flames’ camp; we had no reason to count them out.

All they needed was that great push, motivation and encouragement that they had all it takes to beat a team dominated by world class players like Senegal, just like their brothers did in 2010 when they whipped Algeria 3-0 at a similar competition in Angola.

Apart from the incentive right before the match President Chakwera undertook to talk to the boys, he made a video call to the dressing room, talking them into winning reminding them of the great support they had here at home.

But the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Africa News decided to pick issue with President Chakwera’s gesture.

They actually misrepresented the facts intentionally to suit their all-time not so good narrative about Malawi and Africa in general.

They made it seem as though because we are a poor country, struggling with the fight against corruption, the president should have better priorities than giving gifts to the national football team.

What they did not know and most likely still do not know is that Flames is Malawi’s priority and so was beating Senegal on that fateful Tuesday evening.

They made it sound as though the President was using proceeds of fraud and corruption to motivate his boys. How sad.

As expected a majority of Malawians did not take too kindly to BBC’s sentiments and they have since that day to date been taking on the world’s media giant accusing it of meddling in the country’s affairs.

A petition has been generated calling for an apology from the bush house.

Many have opined that what the former colonial master is trying to do is to dictate how and on who Malawi spends its resources, forgetting we are our own sovereign state.

The fact that we are not where we would love to be  when it comes to dealing with fraud and graft, does not mean that any other  business should come to a halt.

I like what Minister Gospel Kazako told the BBC reporter on radio, the fact that we are a poor nation does not mean we  cannot give credit where it is due, it does not mean we cannot give each other gifts where necessary.

The minister further confronted the BBC that their stance on the matter smells a form of imperialism and indirect colonization which should not be tolerated.

I mean even the Queen in Britain has on several occasions given Olympic medalists cash tokens for victories, so does the United States of America while other countries like The Philippines go as far as giving houses to their sportsmen as a form of incentive.

So why should it be a problem when Malawi through its president does it for its flag carrier?

It is clear that Malawi is just a victim of the BBC’s Afro-pessimism, peddled by the West to portraying Africa negatively.

It should not be surprising when the world’s media giant starts to lose the popularity on the continent.

Without fear of contradiction, in Malawi, BBC News Africa is on the verge of losing all the respect it once commanded unless it works on the bad attitude it has on our country.

Otherwise as the Flames take on Morroco on Tuesday I would say rest in peace BBC but may be; stay put for your rude awakening.

Chao!

 

Should giving be restricted to Christmas alone?

To most practicing Christians giving constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of their faith and is such an integral part of Godly living, since the bible says in Acts 20 verse 35 that “…blessed is the hand that gives than the one that receives.” 

But basing on the scripture above there is a danger that we human beings of sinful nature that we are might resort to giving for selfish reasons because we want the extra blessings all to ourselves apart from painting a picture of generosity to the world when sometimes that’s not what we truly are.

Giving hand sharing have late become a very contentious issue amidst the gospels of prosperity and success, and one  million dollar question surrounding this subtle subject is about when is the right time to give, has the bible given instruction on the proper time to help the needy?

The festive season is here and media is awash with articles of people, companies, organisations and more who have gone out to cheer the sick in hospital, inmates and even orphans being kept in various orphanages.

As  rightly observed in Malawi  it has of late become a common phenomenon that people might would sit back and watch a brother or sister struggle  with life to make an ends meet all year through but will wait until Christmas to reach out to them.

So why should helping anybody just wait for this time of the year alone, or is it one way that people use to ease their conscious that  there be no blood on their head of someone out there who died on a hospital bed or behind bars due to starvation and more while they were up and about making merry?

Pastor Charles Burton of the Karonga Assemblies of God weighed in by issuing warning that seasonal or timed generosity stands to dilute the whole essence of giving as advised by the bible as it becomes mere festive fever.

Burton

Burton said all the kind gestures during Christmas are bound to become ceremonial and selfish when Non-governmental Organisations and any groups of individuals do it without full understanding of the meaning of Christmas or do not stand for the Christian values.

“Giving is an exercise of the greatest commandment which is love and if our focus of love is seasonal then it’s not love. Love is unconditional and unseasonal as such people should do what they can do every time without waiting for a particular time of the year,” he said.

While acknowledging that giving during this time is drawn from the three Wisemen from the East in the bible who gave baby Jesus gifts of Myrrh and Olive Burton insists that the modern trend is without purpose but just capacity of fame and enjoyment.

“Proverbs 19 verse 17 says those that pity on the ones in need lend to God and he will pay them back at his appointed time, therefore giving or helping those in need should be every Christian’s nature  because it is fulfillment of the word” he added.

However, to General Secretary for the Livingstonia Synod in the Church for Central African Presbytery (CCAP) Reverend Levi Nyondo giving and sharing should be an integral part of Christmas because during this time Christians celebrate God’s offertory of his son Jesus Christ to the world.

He is however quick to say it is equally imperative to give during the other times of the year because people face problems all the time and they are always looking for benefactors from all walks of life.

“During Christmas we are indeed supposed to propagate the message of Jesus birth through charity and any other kind gesture however  we should be reminded that God directed us to always feel for those that are suffering regardless of times and seasons,” said Nyondo.

If Nyondo and Burton’s words are anything go by, may our giving during this festive season be mere continuation of something innate in us as Christians because to any practicing Christian giving is not optional but rather essential as it is one other way of worship because we give to the glory of God and the good of his people.

Now as Christians or any other believers may this year’s Christmas be a springboard for our lifetime commitment to serving others who Jesus through his birth came to save.

Merry xmas!

Half a century of toiling in vain

Malawi’s first president Hastings Kamuzu Banda made it an open secret that food security was the only highway to a prosperous nation. Reading from the history books Banda demonstrated full familiarity on what agriculture productivity could do in transforming the lives of people and in turn improve the economic worth of a country such as Malawi which over half of its population is illiterate.

When recounting her fond memories of Banda’s leadership style, my grandmother’s (now in her 70s) tales are never short of a Chichewa phrase which says’chuma chili munthaka’ which literally means there are hidden treasures underneath the soil.

I am told this was one of Banda’s favorite catchphrases as a way of encouraging Malawians to keep working hard in their fields. It was there and then when the country docketed tobacco as its very own green gold being the highest foreign currency earner of all times.

However, during one of my recent online escapades I stumbled onto the World Food Program (WFP) website. I will not say that what I saw was a shocker but rather infuriating and got me thinking.

The WFP reports that 60 percent of adult Malawians suffered from stunting during their early years of life representing about 4.5 Million people of working age. To me anyone in this age bracket must have been a child during Banda’s reign.

An indication that some of the problems we are suffering today, in themselves have a long standing history too.

Realistically I was not dazed because I know Malawi has always ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world and that it has had a not-so-very-good reputation in terms of nutrition for its people.

Presently the stunting rate for children under the age of five is perched at 42 percent. “With little improvements seen over the past decades,” bluntly states the overview report.

The statistics provoked the rage deep within me, to me they just sound ridiculous and intolerable thereby crowding my mind with millions of questions demanding answers from each one of us let alone our political leadership.

My argument is simple; how does a country boasting of slightly over five decades of self-rule fail to produce enough food for an average household?

Talk of over 2 Million malnourished children in this 21st Century, this means as a country we are raising yet another chunk of Millions of unproductive adults for the next two decades who, ironically, will have nothing better to offer to the nation but rather continue to suck from its so called ‘insufficient resources’.

It is estimated for instance that MWK 16.5 billion (US$67 million) was lost in the year 2012 due to the reduced productivity of those who were stunted as children.

To any sane and patriotic Malawian this development should be mind baffling and cause for worry. One should wonder why and how a nation boasting of 50 plus years of independence is managing to raise malnourished generations and seems not to be diverting from the track anytime soon.

Perhaps, we have had our priorities laid upside down long enough such that we have all been blinded by the status quo we have created.

We cannot afford to continue on this path.  For every well-wishing Malawian it is high time we turned the tables and saved the face of our beloved nation from this soiled reputation.

Malawi boasts of a long history of peace, which means as a country internal conflicts would never make it to the list of excuses for our well prolonged starvation and malnutrition.

The bad picture we have painted for ourselves as a nation that fails to feed its own people is really appalling.

Such that it now sounds more of a mockery to say the country is endowed with natural resources such as fresh waters and has one huge and cheap labor force ever imagined.

Statements like one above, serve to expose the folly of an entire nation that fails to utilize even the readily available resources for the good of its own people.

Former United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan once said “we have all the means and capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will.”

I share Annan’s sentiment for all the right reasons.  Our political leaders have been nothing more but mere frustration and a disappointment to the people they claim to serve.

In my reasonable number of years of existence I have witnessed a political leadership that has proved devoid of any political zeal to improve productivity of its people.

The syndrome is so contagious that throughout all the governments that we have had none has managed to drive in feasible programs enabling an average Malawian family to get food to its table everyday all year round.

Should, truth be told, we have trusted selfish gluttons who seemingly do not care a single bit about the welfare of people who get them into authority.

Malawians have turned into a pitiful nation flanked by covetous and power hungry individuals masquerading as political leaders.

They that without any iota of shame steal and pickpocket from the miserable nationals who literally have to part away with their hard earned dimes each time, in payment of tax on almost every item they lay their hands on in a grocery store.

It is in the light of the perpetual broad daylight thievery that seems to be a well cherished hobby by our leaders that I choose to differ with a bandwagon of people who think that insufficient financial resources are a major contributing factor to our prolonged food crisis.

It is high time we got rid of the political decadence currently going on and set the lives of our people top on our priorities.  

Otherwise, looking back at the 50 years plus of Malawi’s political autonomy and being an agriculture dependent country that it is, all I see is a multitude of citizens who have literally spent five decades toiling in vain.

New investor in Lake Malawi Oil exploration

New investor in Lake Malawi Oil exploration

At a time when the debate on Lake Malawi oil exploration was seemingly dying down government has engaged a new company Hamra Oil Holdings Limited (HOHL) from United Arab Emirates to do the work replacing Surestream from the United Kingdom.

During the week government officials and those from the company have been courting stakeholders in the lake districts of Karonga, Nkhatabay and Nkhotakota among others informing them on the new development.

 

Deputy Director in the Ministry of Energy and Mines Peter Chilumanga said in an emailed questionnaire that Hamra bought 51 percent of business shares from Surestream following negotiations which started in March this year.

 

“From the look of things Hamra is a major shareholder so that is how it comes in the picture,” Chilumanga said.

According to Chilumanga Surestream was given an exploration license by government which technically means Hamra Holdings are mandated to carry out the exploration work being a major shareholder.

“Surestream participated in application for exploration licenses for Blocks 2 and 3 to government and emerged then as the best technically to undertake the exploration and was thus granted a go ahead by government to undertake oil exploration as a first stage. They conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and are now a position to plan for that aerial exploration program,” Chilumanga explained.

During a meeting in Karonga stakeholders were informed that the exploration work which will commence soon will involve use of planes which will be flying at low altitude levels and will last for six months.

Social Commentator Kossam Munthali however cautioned government and the new investor to tread carefully on the matter because of the ongoing lake row between Malawi and Tanzania.

In response Chilumanga said that the lake wrangle is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take care of but however said the company has a license for exploration and cannot stay idle till the issue is sorted out between the two countries.

Chairperson for Karonga Business Community (KBC) Wavisanga Silungwe also said there is need to be a well-defined Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the investor and the communities to ensure that there is economic benefit for the locals.

“Karonga and other districts have different social concerns that are stipulated in District Development Plans and investors like these should help in fulfilling them because the lake is for the development of this country and we expect a win- win situation,” Silungwe explained.

On the concern Chilumanga said the issue of an MOU with communities does not arise at the exploration stage because it has not yet been established if there is oil in the lake and that production is possible.

During a meeting with Surestream last year Paramount Chief Kyungu asked the investors to consider sponsoring two or three Malawians to study Marine subjects abroad so that they would be able to relay proper information to locals when the exploration work begins.

“It is better to have local expatriates because of the passion they would have for their lake, saying they would be transparent in disseminating information to local people as compared to foreigners who might be protecting their business interests at the expense of our local marine resources.” Kyungu said.

 

When called for comment officials from Hamra holdings referred this writer to their media coordinator Rex Chikoko who said they are in the process of arranging meetings where the media will be furnished with proper information on the matter.

END

Economic empowerment key in tackling GBV

A woman commentator has said if the country is to excel in its fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) government and its stakeholders must consider championing economic independence among women.

An official from women's forum in Karonga Heri Shola said this on the sidelines that a police officer has been keeping a girl 21 hostage for over a year after promising her marriage.

“All these challenges that we are grappling with in terms of men ill treating women it is because custom has made our women believe that men are their sole sources of gratification of life,” said Shola.

“As such Malawian women need mentoring and empowerment in order for them to believe that they can stand on their own economically  should they work hard and have self esteem, government and its partners should pave hat way for them,” she advised.

Shola said for a long time efforts to combat violations against women’s rights have yielded minimal results because some critical issues promoting the vice are overlooked.

“Concerns have been raised that women do not come out in the open to report matters on GBV but the common experience has been that they fear for the conviction of their benefactors and the issue of this young lady who was being locked in the house by a policeman points to the same reasons,” Shola explained.

Without going into details Shola said I is disappointing of late to note that police officers who are supposed to help defend people’s rights have turned to be oppressors.

Corroborating with Shola Atupele Mwalweni from the department of Gender and Social Welfare in Karonga said women with weak economic muscle are subject to abuse because men capitalize on their vulnerability.

“It is difficult for a woman who does not have any means of sustaining herself to defend herself in times when she is facing abuse because she has a number of considerations in place such as children and family members,” she explained.

Mwalweni however said that the fact that other men are suffering at the hands of abusive women should not be ignored.

Former Commissioner says Malawi's democracy immature

Former commissioner of the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) Garnet Kamwambi has said the country still has a long way to go for it to call its democracy mature.

Kamwambi made the remarks in an interview in Karonga on Saturday where he said a true democratic state is that which leaders invest their energy and time in upholding the constitution and according to him it is not the case in Malawi.

“I have lived in this country long enough and I am yet to see a leader who is committed to stick to the rule of law when governing the nation, all I see are selfish leaders who go about lying to poor Malawians that we are in a thriving democratic state while we are not,” he explained.

Kamwambi who formerly lectured in the department of political science at Chancellor College said Malawi’s democracy is full of atrocities for it to qualify as such.

“Malawi’s democracy dates back to Kamuzu’s time you can recall that it was a time when human dignity was demeaned to zero levels, going down the line we have witnessed events like the Chasowa Murder, July 20 massacre and many other politically related fatalities but no president has used the law to bring culprits to book, ” Kamwambi narrated.

“It is only in Malawi where authorities can embezzle public funds and get away with it as if they are running a country of lifeless humans who have no control over matters that affect them what kind of a democracy is that?” he questioned.

On elections, the Karonga based former commissioner said apart from the 1958 election the country has not had any credible election.

“I am sorry to say that all election in the country had signals of rigging including the tripartite one and I do not see things improving unless we go back to the idea of merit when conducting business as a nation,” he advised.

According to Kamwambi the malfunction of the electoral commission is due to what he called segregation and nepotism during appointment of commissioners as such he said its integrity will always be questioned.

Kamwambi who was commissioner during the 1999 general elections in which former president Bakili Muluzi came out winner, said he did not sign for the result because of the various anomalies which marred the electoral process then.