THE arrest of trade union leader, Chakufwa Chahana, on his return to his homeland, Malawi, this month has sparked off debate on the need for change in Malawi which remains the only Southern Africa that is trying to enforce a one-party rule.
This time, it appears nonagenarian Life President, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, will not have his way although he has already called for general elections under the present system. Banda has ruled Malawi with an iron hand since independence in 1964.
Western nations have already indicated that if Banda does not mend his ways Malawi will not get the needed financial support when it goes to Paris next month to negotiate its debts.
The western nations gave Malawi an ultimatum last year to uphold human rights and institute other measures that will ensure public accountability but the ageing Banda has turned down a blind eye on this.
This matter, however, came to a head when Catholic bishops in that country issued a pastoral letter in which they spoke of unjust land distribution, defective health and education services, imprisonment for legitimate dissent, and widespread nepotism and corruption in economic and political life.
Taking cue from the pastoral letter, university students held pro-democracy demonstrations but were quickly rounded up by the police.
Soon after, other organisations including Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops came out in support of Catholic Bishops of Malawi who are reported to have gone into hiding soon after the publication of their letter.
Zimbabwean Bishops said they wholly agree with their Malawian counterparts that if bribery and nepotism are growing in political and economic social life, they have both a right and duty to say this very clearly, also on behalf of those who are forced into silence.
They said, “in a just society, a citizen must have easy access to an independent and impartial court of justice whenever his rights are threatened or violated”.
The bishops also said, “no one person can claim to have a monopoly of truth and wisdom. No individual, or group of individuals, can pretend to have all the resources needed to guarantee the progress of the nation”.
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