Politics - and the "voice of the people"

Please braze yourself for a slightly "heavy" reflection this time...

17th - 18th February this year the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) conducted an "all inclusive consultation" on the state of affairs of the country.  PAC is an inter-religious body, in which leaders of almost all mainline religions are represented, notably Christian and Muslim leaders.  PAC has existed for a number of years, and was quite important and instrumental during the transition from dictatorship to democracy during the early '90s.  This year's consultation was the fifth since it started some years back.  The previous consultation was in the build-up for the 2014 elections, in which they challenged politicians on their integrity and seriousness in wanting to serve the people of Malawi.

This time around the main topics were "governance" and "economy" as the country is faced with serious challenges.  A sizable delegation of government ministers, opposition politicians, representatives of religious groups, civil society organizations, labour unions, chambers of commerce, academia and media were invited.  A total of about 230 delegates participated. I had been invited as an observer, and enjoyed the learning experience.  Most of the consultation was constructive in the sense that critical issues were raised and discussed.  Opposition politicians tried, however to hijack the occasion by entering into a blame game and demanding that the President should step down within 30 days.  A number of recommendations were made through group works, and additional recommendations were brought to the plenary floor.

The PAC board processed all the recommendations and came up with 21 observations and "actionable recommendations".  They asked for an audience with the President to present these recommendations.  Finally, Thursday this last week they were given audience for what was named a round table.  The whole meeting was broadcast live on the government (read: ruling party) controlled TV station, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation.

The Chair of PAC presented the recommendations, and the President commented upon them.  It was quite instructive how the President controlled the whole meeting, but allowed issues to be brought out.  He used his power to have the last word, in which he tried to leave behind the impression that: "My government is doing quite well, even after having heard your recommendations.  We might look at certain issues here and there, but overall I believe we are on track!"

In concluding the round-table, an agreement was reached that "technical committees" should look deeper into the recommendations and see what might be done.

What did the media get out of this open consultation? Here are some first page headlines:  "APM (Arthur Peter Mutharika, the President) refueses to forfeit powers", "PAC encounter with the President ended in deadlock", "Fury over silent APM quit text: Govt hits at PAC for inserting resignation call in written report".

PAC made efforts to collect diverse views and recommendations from a variety of stakeholders, while media pegged opinions on PAC.  They want to instigate a conflict between the government and PAC.  While PAC had processed the recommendations and developed their own set of priority recommendations, both government, opposition politicians and media attack PAC from different angles for opinions expressed by the participants of the consultation.  It is not always easy to make efforts to be a loudspeaker for the "voice of the people"!  There is a saying:" Don't shoot the pianist / messenger!"  This saying is certainly relevant for PAC in their efforts to be an instrument of dialogue, and act as a "prophetic voice
.

Mozambican refugees... and a sidebar on politics

Political unrest in the northern part of Mozambique has brought about an influx of people into Malawi.  The Mozambican government has denied that there are any reasons for people to flee.  The UN agency for refugees, UNHCR, therefore has to use the term asylum seekers until the legal issues are sorted out.  Neighbourly relations are at stake if Malawi accepts that they are hosting refugees, which will officially recognize that the neighbouring country has internal trouble...

Currently Malawi hosts approximately 12 000 refugees (I dare use this terminology), and more are coming by the day.  Most of them are located in the overcrowded Kapise camp, while others are scattered in the southern part of the country.  Re-opening of Luwani camp, that was used during the Mozambique refugee influx during the '90s will facilitate all refugees in an acceptable way.  NCA and two local ACT partners got involved as an ACT team in preparing for the refugees to settle in Luwani.  We committed ourselves to work on water and sanitation needs. Urgently we needed to address these needs in the reception center.  Our team landed in the nearby town of Mwanza before last weekend, and started surveying the task together with UNHCR.  The first refugees were to arrive this last Friday, so there was no time to lose.

I visited our team Monday and Tuesday this last week, and I could witness how they systematically and quickly got their feet on the ground and started working on the urgent tasks.  Clearing of land for the reception center was step one, while identifying water sources - boreholes- was a basic precondition for settling people in the area.  Next step was to construct latrines, shower houses, hand-washing stands and digging solid waste pits.  Other organizations under the leadership of UNHCR got down to other tasks, including erecting tents and preparing other important services.

By end of Thursday the first latrines and shower houses were ready for the first refugees who were brought into the reception center on Friday.

  I am proud of our team that got off the ground and prepared these facilities in time.  They are continuing to increase the capacity, allowing the entire reception center be populated by 500 people.

The two first bus-loads of refugees arrive

Currently we have limited funding, but we hope additional money will make it possible to move into the main camp and accompany refugees when they construct and maintain their sanitation facilities.  Our plan is to see 300 family latrines being constructed over the next two-three months.  UNHCR has planned for a total of 30,000 refugees in Luwani.  There is plenty of work to be done!

A SIDEBAR ON POLITICS
As I follow the campaign trails of presidential candidates in USA, and observe election promises from politician around the world, a news article in "The Daily Times" this week caught my attention.

.

Mr Ambokire Salimu has sued the Malawi Election Commission.  He has asked the High Court to restrain the Electoral Commission from holding any elections until a provision in the Electoral Law is introduced that "public officers should account for campaign promises they make to get into the office."  This is an interesting move.  Imagine that all politicians who promise "heaven on earth" during election campaigns will be held legally responsible for these promises when they take up their offices!  I wonder who would dare to campaign for offices if such laws are implemented... Does anyone know any politician who has kept his/her campaign promises?  While legal responsibility probably is beyond imagination, we could at least hope for some ethical responsibility once in  a while?

Too little - too much - and Injustice

Malawi is, as is the case with most Southern African countries suffering from food deficit.  Drought and erratic rains resulted in crop failures last harvest season.  This current rainy season has been erratic and partly untimely.  Therefore it looks like another harvest below average will add to the food shortage in the country.

The picture is complex, since parts of the country have had significantly less rains than needed, and the rains that came in the south came at a time that was too late for the main maize harvest.  In the central region the picture is mixed, with some areas expecting normal harvests, while other areas will experience low yields.

Compounded with this is the repeated floods that have been in the north.  During the last week the north has seen serious flooding in which lives have been lost.

The story of Masasa Township close to Mzuzu is about untimely rains, but also of injustice.  As can seen from the newspaper article below, 8 people died... most of them children due to the flash flood that was the result of heavy downpour Thursday night.

The elders of village, pictured above, lament that their disaster is just as much man-made as caused by the nature.  "Most of the people were forced to settle in these risky places.  And the result are these deaths" says Thula, one of the elders.  She continues:" We were relocated from Katoto Area 4 without compensation to pave way for the rich to build their mansions."

This is but one example that natural disasters are unjust.  Natural forces hit equally hard in the different communities, but the poor and marginalized communities are much more vulnerable due to injustices brought upon them.  There is great need for serious advocacy work on many levels to secure basic survival and rights for the poor of this country.  Addressing natural disasters is not limited to a charity approach, but needs to be complemented with a human rights approach!