(NEWZIMBABWE) Part of Mutharika’s millions in Zim bank, report
24/06/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A REPORT released Monday in Malawi has claimed that the country’s former President Bingu wa Mutharika stashed part of a fortune estimated at US$141 million in a Zimbabwean bank.
Mutharika, a key ally of President Robert Mugabe and whose first wife Ethel was also Zimbabwean, died aged 78 from a heart attack last April.
At the time of his death, a serious economic crisis worsened by foreign currency shortages after key western donors withdrew support had sparked riots across the country.
But a report in local media claimed the former president had stashed a fortune of up to US$141 million in several local and foreign bank accounts.
The former World Bank staffer and ex-COMESA secretary general had declared assets of just US$35,000 when he took over as the country’s president in 2004.
The claims about his wealth were revealed in an affidavit report by a local firm, YMW Property Investment Limited and Registered Property Evaluator, which added that the US$141 million was a conservative estimate.
“Although I have not yet completed my exercise, as the Estate is huge and somewhat complex and in various countries, my preliminary examination has approximately valued the entire Estate as a gross value of K61,4 billion (about US$141 million),” said Yeremia Chihana who filed the affidavit.
“This sum is from property and account balances held in bank accounts within and outside the jurisdiction namely Zimbabwe, South Africa and United States of America.”
The report claimed that Mutharika’s account with Standard Chartered Bank in Zimbabwe had K320,000,000 (about US$741,000).
The former president was also said to have US$35 million stashed in an account held with Bank of Taiwan in South Africa, $4,4 million with the United Nations Federation Credit Unit and another US$4 million in New Jersey.
Other companies linked to Mutharika and his family also held various sums with local banks.
Joyce Banda, who replaced Mutharika as president, has since moved to repair relations with the West and also insisted that Zimbabwe pay the US$23 million for 66,000 tons of maize delivered to help ease local food shortages.
It was claimed Mutharika never pressed for payment because of his close ties with Mugabe.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA
Read more...
Malawi 'coup plotters' to seek bail
Anger on the streets ... Malawi police remonstrate with protesters on Monday
12/03/2013 00:00:00
by Sapa
MALAWIAN opposition leader Peter Mutharika, the former President’s brother, and 10 others arrested on Monday over an alleged coup plot were spending a second night in jail on Tuesday after failing to appear in court.
Monday's arrests sparked protests in Malawi with police firing tear gas to disperse crowds that gathered at a police station where the group is being held.
The group are accused of trying to prevent then Vice President Joyce Banda from coming to power last year, after the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika.
"They are likely to be charged with treason," a senior police officer who did not want to identified told AFP.
Former Foreign Minister Mutharika, now the interim leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which his brother led, is being held together with the former ministers for local government, information, finance and sports as well as top civil servants.
"It's not political. It's not about Joyce Banda," current Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu said.
The arrest of the "coup plotters" sent shock waves through Malawi, fuelling anger at Banda's government, which has been much feted by the international community.
Malawi police fired teargas at around 500 people protesting the arrests outside police headquarters in Lilongwe, but the protesters failed to disperse and retaliated by throwing stones.
Another group of protesters, estimated to be in the thousands, gathered nearby, blocking the main highway to the capital with boulders and branches.
The plot is alleged to have taken place amid the chaos of Bingu wa Mutharika's death in April.
Last week an inquest ruled that Mutharika died of a heart attack on the way to hospital after collapsing at State House.
But his death was not confirmed for two days and his body was flown to South Africa as would-be successors sought to buy time.
Six ministers, including then local government minister Henry Mussa, held a late-night news conference a day after Mutharika's death to insist he was still alive.
At the time Banda was the Vice President who under the constitution was next in line to become the president.
But Mutharika had been grooming his brother, Peter, to succeed him.
Banda was eventually sworn in on April 7, after backroom dealings.
A month after coming to power, Banda alleged the coup plot was "against this country and not me. It's a national issue."
Political analyst Ernest Thindwa of the University of Malawi said the publication of the inquest sparked the arrests.
"The inquiry report raised a number of questions and established that offences were committed. But it's important that the suspects be given a fair trial."
Law expert Fidelis Edge Kanyongolo said: "The government must make sure it has sufficient evidence to secure a conviction, otherwise it will look like political persecution."
Since coming to power, Banda has won plaudits from the international community, and attracted opposition at home, for embarking on a series of painful IMF-inspired economic reforms.
Budget cuts and a currency devaluation have meant living costs for ordinary Malawians have gone up, just as wages in the massive public sector are frozen.
Thousands have taken to the streets to oppose the measures over the past year, which Banda insists are needed to put the economy -- one of the poorest in the world -- back on track.
Agriculture still accounts for 30 percent of GDP in the landlocked country.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, COUP, JOYCE BANDA, MALAWI, PETER MUTHARIKA
Read more...
Malawi expands arrest of coup plotters: Msaka, Goodall at Lumbadzi police station
By Wanga Gwede, Nyasa Times
March 11, 2013
Chief Secretary to the Government Bright Msaka and Economic Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe have been arrested after a commission of inquiry report into circumstances surrounding the death of former president Bingu wa Mutharika exposed their their key role played in the failed plot to block President Joyce Banda from ascending to power.
Gondwe and Msaka were being questioned at Lumbadzi police station in the capital Lilongwe.
Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo confirmed arrests but said “the investigations are on going and the operation is underway.”
Earlier, Police arrested former Information Minister Patricia Kaliati, former Local Government Minister Henry Mussa and former presidential guard commander Duncan Mwapasa and lawmaker Kondwani Nankhumwa in connection to events surrounding the death of Mutharika.
Others also reportedly picked are former ministers Symon Vuwa Kaunda and Nicholous Dausi.
Msaka: Concealed the death of Bingu
Police raided the house of late Mutharika’s brother, Peter, but did not get thim. His personal assistant Ben Phiri told Nyasa Times that Police showed a warrant of arrest but the lawmaker was not at the property and would hand himself in to the Police.
According to the inquiry report, upon learning about the death of Bingu wa Mutharika at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in the capital, Lilongwe, his brother, Peter called the Chief Secretary to the Government aside and asked him if it would not be a good idea for the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) to take over government.
The report said Peter Mutharika wondered what was going to happen in the country, in terms of succession, considering that Joyce Banda, then Vice-President who was constitutionally mandated to takeover, had left the ruling party and formed her own opposition political party.
Reads the report: “The Chief Secretary told the commission that he advised [Peter] Mutharika that it was not a good idea. The Chief Secretary told the commission that having heard the suggestion of an army take over from Mutharika, he became uncomfortable.
“He [said he] proceeded to meet the Malawi Defence Force Commander General Henry Odillo, who was still at the hospital at that time. The Chief Secretary asked General Odillo whether the army understood its role in times of such events. He also asked the General if he understood what the Constitution said in the event of the death of the President.”
But Peter Mutharika denied, before the commission, having ever at any point discussed the idea of the military takeover with Msaka.
However, Msaka further told the commission that it was clear from the response of General Odillo that the military in Malawi correctly understood not only its role in the situation, but also the constitutional provisions in the event of death of the President.
One Response to “Malawi expands arrest of coup plotters: Msaka, Goodall at Lumbadzi police station”
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, BRIGHT MSAKA, COUP, GOODALL GONDWE
Read more...
COMMENT - The taking on of IMF prescriptions is not about economic development, it is about ending a hostage situation by giving in to the terrorists.
Timau: Bingu speech from the grave –‘IMF, hands off my country’
By Sembe Gondwe
September 17, 2012
Any good deed that a person starts during his lifetime, and that is of renewed benefit and ongoing use for others, will continue to benefit him and augment his record of good deeds, even after his departure-as long as its benefit continue to reach others.
It is because of this accepted wisdom that former President Bingu wa Mutharika will today speak to Malawians. Oh, yes, whisper it quickly, Bingu addressed the nation…… we now reproduce his speech verbatim.
…to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Devaluation
I am afraid the flipside of the coin for Malawians is now showing; I am watching what is happening and I am not pleased. My anger is eating me up! I said it; I have always said it, that while it is good to keep donors onside, they do not always know what is best for us.
IMF, why did you force your way on my people. Look what is happening now, you have devalued the kwacha, can you see the results? Where are you? The truth is that you IMF folks have no economy, World Bank has no country. It is only me- who has the tenacity of purpose, courage, and an unbending will which never flinches before antagonists- I know the material constraints of the Malawian people better, and, possibly, how to solve them. My stand has always been no devaluation. These same people rallied against the farm inputs subsidy programme but the programme improved food security situation in Malawi . The same individuals were against the provision of free ARV’s; they wanted you my people to die.
On devaluation, I repeat, IMF has always been oversimplifying a very complex issue.
Mutharika
I stood firm against devaluation not because I was stubborn but because I wanted to protect Malawians from the many problems of devaluing any currency. We cannot devalue the kwacha simply because someone in Washington wants to be seen working. Devaluation only makes Washington happy. If Washington smiles, Lilongwe weeps; are we not weeping now? My people see the tears.
So, IMF, remind me, what were your reasons, economical or otherwise, why did Malawi devalue her currency? What economics guidelines were you using? Didn’t I warn you that if we devalue the kwacha without you telling us how you will support us the people will suffer? You thought I was an evil man and now can you see what you have done to Joyce? Strikes everyday! Where will she get the money from? I refused to devalue the Kwacha to safeguard Malawians.
IMF, I told you to leave my country, I told you to go to hell! These Breton woods institutions will not help us. Yes, I am beside myself with fury because my policy-objectives were restrained by the shrewd policy machinations of the World Bank, IMF, development partners, and an opposition block out to make fun out of Malawi’s challenges.
….Civil Societies
You were forcing me to devalue the kwacha as if you knew anything. What economics have you done? Tiankhwezule tating’ono inu! I told you that you can’t bully me into submission. Government can’t be taken to ransom by a few disgruntled individuals hiding in the name of civil society. Now, tell me, what alternatives do you have for my people? Mwakasungula can you answer this? The blood of these people who are suffering because of exorbitant price hikes is on you and your friends. Let their spirits haunt you at night. This time they will go after you and not me! Even if you hide in holes they will smoke you out! Why should my people have an increase of mini bus fares everyday? I want you NGOs to prove me wrong today!
….and to Joyce
I made you my running mate and by extension Vice President because I knew that you can manage things. What is this that you are doing now? You are encircled by the same people who were misleading me. I knew how to go round them; moreover, I was just about to do a cabinet reshuffle before I went to sleep. Why appoint a Presidential advisory committee on the economy (PACE) with foreigners in it. Is it realistic? The problem with these committees is that you will not get any tangible out puts only recommendations. They just drain our resources, we are paying them by the hour, what are these people going to do? My country is not a play ground!
I want people with indigenous economic principles. Why wait for wilful IMF or committees when we have our own economists who understand Malawi better. Dr. Thandeka Mkandawire and Dr. Fannwell Bokosi are sitting around while you appoint an international group! Appoint Malawians to solve Malawi problems,
…Civil Servants
Which theory states that civil servants should have low salaries? My plan was to start paying civil servants market rates to enhance productivity. Why pay them low when they face the same problems as every other Malawian. Increasing prices of goods and services impinge on them the same way as everyone else. Pay them market rates and fire them if they don’t execute their duties professionally.
…….and to you Peter
I was very pleased with your speech on the day I was being put in my final resting place. It was very good. I am also pleased with the path you have taken for the party. Keep DPP alive. I want you to prove that I was not favouring you but you have got the mantle to carry the party forward. Look after my wife Calista – she should never walk alone . Look after the children and my Ndata Palace. And remember they are my wife and children, the money, I left is not for campaign purposes only.
Thank you. God bless Malawi
“Even the lord Jesus referred to death as sleep. In John 11:11-14, He spoke of the death of Lazarus as sleep.”
sembegondwe@yahoo.com
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, IMF, NEOLIBERALISM, World Bank
Read more...
Chikaonda, Anadkat miraculously saved from criminal investigation in M320m collusion scandal
By Joshua Chisa Mbele
August 17, 2012
The death of Dr Bingu wa Mutharika saved Dr Mathews Chikaonda and his HitechAnadkat from being arrested following the investigations conducted by Reserve Bank of Malawi.
As a matter of introduction and background. I write in my personal capacity as the Founding Member of Ulalo Group of Companies with interests in diversified sectors of economy on two Continents, namely Asia and Africa. Ulalo Group has investments and operates in South Africa, China and Malawi. I’m, therefore, suitably well-informed to shed true light on matters surrounding Ulalo Malawi, its success, challenges and failures if any at all.
Background.I have stayed outside the country for than 2 decades. Before going into business, I worked with world-class organisations ranging from Manufacturing, Engineering, Mining, Information Technology and Telecommunication. I, therefore, have a well-balanced understanding of business and how the corporate world is supposed to operate. Mine are skills horned on the floor. Not evangelical or theoretical.
Chikaonda
Despite my longer stay outside the country, Malawi remains closer to my heart. That is the land of my brothers and sisters, the land of my ancestors. I have refused to acquire any Citizenship of any country. I remain committed to my country and proudly Malawian. I share a view that says Malawi has suffered for a long time and we must do everything possible to fight the scourge of poverty. Eradicate it in its entirety. Within our lifetime, Malawi must rise and join rich nations. That’s my position. That’s my dream.
With that in mind, I consistently look for any opportunities available in Malawi with a view to invest. To create sustainable jobs. To facilitate funding for other organizations. To spearhead technology transfers. I look for fellow Malawians with a view to empower them. I look for Corporate Partners with a view for shared growth and synergies for greater good of our economy.
Ulalo Capital Investments (Malawi) is the holding company with shares in a number of listed companies in Malawi. Our direct and largest investment being in Telecommunication. TNM. It was here where we also suffered losses due to unsympathetic collusion of TNM Directors. Much of this saga has been articulated in the past. I gave a detailed radio interview with Brian Banda of Capital FM on Straight talk. The records still exist in their archives.
Following that interview, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi contacted me with a view to ascertain some of the allegations or revelations that I made. On 22nd March I landed at Lilongwe International Airport and was whisked away from VIP lounge to a secure location with 12 hour security for my personal protection. I had interviews with Reserve Bank officials that included the governor, legal advisers, financial analysts and everybody relevant to hear the matter. After two days of grilling interviews and submissions of documentation, I returned to South Africa.
A week later they informed me that my submissions and testimonies stood the test and there was reason to believe that TNM Directors had indeed acted in a criminal manner. Reserve Bank as the final Regulator of Financial Services in the country, they would seek redress and proceed with criminal investigation and prosecution. They formerly wrote to TNM to seek their position and TNM was given 10 days to reply. The Reserve Bank completed the report and submitted to the Office of President and Cabinet so that final determination could be made to refer the matter to Anti-Corruption Bureau. (ACB)
With change of leadership at the Reserve Bank of Malawi, I’m informed that Ulalo should not drag the Bank into commercial issues between two willing parties that engaged in a transaction. Ulalo should follow a legal route to recover losses if it has a case against the other. This is an amazing U-turn that requires no further comment.
Another body that approached me for clarity on the matter was SOCAM. When I was in Lilongwe I met the CEO who also demanded so much of evidence of what I had uttered. I provided every piece of evidence ranging from commitment correspondences between Ulalo and TNM Directors, Transaction documentation, money transfers records including official letter stating reasons why they reneged on the agreement. It is in black and white. They informed us that government interference was to blame. Reserve Bank was mentioned in that letter. SOCAM has an Ethics Committee that investigates any alleged misconduct of their members. In our particular matter, members have failed to meet. In my view, the Ethics Committee members are conflicted, too scared, corrupted or simply ineffective to do anything considering the prominence of the individuals concerned.
The evidence of wrong doing is overwhelming on TNM Directors. The perpetrators had to find a small bush to hide. Last week, Nyasa Times published Joshua Mbele Expose’ in order to deflect attention and assassinate the character of the complainant because there were obvious blatant lies in that article hence the author was generic. Fortunately, the entire article had closer resemblance to the email I received from Dr Chikaonda on 27th March this year in which it was demanded that I withdrew my allegations or stand to be exposed and humiliated. It was like blackmail. I refused but instead showed him that the contents were defective and inaccurate. I gave full response and attached documents to prove my position. So the Nyasa Times article was not something new to me. I expected it. The author is well known in this regard.
Readers may not have known this; every aspect in the article was tested in the High Court Commercial Case between Standard Bank Malawi and Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF) which provided Capital to Ulalo in Malawi. I was the key witness in that Case. Under intense cross-examination, SADEF legal Counsel tried to portray me as unreliable witness by asking much of the stuff which was later harvested and appeared in the so called Expose’, I competently answered all the questions. Last month, end July to be precise, the High Court delivered Judgment. Standard Bank won the case. My testimony stood the test and cross examination. SAEDF was found to be simply a bad liar. Dishonesty litigant. The Expose of Joshua Mbele was based on dishonesty sources of information that had dismally failed to dent my standing. The harvesters of information had no full understanding of issues at hand and were not aware that SAEDF had just lost the case.
I had protracted legal wrangling with both the Funder and Ulalo Shareholders. They had suspected that MK320m transaction was collusion between me and Chikaonda. I defended Chikaonda much as I defended myself. I defended Chikaonda based on faith and trust I had in him as a person though I had troubled conscience. They alleged that I must have bought shares at an inflated price and received a kick-back thus defrauding my own company. Nothing could be true. Nothing was done outside Ulalo Board mandate. We were faced with huge Forex losses. The perpetrators had calculated their moves and we were in a fix or catch-22 situation thus we do we are doomed. We don’t do we are still doomed.
Everything said and done, Ulalo settled its full obligations to SAEDF. We paid back more than MK840m in cash and shares. It was an outside Court Settlement agreed by both parties. The Settlement was only baptized by the court. Ulalo was left with just under MK100m net assets. We still have these assets.
In Summary and closing, I want to state something obvious. The Rule of Law must prevail in Malawi. The Lady Justice must be truly blind. People should be held accountable for their actions regardless of their standing in the society. We have Captains of the economy who are lacking in standing and integrity. Captains who are doing more harm to the country yet nobody can touch them because their influence is far reaching and felt in all corners and bedrooms of the country. The losses we suffered drained us of our enthusiasm to woo direct foreign investments into the country. It created bad record. It left bad taste in our mouth.
In a democracy, nobody should be above the law; nothing should be swept under the carpet. I, therefore, urge the authorities to proceed with Ulalo-TNM investigations so that the truth is finally established. It’s good for their names, good for TNM Brand and Good for Ulalo. Confidence in the market is what Malawi needs.
As a TNM Shareholder who was misled to a tune of MK320m by men of honour, I suspect dubious dealings happened in the allocation of TNM shares to those connected to each other. I would not be surprised if some people never paid for the shares but made massive financial gains. I would not be surprised if some people cheated in their declarations of capital gains and never paid due taxes to the government. Let us allow thorough forensic investigation to bring some confidence back. Let us follow the money trails and see where we may end.
As TNM Shareholder, I’m extremely uncomfortable with the close relationship between Hitesh Anadkat and Dr Chikaonda considering how they successfully trapped Ulalo into MK320m transaction that benefitted Hitesh Business.
As TNM Shareholder, I do not want Mr Hitesh Anadkat to deputise Chikaonda as Chairman of TNM. Let other competent independent professionals fill that role for the sake of Corporate Governance. The business connections between TNM and Livingstone Empire are too many to be true and a source of main concern. TNM IPO wiped people’s savings making them financial nightmares except for Livingstone that made huge profits based on nothing but manipulation, inside trading and collusion.
*The author is Joshua Chisa Mbele, Chief Executive of Ulalo Capital Investments Group.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, CORRUPTION
Read more...
Chikaonda, Anadkat miraculously saved from criminal investigation in M320m collusion scandal
By Joshua Chisa Mbele
August 17, 2012
The death of Dr Bingu wa Mutharika saved Dr Mathews Chikaonda and his HitechAnadkat from being arrested following the investigations conducted by Reserve Bank of Malawi.
As a matter of introduction and background. I write in my personal capacity as the Founding Member of Ulalo Group of Companies with interests in diversified sectors of economy on two Continents, namely Asia and Africa. Ulalo Group has investments and operates in South Africa, China and Malawi. I’m, therefore, suitably well-informed to shed true light on matters surrounding Ulalo Malawi, its success, challenges and failures if any at all.
Background.I have stayed outside the country for than 2 decades. Before going into business, I worked with world-class organisations ranging from Manufacturing, Engineering, Mining, Information Technology and Telecommunication. I, therefore, have a well-balanced understanding of business and how the corporate world is supposed to operate. Mine are skills horned on the floor. Not evangelical or theoretical.
Chikaonda
Despite my longer stay outside the country, Malawi remains closer to my heart. That is the land of my brothers and sisters, the land of my ancestors. I have refused to acquire any Citizenship of any country. I remain committed to my country and proudly Malawian. I share a view that says Malawi has suffered for a long time and we must do everything possible to fight the scourge of poverty. Eradicate it in its entirety. Within our lifetime, Malawi must rise and join rich nations. That’s my position. That’s my dream.
With that in mind, I consistently look for any opportunities available in Malawi with a view to invest. To create sustainable jobs. To facilitate funding for other organizations. To spearhead technology transfers. I look for fellow Malawians with a view to empower them. I look for Corporate Partners with a view for shared growth and synergies for greater good of our economy.
Ulalo Capital Investments (Malawi) is the holding company with shares in a number of listed companies in Malawi. Our direct and largest investment being in Telecommunication. TNM. It was here where we also suffered losses due to unsympathetic collusion of TNM Directors. Much of this saga has been articulated in the past. I gave a detailed radio interview with Brian Banda of Capital FM on Straight talk. The records still exist in their archives.
Following that interview, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi contacted me with a view to ascertain some of the allegations or revelations that I made. On 22nd March I landed at Lilongwe International Airport and was whisked away from VIP lounge to a secure location with 12 hour security for my personal protection. I had interviews with Reserve Bank officials that included the governor, legal advisers, financial analysts and everybody relevant to hear the matter. After two days of grilling interviews and submissions of documentation, I returned to South Africa.
A week later they informed me that my submissions and testimonies stood the test and there was reason to believe that TNM Directors had indeed acted in a criminal manner. Reserve Bank as the final Regulator of Financial Services in the country, they would seek redress and proceed with criminal investigation and prosecution. They formerly wrote to TNM to seek their position and TNM was given 10 days to reply. The Reserve Bank completed the report and submitted to the Office of President and Cabinet so that final determination could be made to refer the matter to Anti-Corruption Bureau. (ACB)
With change of leadership at the Reserve Bank of Malawi, I’m informed that Ulalo should not drag the Bank into commercial issues between two willing parties that engaged in a transaction. Ulalo should follow a legal route to recover losses if it has a case against the other. This is an amazing U-turn that requires no further comment.
Another body that approached me for clarity on the matter was SOCAM. When I was in Lilongwe I met the CEO who also demanded so much of evidence of what I had uttered. I provided every piece of evidence ranging from commitment correspondences between Ulalo and TNM Directors, Transaction documentation, money transfers records including official letter stating reasons why they reneged on the agreement. It is in black and white. They informed us that government interference was to blame. Reserve Bank was mentioned in that letter. SOCAM has an Ethics Committee that investigates any alleged misconduct of their members. In our particular matter, members have failed to meet. In my view, the Ethics Committee members are conflicted, too scared, corrupted or simply ineffective to do anything considering the prominence of the individuals concerned.
The evidence of wrong doing is overwhelming on TNM Directors. The perpetrators had to find a small bush to hide. Last week, Nyasa Times published Joshua Mbele Expose’ in order to deflect attention and assassinate the character of the complainant because there were obvious blatant lies in that article hence the author was generic. Fortunately, the entire article had closer resemblance to the email I received from Dr Chikaonda on 27th March this year in which it was demanded that I withdrew my allegations or stand to be exposed and humiliated. It was like blackmail. I refused but instead showed him that the contents were defective and inaccurate. I gave full response and attached documents to prove my position. So the Nyasa Times article was not something new to me. I expected it. The author is well known in this regard.
Readers may not have known this; every aspect in the article was tested in the High Court Commercial Case between Standard Bank Malawi and Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF) which provided Capital to Ulalo in Malawi. I was the key witness in that Case. Under intense cross-examination, SADEF legal Counsel tried to portray me as unreliable witness by asking much of the stuff which was later harvested and appeared in the so called Expose’, I competently answered all the questions. Last month, end July to be precise, the High Court delivered Judgment. Standard Bank won the case. My testimony stood the test and cross examination. SAEDF was found to be simply a bad liar. Dishonesty litigant. The Expose of Joshua Mbele was based on dishonesty sources of information that had dismally failed to dent my standing. The harvesters of information had no full understanding of issues at hand and were not aware that SAEDF had just lost the case.
I had protracted legal wrangling with both the Funder and Ulalo Shareholders. They had suspected that MK320m transaction was collusion between me and Chikaonda. I defended Chikaonda much as I defended myself. I defended Chikaonda based on faith and trust I had in him as a person though I had troubled conscience. They alleged that I must have bought shares at an inflated price and received a kick-back thus defrauding my own company. Nothing could be true. Nothing was done outside Ulalo Board mandate. We were faced with huge Forex losses. The perpetrators had calculated their moves and we were in a fix or catch-22 situation thus we do we are doomed. We don’t do we are still doomed.
Everything said and done, Ulalo settled its full obligations to SAEDF. We paid back more than MK840m in cash and shares. It was an outside Court Settlement agreed by both parties. The Settlement was only baptized by the court. Ulalo was left with just under MK100m net assets. We still have these assets.
In Summary and closing, I want to state something obvious. The Rule of Law must prevail in Malawi. The Lady Justice must be truly blind. People should be held accountable for their actions regardless of their standing in the society. We have Captains of the economy who are lacking in standing and integrity. Captains who are doing more harm to the country yet nobody can touch them because their influence is far reaching and felt in all corners and bedrooms of the country. The losses we suffered drained us of our enthusiasm to woo direct foreign investments into the country. It created bad record. It left bad taste in our mouth.
In a democracy, nobody should be above the law; nothing should be swept under the carpet. I, therefore, urge the authorities to proceed with Ulalo-TNM investigations so that the truth is finally established. It’s good for their names, good for TNM Brand and Good for Ulalo. Confidence in the market is what Malawi needs.
As a TNM Shareholder who was misled to a tune of MK320m by men of honour, I suspect dubious dealings happened in the allocation of TNM shares to those connected to each other. I would not be surprised if some people never paid for the shares but made massive financial gains. I would not be surprised if some people cheated in their declarations of capital gains and never paid due taxes to the government. Let us allow thorough forensic investigation to bring some confidence back. Let us follow the money trails and see where we may end.
As TNM Shareholder, I’m extremely uncomfortable with the close relationship between Hitesh Anadkat and Dr Chikaonda considering how they successfully trapped Ulalo into MK320m transaction that benefitted Hitesh Business.
As TNM Shareholder, I do not want Mr Hitesh Anadkat to deputise Chikaonda as Chairman of TNM. Let other competent independent professionals fill that role for the sake of Corporate Governance. The business connections between TNM and Livingstone Empire are too many to be true and a source of main concern. TNM IPO wiped people’s savings making them financial nightmares except for Livingstone that made huge profits based on nothing but manipulation, inside trading and collusion.
*The author is Joshua Chisa Mbele, Chief Executive of Ulalo Capital Investments Group.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, CORRUPTION
Read more...
President Joyce Banda: What is your agenda for Malawi?
By Benson Jackson Teki
August 12, 2012
* “Running affairs of the state is serious business.’’ – Bakili Muluzi, Malawi’s Head of State from 1994 -2004Her Excellency the President, let me begin by bringing your attention to the fact that throughout civilization, people have vested their trust in the state as a provider of their needs. This is because state has the capacity to generate a mass of resources (human and material) enough to alleviate their suffering.
State intervention has therefore been at the core of wealth creation and economic success throughout history. This started with Britain and Europe in the late 15th century, USA in the 19th century, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea in the 20th century and now China and India in the 21st century.
These countries madam President attained their economic success through the same economic policies. If we are serious about transforming this country, which I believe we are, then let us seriously think about and perhaps emulate them just as they all did.
Africa including Malawi, is being told to open up to foreign direct investment (FDI), jump to free trade with the developed economies and liberalize their economies because that is supposedly the only way to grow their (our) economies. If we go back their history Her Excellency, the developed economies i.e. Britain and USA, opposed the very economic policies that their forgetful descendants are telling us to do today.
President Banda
All today’s developed countries used nationalistic policies (export led growth, subsidies, mechanization, tariffs, restrictions on foreign investment, distribution of monopoly rights) to protect and promote their infant industries. Not all that the IMF or World Bank tell us to do is true neither is the loan they have given let us celebrate all the way to the bank. These are the very factors that are keeping Africa “artificially” poor. What Malawi needs right now madam president is a strategic rather than unconditional, integration with the global economy based on a nationalistic vision.
Let me provide an example to illustrate my point. Venice and the Dutch Republic became wealthy economic powerhouses in the 13th in the then poverty-stricken Europe due to a flourishing industrial sector that manufactured woolen cloth. Guess where they got their raw materials from? England!! Madam President this meant that England was exporting employment and its other advantages i.e. creation of knowledge, technology, division of labour, increasing returns and most importantly employment.
England was thus exporting raw materials and remaining poor! Take note that this is exactly what we did and continue to do right now. It was until 1485 when King Henry VII ascended to throne that the English realized that they were in wrong business. King Henry VII therefore made policies that made England into an exporter of finished woolen cloth and not raw cotton! He also used protectionism, subsidies, distribution of monopoly rights, government sponsored industrial espionage also known as reverse engineering where a foreign product was stripped down and copied.
Madam, he even introduced export duties which ensured that foreign textile producers who imported raw materials, had to process more expensive raw materials than their English counterparts. These initiatives made England the richest country on earth, a country envied and imitated by others including USA! Interestingly Madam President, USA later in the 19th century emulated the same economic policies that Britain had employed. Again they also gained economic mileage and became the world’s richest country attaining position of world super power in the process!! Now China and India are using the same economic policies of state intervention and the results you know them madam.
LESSONS FROM YOUR PREDECESSOR
Madam President, the ascension to power of the late Professor Bingu wa Mutharika in 2004, his soul rest in peace, can equally be likened to that of King Henry VII. In him, was a man who had vested interest in the development of his country. Whether we like it or not, this is a fact. Just as King Henry VII, Professor Mutharika emulated and encouraged all Malawians to be actors not listeners. He encouraged that Malawi should move from being a pre-dominantly importing nation to a pre-dominantly exporting one. The results are clear to us all!
For the first time Malawi’s economy grew at unprecedented rate second to Qatar! Secondly, the former Head of State introduced subsidies whose results again are out there where again for the first time Malawi exported and donated maize to other countries. Then he began the big one!!! Nsanje World Inland Port. Madam President this was not just a dream, it was dreaming in colour. Doing what the Americans and the British did not what they are telling to do.
Nsanje World Inland Port is one of Malawi’s economic doors to success! Professor Bingu wa Mutharika did not leave anything to chance neither did he wait for God to do it for us or wait for World Bank or IMF. He downplayed the spirit of begging, waiting for donations or dependence. He realized that dependency can not lead this country to economic independence! In fact no country has ever developed under dependency conditions. They only experience their greatest economic development when they take their development agenda in their own hands. What am I saying madam president? I am saying let us understand what caused economic prosperity of the now developed countries and emulate. This is what Professor Mutharika did!
To this far madam president, I believe that you are a woman of distinct and rare abilities. I trust that you will move this to a better economic position than you found it. Let me conclude by quoting what Mr. Jay Naidoo, Chairman of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition said at Brand Africa Forum 2010; “we are naïve to think that the people that come into our country, even the ones who are here to help us (donors), have no agenda. Everyone has an agenda” What is your agenda for Malawi madam president?!
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA, NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Is development aid to Malawi anything more than Neo-Colonial Life-Support?
By Nick Wright
August 8, 2012
President Bingu wa Mutharika (with encouragement from Robert Mugabe) was beginning to develop a policy in Malawi that was designed to free Malawi from aid dependency. It was a poorly-conceived policy, and very crudely executed, like everything under Bingu’s immediate direction, but it had the potential to free Malawi from its humiliating status as international beggar.
There was something almost heroic in Bingu’s defiance of the world-order as he, the leader of one of the poorest countries in the world, sent the British ambassador packing and told the donors to “go to hell”. His sudden death in April of this year changed all that. His Vice-President, Joyce Banda, took his place according to the rules of the Malawi Constitution, and reversed that policy. The donors (IMF, DfID, EU, USAID etc) are now pouring back into the country with their bags full of aid-money: hoping to get things back to the old order when that money was injected direcly into the Malawian government as “Budget Support”. Back to the good old days of past-president Bakili Muluzi and his UDF party who knew how to get rid of that money quickly, and without fuss.
No-one has a good word to spare for Bingu these days. The foreign-exchange bureaus are functioning again and the petrol pumps have fuel to sell. Bingu’s appetite for personal self-enrichment and luxury, always suspected, is now obvious for all to see. His scowling, bullying, finger-wagging brand of leadership has been replaced by a more open, more honest and more colourful presidency with a genuine freedom of speech and of the media. The Police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation are no longer agents of dictatorship.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets with Malawi's President Joyce Banda at the State House in Lilongwe.
These are very important developments and the western donors are as pleased with them as are the Malawian people.
But is Malawi in danger of losing something important as the aid-money begins to flow again into Lilongwe. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) is a good example. It is back again as Malawi’s biggest donor, with £90 million to spend every year there from its overall budget of £8,000 millions. DFID will be followed by a new British High Commissioner to occupy the vast British embassy in Lilongwe. The hundreds of Malawian NGOs and international charities with offices in Lilongwe are lining up again to spend that DFID money, as are the government ministries (Agriculture, Education, Health) which no longer have to worry their heads about awkward policy- issues and budgets. With an exchange-rate of 436 kwacha to every pound, £90 million pounds converts to so many devalued Malawian kwacha that no-one needs to worry about exhausting that pot. There’ll always be another western donor standing eagerly by, to fill any awkward holes.
Hilary Clinton is due into Lilongwe at the end of this week.
In Britain, and in much of Malawi, DFID is considered to be a benevolent and politically-neutral player on the world stage: concerned only with reducing poverty. Indeed, the money DFID spends on fertilizer- and seed- subsidies in Malawi: (that part of it, at least, which gets past the corrupt Malawian middlemen who are given the government contracts for its purchase from South Africa and Saudi Arabia and for its transportation to the Malawian farmers) DOES some real good for the poor. There really IS poverty-reduction in Malawi, if only for a few months.
BUT does this aid come at a serious political price? Is DFID really politically neutral? Is Joyce Banda’s “good behaviour” as interpreted by the western donor countries irrelevant to it? Is President Banda, for example, free to re-value her hugely de-valued currency without the donors’ authorization? Is she allowed freely to interfere in the tobacco-market, as Bingu so often tried to do, against the US tobacco-buying monopolies and on behalf of Malawi’s tens of thousands of poor tobacco-farmers? Is any of this aid money allowing Malawians to be more self-sufficient? I guess not.
Joyce Banda is the darling of the West, at the moment, and will remain their darling as long as she does what they tell her to do. Paul Kagame, in Rwanda, who was, only yesterday, the blue-eyed boy (so to speak) of the US and British political establishments has now been stripped of his DFID aid-money because of his support for the “wrong” side in the DRC.
As long as the aid money keeps flowing to Malawi, will anyone care about the almost-invisible strings attached to it? The strings will always be pulled by very nice, university-educated, well-intentioned, people, in London, like Andrew Mitchell (the British minister currently in charge of International Development). These people would reject any accusation of “neo-colonialism” with genuine indignation and they have a huge British government department to prepare their self-justifications. Malawian politicians in Lilongwe will hardly feel the pressure exerted by these strings until they dare to renege on the unwritten contracts. Then there’ll be no mistake about the pressure, as Malawian subsistence-farmers are forced to confront serious famine once again and as Malawian voters threaten to change their minds about their political masters. What is a political master worth in Malawi if he doesn’t have “development” funds at his disposal?
The British Empire of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was administered by nice and well-educated men like the British prime minister, David Cameron, and his Conservative party-colleague, Andrew Mitchell, who believed that they were doing good for the silly “natives” in Africa. It was called “Civilization” then, and is called “International Development” now. In the cold light of history we can now see that the British Empire did as little lasting good for the colonized natives as it did for Britain itself. It actually impoverished them both.
DFID is following a very, very, familiar track.
*Nick Wright
AUTHOR’S REQUEST
“The author would be glad to read polite and well-informed comments on his article by people who have actually read it, and understood what is being said in it. Preferably commenting under their own names. He does not want to be accused of being an enemy of Malawi, or to be told by people who are afraid of their own names that Nick Wright doesn’t really exist !!. Nick Wright does exist and is actually a “mzungu” with some small understanding of, and a real love of, Malawi. He is also quite attached to his own name”
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, DFID, DONORS, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Malawi govt after Mutharika’s money stashed in foreign banks
By Gerald Namwaza, Nyasa Times
July 26, 2012
Malawi government has dispatched secret agents specialised in money laundering to Europe to trace the wealth of former president Bingu wa Mutharika, sources close to the operation have exclusively told the Nyasa Times.
Mutharika is believed to have stashed millions of money in foreign banks mainly in Europe which government analysts believe is funding the recent apparent resurgence of the outsmarted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
DPP, under the tutelage of its heir apparent, Peter Mutharika, have had well patronised rallies in his home district Thyolo and another one in central.
However it is believed that people were ferried to the venues to make it look as if many people attended the meetings because they still love the party.
Peter Mutharika: Inherited Bingu wa Mutharika's estate, party
Elections
Political commentators have said numbers of people attending a political rally does not necessarily signify that a party is popular and that people will vote for it during elections.
“There so many factors why people go to attend political meetings, most of the people go there to while their time away while others just attend the political party meetings as a form of entertainment and then there are others who simply go there to watch and observe things. Yet others go there for handouts or see what they can get out of the politicians,” said a political commentator.
But DPP party gurus have said that the PP government is scared stiff with the masses turn-out to its meetings and that they are spending sleepless nights over it.
“We know government will come hard on us because we have grassroots support and they will intimidate us but we will not stop fighting for the good things that our party stands for,” said DPP spokesman Nicholous Dausi, who is also implicated in the infamous ‘Midnight Six’.
The Midnight Six are implicated in a case allegedly attempting to subvert the Malawi Constitution and prevent the current president Joyce Banda taking over after the sudden demise of Bingu wa Mutharika. The matter is in courts.
Dausi said the party does not pay people to come to its meetings.
“People are attracted with the ideologies, the beliefs and the tenets of democracy that are enshrined in our party,” Dausi said.
He added that the party was well funded by well wishers who have seen that the current government is not delivering.
He said the current devaluation of the kwacha has made the lives of many Malawians miserable as the cost of living has jumped, a fact collaborated by faith based Centre for Social Concern (CFSC).
Backdrop
In their June report CFSC says the cost of living sequence has revealed how an increasing numbers of people could be struggling to cope as, against a backdrop of growing unemployment and shrinking wages, the prices of staple food (maize) has risen by an average of 19 percent in one month in four cities, with Blantyre topping the list at 73percent.
A source at the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) confirmed there was a dual docket for both the former president and Peter Mutharika on how they acquired sudden wealth.
“I don’t think there is any political witch hunt, all that government machinery is doing is to find out how the former president and his brother Peter, as well as other party officials acquired their wealth,” said the source.
DPP government put former president Bakili Muluzi on corruption charges.
Bingu wa Mutharika, close to bankruptcy before his ascendancy to presidency and joining Bakili Muluzi’s United Democratic Front (UDF) build a multibillion mansion in his home, refurbished his Bineth farm in Zimbabwe beyond recognition and amassed wealth that is the current source of conflict between his wife Callista and brother Peter.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA
Read more...
Malawi vendors cleared off streets, little resistance registered
By Patricia Masinga, Nyasa Times
July 20, 2012
There was tension in the capital city, Lilongwe, where vendors have been successfully moved to designated areas after providing a brief ‘fight’ against police and city officials.
Asian shops were closed in Old Town as the vendors pelted stones at unrelenting police officers and city officials, who kept advancing on them till they succumbed and left the streets. Some were beaten using baton sticks and in one instance a small group of the vendors were treated to a dose of teargas. The police was not intimidated as has been the case before.
Lilongwe streets left clear without street vending
The streets are however now back to normal and business mood has returned, with registered vendors trading peacefully in designated areas around Tsoka market.
In the commercial city of Blantyre the vendors peacefully left the streets and relocated to designated areas, apart from a handful around the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) area that briefly resisted the purge.
July 20
Meanwhile the northern city of Mzuzu experienced a different scenario, where a few vendors traded on the streets, taking advantage of the absence of police officers and city council staff, who may be engaged in the 20th July 2011 commemorations taking place at the Mzuzu Stadium, attended by President Mrs. Joyce Banda.
People feared the timing of the vendor-purge was dangerous as it coincided with 20th July last year, when Malawians took to the streets to protest against late president Bingu wa Mutharika’s political and financial poor governance, leading to the death of about 20 unarmed peacefully marching people.
Around 50 civilians including journalists were beaten and wounded by marauding police and handful police officers were also wounded.
The Mutharika regime is alleged to have ordered the police through former Inspect General Peter Mukhito to shoot using live ammunition at the protestors, after a late night court order tried to stop the planned protests.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, MARKETEERS
Read more...
Malawi presses Zimbabwe over $200m debt
This article was written by Our reporter on 19 May, at 17 : 29 PM
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing
The Malawi government has sent a delegation to Zimbabwe to demand payment of maize sales worth US$20 million which Malawi sold to Zimbabwe early 2011 under late President Bingu wa Mutharika. Malawian Minister of Energy Cassim Chilumpha said the money would help Malawi to ease its fuel shortages.
“The delegation left Thursday (May 17) to collect the money which we believe will play a crucial role in helping us buy fuel,” said Chilumpha.
Malawi sold 66, 000 tons of maize to Zimbabwe under the late President Mutharika.
According to a report in the Nyasa Times newspaper on Friday, Chilumpha said the delegation had been promised $12 million and the balance would be settled later.
Malawi in 2007 also gave Zimbabwe a “soft loan” of $100 million while still under the leadership of the late President Mutharika. Harare only repaid $76 million.
The economic situation in Malawi had deteriorated under President Mutharika and relations with the west and international donors had become frosty.
New President Joyce Banda has sought to restore relations with the international community, especially the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
[And doesn't that make perfect sense? Malawi has been impoverished by the IMF, it's farmers and entprereneurs are being starved of cash to develop their businesses and their markets, because of IMF and World Bank policies that exclusively benefit the transnational corporations and their trillionair banking dynasty owners, so they can maximize the value they drag out of Malawi and other African and European countries. That is why Malawi is 'impoverished'. And now ordinary Malawian savers and earners have lost 1/3 of their purchasing power overnight, just to please the IMF more. - MrK]
The official rate of Malawi’s currency has been cut by a third as the impoverished southern African nation seeks to repair ties with the IMF.
The move is just one in a series of steps President Banda’s government has taken that sharply distinguish her administration from that of her predecessor.
[Indeed. - MrK]
After taking office, Banda had pledged to repair a relationship the IMF had called “off track.” The late President Mutharika had rejected IMF advice to devalue the kwacha.
Related story
Joyce Banda swom in as Malawi president
Last week, in another departure from the past, Banda had expressed wariness at welcoming her Sudanese counterpart, accused of war crimes, to a continental summit in July.
Speaking at a news conference Friday, Banda said a visit by Sudan’s president would be frowned upon by Malawi’s international donors, an argument Sudan criticized in a statement.
But she said the final decision on whether he will be invited to an African Union summit “will have to be arrived at through a consultative process.”
Mutharika had welcomed Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir at a regional summit last year and accused the International Criminal Court of targeting Africans.
The Sudanese leader has visited African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries despite ICC warrants for his arrest on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Banda also has reshuffled her Cabinet, ousting, among others, Peter Mutharika, the late president’s brother who had been foreign minister.
Malawi’s relations with foreign donors had been strained under the Mutharikas.
The late president had expelled Britain’s High Commissioner to Malawi after the envoy was quoted in a local newspaper expressing concern that the president was increasingly intolerant of criticism and that human rights were under attack. Britain, a former ruler of Malawi, then indefinitely suspended aid to Malawi, which in the end invited the envoy back.
Earlier this year, a U.S. aid agency that rewards good governance suspended $350 million worth of assistance to Malawi.
As her predecessor’s vice president, Banda had resisted his efforts to promote his brother over her as his anointed successor, which many saw as a ploy by the former President Mutharika to extend his influence beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA, NEOLIBERALISM, SANCTIONS
Read more...
Running mate issue not conducive - Kabimba
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Sun 20 May 2012, 13:50 CAT
WYNTER Kabimba says the issue of a running mate as provided for in the draft constitution is not conducive for Zambia learning from the Malawian experience which ended up being resolved only through the death of Bingu wa Mutharika.And Kabimba who is the PF secretary general says the people of Zambia are not against the three suspended judges but want a clean Judiciary and anybody opposing the formation of the tribunal is going against the will of the people and not President Michael Sata.
Speaking during a media briefing at Court Yard Hotel in Livingstone yesterday, Kabimba said the PF would not impose a constitution on the people of Zambia, but would educate them on the dangers of some provisions in the draft constitution.
"We have to be very careful as what works for the US may not work here in Zambia. Some of the democracies we are learning from have had their constitutions for three to four centuries. We cannot be parallel to them. We must be very careful and decide what type of society we need to live in.
I will give an example of Malawi, that country was in a constitutional crisis because the President could not work with his deputy. What saved Malawi was his death," Kabimba said.
And answering a question on the three judges, Kabimba said the establishment of the tribunal by the President could not be challenged by any sober person.
"Many of us know the status of many institutions under the MMD including the Judiciary.
In 2008 when the PF petitioned the presidential elections, the UPND said they would not petition because it was going to be useless, in other words they did not have confidence in the Judiciary, what has changed now? I'm surprised that the opposition leaders don't know what the Zambians want. They are just digging their own graves," he said.
Kabimba asked for the analysis of each and every one of the opposition leaders against the establishment of the tribunal, saying they only represented their own interests and not Zambians.
"I want them to know that they are not fighting President Sata, but the people of Zambia. There is no doubt about the need of judicial reforms," Kabimba said.
On street vendors, Kabimba said the PF needed to answer the question of job creation before chasing the vendors off the streets.
"We are against any programme that throws out vendors to go and starve. We are conscious of the benefits derived by vendors for their livelihood, but what we need is orderliness and cleanliness, so there is no conflict between government and the PF. We ultimately need to answer the question of employment creation," Kabimba said.
And Kabimba said the PF was against the media glorifying President Sata at the expense of poor Zambians.
Featuring on Radio Mosi-o-Tunya on a special programme on Friday, Kabimba said President Sata realises that Zambians were poor and hence he did not suffer any media complex.
"We are against the media glorifying President Sata and due to this, the media complexion has changed. If you find a PF story, it is not because the PF has instructed that, but because the media heads have found it news worthy. We will not use the media like MMD or like the UPND did to use the media to try and glorify them," Kabimba said.
He said the PF believed that an independent media and church were important to the development of the country.
Kabimba congratulated Zambians for having voted the MMD out of power as they failed even to ensure sanitation to the people of R Section in Maramba in 20 years.
He said the PF now needed to sell itself as the only party that the Zambian people could believe was the only way to redemption.
He said the UPND was told that the PF could win elections without their inclusion.
"They should know that it is not bitterness that can get them into power but planning," Kabimba said.
On investors, Kabimba said unlike the MMD, the PF would not go to bed with investors at the expense of the Zambians.
He urged anybody with information of abuse and poor working conditions to report using a toll-free line that his party would launch soon.
And Kabimba who visited Libuyu, Maramba and Dambwa markets said Zambians should not trade in the conditions he had seen.
"We shall do everything we can to uplift the standards. The MMD has not improved anything, things have deteriorated in 20 years. We have never been to war to trade in these situations; we will use the peace we have to improve trading conditions," said Kabimba.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, PF, VICE PRESIDENCY, WYNTER KABIMBA
Read more...
Malawi's Banda to investigate Mutharika transition plot
18 May 2012 01:52 - AFP
President Joyce Banda has announced an inquiry into an alleged plot by the inner circle of Malawi's late former leader to block her rise to power.
“By public demand, I have decided to immediately set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances and intent of the alleged coup plot,” Banda told Parliament in a speech broadcast on national radio on Friday.
Banda said she had been “receiving a lot of requests” from Malawians to institute the probe since the death of her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika on April 5.
Mutharika, who had been president since 2004, died following a heart attack.
He had anointed his brother Peter, the former foreign affairs minister, as his heir apparent, even though Banda, as Mutharika’s vice-president, was next in line to succeed him at his death.
She was not sworn in until April 7 after two days of backroom dealing.
Media reported that several ministers had met twice to seek ways of installing Peter Mutharika as the new president instead.
“Depending on the outcome [of the inquiry], appropriate action will be taken for important lessons to be learned,” Banda said.
She also announced a probe into Mutharika’s death “to establish ... the cause of death, medical attention available to the president at the time of his death and the role and activities of various individuals during and after the transition”.
Banda has taken over an economy hobbled by shortages of fuel and foreign currency, making life even more difficult in one of the world’s poorest countries.
[Liars. Malawi is an exporter of precious gems and minerals, as well as tea and coffee. Check out Brittania Mining Malawi. The budget support was stopped because they didn't conform to the economic sanctions against the Zimbabwean government by extending a $20 million loan, and now Joyce Banda has devalued the Malawi Kwacha. And the writer talks about 'one of the world's poorest countries'? Why do they always say 'one of the world's poorest countries'? Every country in Africa is now officially 'the poorest country in Africa'. Where does the money go? - MrK]
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA
Read more...
Mugabe, Tsvangirai attend Mutharika burial
23/04/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have attended the burial of former Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika at a family mausoleum dubbed the 'Taj Mahal’.
Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, Hipikefunye Pohamba of Namibia and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania were among the heads of state at Monday’s Catholic service in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital. President Mutharika, who died on April 5 aged 78, was buried later at his nearby Ndata Farm in a white mausoleum he had built for his first wife, Ethel, who died in 2007.
Mutharika called the mausoleum “Maphumulo wa Bata,” which means “Peaceful Rest” in the country's main language, Chichewa. But other Malawians, critical of the money he spent on his farm retreat soon after first being elected in 2004, dubbed the mausoleum the Taj Mahal after the white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
New Malawian President Joyce Banda, a fierce rival of Mutharika, had declared Monday a public holiday in Malawi.
Thousands of Malawians flocked by foot, on bicycles and in vehicles to attend the burial.
Fackson Moya, 48, walked 10km to witness the last journey of the man praised for early polices that ended a devastating famine but died in office blamed for pushing one of the world's poorest nations deeper into crisis.
[Translation: he supported Zimbabwe and of course, he was reviled for going against World Bank policy and showing their policy prescriptions to be garbage. For which 40% of Malawi's budget was withheld. Another reason why African countries must find a way to rely on taxation of the raw materials industries, not 'Donor Aid'. - MrK]
"It is worth it for me to walk this distance to come and say bye to our hero who ended hunger in Malawi," Moya told AFP.
Mutharika was laid to rest in the white marble edifice he had built during his eight years in charge of one of the world's most impoverished nations.
Enelesi Kabichi, 56, was curious about the "big house" which was splashed on the front page of the local newspaper, the Daily Times, on Monday.
"I wanted to come and see this white building where the president will be laid to rest. This is something new in our culture that a house can be built for a dead person," she said.
The funeral will cost 242 million Malawian kwacha (about US$1.5 million), Malawi's Sunday Times reported, including 20 million kwacha for decorations and 21 million on funeral cloth handed to Malawians for free.
Mutharika had said he wanted his mausoleum to be a "national monument to be visited by Malawians as part of a national heritage".
"He created space for himself at the mausoleum," local government minister Henry Mussa said.
Mussa said the mausoleum, "built like a house, has two tombs... one for the wife and one for Mutharika. The mausoleum will be a museum at the end of the day".
The late president also built a marble-and-granite mausoleum costing US$600,000 for Malawi's founding president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who died in 1997.
Mutharika came to power in 2004 as the country's third president.
He was the first to die in office and Joyce Banda, his former foe and vice president, was sworn in as the country's new leader hours after his death was officially confirmed two days later.
Banda, who led the mourners, evoked her predecessor's favourite mantra: "Malawi is not a poor country but Malawians are poor."
"President Bingu wa Mutharika taught me and all Malawians to dream, he taught us not only to dream but also to dream in colour," she said.
Following his wife’s death in 2007, Mutharika married Callista Chapola-Chimombo, a former tourism minister in 2010.
Alongside Mutharika's brother Peter, Chapola-Chimombo led the visiting African leaders as they paid their respects at the open casket of the former president, who was a church-going Catholic.
Peter Mutharika, the country's foreign minister, was anointed as heir-apparent for his Democratic Progressive Party in the 2014 elections when his brother was due to retire.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, FUNERALS, JOYCE BANDA, MALAWI, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, ROBERT MUGABE
Read more...
COMMENT - Considering his role in the IMF and World Bank, it is ironic that Jeffrey Sachs, long out of office, will praise the common sense economic policies of the country of Malawi and it's President Bingu wa Mutharika. However, the disastrous effects of structural adjustment, 'adherence to free market policies' and neoliberalism on African economies is still not widely understood. Africa does not need 'donor aid' (which are the taxes paid by ordinary people and companies in the West), it needs to tax or own outright it's own natural resources. That is the key issue, because with independent income, comes much greater freedom in filling out local economic and in fact domestic and foreign policies. Donor Aid is used to remote control government policies. Donor Aid is also the taxes that transnational corporations are not paying in Africa - or anywhere on the planet. Right now, for defying the IMF/World Bank in a) not isolating Zimbabwe economically and b) showing the economic success of defying IMF/WB policy prescriptions, Malawi is under economic sanctions and has it's budgetary support suspended. That is why Malawi is in 'dire straits' right now. From
professor Jeffrey Sachs. At least Jeffrey Sachs admits that a mere FISP program for poor farmers has a massive positive effect. However, the rest of his article shows the same blinkered economist thinking that is so characteristic of the profession. Just because you know about economic theory, doesn't mean you understand agriculture, infrastructure, or any other discipline or economic sector.
How Malawi fed its own people
Friday, 20 April 2012 00:00
Jeffrey D Sachs
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi died on April 5 of a heart attack at the age of 78. His countrymen, suffering a massive economic crisis, seem to have declared good riddance.
Reuters tartly noted that
the seven-year boom under Mutharika was “underpinned by foreign aid and some favourable rains,” and that the boom had come to an end last year following
a diplomatic spat with the donor community. As is usually the case with Africa, the truth is far more complex. President Mutharika made a great contribution to his country and to Africa even if he is held in disgrace for serious misdeeds in his last years.
Mutharika had indeed engineered a boom, but it was
not due to foreign aid and good rains. It was due to
his readiness to stand up to the arrogance of the foreign aid “community.” Mutharika won a crucial battle in 2005 when his country faced a drought and famine.
Instead of following the standard donor advice essentially to do nothing and await a ration of emergency food aid, Mutharika used his country’s meagre budget to support Malawi’s peasant farmers through the Farm Input Subsidy Program. In a very short period of time, one growing season, Mutharika’s policies doubled Malawi’s food production and helped to put Africa more generally on a new path of development.
Malawi’s population has soared beyond the carrying capacity of the land.
[Here we go again. People aren't antilopes, Jeffrey. In fact, Malawi has been so starved of development that they could probably suppport a population of 100 million, if more water was stored on the land instead of flowing into Lake Malawi. If you look at the evidence presented here, and see the massive turnaround in agriculture because of a mere $62 million spent on fertilizer support, that alone should make it clear that the number of people is not the problem - actively de-developing Malawi through destructive economic policies imposed from outside Malawi by the World Bank and IMF are. - MrK]
Many farms are one to two hectares, or even smaller, for a family of five or more. Powerful and often foreign owners hold the larger tobacco estates.
[So much for the 'carrying capacity' argument. Land in the hands of few large land owners, used to grow anything but food. Get a hint? - MrK]
Aids began to ravage Malawi, along with the rest of southern Africa, starting in the 1980s and 1990s.
[Actually there is no AIDS epidemic, anywhere in the world. It is a statistically generated disease, based on bad testing and survey methods. The idea of a widespread AIDS epidemic and it's attendant presumed (based on calculation of HIV infection) high mortality rate is belied by high population growth statistics throughout the continent. - MrK]
As a landlocked country, Malawi faces profound challenges of high transport costs. It cannot attract investments in assembly operations — such those required for garments, plastics or electronics — as can other poor but coastal economies.
[More economics drivel. Being landlocked and being host to much of Southern Africa's fresh water resources, doesn't merely present 'problems', it also presents massive opportunities in transportation, for instance. - MrK]
A dozen years ago, at the start of the new millennium, Malawi’s extreme suffering was pretty much ignored by the world. Aids, malaria, TB, hunger, extreme poverty and one of the world’s lowest life expectancies (46 years in the period 1995-2000, according to the UN Population Division) wracked the land. The donor nations did little to help.
I began to visit Malawi in those years through my work as special adviser to Kofi Annan, UN secretary general at the time. I was shocked by the overflowing pediatric wards of hungry, malnourished and dying babies, and the adjoining adult wards filled with Aids patients without medicines in the central hospital, waiting to die an agonising death. I could hardly imagine this hellish scene as actually belonging to the 21st century.
I worked with the government of Malawi in 2001-3 to help the country become one of the first recipients of the new Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria that I helped to design and that was finally opened for business in 2002. Yet the donors fought bitterly, and alas successfully, to keep Malawi’s early programs very small, in some ghastly exercise of budgetary prudence. Countless Malawians continued to die unnecessarily as a result of this penny-pinching.
In 2004, Mutharika was elected president. He entered office with a drought already under way. Yet as my colleague and World Food Prize winner Dr Pedro Sanchez explained to me, the drought was not only a rainfall drought, but also a nitrogen drought.
[This is typical economist nonsense. Anyone familiar with Malawi's green lush mountainsides knows there is no 'nitrogen drought'. What is there, is an adherence to old, chemically based agriculture, as opposed to 'modern' (and yet ancient) organic agriculture. In fact smaller 1-2 hectare plots are ideal for organic agriculture, especially Natural Farming and Permaculture. And as always, the more hands the merrier. - MrK]
Malawi’s impoverished farmers were too poor to buy fertiliser, and their intensive farming over many years had depleted the soils of nitrogen, with a consequence that the farm yields were among the lowest in the world. Tiny farms, unstable rainfall, an epidemic-ravaged population and nitrogen-depleted soils all spelled a silent holocaust. And yet the world continued to stand by. — The New York Times.
[Lesson: leave Malawi's development to the Malawis, and get the IMF/WB and their 'conditionalities', economic sanctions and phantom epidemics out of the way. - MrK]
Jeffrey D. Sachs is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of “The Price of Civilisation.”
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JEFFREY SACHS, MALAWI, NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Mutharika laboured for Africa, says KK
By Mwala Kalaluka, Bright Mukwasa in Lusaka and Christopher Mit
Thu 12 Apr. 2012, 13:28 CAT
DR Kenneth Kaunda says the late Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika should be remembered for his industrious development efforts he made for the continent. Meanwhile, Malawi Human Rights Commission chairperson John Kapito says President Joyce Banda can only bring back the rule of law and good governance to that country through a holistic change process.
And President Banda has dropped Malawi's Secretary to the Treasury Radson Mwadiwa in the ongoing executive changes since she assumed office last Saturday. Speaking after signing the book of condolences at the Malawian High Commission in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Kaunda made fond remarks about Mutharika who died after a cardiac arrest last Thursday.
"In many ways he Mutharika laboured for this continent. Let all his successes be the remembrance in this period," Dr Kaunda said.
"…We are praying that all the mourning in Malawi will go peacefully and he will be put to rest all in peace and that the new President Joyce Banda will continue to have peace and the Lord's peace will continue."
Dr Kaunda arrived at the Malawian High Commission in the company of his daughter, Chaswe Silwizya, around 12:00 hours and met his son Tilyenji, the president of UNIP, who was also there to sign the book of condolences.
Malawian High Commissioner David Bandawe thanked Dr Kaunda for his moral support during that country's difficult moment.
And commenting on the governance steps undertaken by President Banda since she took over the reins of power following president Mutharika's death, Kapito, in an interview from Malawi yesterday, said recent changes made to the leadership structure were critical.
"Because politically and economically, I think we had gone down so drastically and for us to address the challenges, I think that had made us go down both economically and politically, I think we need to look at the issues holistically," he said.
[What I don't *think* but _know_ brought down Malawi, was the suspension of budget support, 40% of the state budget, as retaliation for extending a loan to the government of Zimbabwe, and for ignoring World Bank advice against extending the fertilizer support programme and showing it to be a raging success, making the World Bank look like schmucks. Like ordinary criminals, they can't stand (intellectual) competition, and go out of their way to punish success if it doesn't come from the programmes they prescribed. Read: EU petitioned to suspend aid to Malawi over bankrolling Mugabe, and How Malawi went from a nation of famine to a nation of feast - MrK]
"We need to bring in the aspects of rule of law, human rights and good governance on the table and that when we begin addressing them we don't address them individually. So that we can make sure that any changes that we do are within a framework and without a framework of change we might miss the right target that we are trying to achieve."
Kapito said while they had noted the changes made at the country's leadership levels, President Banda should go further than that.
"Maybe those were the crucial areas that required immediate change but we are saying that if we are going to see a progressive change, it's not about changing people but it's about changing systems," Kapito said.
"So if we simply address issues of changing people and the systems remain the same, what we might do is removing one person and replacing with another person with similar behaviours, similar attitudes and similar direction and focus. That is what we should avoid to do."
Kapito called on the donor community to flex their muscle a little bit and begin to release resources that were withheld because of Malawi's approach to issues of human rights and good governance.
"Once those resources are put in the system, then we can begin to see some bigger movements in terms of economic growth and also making sure that the lives of the ordinary people are back on course," he said.
Kapito said a system where draconian laws were formulated to suit a clique of people should no longer be tolerated.
"Some of these laws were intended to take up power from the people and put that power in the hands of the leaders. That changed the direction in which we participate in a democratic environment," Kapito said.
"The other challenge was that participation in both civil and political issues in Malawi was becoming a challenge where the police were really running up and down making sure that they charge you or you don't participate in any peaceful demonstration."
Kapito said the police under recently fired Inspector General Peter Mukhito were not responsive enough to issues of change although they had gone through a lot of reforms.
"We discovered that they were trigger-happy. Like the 20th July demonstrations, we lost about 20 people," he said.
"There were a lot of abuses in police cells and prison cells. All this, I think, made Malawi a talking point in terms of human rights and good governance."
Kapito, however, gave credit to late president Mutharika for improving the country's food security.
And media sources told The Post yesterday that Mwadiwa had been replaced by Joseph Mwanazeka as Secretary to the Treasury.
Meanwhile, President Banda says cordial relations between Zambia and Malawi are critical to the two nations.
During a press briefing at her Lilongwe residence on Tuesday that was also carried live on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, President Banda said she spoke to President Michael Sata on Monday and that they both agreed that cordial relations between the two countries were important.
"President Sata offered his condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Malawi and we both committed ourselves to the strong cordial diplomatic relations between our two governments. I want to say that it is important for us to improve and strengthen the relations between our two countries. You know how (relations with) Zambia is critical to Malawi," President Banda said.
She said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called her to offer her heartfelt condolences to the people of Malawi on the loss of their president.
President Banda said Clinton was happy that the constitutional order was followed after the death of president Mutharika.
She said Clinton assured her of the US government's support to the people of Malawi.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA, KENNETH KAUNDA
Read more...
COMMENT - President Mugabe on the passing of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, and their collective efforts in fighting EU and US sanctions against both Zimbabwe and Malawi.
President Mugabe mourns Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika
Saturday, 07 April 2012 19:26
Emilia Zindi
President Mugabe says Africa will miss its son, President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, who died after suffering cardiac arrest last Thursday. Vice-President Joyce Banda was sworn in as President yesterday, becoming the first woman in Southern Africa to occupy such a post.
In a condolence message yesterday, Cde Mugabe said the Malawian leader dedicated his professional and political career to the cause of the continent and spent a great deal of time seeking ways to uplift Africans. The President said he was touched by the death “in the most personal way”.
He said Zimbabwe was working to concretise Dr Mutharika’s wish for Harare to help Malawi with fuel supply and storage.
“I learnt with a deep sense of shock and disbelief of the sudden death of His Excellency Bingu wa Mutharika, the President of the Republic of Malawi,” he said.
“A colleague, a dear brother and a close comrade, President wa Mutharika dedicated his professional and political career to the cause of Africa, all the time searching for innovative ways and strategies for improving the condition of its deprived and marginalised peoples.
“His innovative agricultural programmes for fighting hunger and for improving rural incomes will forever stand as a spectacular example, on our continent, of people-centred leadership.
“Equally, Africa shall forever remember Bingu’s pan-African dedication to enlarging possibilities for our continent’s self-determination through greater sub-regional unity, integration and harmonised planning. It is telling that the late departed, who was also the outgoing chairman of the African Union, was due to host the continental body later this year in July, in spite of Malawi’s economic challenges. Africa will miss its great son.”
Cde Mugabe said he and Dr wa Mutharika considered ways of defending Zimbabwe and Malawi from illegal Western economic sanctions during the latter’s visit to Harare in February. He said the late Malawian leader served Sadc and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) with unparalleled dedication.
“His untimely death touched me in the most personal way. Only two months ago, early this February, I had the privilege of hosting the late President in Harare. Together we explored ways of defending our economies and countries against illegal sanctions imposed on us by the West. He wanted Zimbabwe to help Malawi with fuel supply and storage. Sadly, he passed on at a time when our two countries were just beginning to concretise his wish on this one matter which had exercised his mind greatly.
“Two years ago in 2010 I was part of the Sadc leadership privileged to witness his happy wedding to Callista, following the death of his first wife and my compatriot, Ethel, in 2007. Today, Callista stands widowed, her loving husband having been called so unexpectedly by his God. My wife and I share in her deep grief.
“On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe, indeed, on my own behalf, I want to express my deepest condolences to the Mutharika family, and to the government and people of Malawi on their saddest loss.
“We in Zimbabwe join them in mourning the passing on of this cadre of Africa. Bingu will be sorely missed by Africa, especially so by all of us in Sadc and Comesa, the two sub-regional groupings he served with unsurpassed dedication. May his soul rest in eternal peace.” President wa Mutharika suffered cardiac arrest on Thursday and was taken to South Africa for treatment. The Malawi government officially announced his death yesterday and declared 10 days of national mourning. Online reports yesterday said
Vice-President Banda was later sworn in. Vice-President Banda appealed for calm, adding that the constitution would be followed. In terms of Malawi’s constitution, the Vice-President takes over until the next election.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, MALAWI, ROBERT MUGABE, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE
Read more...
Bingu was a ‘dear brother' - Sata
By Bright Mukwasa
Mon 09 Apr. 2012, 13:30 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata says late Bingu wa Mutharika was a ‘dear brother', a true friend and colleague. And Malawi's new President Joyce Banda says Africans have decided that time has come for women to participate in leadership.
President Sata yesterday said he was deeply saddened at the untimely death of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, following a cardiac arrest. In his letter of condolences to the newly-inaugurated head of state, President Sata expressed his deep sense of shock and sadness at the death of Mutharika.
"The Zambian people feel profoundly sorry for the loss of a true friend like President wa Mutharika and shares Malawi's sadness during this period of enormous pain," he stated.
President Sata had agreed to reconcile with Mutharika in December last year, following the former's 2007 deportation from Malawi.
He had told journalists at State House then that there was need for him and Mutharika to put their differences aside in the interest of Zambia and Malawi.
The differences arose after President Sata, then opposition PF leader, was deported from Malawi on March 15, 2007 upon arrival at Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.
President Sata was driven back to Zambia through Mwami Border in Chipata.
After President Sata's election last September, relations between Zambia and Malawi were less than cordial but following their reconciliation, the two leaders met in South Africa during the African National Congress (ANC) centenary celebrations, where they even hugged.
And President Sata stated that Zambia particularly remembers the late Malawian leader for the many years he spent in the country during his tenure as secretary-general of Comesa.
"On behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of Zambia and indeed on my own behalf, I express our innermost condolences to you, the first family, the government and the people of the Republic of Malawi," President Sata stated.
"Having known President wa Mutharika during his tour of duty in Zambia, I can bear out that indeed, he was an exceptional leader and a close friend of our country. His sudden death is therefore a great loss not only for the people of Malawi, but for the Southern African region and the continent as a whole."
President Sata stated that Mutharika would also be remembered as a great reformer who championed the cause of humanity and dedicated his life to selfless service up to the time of his death.
"No doubt, my dear brother and colleague will be sorely missed by all who knew him for the ideals that he firmly stood for," President Sata stated.
The President stated that during the period of national mourning in Malawi, Zambia commiserates with the people of the sister republic and joins them in spirit and prayerful reflection as the nation seeks God's guidance to move forward.
And NGOCC has congratulated the people of Malawi for having the first female president in southern Africa.
Commenting on Banda's taking over of the leadership of Malawi after the death of Mutharika, Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council NGOCC executive director Engwase Mwale said the work that President Banda had put in to be able to bring forth the leadership of women on the agenda in Malawi was an example that all of southern Africa should emulate.
"We would wish the president well in her new responsibility but that as a woman President, she will be able to show the transformative leadership offered by women and we have no doubt that Her Excellency madam Joyce Banda would prove that very fact," she said.
Mwale said her organisation greatly upheld Banda's ascendance to the presidency of Malawi, adding that the women's movement took pride, especially in recognising the President's contribution given her background.
She also called for peace and stability as Malawians mourn Mutharika.
"We call for peace and stability in the country but most importantly that the people of Malawi will utilise this opportunity to come together once more to shape the agenda for the country," Mwale said.
She added that NGOCC would stand with the women in Malawi.
Mwale also extended heartfelt condolences to the Malawians.
And Banda said while gender was a factor of her leadership, Malawians would support her as their first female president because of their confidence in the country's democratic system.
"The election of me as a vice-president, and the election of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, shows that Africans have grown in democracy because it means that they have confidence in both men and women leading them," she said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
"Africans have decided that the time is now for women to participate in leadership. I am confident that I am going to enjoy the support of Malawians, but it's not going to be easy because of the state of the economy of Malawi."
The Malawian constitution states the vice-president takes over if the president dies, but Mutharika appeared to have been grooming his brother Peter, the foreign minister, as his de facto successor.
Banda was one of Mutharika's fiercest critics and some politicians reportedly tried to block her from assuming power.
She is expected to run the country until scheduled elections take place in 2014.
To convince the international community of the smooth transition, both the presidency and cabinet issued a statement assuring "that the constitution of the Republic of Malawi will be strictly adhered to in managing the transition".
Both Britain and the US which had been major donors to Malawi until they froze millions of dollars in aid over rows with Mutharika over his policies and actions, urged a smooth transition respecting the constitution.
A statement issued by the White House on Saturday welcomed the appointment of Banda, saying: "By following constitutional procedures for this transition, the government and people of Malawi have reaffirmed their commitment to democratic principles and demonstrated the critical importance of sound democratic institutions."
A joint statement by Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the executive European Commission, said: "Malawi has in the past 20 years become an example of democracy with its peaceful transitions of power and respect for the constitution and the outcome of elections."
Meanwhile, the African Union Commission chief Jean Ping sent condolences sent to Banda, saying that Africa had "lost one of its great sons" with Mutharika's passing.
But in Malawi, there appeared to be little public sorrow at Mutharika's death.
Many of the country's 13 million people had viewed him as an autocrat personally responsible for an economic crisis that stemmed ultimately from a diplomatic row with former colonial power Britain a year ago.
Britain and others froze aid worth some 40 per cent of government spending, fuel supplies dried up and food prices soared, leading to popular unrest.
Medical sources said Mutharika's body was flown to South Africa because Malawi's energy crisis was so severe the Lilongwe state hospital would have been unable to conduct a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated.
Banda, who has had to navigate the country's turbulent political waters in recent years, took office on Saturday after Mutharika's death.
The late president had tapped Banda as his deputy in the 2009 elections, but then ousted her from his party the following year.
Banda steadfastly resisted Mutharika's efforts to force her from office during a succession battle sparked when the late president decided to groom his brother Peter to become his Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate in 2014 polls.
Then, as head of her own People's Party, she emerged as one of Mutharika's fiercest critics, lambasting his management of an economy hobbled by fuel shortages.
Banda was born on April 12, 1950, in Malawi's colonial capital of Zomba. She began her career as a secretary and soon became a well-known public figure.
Banda started a women's empowerment programme, travelling throughout the country to promote the National Business Women Association, a campaign that made her one of Malawi's most visible champions of gender equality.
She later established the Joyce Banda Foundation to advance education for girls.
Banda entered politics in 1999, during Malawi's second democratic elections. She won a parliamentary seat in the party of then president Bakili Muluzi, who named her minister for gender and community services.
Five years later, she retained her seat as a candidate for Muluzi's party, even as Mutharika won the presidency.
When the new president split from Muluzi to form his own party, the DPP, Banda followed and became foreign minister in 2006.
During her time as Malawi's top diplomat, the country severed its long ties with Taiwan and established relations with Beijing.
Banda argued the switch would bring economic benefits to Malawi. China has since built Malawi a new parliament in the capital Lilongwe, where Banda was on Saturday sworn into office as president.
Mutharika tapped her as his running mate in the 2009 elections, but their political honeymoon was short as party in-fighting intensified over his decision to anoint his brother as his successor, drawing accusations that he was trying to create a dynasty.
"The chronic disease of third term, or chieftaincy, remains one of the greatest enemies of our efforts to achieve sustainable development," she said.
"The country is constantly caught in a vicious circle of privatisation of the state where one or two people hold the fate of the country."
Banda's ousting from the ruling party angered many urban voters, and she remained a popular figure for many Malawians.
But, her critics have questioned her ability to steer the country through its economic crisis, with the currency trading on the black market at twice the official exchange rate.
After anti-government protests broke out in July last year, when police shot dead 19 people, Banda warned that Malawi could face more unrest ahead of the next polls.
"The road to 2014 will be rough, bumpy and tough. Some will even sacrifice their own lives," she said.
Banda remains a role model to many women in Malawi for her fight for her gender in a male-dominated society.
She is now the first ever female leader in southern Africa, and the continent's second female leader of modern times, after Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
She is married to retired chief justice Richard Banda, her family being among the most influential in Malawi. (Additional reporting courtesy of Aljazeera)
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, JOYCE BANDA, MALAWI, MICHAEL SATA
Read more...
