According to posts on Facebook, where the news first broke and reactions came in fast and furious, the play is titled “Semo” produced by Lions Theatre. The lead actor in the play is Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza, son of Malawi's best known playwright and actor, the late Du Chisiza Jr. The play was being performed at Nanzikambe Amphitheatre in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

First to break the news was Brian Banda, Malawi's leading radio host who works at Capital FM Radio. He was in the audience when the arrest happened and he posted pictures on his Facebook page. Banda's status update, a little after 3.05 pm Malawi time, read [the content is currently only available to friends]:

Actor Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza being led away for questioning. Photo courtesy of Brian Banda.

Police have just stopped a play ‘Semo' by Lions Theatre at Nanzikambe Amp Theatre.

Reactions flowed in immediately with people wanting to know the police's motive. Banda responded:

The play is reported to be too critical of Mutharika regime.

He later added:

We are all here. Nobody is moving.

For most people commenting on Facebook the scene was reminiscent of the one-party dictatorship when “president for life” Dr. Hasting Kamuzu Banda ruled Malawi for 30 years, from 1964 to 1994. The one-party era was characterized by heavy-handed censorship through a government agency known as the Censorship Board.

The end of one-party rule in 1994 brought democratic changes, and the Censorship Board no longer played its public censorship role. However despite Malawian activists questioning the presence of the board in post-1994 Malawi, censorship laws have remained, and the board continued existing, albeit in a low profile. It was renamed the Malawi Classification Board, but Chisiza's arrest and charging shows the law governing the board remains stuck in pre-1994 Malawi.

Commenting on Brian Banda's update, Joseph Nkhoma wrote:

Fast descending into a police state. Tiziopanso kutchula dzina la munthu. [Should we go back to being afraid to even mention somebody's name?] Wasn't 30years enough for this?

Another comment, on a separate thread, also alluded to the dictatorship era [the content is currently only available to friends]:

I heard of more or less similar stories from my late father, but i never thought I could live in similar times. Was his vote in 1993 and 1994 a waste? I am hurting bro.

Some went even further and alluded to the colonial era when Malawi was under British rule:

Bola welesnkey anali wobwera [At least Wellensky was a foreigner]

That reference was to Raphael Roy Wellensky, the last colonial Prime Minister for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation was fiercely hated and opposed by Africans, who fought it and won independence as modern day countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Another netizen wondered why arrest an actor when a play is authored by a playwright, but online newspaper Nyasatimes reported that Chisiza co-authored the play together with Robert Chasowa, a University of Malawi Polytechnic student activist who was found murdered on campus on the morning of September 24, 2011.

Blogger Ananiya Alick Ponje commented, also on facebook [the content is currently only available to friends], about the paranoia that seemed to be gripping the Malawi government:

By now, we all know what an insecure and pessimistic regime is like: it has to arrest anyone who rebukes it

More reaction appeared on a Facebook group known as Malawi at 50: Towards a New Crop of Malawian Leaders [Malawi at 50 is a closed group]. On Malawi at 50 the first update on the arrest appeared at 7.40pm Malawi time, from Taweni Gondwe Xaba. She wrote:

Playwright and actor Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza being led away by Malawi Police for questioning on the “subversive” substance of the creative material in his new play. I'd call it a great opening run;-) Free publicity provided by Malawi Police.

Later Xaba alluded to her fears about what happened to a young Malawian political activist when the police questioned him, a reference to University of Malawi Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa who was murdered after getting involved with police intelligence gathering. Xaba wrote:

I understand he was frogmarched off stage by police 11 minutes into the performance. I'll post the rest of the pics just now. He appears unperturbed by the whole thing but I am worried guys. The last time these people questioned some youth he ended up “committing suicide.” I also recall a recent Nation newspaper interview with him which mentioned that some of the content or lines in the play were contributed by Robert Chasowa who was also into drama and acting etc. I have no idea if these issues are linked.

A Malawian human rights lawyer, Habiba Osman, who created the group Malawi at 50 responded:

I am not surprised that they'd do such thing..it pisses me off that the Police are the ones perpetrating such acts when in fact they know that they will never win this battle..and that others who are limiting this constitutional right will leave office and this right will remain with us..

A subsequent post from Habiba Osman suggested action, making references to another court case on Monday for five human rights activists who were arrested on October 14 for staging a protest in the Malawi capital Lilongwe:

Taweni, I need more information..we need to mobilise fast..we are in court tomorrow. So hopefully, we can address others too.

While the reaction was quickest on Facebook, online newspaper Nyasatimes published the story on their website on Sunday evening. On Monday the print media also carried the story. As of Monday evening Brian Banda reported on his Facebook page about Chisiza's charge and release on bail:

Thlupego Chisiza fined K5000. He has paid and he is free now.

Facebook page Towards Malawi Elections 2014 also posted on Monday evening and stated what Police charged Chisiza with:

Chisiza convicted and asked 2 pay K5,000.00 or face 2months for staging a play without permit

Other comments on Facebook have pointed out how Chisiza's arrest is now backfiring and giving free publicity for the play “Semo,” its main actor Thlupego Chisiza and the drama group Lions Theatre (until this incident on Sunday afternoon, I had never heard of the play, the actor nor the group). On Monday night Dannie Grant Phiri posted on his facebook page:

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the police and the censorhip board because without their actions some of us would've been blissfully unaware that Thlupego Chisiza had produced a play that has powers that be very very uncomfortable.

Now we're seriously looking for the script.

His friends reacted to his observations. Peter Namphande said:

I used 2 pay less attention to plays, but now my interest has been rekindled. I have 2 watch this one!

Taweni Gondwe Xaba wrote:

one young man has shaken Bingu and his cronies in a way opposition has failed to do!

The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, noted Taweni Gondwe Xaba:

the pen is mightier than the sword… proven true yet again!! i love what is unfolding;-)

Thlupego Chisiza was on Monday found guilty of staging a play without a permit from Censorship Board and was fined K5,000 (approx. US$30) or in default six months imprisonment with hard labour. He paid the fine.

After his release, Chisiza asked his Facebook friends:

Now that am out WHAT NEXT?

According to Nyasa Times reporter, Semo is a Moses-like leader who saved a historic nation from oppression. The play is set in the increasingly undemocratic Republic of Kwacha which is plagued by learned advisors who praise an increasingly oppressive king to safeguard their positions.

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Four years ago, going from one market to the other meant taking a circuitous path along the riverbank, crossing the Lilongwe Bridge, and then walking back on the other side. Today, there are bridges connecting the two markets, but they are not conventional bridges. They have been constructed by hand using locally-sourced wood.

A hand-made bridge connecting two markets across the Lilongwe river. By Steve Sharra (CC-BY)

The bridge pictured on the right was constructed by a team of seven young men, and it now provides them with a livelihood. They take turns manning the bridge, from as early as 6am to as late as 7pm when darkness falls and the markets close.

The proceeds of the day's bridge-crossing go into the pocket of whoever is on shift. From his earnings, Samuel Mbewe told me he had opened a grocery store.

Their constructors collect tolls, currently at K10.00 (US$0.06) per person crossing.

A local solution to joblessness and urbanization

On Sunday October 2, 2011, I found Samuel Mbewe and Kayen Kayanka, standing guard at their bridge. In the three years that they have owned the bridge they have never counted how many people cross the bridge per day. But Samuel told me their earnings range from MK9,000 (US$54) on a slow day, to MK25,000 (US$150) on a good day.

At MK10 person, that's between 900 and 2,500 people crossing the bridge every day. But it's only an estimate, since he says some people pay only K5, while others don't pay anything at all, such as friends and colleagues.

At work on a Lilongwe river bridge, Samuel Mbewe and Kayen Kayanka with friend. By Steve Sharra (CC-BY)

The bridges are not for the lightheaded, or someone with vertigo. First timers take slow steps, while experienced crossers walk as if they were in Air Jordan basketball sneakers.

A Swiss blogger, Janique Racine, wrote in 2007 about being frightened to death upon crossing a swaying bridge. She said:

Of course you don’t want to look down but you have to because your foot might get stuck in the empty spaces!

There are other hazards as well. The Lilongwe River overflows during the rainy season. The bridges get damaged in the floods, but they are rebuilt once the rainy season is over. In January this year a man drowned trying to cross.

In July this year, the young men (there are no women thus far) organized themselves into a “bridges union”. They agreed each bridge should contribute K200 (US$1.20) per day to a shared pool. That translates into MK803,000 (US$4,808) per year. The aim of the union is to support members in times of death or bereavement. I asked about future investment plans with the savings, but they had none, as yet.

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Is it true a male student has committed suicide by throwing themselves off from an upper floor?

Chasowa was said to have had a cut on the back of his head, and not everyone was buying the suicide suggestion. In the evening of that Saturday the police announced they were going to issue a statement. It came late afternoon the following day, Sunday, September 25. In the statement, National Police Headquarters spokesperson, Mr Willie Mwaluka, announced what he said were postmortem results from Malawi's leading pathologist, Dr. Charles Dzamalala. Based on the postmortem results, and a note the deceased was said to have left for his parents, Mr Mwaluka announced that Robert Chasowa had apparently committed suicide.

Malawian student activist Robert Chasowa. Image source: RIP Robert Chasowa Facebook page.

Chasowa was buried on Monday September 26, two days after his death, but then on and offline, the questions were only beginning: Why were the police in such a rush to conclude that Chasowa had committed suicide? Why was there a cut at the back of his head? Where was campus security when all this happened? What was going on with Malawi?

Chasowa's death came after a spate of arson attacks on two vehicles belonging to a radio station claimed by the president to be hostile to the government, and more arson cases involving houses and offices of human rights activists. In September three markets in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe suffered extensive fire damage, also suspected to be arson. Another activist, Lawrence Bisika, was reportedly beaten up in a bar in the city of Zomba on September 21st by people believed to be using a vehicle from Ministry of Lands. There have been death threats to journalists, columnists and individuals seen as critics of the government. The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) announced on the same day Chasowa was buried it was going to open an investigation into the death of the student activist.

On Saturday, October 1, a weekend paper, Malawi News, published on its front page a story in which Dr. Dzamalala denied ever releasing to the police a postmortem report on Chasowa's death. He said he had indeed performed a postmortem on Chasowa, but had not yet released the results as some tests were yet to be concluded. Another story in the paper said Dr Dzamalala had been surprised by the number of police officers who were present during the postmortem, and by the several police visits to his house later, asking him for the postmortem report. On Tuesday, October 4, Dr. Dzamalala was interviewed on Capital Radio Malawi's Straightalk programme, and announced that the results of the postmortem would be out the following day. On Wednesday October 5th both Malawi's dailies The Nation and The Daily Times carried banner headlines on their front pages, quoting the postmortem report, proclaiming that Robert Chasowa had not committed suicide; he had been murdered.

On Thursday, September 29, blogger Bright Mhango Baghaya published on his blog an article titled “The document that killed Chasowa“. Baghaya prefaced the article with a statement saying he was publishing the article, verbatim, and did not intent to infringe anybody's copyright, creating the impression that the article had been authored by Robert Chasowa:

Black Moses is answering sedition charges because of this here publication, Robert Chasowa was being sought and killed [my verdict] because of this here document. I have just taken the whole bit, verbatim… I do not intend to infringe any copyrights. its strictly journalistic. This is the sixth edition, it came out on Monday, Moses was arrested on Tuesday, Robert was killed on Saturday.

Chasowa's mum bids farewell. Image courtesy of malawivoice.com

Written in point format, the document lists 12 questions, asking President wa Mutharika to explain various aspects of governance, including allegations of corruption and foreign bank accounts where Malawi's wealth is allegedly being siphoned off to:

1. We need an explanation- why the presidential jet was impounded in America
2. Mr. President-explain to us why should the Secretary for Treasury extort K16 Million from investors on behalf of DPP and you, your Excellency?
11. Mr President-why should Paladin Africa a company which is mining uranium at Kayerekera be banking U$100,000 every month to your personal account in Australia-when Malawi is experiencing a cute shortage of forex

On Wednesday October 5th blogger Mabvuto Jobani published on his blog an article, reporting that two police officers had visited the blogger, saying they knew who killed Chasowa. They asked for anonymity, telling Jobani:

But we definitely know the guys who killed him…there are the same guys who torched Rafiq Hajat’s offices in Blantyre and Rev Sembereka’s house in Balaka but the trouble is that we cant arrest them because they are being protected.

News of the suspicious death was spreading like wildfire and was being hotly debated on social networking websites, discussion forums and in the comments' sections of online newspapers. On Thursday October 6 Jobani posted an article announcing that the European Union was going to issue a statement on Robert Chasowa's death. The statement appeared on Friday, October 7.

On Thursday, October 6, President wa Mutharika was a special guest on the BBC's current events programme Africa Have Your Say, in which Malawians were expected to call in to ask the president questions. Chasowa's death was the subject of the very first question. The president responded by saying he had instituted a commission of inquiry to look into the political violence being reported. Much of the hour-long programme went with the host, Alex Jakana, and the president discussing the president's new book The African Dream: From Poverty to Prosperity. There were very few questions from callers, and very little probing of the security atmosphere in the country.

On Saturday, October 8, Malawi's two weekend papers, Weekend Nation and Malawi News both carried investigative reports that probed deep into Chasowa's death. The revelations have been nothing short of a bombshell. Accounts by both papers quote people involved in student groups that Chasowa belonged to, and top police officers who worked with Chasowa, describing events leading to his death. Chasowa is reported to have worked with the police and politicians to try and stop demonstrations that civil society organizations had planned for Wednesday, August 17, following the expiry of a deadline given to President wa Mutharika to address concerns delivered to him in a petition on July 20. That was the day when the first demonstrations took place in Malawi's major cities and 20 civilians were killed.

The published reports say Chasowa and his colleagues were given money and equipment to carry out operations aimed at stopping the August 17 demonstrations. They were promised K10 million (aprox. US$60,000) upon successful completion of the operation. The demonstrations were postponed to September 21, later changed to a mass stayaway, but the police refused to pay the K10 million, claiming the postponement was not a result of the students' work. The reports say Chasowa persistently called the senior police officers and senior politicians in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and threatened to reveal government secrets if the money was not paid.

Online newspapers and blogs have gone even further, giving blow by blow accounts of the events leading up to Chasowa's death, including phone numbers of the Inspector General of Police, the President's brother and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, and others involved in dealings with the students:

Chasowa lost very little blood (not more than a litre) showing that he was not killed by a fall, loss of blood and most importantly that the blood came out via rigor mortis (if the heart was still pumping, there would be a lake of blood) this shows that he was dead before he bled.

Chasowas had dust on his knees, showing that he had knelt….what this the time he was being forced to write the suicide notes?

Chasowa was found lying face down, but the face had no dents to show that he had fallen, his shoulders and all parts of his body had no fracture to show that he had fallen.

The revelations continue to cause shock and dismay across and beyond Malawi, as expressed on discussion forums and social networking sites. One tweep asked:

Its alleged Robert #Chasowa kept a diary - Is it true? Who has it? Whats in it? #malawi

Meanwhile, the print edition of The Nation of Wednesday October 12 carries two new developments. It quotes John Kapito, chairperson of the MHRC as asking the Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, to go on holiday so as to enable the MHRC's inquest into the death of Chasowa. The paper also carries a story on deaths threats being made through phone calls to Phillip Pemba, the reporter who wrote the Weekend Nation story that mentioned names of the Inspector General and Southern Region Commissioner of Police Rodney Jose as having met and funded Chasowa and his colleagues.

A new blog called DPP Stormtrooopers is asking Malawians to reveal names of ruling party DPP “thugs” involved in “political thuggery” by submitting names and details of attacks. The blog's description reads:

Violent political thuggery in Malawi is growing. Let us expose the vile cowards who do this. Submit the name and address of any DPP thug you know.

The blog promises to do two things:

i) List the culprits responsible for cowardly attacks on our brothers and sisters who are trying their best to serve the country constructively and take us forward. These cowards live in our very own communities!! Lets know them, keep an eye on them, pressure them, and protect our activists from them. From there, justice will find its own path.

ii) Record any attacks on dissidents and activists.

Its just a small start, but we have to do something and stand up for each other. We are many, have smart people among us so lets find ways ways to make it impossible for these clowns to move freely and kill people with impunity in our communities.

Written by Steve Sharra · comments (4)
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The organizers of the 20 July demonstrations had given President Bingu wa Mutharika a deadline by which to answer their petition, after which they would take to the streets again. On Sunday, President wa Mutharika addressed the nation, discussing some of the issues raised in the petition.

The organizers met on the same day and announced that they had resolved to go ahead with the demonstrations because the president had not fully addressed the issues. On Tuesday morning, the organizers decided to postpone the demonstrations citing two reasons: there was a court injunction against the demonstrations and the UN Secretary General had sent emissaries to help mediate the situation.

Protest advertisement. Photo source: Rafiq Hajat Facebook page.

By noon, a lunch hour news bulletin from Zodiak Broadcasting Station was quoting a Blantyre-based organizer, Rafiq Hajat, as contradicting the announcement of the postponement. Hajat was said to have indicated that Blantyre-based civil society organizations were in a meeting, and would make their own decision as to whether to proceed with the vigil or postpone it.

The president has spent the past two weeks talking to street vendors in the major cities of Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu, pleading with them not to participate in the August 17 demonstrations. There were reports on Tuesday morning that the police were snatching copies of one of the dailies, carrying the news of MHRC report.

Fred Bvalani mentioned this in a tweet, quoting a post from Facebook:

I understand the police are going around Blantyre confiscating the ‘Nation' newspaper via @daniso

On my timeline, the first suggestion that the vigil had been postponed appeared on the discussion forum Nyasanet at 8.44am Malawi time. It said:

Netters The rumour in town is that the vigil has been cancelled. Will update as soon as I get any more substantive updates.

It took 20 minutes for somebody to respond, not hiding their irritation:

Please come on the forum with concrete positions that rumours. I find this not only disturbing but morally wrong. Thanks

The original poster came back with a two-sentence response:

The reasons being given is that the police can not handle the demos because of their incapacitation in terms of handling riots. They say they will be tempted to use live bullets in the event that people go berserk

It became apparent that the postponement was not a rumour anymore when someone posted on Malawi Talk, another discussion forum, and reported that Zodiak Broadcasting Station were airing a live press conference from the Lilongwe organisers. One of the organizers posted an announcement on their Facebook wall, pleading with the public for their understanding:

Painfully, it is indeed true that we have POSTPONED - Not CANCELLED, the 17th and 18th August Virgil. full statement within the next 2 Hours. Your understanding will highly be appreciated at this time. Pepani fellow Malawians- we had to make a decision having weighed all situations- Pepani, we plead for your acceptance- It would have been worse and unstoppable!!! Pepani!!

The reaction on Facebook and Twitter was fast and furious. Someone asked one of the organizers on their Facebook wall:

tell us the truth Mr Hajat whats on the ground????????????

That question elicited a few responses which did not hide the frustrations, making allusions to whether the civil society leaders had sold out:

it shows that money has worked in tha elders pockets

That same person later added:

i cant wait they just fooled us ,,,,not us but themselves,,,ope we will hav forex 2moro

More reactions came on the same wall:

AM DISAPOINTED WTH U…
i read ur articles daily and thot u wre a genius!!
am speakng to u as part v e civil society…o rather a branch of corupt greedy selfish political men!

Another one added:

We thot cso were on our side. Nw w r hearing alot of stories on hw u hav bin gvn money 2 call off the demos!

Some frustrations were as a result of an aborted holiday:

we already declared holiday tomorow what should we do now

Other netizens didn't think much about the selling out suggestion. It would not be that easy for government to pay off the organizers, observed one netizen:

Even thou am disappointed with the cancellation but i still have a some trust and faith in CSO group. Lets see if the dialogue works and if it doesn't no one should blame the CSO for not trying of not going into talks. I think this can be the last strategy which Govt can use. I don't think they have given any money, they are not that weak. If it was one that would have been possible but a group i doubt. Am still behind you and people don't lose trust on the CSO group

A more reflective response came from a women's rights activist and attorney, Seodi,who wrote:

Im a little bit sad and a little bit relieved about cancelled demos. But Im also a little wiser; lives were lost on 20th July. Having just come back from Liberia, I took time to discuss with colleagues there about their war which started with demos. Many told me it wasnt worth it and that the best way to hold leaders accountable is through the ballot. I salute the civil society leadership for such bravery. Heros to many; foes to a few. It doesnt matter. The truth shall set us all free.

Another Malawian, Daniso, wondered why there were no alternative means of demonstrating being suggested:

If the vigil has been postponed (even before the injunction has been granted), can't we be doing something in the interim? Why can't we at specified times of each day be honking our horns, blowing our vuvuzelas and whistles, banking our pots and pans, ringing our church bells and otherwise making noise until the fruits of dialogue start bearing fruit?

On Twitter, a few Malawians were monitoring the live radio press conference, and tweeting it live. Austin Madinga quoted Undule Mwakasungura, one of the organizers:

#Malawi protests postponed to give a chance to dialogue facilitated by the UN who are in country currently, meeting Govt at 11am - Undule

Fred Bvalani confirmed:

17 August Vigil Postponed. …Live press briefing airing now on Zodiak.

Twitter reactions expressed similar frustrations as those on Facebook. Madalitso Mvula tweeted:

People in Mzimba wil go on with the demo, not vigil. Injunction, or no injunction. #redarmy angered in the North.

The person who had broken the news of the postponement on Nyasatimes came back in the afternoon to report that Blantyre-based civil society leaders had announced they would go ahead with the vigil:

Blantyre CSOs say tomorrow's vigil is still on because they were not consulted on the postponement. I believe we are going to hear a lot from these CSOs. Guess there is something fishy in all this.

Face of Malawi made an observation as to why the demonstrations were likely to go on, come Wednesday:

One thing press/media people forget is that the average Malawian has no internet, tv or radio. In his mind #17august is a go. #Malawi

As of now, it appears the news of the postponement has not done much to calm people's anxieties. It remains unclear what Wednesday August 17 will bring. Earlier on Tuesday, President Bingu wa Mutharika and religious leaders attended a National Day of Prayer. The sermon, delivered by Bishop Joseph Zuza attracted a lot of attention and reaction onFacebook and in online newspapers.

UPDATE: Tuesday August 16, 2011 - Evening news bulletins are now announcing that both groups of organizers have agreed on a postponement.

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Though she shares a last name with a globally famous Ghanaian, Linda Annan is not related to former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. Linda is a Ghanaian journalist and blogger who contributes to Global Voices Online on the Ghanaian blogging scene.

Linda founded and edits Obaasema, an online magazine for women. Obaasema means “ideal woman” in Twi, a Ghanaian language. Established in 2006, the magazine has a website, a YouTube channel, an online television version, a Facebook page, and is also on Twitter.

Linda Annan: Ghanaian blogger, journalist and founder of Obaasema magazine.

Linda was born in Ghana, but left for the United States in her mid-teens. While in the United States she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Corporate Communications, with a minor in Journalism, from Bernard M. Baruch College in New York. She has recently returned to Ghana, and is working in media and communications.

In this interview with Steve Sharra, Linda talks about blogging, her passion for knowledge sharing and women’s empowerment, Obaasema magazine, and all the many other things she does on the Internet.

Steve Sharra (SS): To get us started, tell us about yourself. Who is Linda Annan? You share a last name with a global Ghanaian, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Are you related to him?

Linda Annan (LA): I am a Ghanaian journalist and communication specialist with a passion for politics and activism involving women and youth empowerment as well as various social issues related to Africa. No, I'm not related to Kofi Annan, though we're both from the Fante ethnic group.

SS: Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where are you currently based?

LA: I was born and raised in Ghana where I lived until my mid-teens. After that I left for the United States; I just relocated to Ghana three months ago.

SS: What brought you back to Ghana, and what you are now doing?

LA: It has always been my desire to move back to Ghana at some point; the question was when would it be? This year seemed right because my plans fell through and Ghana is now ripe for the sort of projects I want to start. Also, the goal, since I started Obaasema, was to eventually launch it in Ghana and other African countries. Now is the time to start such a move. What am I doing now: I work as an Associate Consultant at an Integrated Marketing Communications firm.

SS: You have a remarkable presence online, starting with Obaasema, the magazine you founded and edit. Tell us about why and how you went about starting the magazine.

LA: Thank you. I started the magazine a few months after I graduated from college. Generally, I love to inspire and empower people and since I believe in the power of words and am passionate about women's issues, it only made sense that I would use this medium to accomplish it. Knowledge sharing is another thing I enjoy doing very much and the online magazine was the perfect platform to do this at the time. Also, post-graduation, I noticed the need for a platform that provided empowering and inspirational messages to young African women such as myself through various channels. Since it was something I strongly desired to have in my life at the time, and knew other women who would appreciate and benefit from it, I decided to create Obaasema magazine; the name “Obaasema” in itself carries a lot of weight. In the Ghanaian language Twi, it is translated as “ideal woman” - that's the woman I aspire to be and it's the woman I want to call on every woman to aspire to be. Whatever that “ideal” is, it definitely has to be rooted in substance.

SS: Who is your audience for the magazine? How far has your reach been thus far?

LA: Target audience for Obaasema is the African woman, although anyone will be right in arguing that women's issues cut across. Our readers aren't just African women or women of African descent; we have a global online audience. The Obaasema woman can be the woman sitting high up in a corporate environment making major decisions or she can be the artist beautifully cultivating her craft or the woman in the village with no knowledge of her rights. All of these women need encouragement and need to be empowered at different levels to grow into the women they were created to be. That's where Obaasema magazine comes in. I can honestly say that we have been able to accomplish the main mission of Obaasema, which is to inspire and empower, although of course, there's more work to be done. Through feedback from our audience we know that people are being challenged to connect with themselves and strive for things that are of substance, whether it is in their relationships with people, relationships with themselves or accomplishing that dream. It warms my heart to see that our contributions to society are going far.

SS: Tell us about your work for Global Voices Online. How did you get started?

LA: I chanced upon Global Voices Online in 2009 and thought it was an incredible news resource. I love the diversity of the GV team and wanted to be a part of it; I've been writing political pieces with Ghana as a focus. I haven't been able to contribute for some time now but I look forward to actively doing so soon.

SS: You have a blog, Abi speaks. What made you think of starting the blog?

LA: I'm pretty opinionated and as I mentioned earlier, love to share knowledge with people. “Abi Speaks” is another platform I use to do that. It provides a chance for me to freely write about my thoughts without the limitations of, for instance, Obaasema which is an official publication. Also, “Abi Speaks” is my way of creating another voice, a personal one, outside of Obaasema.

SS: In 2007 you were featured on Black Star News as Entreprenuer of the Day. How did BSN learn about you? What did it do for you to be featured on the BSN website?

LA: Black Star News found me online and approached me about an interview. Their feature definitely gave Obaasema some exposure especially since it was pretty fresh on the web at the time.

SS: What do you find interesting about the Ghanaian blogosphere?

LA: I like the vibrancy of it; the boldness displayed in pieces is exciting and indicates that Ghanaians are advancing in this area of “freedom.” The bloggers here are pretty active; they have gatherings and seem to have built friendships with each other as a result of this.

SS: Finally, what are your future ambitions for Obaasema? And for yourself?

LA: In the next few months Obaasema Online will be undergoing a revamp to revive the energy connected with the publication. After reaching where we want to be with this new direction, a move towards launching the print magazine in Africa will follow. Ambitions for myself: My career in Communications is going in a direction I didn't anticipate, in a very good way, and I'm learning to relax and see where God takes me in this area. In the mean time, I intend to further explore other platforms in media to help move Obaasema to the next level.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

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To make matters worse, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) banned the sale of fuel in containers, leaving stranded thousands of Malawians who own generators, maize mills, irrigation pumps, and other machinery that could not be physically driven to a filling station. It also made it difficult for people whose vehicles run out of fuel away from a filling station. The ban was eventually reversed after a court injunction and a public outcry.

A sign at a petrol station in Malawi. Photo courtesy of Malawi Fuel Watch.

To save drivers the trouble of running around and burning fuel in a futile search, Frederick Bvalani, an active presence in Malawi’s social media sphere, set up a Facebook page called Malawi Fuel Watch. Currently numbering 871 and steadily rising, the members post on the page queries about where they can find fuel, and updates about which filling stations have fuel, how long the lines are, and other information.

According to Internet World Stats, as of June 2010 there were 716,400 Internet users in Malawi, out of an estimated population of 15,879,252 people, representing 4.5 percent of the population. By March 2011 there were about 79,040 Facebook users in the country, representing a 0.5% penetration rate. The Malawi Stock Exchange estimated that at the end of 2010 mobile penetration in Malawi had risen to 23 percent, according to an article on the Investor Relations in Africa website.

Global Voices' Steve Sharra interviewed Frederick Bvalani about what the Malawi Fuel Watch Facebook page has accomplished so far, and what future uses Malawians could put the Internet to.

The founder of Malawi Fuel Watch, Frederick Bvalani. Photo courtesy of Frederick Bvalani.

Steve Sharra (SS): Tell us about yourself. What do you do?

Frederick Bvalani (FB): My name is Frederick Bvalani. I am married to Edna and we have two children. I stay in Blantyre. I work as a Billing Supervisor at Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL). I was born and raised in Blantyre, Malawi. After secondary school, I studied for a Diploma from the Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS) and a number of IT certificates. I have also been trained in Oracle and Linux. I am currently doing an Advanced Diploma in ICT Systems Support at the University of Malawi Polytechnic.

Except for two years when I worked in Systems Support and Network Administration, I have been working in Billings designing and running queries and reports and providing support for Billings Systems users.

I am a Christian, a member of Word Alive Ministries International.

SS: You once wrote that it was somebody outside Malawi who suggested the idea of a Facebook group to track fuel availability. Why Facebook and not other social media tools?

FB: Yes it was my friend, Kondwanie Chirembo, a Malawian who is currently working in Botswana. He suggested the creation of a group after seeing that several Facebook updates from us (his Malawian Facebook friends) asking for where we can get fuel. He had mentioned before but when he mentioned it again I decided to create it.

He suggested a group but I thought maybe a page would be better because I wasn’t comfortable with adding people to a group without giving them a chance to accept or refuse. By then I discovered that a group would be the best way to do this and I created the group and called it Malawi Fuel Watch.

I added Kondwani to the group and he suggested that I make the group ‘Open’ so that members can add their friends. I made him co-administator of the group. He added the description of the group “Fuel shortages are said to continue … if you know there's fuel somewhere let others know so that they can spend less time looking around … also if you have hit a wall somewhere share it so that others don't hit the same wall!” which is the main purpose of the group.

Why Facebook? I think it is because Facebook is the social network that has the largest concentration of Malawians than other social networking sites and that’s where a lot of people tend to “hangout” and share information when they are online. Facebook was also ideal because people who have Internet on their mobiles; they use it while on the move which means the information about the availability of fuel would not wait for the person to find a computer to post it.

SS: It’s been more than a month a now since the group was created, on June 10th. What will happen to the group once the fuel situation normalises, if it will?

FB: I think that is something that the members of the group may have to discuss but very likely it will remain in case the fuel problem resurfaces.

SS: Tell us about how the group works. Who runs it? How many people are authorised to accept new users?

FB: As I have already said the group has two admininstrators, Kondwani and myself. All members are authorized to add their friends as members and to accept those that request although I have only seen one or two members accept a request to join. Mostly it is Kondwani and I that accept new users. Members can remove themselves from the group but they cannot remove another member. Only the administrators can remove a member.

SS: I only learned about the group when Victor Kaonga wrote about its creation on Global Voices Online, four days after it was created. There are 871 members, as I’m writing. Which day or week has seen the biggest spike in membership? Have you seen any members leaving the group?

FB: I think we have seen the group membership spike over the past three weeks as the fuel situation got more severe. Facebook does not report when a member joins but I know that a few people (less than 5) left the group in the early days; some of them may have rejoined. I think this may have been because we didn’t know that the problem would persist up to this day and some may have felt they no longer needed the group believing the fuel situation was stabilizing. I got only one request to remove a member in the early days.

SS: I have noted that people have used the Facebook page for purposes other than fuel hunting. What other activities have you observed?

FB: Members have used the group to warn each other about traffic police speed traps and other important tips for drivers, others have posted some humour about the fuel situation or cars in general. Others have expressed their frustration with the authorities about the whole fuel crisis and the pain that it is causing.

SS: Most of the messages I see on the Facebook page ask about or report on fuel in Blantyre, Lilongwe, or Mzuzu, and sometimes Zomba. Obviously this is because these are Malawi’s largest cities, in that order, and where most Malawian Facebook users reside. Are there places you have seen updates coming from, that have surprised you?

FB: I don’t know if I can say they surprised me but there have been a few posts from Mulanje, Chikwawa, Salima and Liwonde. [Editor's note: These are semi-urban towns in Malawi]

SS: Are there members who joined the group, whom you least expected to? What is the gender situation regarding membership?

FB: I don’t know a good number of the people on the group but I have noticed foreign nationals and at least one tour operator working here in Malawi joining the group. Some people use the information on the group to find fuel for their businesses. I managed to count about 126 women members in the group when there were 714 members.

SS: Observing how people are using the Facebook group, are there things one can learn about how Malawians use the Internet?

FB: Social media sites were previously thought to be for young people, who are tech savvy like those in the IT field (more like somewhere to play) but I think Malawians are beginning to realize the Internet can be a very useful tool.

SS: What other potential uses of social media would you like to see Malawians adopting?

FB: I would like to see Malawians using the Internet to bring positive change in areas like politics, education and development. It can be a place where Malawians learn to take initiatives and overcome their political, ethnic and geographical barriers to work towards common goals for a better Malawi.

SS: Any final comments?

FB: I have not asked in the group yet but I sometimes wonder if there are any people that joined Facebook or bought an Internet enabled phone for the sole purpose of joining the group.

SS: That's a good observation, considering the role that Internet-enabled phones can play in a country like Malawi. Thanks a lot for granting us the time to do this interview, Frederick. We'll keep watching the evolution of the Malawi Fuel Watch Facebook group.

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Civil society activists have set that date as a day for the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations aimed at expressing their displeasure with the Malawian leadership.

Rife with tension

'United for Peaceful Resistance Against Bad Economic and Democratic Governance'. Image courtesy of 'DEMO YA TIYENI TONSE PA 20 JULY' Facebook page.

Malawi is currently undergoing a severe fuel shortage, which began at the beginning of June, one of a recurrent number of crippling shortages since 2009. The country has had severe foreign exchange (forex) shortages, at a time when it is supposed to have plenty of from tobacco sales, currently in season.

On Thursday, July 14, the British Government announced it had stopped giving budgetary support to the Malawi government, citing concerns with the suppression of demonstrations, the intimidation of civil society organisations, and an injunctions bill that prevents citizens from obtaining court injunctions against the government.

The British Government also said Malawi’s currency, the Kwacha, was overvalued, resulting in chronic forex shortages “which are having a serious impact on the Malawian private sector’s ability to drive future growth. There are now daily fuel queues, tobacco exports have deteriorated and Malawi is off-track with its IMF programme.” The IMF has also suspended its support to the Malawi government.

The political landscape has been tense since December 2010 when the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expelled the Right Honorable Joyce Banda, the country's vice president, for what is widely believed to be a ploy for President Bingu wa Mutharika to pave a political path for his brother, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika. The vice president has since formed her own party, although officially she remains in her government position.

President Bingu wa Mutharika has recently signed law bills that have been met with widespread criticism and resistance, including one empowering the Minister of Information to ban any publication deemed not to be in the public interest. A more recent law makes it impossible for individuals to obtain a court injunction and seek judicial redress against the government.

The University of Malawi has had two of its constituent colleges, Chancellor College and The Polytechnic, shut down since February 2011 when lecturers started refusing to enter classrooms for fear of spies. The saga started in February this year when the Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, summoned a Chancellor College political science lecturer, Dr Blessings Chinsinga, to question him for mentioning the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt during a lecture.

The University of Malawi governing council is currently engaged in a court battle with the Chancellor College Academic Staff Union (CCASU), who are challenging the Council's firing of four Chancellor College lecturers, including Dr Chinsinga and Dr Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula, the union's acting president.

Fear of violent protests

There are fears that the July 20 mass demonstrations may turn violent. Supporters of President wa Mutharika and the DPP have announced a counter-demonstration on the same day. There are reports that 800 police officers are being specially trained to stop the demonstrations “with zero casualties” according to online newspaper Malawi Voice.

On Thursday July 14, the United States Embassy in Malawi issued an alert to US citizens in Malawi about about the demonstrations and the possibility that they could turn ugly. Titled “Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens – Possible Demonstrations”, the alert first appeared on the discussion site Nyasanet on Friday, and later on the online newspaper Nyasatimes.

One member on the Nyasanet forum observed that the mere fact that the US Embassy issued such a statement meant that there was something serious brewing underground:

The Statement from the US Embassy means that the Chief of Station (Head of the CIA in Malawi) has done his/her homework. They are rarely off target.

As the air grew tense with the countdown to Wednesday, there were reports on Sunday, which first surfaced on a Google forum, that a vehicle belonging to Zodiak Broadcasting Station, an independent radio station, had its windows smashed by men wearing face masks.

Much of the news of the demonstration has appeared online, whereas the government's response has used state media with government spokespersons holding press conferences on television and radio stations. A Facebook event page has been created for the demonstrations with the title ‘DEMO YA TIYENI TONSE PA 20 JULY', roughly translating as a demonstration of one and all on 20 July. As of writing, 2,422 people have indicated they will attend the demonstration; the date on the event's page says 20 October instead of the July 20 event that everyone is talking about.

The Facebook page gives a detailed description of when and where people should assemble for the demonstrations, a programme that has appeared in other online newspapers and in print newspapers. Comments on the page range from the biblical to the profane.

A Bible-quoting commenter writes:

There4,let us follow aftar the things dat mek 4 peace & things by which 1 may edify another” Roman 14:19

One bordering on the profane goes:

It's our right to demonstrate, that is the only way we can ring a bell in to an obstinate and gullible this stupid fool called ngwazi. Let us show him that Malawi does not belong to one tribe neither his family, gogogogogo! DEMO.

Another comment sounds rather militant:

It Has to be done…Malawians Stand Up and Be Counted! No One Should Abuse Our Hard Fought For Freedom!

A more reflective commenter quotes Nelson Mandela:

It always seems imposible until its done-Nelson mandela.

Interest in the impending mass action appears to be spreading outside Malawi. A Malawian landing at Kamuzu International Airport on Sunday posted on their Facebook page about a group of foreign journalists aboard the same plane they were on:

Had a contingent of foreign media in the same flight this afternoon coming into Lilongwe, looks like the Demos have attracted the attention on the international media!” One passenger even asked a question the Malawian chose not to answer: “Some one asked me, is it true Malawians are changing regime on 20th July? I didnt give hima any answer.

But an observer of Malawian politics posted on Twitter about there not seeming to be a lot of international media attention on the looming demonstrations: “still nothing shows up in international news feeds on upcoming #Malawi demonstrations #20July”.

The Twitter hashtag for the demonstration is #20July, says @chiume.

Response from the top

Uniting for Peaceful Resistance. Image courtesy of 'DEMO YA TIYENI TONSE PA 20 JULY' Facebook page.

President wa Mutharika appears to have been aware of the mood amongst many Malawians, and has been planning a response. On arrival from a trip to the United States towards the end of June, he announced that he was going to give a public lecture, in which he would address the many concerns Malawians are expressing.

No date was set for the public lecture, but immediately as the organizers of the July 20 demonstration announced their date, government announced the same date of July 20 for the public lecture. Government spokesperson Honorable Vuwa Kaunda, Minister of Information and Civic Education, and presidential spokesperson Dr Heatherwick Ntaba held a press conference, urging Malawians not to go to the demonstration, but to the president's lecture instead.

Among the many reasons the two cited as to why Malawians need to listen to the president, Hon. Vuwa Kaunda performed his trademark praise song to President wa Mutharika, listing the many achievements of the DPP-led government. Hon Kaunda has become known for rattling off, in rapid style, President wa Mutharika's achievements: an end to chronicle food shortages, new tarred roads across the length of the country, six new universities being planned for the next ten years, new parliament building, a new five star hotel and international conference center in the capital city Lilongwe, and Nsanje World Inland port connecting Malawi to the Indian Ocean, among others.

Up to until his re-election to a second term in May 2009, President Bingu wa Mutharika enjoyed broad support locally, and wide admiration abroad. Civil society activists held demonstrations in support of his policies against a majority opposition which was seen as only bent on frustrating his development plans. He introduced a farm input subsidy, which is credited for having turned Malawi from a food importer to a food exporter. He was Malawi's first president to become chairperson of the African Union for the year 2010, a development that added to his international credentials which earned him attention on the front pages of major newspapers in the United States, Britain and elsewhere. There was renewed hope and pride amongst many Malawians, and President wa Mutharika was seen as the new face of a new Africa.

Compared with the mood in the country today, a lot has changed in a space of two years. A Malawian development economist observed on Nyasanet in May this year:

I was at the world economic forum last month. Only two years [ago] bingu was a hero. Now Malawi was a source of bewilderment.

In an attempt to dissuade Malawians from attending Wednesday's planned demonstrations, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation has carried news bulletins, on three consecutive evenings, claiming that Malawians are being duped about the demonstrations, whose real aim, the state broadcaster claims, is to show support for gay rights, for which civil society groups have received millions of kwacha. The bulletins have been saying organizers of the demonstrations want to use photographs of demonstrators to show to donors that Malawians support gay rights and same-sex marriages.

Reactions to the government's story have been derided as bordering on the desperate. One reaction posted on Twitter said:

Malawians urged not to listen to MBC TV & Radio on 20 July - coz of its tendency to misinform in news coverage

Another tweet sought to identify a possible irony in a television anchor's attire:

MBC TB news anchor, Nyang'wa in a red tie - maybe in some dress rehearsal for the July 20 demo (dress attire is red)

On February 14 earlier this year civil society organizations planned a demonstration to protest against fuel shortages, but it was stopped by police. According to online newspaper Malawi Voice, the demonstrators were hugely outnumbered by the police, who were over 250, against a few dozen protesters, numbering about 30, according to print newspaper The Nation.

The leader of that foiled demonstration, Mabvuto Bamusi, has since made a 180 degree turn. He is now frequently invited on national television to provide analysis and commentary that supports government and lambasts his former colleagues in civil society.

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News of the summoning appeared within hours on Boniface Dulani's blog. The constituent college of the University of Malawi where Chinsinga teaches, Chancellor College, has grounded to a halt since. Lecturers at the college have since stopped teaching, citing fear of spies in classrooms, and demanding an apology and a reassurance of academic freedom, from the Inspector General of Police. The IG has not apologized, and the State President, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, has sided with the Inspector General, announcing that Mr Mukhito will not apologize.

Police versus Academic Freedom. Source: Joseph Banda's Academic Freedom in Malawi Facebook page

Consequently, a society that does not entertain alternative ideas, and in which the leadership projects itself as all knowing, catches up with the law of degeneracy rather rapidly. The decay is even much faster if a regime resorts to suppressing alternative ideas either covertly or overtly.

The Chancellor College lecturers, who have since been joined by another constituent college in the University of Malawi system, The Polytechnic, have been lead by Acting President of the Chancellor College Academic Staff Union, Dr. Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula. Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula has kept a running commentary on the unfolding events on her facebook page, where other facebookers, Malawians, friends and colleagues of Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula outside Malawi, have been sending messages of support and solidarity.

Posting on March 8 when heavily armed Malawi Police invaded the Chancellor College campus, Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula wrote on her facebook page (This content is currently unavailable):

Acting President of the Chancellor College Academic Staff Union, Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula (Photo from her Facebook page)

malawi is now a police state, it is official. as i write, there is police inside campus firing teargas at students whose only crime is to ask why they are not going into class. omg, this is not hapening. sadly, we have a weak opposition. we live a country where Bamusi [civil society leader] poses a threat more than political parties, how pathetic.

Two days later she posted again after police invaded the campus once more (This content is currently unavailable):

today i woke up to the reality that for the Malawi govt, university education is not a priority, students can be teargassed and not even one person in high office bats an eyelid. spent the day pushing police out of campus, teargassing students in the hostels.

On Saturday March 12, speaking to graduating students at Domasi College of Education, the president directed that the Chancellor College lecturers return to class and resume teaching by the following Monday. The lecturers defied the order, and sought a court injunction. On her facebook page, Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula wrote (This content is currently unavailable):

so now it is the principle of academic freedom versus bingu: head of state, chancellor and cammander in chief. I will not get back to class without academic freedom. a presidential decree cannot make me go into a snake infested classroom, stop me from upholding constitutional rights.

A facebook page created by Joseph J Banda, named The Online Demonstration for Academic Freedom in Malawi, has been receiving all kinds of reactions, some supporting the lecturers, some criticizing them, and some urging for dialogue.

The page says:

2. We demand a signed document that assure Academic Freedom and no further involvement of the government or any other parties in the Teaching system.

THE MALAWI CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER IV

33. Every person has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, belief and thought, and to academic freedom.

34. Every person shall have the right to freedom of opinion, including the right to hold opinions without interference to hold, receive and impart opinions.

35. Every person shall have the right to freedom of expression.

One comment in support of the lecturers read:

Its hard to believe that this is happening in a country where we have many so called “learned” leaders….we need to redefine this i think

A comment in support of the president, written in a mix of Chichewa and English, said:

ngati mwatopa ndi sukulu munene a bingu has other things to do like our graduation asafuna asiye [If you are fed up with school just say so. Bingu has other things to do, like our graduation. Whoever doesn't want to continue should just quit]

Another comment called for dialogue:

Lets only call for the understanding of the two parties so students may go back to class, we need a lot more educated minds to move this nation! I really feel bad for the situation

Not all lecturers and students are in support of the stand-off, and voices deviating from the stand taken by the lecturers have been heard on state broadcaster Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. Some lecturers and students are reported to have gone to court to seek an injunction against the striking lecturers, but thus far the effort has not succeeded. Other students are reported to have also gone to court to demand a withdrawal of the application for the injunction. In a radio interview with Brian Banda on Capital FM's Straighttalk, Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula said the door for negotiations was open. Esteemed professor of Law in the University of Malawi, Dr. Edge Kanyongolo, told weekly newspaper Malawi News that initiatives for dialogue needed to come from the government side, but the newspaper did not give reasons for Dr. Kanyongolo's thinking.

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For the first time in Malawi’s history, the country had a female Vice President. The honeymoon was shortlived, however. Nineteen months later, on December 11th 2010, President wa Mutharika chaired a party meeting at which the Vice President, Joyce Banda, was removed from her position as Vice President of the party, and expelled from the party’s National Governing Council. To the disbelief of many Malawians, and to the delight of her detractors, she was expelled from the party itself, the Democratic Progressive Party.

The President spoke at nationally televised event a few days later and said Mrs Banda was being insubordinate and had formed parallel structures behind his back. He said no organization would tolerate such insubordination; not even the churches and the Non-Governmental Organizations which had criticized the expulsion. Many Malawians suspect the real reasons for firing the vice president from the party have to do with succession plans for the next elections in 2014.

The president’s brother, Professor Peter Mutharika, a Yale-trained legal scholar, left a chaired professorship at an American university and ran, successfully for parliament in Malawi. He entered his brother’s cabinet and took up a cabinet position, first as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and currently as Minister of Education, Science and Technology. It is widely believed that President wa Mutharika is paving the way for his brother to succeed him in 2014, hence the move to remove his own Vice President from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Joyce Banda remains the country’s vice president, but it remains to be seen how she can continue on in that role having been expelled from the very party on whose ticket she was elected together with the president.

It has been called a political earthquake and Malawians have been reacting on social networking sites and forums. The reactions have expressed shock and disbelief, with some calling for Malawians to reclaim Malawian democracy. A new group, calling itself Friends of Joyce Banda, was announced in the days following her firing, with a website and a Facebook group. Another Facebook called Joyce Banda is the 2014 Answer has existed for some months now. This write-up quotes several reactions on social networking sites, and ends with a sharp, insightful analysis provided by blogger and journalist Kondwani Munthali.

An early reaction appeared on Twitter from Chiume:

I have choice words for DPP. This Peter Mutharika guy should not be shoved down people's throats.

Kondwa wrote:

Recent developments of the differences between VP Joyce Banda and President Bingu Wa Mutharika, also are rooted upon the same resentment.

Joyce Banda is one heartbeat away from the state house:

Mai Callista, Joyce Banda is numbala 2, one heartbeat from presidency. You must spend sleepless nights!

Below are messages left on the wall of Joyce Banda is the 2014 Answer Facebook group:

@Dumbo,a need to be patient enough & later cast no vote 4 him coz they r takin Malawi as a stone they can easily throw

The director of women affairs and her fellow ladies are behind JB [Joyce Banda],COME 2014

The ruling party is falling:

The 2014 journey continues, as DPP [the ruling party} fall apart….indeed the signs of the times!

Dadakim discusses the comparison between President Bingu wa Mutharika and Hastings Kamuzu Banda:

There has been some comparison lately between President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi and the former dictator, Hastings Kamuzu Banda. The comparison doesn’t emerge from thin air: Mutharika’s government has attacked critical Catholic clergy (the same civil society group that challenged Banda to transition to multiparty democracy in the 1990s); he continues to push for the ruling party’s next presidential nominee to be his brother, Peter; and Mutharika recently fired his Vice President from the ruling party (but not from office) — the last of these causing MPs of the ruling party (the DPP) to resign from the party.

Add to that a new fight between the President and the Malawi Law Society over procedures the government claims to be part of an audit of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).

Joyce Banda undecided on 2014 presidency, Zacchimalawi reports:

Fired Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) First-Vice President, Rt. Hon. Joyce Banda, reveals being pestered by people to stand for president in 2014.

But Banda told Zachimalawi in a brief telephone interview she is yet to make up her mind on the issue.
“When the time comes, I will issue a statement,” said Banda.
She, however, said she would continue to serve as State Vice-President, adding that her new status (as a non-DPP member) will not “affect my political career”.

It was left to Kondwani Munthali, a blogger and journalist, to provide a historical analysis of a pattern of ambitious politicians being thwarted by leaders. He pointed out that it was only posterity that would distinguish truth from falsehood:

Posterity is the most powerful element in human history as it tells the truth from lies. Greed from reall public interest.
Jump to Bakili Muluzi's era, after the death of all UDF strong men in the likes of Alufeyo Chilibvumbo, Colin Chizumila, Edward Bwanali, Wenham Nakanga and Shaibu Itimu, lies and concotions played a party in dismissals of people like Brown Mpinganjira, Peter Chupa and Cassim Chilumpha.
Mpinganjira, told parliament on 18th December 2001, that he was “accused of being ambitious” that he wanted to run for presidency. Ambition is not allowed in politics- especially in Africa. In other worrds, you must wake up and follow the tune.
Vice President Justin Malewezi went into an ordeal of insults about his illness, his veichles withdrawn and later was almost pushed out of any confort. Posterity has judged him well. His tormentors now suffer the consequences of their laughter.
Cassim Chilumpha has a treason casee, he is the first Vice President to use the police black maria, be bangled in a cell of a common criminal. Seven years later he is still in parliament and fighting off treason charges.
Some of the most vocal Ministers like Patricia Kaliati and Khumbo Kachali, today languish outside the confort.
Today, it is Joyce Banda, one woman who could not mince words in defence of Bingu.

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In this roundup we are looking at five blogs authored by individual Malawians as well as groups of Malawian bloggers, mostly concentrating on creative writing and other forms of art and entertainment. This is the first time we are featuring most of these bloggers on Global Voices.

Blogger Patrick Achitabwino writes about many aspects of Malawian life, but three of his most recent posts discuss developments in Malawian writing. Through his recent posts, we learn that Mike Sambalikagwa Mvona, current president of the Malawi Writers Union, and a prolific writer in his own right, has published an 80-page document, “A Guide to Writers’ and Artists’ Contracts.” Mvona's guide is aimed at helping Malawian writers familiarize themselves with the book publishing process, especially on signing contracts. Achitabwino writes:

By the time you will have finished reading this guide you will have been conversant with general publishing contract guidelines on illustrations and quotations; infringement of existing copyright, libel, and censorship laws; obligation to publish, advance payment and royalties; choice of law among many others.

In another post, Achitabwino analyzes a short story that won first prize in the 2008 First Merchant Bank/Malawi Writers Union Literary Awards. The story is titled “Sins of Our Fathers,” by Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande, and has been included in a new anthology of Malawian short stories, titled The Bachelor of Chikanda, featuring young Malawian writers previously unpublished, as well as seasoned, published old hands. The new anthology is the subject of another of Achitabwino's posts.

More literary news comes from a blog that was set up in June 2009, by a group of students at the University of Malawi's Chancellor College. Known as The Writers' Workshop, the blog carries poems, short stories, and news about literary events at Chancellor College and across the country. The Chancellor College Writers' Workshop dates back to the early days of the establishment of the University of Malawi in the mid-1960s. It has played a pioneering role in the literary history of Malawi, having been associated with Malawi's most important poets, novelists, playwrights and literary scholars.

Through the blog we learn of the group's activities that involve lots of travel and outreach with other universities, secondary schools, groups and associations across the country. The group has links with the recently established Catholic University of Malawi, the 12 year-old Mzuzu University, the Malawi Writers Union, the Book Publishers Association of Malawi, and various associations and secondary schools. They travel to other university campuses and secondary schools, as well as to publishing houses. They also host other writers' groups at the Chancellor College campus.

The most recent entry on the blog is a short profile of the group's member, Hardson Chamasowa Davie, a poet who writes in the local language Chichewa, and has been enjoying airtime on national radio stations where his new poetry album, titled “Ku Smongolia”, is being played.

Also utilizing blogs to publish literary works is the Lilongwe Writers Circle, a group of Malawian writers residing in the city of Lilongwe. The groups meets once a month, and discusses the works of members. Their blog carries short fiction, poetry, literary commentary, short essays, and announcements. A poem titled “Space on Trip“, by Tendy Kay, posted in November, starts:

The room spinning
My temperature constricted in one valve about to POP!
Eyes doubled in size
Am sure I hit the light switch
Was it off or on?
. . .

The most recent entry on the blog is an announcement by one of the members of a new online magazine called “Afrocentric,” to which we turn next.

Afrocentric Magazine started out as a blog, with first entries appearing in August 2009. The initial entries sought to define and explain the term “Afrocentric,” depending on how each of the magazine's editorial team saw it. Nimbi Chiko wrote:

The afrocentric discourse attempts to shift, construct, critique and challenge the way of knowing or discerning knowledge from an epistemology endangered within a European cultural mind set to an African one, whites think blacks are of no value and it makes me sad that’s why I would rather embrace where I come from. The term afrocentric makes me feel safe and accepted in society.

A 2008 edition of the magazine is available for free download, as is a short promotional video. A description of the magazine reads:

The online magazine created for the young, hip and innovative person. The magazine features exclusive live interviews by 3rd Eye and D1, find out why Tex is Malawi’s new R&B sensation, download and stream videos, listen to music by various Malawian artists, watch fashion redefined by MIA by Mia Nisbet, articles, profiles, features and forums. Included is the 2008 Unpublished Edition free for download!!! .

Another blogger to watch out for in 2010 is poet Sinthalunda, who started posting in October 2009. Sinthalunda mostly posts poems, accompanied by photographs. A recent poem posted on the blog offers advice for safe sex:

It's best to use your brain before your eyes.
Truthfully, it's better to condomise.

Though you might like to shag with oohs and sighs.
Remember it's better to condomise.

Blogger Jessica Mack manages a number of blogs, where she posts various types of writing, commentary and art. On Acacia Excerpts, she posts excerpts of poetry by well-known poets, and other well-known writings, accompanied by pictures of paintings. On another of her blogs, face value, she writes about art produced for purposes of raising awareness about social issues such as HIV/AIDS or gender-based violence. She argues that some art does not come out of the personal experience of the artist, or at least an attempt by the artist to fathom a deeper understanding of the issue. The artist ends up having nothing substantive to say, other than plain, uninspiring platitudes:

Unfortunately sometimes artists present clichés, simplistic fantasies, pure conjecture… social stigma is bad, beaten wives are miserable, orphans are sad. It must be hard to empathise with someone you know nothing about. Personally I find this uninformed art rather dull; it doesn’t engage me or add anything to my understanding. It doesn't ‘raise’ my ‘awareness’.

Writing about not just poetry but the arts more broadly is journalist-blogger Gregory Gondwe. More specifically Gondwe's posts offer updates on Malawian music, musicians, dances, and entertainment. A recent post informs readers about the tragic death, on June 30th, 2009, of a young Malawian drummer from the group Body, Mind and Soul, McEwen Manda. Gondwe reports that Manda was struck by a vehicle near Mzuzu Stadium, in Mzuzu City, and killed. He was 28, and his death went unnoticed. During his time with Body, Mind and Soul, the group won local national and regional competitions, and in 2008 toured eight European countries.

Gondwe's other posts discuss Malawi's traditional dances, two of which he informs have been designated by UNESCO as “protected heritage.” Some of the articles are also posted on facebook under the name “Drumming Pen,” self-described as a “column that comes out in Malawi's oldest weekly, the Malawi News and tackles issues to do with music and is hosted by Prof. Zungwala.” Other topics include music played at Malawian entertainment joints, quality control in Malawian music, and royalties for deceased musicians, among others.

In the next roundup, we will continue featuring Malawian bloggers who are either new, or have become active recently, and whose content reveals the issues that have been foremost on the minds of Malawians in recent months.

The country has just undergone its most trying economic period ever, with crippling shortages of foreign exchange and fuel, and thirty earthquakes in three weeks, that have killed several people, and have displaced hundreds of thousands.

Meanwhile, the Malawi government has invited Malawians to express their views on a highly controversial proposal by the government to change the national flag. Malawian bloggers have been writing and commenting on these and many other issues. That's for next time.

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On October 14th the Malawi Police Service arrested 21 year-old Gabriel Kondesi for owning and operating a radio station in Soza Village in the southern district of Mulanje, without a licence from the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA). On Friday October 16th Mulanje Second Grade Magistrate Aristotle Lameck Mkwapatira ordered Kondesi to pay a MK50,000 fine ($357), or serve a 10-month imprisonment sentence, according to an October 20th story by journalist Lucas Bottoman in the print edition of The Daily Times. Unable to pay the fine, Kondesi was sent to jail, and a media frenzy erupted.

Kondesi interviewed. Photo by Jack Mcbrams.

The story stunned Malawians both online and offline, who expressed their shock and anger on blogs, listservs, chat forums and other social media forums such as facebook. By Monday October 19th Kondesi was released after his family and well-wishers in his village raised the money and paid the fine. His family sold their television set, a DVD Player, bags of cement, and also borrowed money from other members of the community, according to Nyasatimes, The Nation and The Sunday Times. Details about the story have since been emerging, and a facebook group has been created, by Daud Suleman, to express support for Kondesi, and raise awareness about “what African youths can achieve through applicable necessary technologies.” The group had 380 members as of Friday (Oct. 30).

Thus far it has emerged that Kondesi dropped out of school in the 7th grade, and has since been operating his Pachikweza Radio Station, made out of crude gadgets that included “an old cassette player, a Nokia 1110, capacitors, two aerials and transistors,” according to Clifton Kawanga in The Sunday Times. Kawanga writes that Kondesi was employing up to ten other young people, whom he paid whenever he had the money. Listeners in the community were paying MK20 (approx. $0.007) to have letters read, and MK50 (approx. $0.003) for letters advertising business. Kawanga adds that MACRA charge $150 for community radio licences.

Malawian papers differ on which frequency Pachikweza was broadcasting, with one paper saying it was on 98.5FM, and another paper saying it was on 105.1FM. The radio station could be heard well beyond his village, crossing the national border into Mozambican territory.

It has also transpired that Kondesi did visit the offices of MACRA in 2007, but no one there helped him. “I travelled to Blantyre two years ago and the people at Macra said they would communicate with me through the Mulanje District Commissioner but I have got nothing up to now,” The Nation quoted him as saying.

Immediately the story broke out, blogger Clement Nthambazale Nyirenda wrote on his blog:

This guy is a genius! Why condemn him to prison when he did not know that what he was doing was wrong? A suspended sentence would have been better.

I, therefore, would like to call for his immediate release from prison. These are the kind of guys whom we should sponsor to ensure that their spirit of innovation is well nurtured for the good of the country and the world at large.

Also reacting to the story and calling Kondesi a genius was Joe Mlenga, writing on his blog:

I'm glad to learn that well-wishers and his family have managed to pay the 50-thousand Kwacha fine imposed by a court for the unlicensed radio. I appeal to the broadcasting community and business fraternity to help this young man achieve his dream of operating a radio station. Who knows what innovation Gabriel will come up with next given proper resources.

Other Malawians have expressed their support in various ways, including Gospel Kazako, Managing Director of Zodiak Broadcasting Station, who contributed money to reimburse the family for the loss they incurred in trying to find the money to pay Kondesi's fine. Kazako was quoted by Nyasatimes as saying: “As broadcasters, we need to support fellow broadcasters whenever they are in trouble. I don’t actually understand when courts should grant suspended sentences but, as a radio man, I am here to appreciate that this boy is a genius.”

And according to the facebook group “in support of Pachikweza Radio Station“, more support from other Malawians has been pouring in already, with several people drawing inspiration from the success story of William Kamkwamba, who also had to drop out of school before his genius could unleash itself. Eddie Mombera has written on the group's page that Kaphuka Private Secondary School, one of Malawi's elite private secondary schools, has offered Kondesi “a scholarship for all his secondary education,” promising to support him through to the University of Malawi's Polytechnic, Malawi's premier engineering school. An article by Lucas Bottoman in The Daily Times of Friday October 30th quotes both Kondesi's father, Jonas Kondesi, and the Managing Director of Kaphuka Private Schools, Mr. Jackson Kaphuka, as confirming the scholarship.

Mombera later added on the facebook page:

There is a small grouping of people running SMEs accross the country which i belong to. We had a summit in Btown this week and we were so moved by the boys arrest such that we contributed over a Mk100,000 [approx. $714] for his release but when we heard that he was… out, we decided to run a fund for him so that he can go back to school.

On Wednesday October 28 Caroline Kandiero reported in The Daily Times that MACRA had since given Kondesi a free licence, and had also promised to fund the radio station for up to MK10 million (approx. $71,500) in equipment and infrastructure. The article quotes MACRA's Acting Director General Mike Kuntiya as saying, “We do not expect to spend more than K10 million, but we also need to visit the place and conduct surveys to see what will be needed.” And on the facebook page started to support Kondesi, McDevis Kamende, who once taught secondary school mathematics and geography, and now works as a micro-finance banker, has offered to help Kondesi with school lessons to enable him study toward Malawi's secondary school exit examinations: “I will donate 40 hours of part time education -Maths & Geography to Gabriel so that he sits for MSCE in three years time.”

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Dr. Kalua examines Malawian kids. Photo: Vision2020 IAPB

We start with Dr. Khumbo Kalua, an eye care specialist, university professor and researcher. Dr. Kalua informs that The University of Malawi's College of Medicine has recently introduced a graduate training program in Ophthalmology. The number of ophthalmologists in the country has also increased, with three new ophthalmologists trained within the last two years. One of them is Dr. Khumbo Kalua himself. The new Minister of Health, who is also a new member of parliament, Dr. Moses Chirambo, is himself an ophthalmologist, and for many years was the only one in the whole of Malawi.

The new developments in the training program and increase in specialists are a result of a program known as Vision 2020 Right to Sight, which Malawi has been pursuing for a number of years now. Dr. Kalua writes:

Malawi has been active in VISION 2020 activities since 2000, and has successfully organised VISION2020 workshops for Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Malawi completed the VISION 2020 five year Eye care plan in 2004, and progress has been made towards achieving goals to eliminating avoidable blindness by the year 2020 in Malawi.

Based on the 3 pillars of VISION2020, in terms of disease control, Childhood blindness was set as one of the major priorities and a Paediatric Ophthalmology unit was planned to be developed in Blantyre.

Another Malawian blogger also blogging about health care issues is Stabbily Msiska, a Malawian nurse currently studying in Norway. Stabbie, as she addresses herself, started blogging in March this year after arriving in Norway. Her 15 years as a midwife-nurse, she writes, have taught her about the simple, free things that matter to women whether in Malawi or in Norway:

As an experienced para 3, i really missed the support of a midwife who could greet me and put herself in my shoes during antenatal, labour and postnatal periods. Having travelled miles away from my home and live in this scandinavian country, i have really appriciated that there are some things that cost nothing but are important for all midwives to do in the whole world. A smile, greetings, giving of comprehensive information, explaining procedures, respect, empathy, sympathy.With these little non costly commodities, our hospitals will be wonderful places for women.

Malawian Nurse-Midwife, Stabbie Msiska

But health care in Malawi also presents difficult problems especially to ordinary Malawians who cannot afford expensive private doctors. Joe Mlenga writes about a distant relation of his who recently hanged himself to escape deep financial problems he was ensnared in. According to Mlenga, the man was still alive when people found him. They quickly took him to the hospital, where they found nurses and other medical personnel having their dinner.

They reporterdly went on with their business of eating the evening meal as Rogers lay in poor condition. By the time the medical staff had finished enjoying dinner and started to check on Rogers, he was no more.

Sadly, Joes writes, such stories of negligence are not uncommon in Malawian hospitals, as per an incident he personally witnessed.

On one occasion I personally saw a mother holding a very ill young son rush into the hall of the referall hospital in Blantyre, QECH, to alert medics about the need for a trolley or a wheel-chair. Nobody seemed to care and the woman ended up handling the trolley herself…she was later assisted by a minibus conductor whose vehicle had kindly agreed to make a diversion to the hospital!

Another blogger, Kondwani Munthali, expresses his frustration with a Government plan to study the feasibility of turning an old ship on Lake Malawi, the MV Chancy Maples, into a mobile hospital. According to Munthali, the idea has been proposed by some Scottish donors, who want the Malawi government to pay for the study at a cost of MK50,000,000 (US$357,143).

As much as I have respect for the Ministry officials K50 million can do a lot. Train at least 10 doctors, 200 medical assistance and 100 Nurses. Or better still can equip Lifuwu Hospital with drugs for five months.

How we lay our priorities should reflect the poverty and needs of Malawians. I find it very sick to spend over US$300,000 to conduct a feasibility study of a ship and may be another US1 million to rehabilitate and equip a vessel when there many urgent needs including a need for a cancer machine.

This sickness mr. president should be stopped. Save the lives of the poor first and let the Scots pay for their own pet projects without invloving the poor. How many people will the mobile hospital on the lake serve, how much will it cost to operate and how will it generate sustainance income. In the end we will spend more on maintaining this odl vessle over peoples lives.

The plight of the health industry in Malawi is making one blogger skeptical of the entire image Malawi is building about its economic gains in the last few years. Alick Nyasulu, an economist, raises questions about the much-touted economic growth Malawi is said to be experiencing. He argues that the economic growth is not benefiting ordinary people, especially the poor, as indicated by socio-economic ills which appear to be on the rise, including cases of armed robbery and domestic abuse. He particularly cites problems in health care as evidence.

An emergency case in Ntchenachena, Chididi and Mposa are a death sentence though the economy is growing.

Their is a health and education crisis in this country. Rich folks go to those elite facilities to access health services and education for their families. I am not being jealousy wish for the riches. Over 80 per cent of Malawi’s population lives in rural areas whose health centres are often manned by an enrolled nurse without adequate medication. Distances to such facilities plus the state of rural roads complicate the situation. I am not being sadistic but to say that health services are equally bad as education especially in the rural areas. Unfortunately, this is where the majority of our people live and resigned to a life that offers no hope and future.

For Mzati Nkolokosa, HIV/AIDS is still on the rampage, but there is light at the end of tunnel. He starts with the devastation the epidemic has caused:

I have lost friends and relatives to AIDS. This condition has devastated us. AIDS has killed professionals who will never be replaced.

Those of us with some knowledge of the University of Malawi understand that AIDS has devastated the education sector. As students we could see a professor losing weight, his hair becoming pale, missing classes, or a course being missed by students because a professor (the only one who can teach that course in Malawi), is not well.

Hard times. In my village in Liwonde, people with money are gone. Business men who were flourishing in late 1980s and early 1990s, are all gone.

He ends on a positive note:

Now there is hope. Treatment is making parents llive longer and raise their chidlren, kids who would otherwie have been orphans. Awareness is also high. My generation is making brilliant choices. Prevalence is now at 12.5 percent in Malawi.

But the sweeter news is that in the age group 5 to 11, prevalence is one percent. This means that if we can raise this age group with meaningful education that helps them avoid AIDS, we can create an almost AIDS free generation for the future.

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Through her eponymously titled blog, Ms. Semu-Banda blogs with a purpose to “bring awareness and change to Malawi's social and economical problems,” according to a description from her nomination published in an announcement on the BlogHer website. The description goes on to say that Semu-Banda's writing has influenced development projects, citing “the improvement of monitoring programs to get rid of child labour in the tobacco industry”, and “an increase of treatment to women suffering from fistula,” as examples.

Pilirani Semu-Banda

In her most recent blog post, Semu-Banda wrote about poverty as the key issue that was “uppermost” in the minds of most Malawians as they prepared to vote in Malawi's fourth multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections on May 19, 2009.

Semu-Banda is an award-winning journalist whose stories focus on marginalized groups and individuals, and on social problems including child labor and exploitation, inequality, and human rights abuses. In December 2008 she received an ‘Every Human Has Rights' Media Award, presented by Internews Europe, in France, for her story “Playing with Children's Lives: Big Tobacco in Malawi.” Attending the ceremony and presenting the awards to her and other winners were The Elders, who according to The Daily Times included former US president Jimmy Carter, former Irish President Mary Robinson, and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Also receiving an award at the event was Malawian journalist Gabriel Kamlomo, of Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS), for an investigative radio report he did on a clinic that accidentally transfused HIV-infected blood to a then 2-year old child, in May 2007. ZBS is so far the only Malawi-based radio station that transmits both on airwaves and on the Internet in real time.

Semu-Banda has previously won an Education Journalism Award, and has on two occasions been voted Malawi’s best female journalist. The BlogHer International Activist Scholarship award is the first known international award to be won by a Malawian blogger for a blog. At this year's BlogHer annual conference Semu-Banda will join fellow award winners on a panel titled “Leadership: The BlogHer ’09 International Activist BlogHer Scholarship Winners Share Their Work”, on Saturday July 25, 1.30-2.45pm. The BlogHer conference will be held at The Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, in downtown Chicago.

The Selection Committee for the 2009 International Activist Scholarship comprised 7 judges, who included Georgia Popplewell, the Managing Director for Global Voices Online. The other judges were Denise Tanton, Elisa Camahort Page, Julie Ross Godar, Kim Pearson, Nelly Yusupova, and Jenifer Scharpen. The selection committee “were looking for sites that were, in fact, bloggy, and for those that had a specific activist intent.” And they have high hopes for what this award entails for other bloggers: “We are convinced that we can all learn practical advice about affecting social change via blog from our scholarship winners…and we can all walk away inspired by their courage, their perseverance, and their accomplishments!”

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The blog Chingwe's Hole reacts to both disproved predictions, then goes through a list of six aspects that make the May 2009 elections historic. According to Chingwe's Hole, key structures of Malawi's institutions performed well. And in marking the probable end of the political career of the 77 year-old leader of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), John Tembo, these elections also ended the era of the nationalist generation that has ruled Malawi since 1964, a point also made by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza. Tembo is reported to have already been put forward as the MCP's candidate in the next elections in 2014, according to Chris Banda on the Internet forum Malawitalk. Chingwe's Hole's third aspect is that the voting pattern was driven by substantive matters of development, over personalities, and more poignantly for many bloggers as well, over ethnicity, Chingwe's Hole's fourth and fifth historical aspects of these elections. The last aspect deals with how the punditry overestimated the strength of the main challenger, John Tembo, in his party's alliance with the United Democratic Front (UDF). On this point Chingwe's Hole unleashes pointed criticism:

And finally the elections have exposed the vacuity of some of the political punditry in Malawi. Our most cited political pundits simply do not know what they are talking about… They kept analsising politics along the same old lines and seemed to base their views based only on whim srather than research and reflection. Listening to our oft cited “political analysts” the coalition was supposed to be a formidable force; the elections would be a a”close call”; Bingu had made a fatal mistake chosing a Southern as running mate; the economy growth had not benefitted the majority etc . . .

As one of the pundits who predicted a strong showing for the MCP/UDF alliance and its candidate John Tembo, Boniface Dulani makes a confession mid-way through the vote counting when it is becoming apparent that Bingu wa Mutharika is defying expectations:

I must confess I did not expect the margin of victory that appears to be emerging from the election results as currently being announced. For all intents and purposes, Mutharika appears to be headed for a strong landslide performance. While Bingu is performing strongly in the northern region as predicted, he has also performed just as strongly in the central region and the southern region.

For Greenwell Matchaya, the incumbent's victory across the entire nation might be the beginning of the end of politics of ethnicity:

In the first place, the size of Bingu’s victory in the presence of a seemingly powerful opposition alliance is the first I have ever heard of in Africa. Furthermore, the fact that there were no any reported cases of rigging, makes his win even more credible and even more and more wonderful. Bingu’s party, the DPP, won the presidential election with roughly 2,730,630 votes while the MCP/UDF alliance scooped circa 1,270,057, almost 200,000 votes below half of Bingu’s votes [. . . ]The strong message arising from these figures is that Bingu was voted into power by the entire nation, raising postulates about whether good leadership styles could obliterate the tribal cancer that many of us thought was out to consume our political and everyday lives.

Clement Nyirenda also remarks on how the punditry got it wrong, and finds the voting pattern for the incumbent president's win epochal:

[. . . the pundits thought that John Tembo would garner more votes from the Southern region while beating Mutharika comprehensively in the Central Region, MCP’s stronghold. Mutharika was expected to carry the day in the less populous Northern Region.

At the end of everything, the pundits have been proved wrong because Dr. Mutharika was proclaimed the winner with more than 6o% of the vote. Since the advent of multiparty democracy, I have never seen a presidential candidate getting votes from all the corners of the country like this.

And words of awe continue with Cryton Chikoko, who writes in the third person with the alias “Rambler”:

Rambler has to confess he was not expecting Malawians to vote on merit. Admittedly Rambler wrongly thought that just like in the previous elections regionalism will rule the day. The 2009 elections have come to him as a pleasant surprise. A fresh breath in our politics.

Victor Kaonga pays tribute to the role that radio stations played in informing listeners of the results during the long breaks waiting for the Malawi Electoral Commission. On Malawian Internet listserv forums, appreciation for the role of radio stations has especially focused on Zodiak Broadcasting Station, which broadcasts across Malawi, and recently started streaming live on the Internet. Listserv discussions have also widely debated what parliament might look like, given the large number of highly educated Malawians who have been elected to parliament, a topic also discussed by Chingwe's Hole. On the Internet forum Nyasanet, the question of who will be chosen to fill cabinet posts is being debated on the basis of the intelligentsia voted into the legislature, which is being likened to an academic symposium. Blogger Kondwani Munthali has already provided his dream cabinet list.

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In the first development, Dr. Muluzi already served two terms from 1994 to 2004, but he claims the constitution allows him to run again, a claim that has received mixed reactions in the country. In the second, former presidents of Ghana and Mozambique, John Kuffour and Joachim Chissano, are attempting, unjustifiably, according to the blog Chingweshole, to prevent what they fear might be a potential violent conflict in the run up to the elections and possibly in the aftermath.

However, eclipsed behind all this drama are two breakthroughs that in early February everyone was talking about as two Malawian firsts: a woman running mate on a major presidential ticket, and another woman as a presidential candidate in her own right. The two women are Hon. Joyce Hilda Banda, currently serving as Malawi's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Hon. Loveness Gondwe, a member of parliament and president of the newly formed, break-away New Rainbow Coalition Party.

While Hon. Loveness Gondwe's candidacy had been speculated about and expected, it was the choice of Hon. Joyce Banda that shook the country when the incumbent president Dr Bingu wa Mutharika presented his nomination papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission on February 6th, and it became known that the Hon. Joyce Hilda Banda would be Dr. Mutharika's running mate. This was after names of running mates for the main contenders had become a much-discussed guessing game in which it appeared each of the candidates was unsure who to choose, waiting to see who the other would pick first. It was a “stage-managed” and “secretive” process, according to blogger Boniface Dulani.

Much of the speculation on who was going to be Dr. wa Mutharika's running mate centered around Malawi's Minister of Finance, Hon. Goodall Gondwe, a highly respected economist and former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official widely regarded as the brains behind Malawi's economic and agricultural turn-around since 2004, alongside Dr. wa Mutharika himself. Hon. Goodall Gondwe was recently awarded a prize as the best performing finance minister in Africa in 2008. Adding to the anticipation was the fact that Hon. Goodall Gondwe comes from the northern region of Malawi, seen as historically marginalized given its relatively smaller population compared to Malawi's two other regions, the center and the south.

Malawi's first president, Dr. Hasting Kamuzu Banda, came from the central region, where political power was concentrated throughout his 30 year rule. From 1994 to 2004 the center for power shifted to the southern region, where erstwhile president Dr. Bakili Muluzi, hails from. Current president Bingu wa Mutharika, who comes from the southern region, is seen as having given the northern region a much-denied political boost, with Goodall Gondwe's finance portfolio being seen as one such example. It was therefore a point of much debated anticipation as to whether Mutharika was going to select a northerner as his running mate.

Hon. Joyce Banda–Hunger Project Photo

Reactions to the news created a heated debate especially on Internet forums, where it was quickly observed that Dr. wa Mutharika's choice of Hon. Joyce Banda was a departure from the norm in which the vice president since 2004 has always been from a region other than the president's. Some also saw it as a betrayal of the northern region, a loyal constituency. Blogger-Journalist Bright Sonani observed:

Its no longer a secret. The Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP has finally come out in the open expressing disappointment over President Bingu wa Mutharika’s choice of Joyce Banda as his running mate instead of Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, whose name was at the centre of debate as the likely person to pair up with the DPP leader.

Some claimed the president had played a “regionalistic” card”, while others suggested that the president was being pragmatic as well as promoting gender equality, noting that in fact Hon. Joyce Banda's husband, former Chief Justice Richard Banda, is himself a northerner.

Other reactions focused on her achievements and rise to influence, observing that she was the 1997 recipient, together with then Mozambican president Joachim Chissano, of the Africa Leadership Prize, awarded by the New York-based Hunger Project.

The blog Malawi Politics went on to add that:

This appointment follows service as a Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Children's Affairs and Community Services where she fought for Malawi's recently enacted Domestic Violence Bill, which had failed for seven years previously. In addition, she designed the National Platform for Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the Zero Tolerance Campaign against Child Abuse.

The Honorable Joyce Banda has advanced legislation and generated educational opportunities to assure the economic well-being of countless women and girls and forever changed Malawi.

But for blogger Isaac Ziba, a self-identifying northerner himself, it did not matter that Hon. Joyce Banda came from the south. Ziba saw the move as part of a much needed “exorcism” the country needs to undergo to get rid of the “regionalism” mentality:

I, for one, am happy with the pick of Joyce Banda as running mate of and to President Dr Bingu wa Muntharika in the forthcoming general elections. This is because I totally believe that Malawi can and should be one and Malawi can be treated as one country – with only one fragment – Malawi. There are those that think Malawi can only be represented if Malawi has three fragments – the North, the Centre and the South. We have tried this platform for ages on end – it is not working for our people – and we do need - not just a paradigm shift but a paradigm change in the way we do not only our politics but our national endeavours as well – including on the development front.

Mzati Nkolokosa, another blogger-journalist, identifies himself as not coming from the north by listing his friends who are from the north, in a post titled “My Friends from the North.” He says his generation, aged between 25 and 35, is ushering in a new Malawi which looks at ideas rather than region. He points out that sports in Malawi is currently dominated by administrators from the north, but Malawians of his generation have no problem with that, as long as they are delivering the goods:

My generation does not care that Mutharika and Banda are from the South just as we don’t mind that Sports Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda, Fam president Walter Nyamirandu, Fam CEO Charles Nyirenda, Fam administrative officer Sugzo Nyirenda and Flames coach Kinnah Phiri are from the North.

Whether they hold their meetings in Tumbuka or Tonga, my generation does not care. All we care is that they have delivered and continue to do so. They have turned the Flames from perpetual losers to winners. They are in their positions on merit, not based on place.

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