Meaning of Umunthu

MEANING OF UMUNTHU

COMMUNITY SPIRIT FOR THE BUILDING OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY

ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SOCIO –POLITICAL SITUATION OF MALAWI

submitted by

Mennas Vincent Mukaka

for the Academic Degree of Doctor of Theology

at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz

Institute/Department of Catholic Theology

under the Supervision of Prof. Dr. Leopold Neuhold (1. Supervisor) Prof. DDr. Reinhold Easterbauer (2. Supervisor)

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DECLARATION

I DECLARE THAT THIS DISSERTATION IS MY OWN WORK AND ALL THE SOURCES HAVE BEEN QUOTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY MEANS OF COMPLETE REFERENCES AND NO PART OF THE DISSERTATION HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR ANY OTHER DEGREE.

Mennas Vincent Mukaka……………………………………………..

Date:……………………………………………

Place:…………………………………………..

ACKNOWLEGEMENT “I am because you are, since you are therefore I am”. This thesis is achieved with the assistance of others without whom it could not have been accomplished. There are many people who have contributed to this work and I cannot manage to mention all of them, but all should know and feel that I greatly appreciate their contribution. I would like to acknowledge my deep indebtedness and thanks to the following people in particular: Dr Leopold Neuhold, my doctorate father, and DDr Reinhold Esterbauer, my second supervisor. I have benefited, at different stages of the project, from their contributions and friendly guidance. They are crucially responsible for the actions which led to the completion of this thesis. In addition, this work could not have been completed without the support offered by the Comboni Missionaries of the German Speaking Province (DSP). In particular I thank Mag. Fr. Joseph Altenburger, once my formator in Innsbruck, the then Provincial Superior of the German speaking Province who accepted that I do my studies in Graz. I thank also Fr Alfred Putz and the whole community of Comboni Missionaries in Messendorf-Graz for working tirelessly for the documents to travel to and study in Graz. I have enjoyed my stay in this community. It has supported me during my whole study time and I felt at home among my elder brothers in the Congregation. There are also many people who supported me in one way or another: my late parents for leading me to the first steps in the Umunthu formation. I thank also Fr. Karl Peinholf, Dr Fr Edward Kanyike, Fr Dario Chaves, Fr. Patrick Wilkson, DDR Christopher Rozario Silvio, Dr Fr. Laurent Magesa and Mrs Brunhilde Martina Maier. I thank Fr. Joseph Maina and the Comboni Missionaries in Kenya for accommodating me for three months as I waited for the visa to travel to Graz. Lastly but not least, I thanks the staff of Missio, in Missionshause, in Graz and Missio München for helping me to find some materials I needed. Kwa inu nonse ndigoti: Zikomo kwambiri.

TABLET OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ...... IV

ACKNOWLEGEMENT ...... V

TABLET OF CONTENTS ...... VI

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...... X

LIST OF FIGURES ...... XIII

ABSTRAKT ...... XIV

ABSTRACT ...... XV

1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ...... 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ...... 4

1.2 AIM ...... 4

1.3 METHOD ...... 6

2. TRADITIONAL BANTU VALUES ...... 7

2.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 7

2.2 BANTU ...... 10 2.2.1 THE BANTU SPEAKING PEOPLE ...... 10 2.2.2 UMUNTHU CONCEPT ...... 13

2. 3 UMUNTHU IN MALAWI ...... 17 2.3.1 SPIRIT OF TOGETHERNESS ...... 17 2.3.2 PROVERBES ABOUT UMUNTHU ...... 18 2.3.3 UMUNTHU IS TOGETHERNESS AND BEING IN GOOD RELATION ...... 20 2.3.4 GLOBALISATION AND UMUNTHU ...... 22

2.4 BANTU TRADITIONAL VALUES ...... 22 2.4.1 SENSE OF COMMUNITY LIFE ...... 22 2.4.1.1 FAMILY...... 24 2.4.1.2 VILLAGE ...... 30 2.4.2 INTERDEPENDENCE ...... 37 2.4.3 RESPECT AND DIGNITY OF INDIVIDUAL ...... 40 2.3.4 THE CONCEPT OF AUTONOMY AND ITS LIMITS ...... 42 2.4.5 HOSPITALITY ...... 47 2.4.6 PALAVER ...... 50

2.4.6.1 BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS ...... 51 2.4.6.2 IN THE FAMILY ...... 53 2.4.6.3 ADMINISTRATION...... 53 2.4.6.4 COMMUNITY LEVEL ...... 54 2.4.7 RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY AND ELDERS ...... 56 2.4.8 SACREDNESS OF LIFE ...... 59 2.4.9 HARD WORK ...... 62

2.5 SHORTCOMINGS OF UMUNTHU ...... 64 2.5.1 PRINCIPLE OF LIFE ...... 64 2.5.2 RICHNESS ...... 66 2.5.3 EXAGERATED SENSE OF COMMUNITY LIFE ...... 66 2.5.4 EXAGERATED SENSE OF ETHNICITY ...... 67

2.6 CONCLUSION ...... 67

3. SOCIO-POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF MALAWI FROM 1964 ...... 71

3.1 MALAWI AND ITS PEOPLE ...... 71

3.2 SHORT HISTORY OF MALAWI ...... 77

3.3 UMUNTHU IN MALAWIAN POLITICS ...... 79

3.4 AUTHORITARIANISM ...... 82 3.4.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA AND THE MCP ...... 82 3.4.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF ...... 87 3.4.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 89 3.4.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP ...... 93 3.4.5 PROFESSOR ARTHUR PETER WAMUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 94

3.5 ETHNICITY/NEPOTISM/REGIONALISM/PARTYISM ...... 95 3.5.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA AND MCP ...... 97 3.5.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF ...... 100 3.5.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 101 3.5.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND THE PP...... 103 3.5.4 PROFESSOR ARTHUR PETER MUTHARIKA AND THE DPP ...... 104

3.6 HATE SPEECHES ...... 105 3.6.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA ...... 106 3.6.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF ...... 107 3.6.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 108 3.6.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP ...... 108

3.7 DETENTION AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH ...... 110 vii

3.7.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA ...... 110 3.7.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF ...... 113 3.7.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 115 3.7.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP ...... 116

3.8 CORRUPTION ...... 117 3.8.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA ...... 118 3.8.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF ...... 120 3.8.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP ...... 123 3.8.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP ...... 125

3.9 HANDOUTS ...... 126 3.9.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA ...... 127 3.9.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND THE UDF ...... 128 3.9.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND THE DPP ...... 129 3.9.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND THE PP...... 130

3.10 CONCLUSION ...... 131

4. CATHOLIC SOCIAL PRINCIPLES IN UMUNTHU ...... 134

4.2 HUMAN DIGNITY ...... 143 4.2.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 143 4.2.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS ...... 147 4.2.2.1 POLITICAL MURDER ...... 147 4.2.2.2 POLITICAL TORTURE ...... 157

4.3 COMMON GOOD ...... 163 4.3.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 163 4.3.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS ...... 167 4.3.2.1 NEPOTISM, ETHNICISM, PARTISAN ...... 167 4.3.2.2 CORRUPTION ...... 173 4.3.2.3 SELFISHNESS...... 178

4.4 SOLIDARITY ...... 181 4.4.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 181 4.4.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS ...... 186 4.4.2.1. WINNER TAKES ALL ...... 186 4.4.2.2 CORRUPT CHIEFS ...... 190

4.5 SUBSIDIARITY...... 194 4.5.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 194 4.5.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS ...... 198 viii

4.5.2.1 RESPONSIBLE HUMAN BEINGS ...... 198 4.5.2.2 DIGNITY OF WORK...... 206 4.5.2.3 RESPECT OF THE PERSON...... 208

4.6 DIALOGUE ...... 211 4.6.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 211 4.6.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS ...... 214 4.6.2.1 LACK OF DIALOGUE AND MONOPOLIZING MEDIA ...... 214 4.6.2.2 ABUSE OF DIALOGUE ...... 219 4.6.2.3 DIFFERENT FROM DISCOURSE ETHICS ...... 221

4.7 CONCLUSION ...... 222

5 PRINCIPLES OF AFRICAN DEMOCRACY...... 227

5.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 227

5.2 UMUNTHU DEMOCRACY ...... 235 5.2.1 UMUNTHU CONCEPT OF LIFE ...... 237 5.2.2 UNITY IN DIVERSITY ...... 242 5.2.3 INTERGRITY AND HONESTY...... 252 5.2.4 COMMON GOOD ...... 254 5.2.5 SERVANT LEADERSHIP ...... 259 5.2.6 EMPOWER PEOPLE ...... 261 5.2.7 PALAVER ...... 266

5.4 CONCLUSION ...... 272

6 WHAT CAN HELP BRINGING BANTU DEMOCRACY ...... 278

6.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 278

6.2 EDUCATION OF THE YOUTH ...... 278

6.3 TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE ...... 282

6.4 PRIVATE PROPERTY ...... 284

7. GENERAL CONCLUSION ...... 286

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 289

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADMARC Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Malawi) AFORD Alliance for Democracy AM Africae Munus CBCEW Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales CBCP Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines CCAP Church of Central African Presbyterian CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church CDF Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith CDP Christian Democratic Party CeDeP Center for Development CHRR Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation CM Cabinet Minister CONU Congress for National Unity CSDC Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church CST Catholic Social Teaching CV Caritas in Veritate DCE Deus Caritatis est DPP Democratic Progressive Party EA Ecclesia in Africa ECM Episcopal Conference of Malawi GS Gadium et spes G.V.H. Group Village Headman\woman (Headmen/women) IMF International Monetary Fund LE Laborem Exercens MAFUNDE Malawi Forum for Development MBC Malawi Broadcasting Corporation MCP Malawi Congress Party MDC Malawi Development Corporation MDF Malawi Defence Force

MEC Malawi Electoral Commission MG Malawi Government MHC Malawi Housing Cooperation MHRC Malawi Human Rights Commission MK Malawian Kwacha MM Mater et Magistra MP Member of Parliament MPP Maravi People's Party MSCE Malawi School Leaving Certificate MW Malawi MYP Malawi Young Pioneers MP Member of Parliament NAC Nyasaland Africa Congress NARC New Rainbow Coalition NDA National Democratic Alliance NGC National Governing Council NGO Non-Governmental Organization NRP New Republic Party PETRA Peoples' Transformation Party PP People's Party PPM Peoples' Progressive Movement PS Permanent Secretary QA Quadragesimo Anno RBM Reserve Bank of Malawi RN Rerum Novarum RP Republic Party SADC Southern African Development Community SECAM Symposium of the Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar SFSC Centre For Social Concern SRS Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

T.A. Traditional Authority TVM Television Malawi UDF United Democratic Front UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UK United Kingdom VC Vatican Council V.H. Village Headman\woman (Headmean/women) VP Vice President ZEC Zambian Episcopal Conference

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LIST OF FIGURES Fig.1: Mutu umodzi susenza denga (From Missio München) (18).

Fig. 2: Map of Malawi showing Regions and Districts (From nationsonline.org) (72).

Fig. 3:. Map of Malawi showing distribution of ethnic groups (From wawamalawi.com) (75).

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ABSTRAKT Demokratie ist eine Gesellschaftsordnung, geprägt durch die Existenz der Freiheit und der Rechte des Menschen, um zu den Dingen beizutragen, die ihr tägliches Leben betrifft. Die importierte Demokratie vom Westen hat den Menschen in Malawi nicht geholfen, diese demokratischen Werte in vollen Zügen zu leben. In der heutigen sozio-politischen Situation Malawis regieren nur wenige Leute, und diese entscheiden über die Menschen, ohne auf die Stimme des Volkes zu hören. Die Politiker regieren mit Macht und Gewalt, die sie untereinander weitergeben, und ihr Hauptinteresse ist nur, sich zu bereichern. Das schmerzt die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung und es leiden die Parteien der Opposition. Es gibt keine wahre Demokratie innerhalb der politischen Parteien und im ganzen Land, auch wenn es alle fünf Jahre allgemeine Wahlen gibt.

Diese Arbeit stellt die Frage: Warum versuchen die Malawier nicht eine andere Art von Demokratie, die von den verschiedenen ethnischen Gruppen praktiziert wurde, bevor sie in Kontakt kamen mit dem westlichen und nördlichen Typ der Demokratie? Dies könnte man als "Umunthu Demokratie" bezeichnet. In einer "Umunthu Gemeinschaft" regieren die Anführer oder Häuptlinge durch Gehorsam gegenüber dem kommunalen Konsens, und der Anführer oder der Häuptling achtet darauf, dass alle Menschen in ihrem Gebiet ein gutes und erfolgreiches Leben führen. Sie sind Führer, die dem Volk dienen. Diese Art von Demokratie fördert ein hohes Maß an Zusammenarbeit aller Mitglieder der Gemeinschaft, auch der Debatte und der Delegation der Verantwortung nur für diejenigen, die die Sorge der Menschen in ihren Herzen tragen. Es gibt einen klaren definierten Prozess, der allen Menschen hilft, Entscheidungen hinsichtlich ihrer Gemeinden und ihres täglichen Lebens sowie der Verteilung von Ressourcen und Verantwortlichkeiten beizutragen.

Schlüsselwörter: Umunthu, Demokratie, Malawi, Katholische Soziallehre

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ABSTRACT Democracy is a social order marked by the existence of freedom and rights for the individuals to contribute to the things that concerns their daily lives. The democracy imported from the West and North America has not helped the people of Malawi to live these democratic values to the fullest. In the present Malawian socio-political situation only a few people govern and they do so without listening to the voice of the people. The politicians rule by power which they pass among themselves and their main interest is to enrich themselves. This causes pain and suffering to the majority of the population and opposition political parties. There is no true democracy within the political parties themselves and in the whole country, even though there are general elections every five years.

The question posed in this thesis is: Why don’t Malawians try another type of democracy which was practised by different ethnic groups before it came in contact with the Western and Northern type of democracy? This will be called “Umunthu democracy”. In “Umunthu community” the leaders or chiefs rule by obedience to the communal consensus and the leader or chief sees that all the people in their territory lead a good and prosperous life; they are servant-leaders. This type of democracy encourages a high standard of collaboration of all the members of the community, through debate and delegation of responsibility only to those who have the concerns of the people at heart. In this system there is a clear defined process that helps all the people contribute to decisions regarding their communities and their daily lives as well as the distribution of resources and responsibilities.

Key words: Umunthu, Democracy, Malawi, Catholic Social Teaching

You scholar seeking after truth I see the top Of your bald head Between mountains of books Gleaming with sweat, Can you explain The African philosophy On which we are reconstructing Our new socities?

(Okot p’Bitek: Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol 150)

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1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Jonathan Wolff says that “It has been said that there are only two questions in political philosophy: ‘Who gets what?’ and ‘says who’. Not quite true but close enough to be a useful starting-point. The first of these questions is about the distribution of material goods, and of rights and liberties. On what basis should people possess property? What rights and liberties should they enjoy? The second question concerns the distribution of another good: political power”1. Jonathan Wolff continues that “the primary concern (is) what rule or principle should govern the distribution of goods? (‘Goods’ here includes not only property, but power, rights and liberty too)”2. The question here is about the “ideal standards or norms (for) … distribution of goods within the society“3. These are some of the major issues which are affecting many countries in Africa, including Malawi. How is the present democracy helping Malawians to share the resources of the land, what is their contribution to the productivity of the country and last but not least how are the rights of the people protected?

This dissertation addresses a question central to contemporary Malawian political philosophy: Does the Western system of democracy profit the people of Malawi? This debate, otherwise termed the ‘Umunthu Democracy Debate’, forms the background of this dissertation and my intention was to find resources in Umuntu philosophy that can lead to true democracy in Malawi. Umuntu philosophy comes from the African concept of the human person in relationship with the community. It treats the ethics that defines Africans. Africans are social beings that are in constant communion with one another where a human being is a human being only through his or her relationships to other human beings and to the world. As a people-centred philosophy, Umunthu states that the worth of the human person is dependent on social, cultural and spiritual criterion. It is a life dependent on the normative engagement with the community, a substantive appreciation of the common good and a constitutive engagement with one another in a rational ethical community. In

1 Wolff, Jonathan: An Introduction to Political Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press 2006, 1. 2 Wolff, An Introduction, 2. 3 Wolff, An Introduction, 2. 1

this way, community and communality become central to the African identity. However, the extent that Umunthu philosophical ethics remains a criterion that defines the African identity has been undermined by forces of liberal individualism, especially in the political life. An appeal is made to virtue ethics for the moral reconstruction of Umunthu philosophy in challenging individualism. This research attempts to restructure the political system of Malawi so that it can become African (Malawian) in its characteristics and so human. Malawi needs an African political system that is truly Malawian and not a system which has been imported from outside and least understood by the people.

These days many people talk about democracy. Some nations, especially from Europe and North America, even go to the extent of obliging all the countries of the world to be democratic. The question to be asked is what type of democracy. Is there only one type of democracy which all nations must follow or are there different forms of democracy? Is democracy to be realized in the same way all-over the word? In Malawi, like in many African countries, the people follow the Western or North American type of democracy. This has so far proved to be a failure. The question: “Who gets what” is unsatisfactory in the Malawian socio-political situation. As can be seen now there is a great inequality in the distribution of goods both material and political power. This happens in a country where those voted democratically into power takes it all and is not ready to share with others. The people, who voted them to power, are often forgotten and the things, they were promised during political campaigns, are not realised. The rights of people, especially those in opposition or having different views from those of the ruling party, are not respected. There are many inhuman ways in which these people are silenced.

When one hears this, one might get discouraged thinking that everything is lost. There is still hope to find a type of democracy fitting for Malawi. Long before Malawi came in contact with Western or North American world-views, it had its own political system which helped the people to live together harmoniously and to share the goods of their territory. This system was based on Umunthu, which offered an ethic of togetherness. After failing to live the Western democracy to the full, Malawi can use Umunthu principles to form a democratic rule that fits well the mentality of the people. This Umunthu can offer a basis of a political philosophy that is both state

and society oriented. This politics can be grounded on the lived experiences of the people.

This thesis explores the possibility of an Umunthu-based socio-political philosophy in Malawi. To this end the research will be divided into six chapters. The first is the General Introduction, which will introduce the study in general. It will introduce the problem of the socio-political situation of Malawi and the method used. The second chapter will clarify the concept of Umunthu: What is Umunthu? What are the aspects of Bantu culture which help the people to live harmoniously together in the community or family? Umunthu is an ancient philosophy or world-view which is deeply anchored in the traditional Malawian life. It is based on a lived group lived solidarity which says “I am because we are, since we are therefore I am”. The human person lives one’s humanity only in good relationship with others. Even after the country came into contact with other non-Bantu cultures, these practices persist as a deep-rooted part of many Malawians. The third chapter will focus on the socio- political situation of Malawi: how have the presidents that Malawi has had so far ruled the country? How have they treated the people with different views from their own? Have they been always ready for dialogue both within and outside their parties? In Africa social class based on goods and wealth is absurd. If a person is rich or has more than the others, the things above what one requires will be shared with those who are underprivileged. Sharing is very important in African traditional culture. One shares not only material resources but also qualities and talents. The fourth chapter will evaluate the socio-political situation of Malawi using the Umunthu and Catholic Social Teaching (CST) principles. These principles will be divided into five big principles: respect of the human person, solidarity, common good, subsidiarity and dialogue, also called palaver. This is a democratic forum where everybody present is free to speak ones mind freely but with respect for the other participants. This goes on until a consensus is reached. The fifth chapter will propose a type of democracy which might help the people of Malawi to live together harmoniously in spite of their different ethnic groups and political parties. This will be called Umunthu democracy because it will be based on Umunthu principles. This chapter presents how the values, which are lived in the community, can be lived in a larger community, which is the country- the community of communities. At the end come short proposals on the things which can be very important in the formation of Umunthu democracy. These are the education of children in the schools, finding new 3

ways by which the people can be represented and last but not least, how to go about with private property. The last chapter will be the general conclusion. This thesis wants to show that true democracy can never be imposed from outside but it must come from within when people are convinced of what they are doing.

1.1 BACKGROUND Malawi is an independent country since 1964 and democratic (according to Western style) since 1994. The land is divided into three regions and 28 districts in which one finds different ethnic groups. Since the time of independence and worse still in these so called democratic times the citizens tend to divide themselves more and more basing on their ethnic belonging. Almost all the big political parties are also based on the regions of their origin and which are also the regions of their leaders.

Malawi was/is forced to adapt a Western democratic system which most of the times is not well understood by the politicians themselves and worse still by the simple citizens. Those people who adapt to this democracy are considered civilized and this has made the Malawians to forget their traditional democracy based consensus.

The research will limit itself from the time of independence to the present day to show that Malawians themselves are responsible for everything that is happening in their country. Alexis Bueno Guinamard points out that: “Certainly in the current problems of Africa, part of the responsibility lies with the Africans themselves (especially their leaders)”4. The colonialist did a lot of bad things to the people and the country but now over 50 years of independence there is no true democracy which is the rule of the people, by the people themselves and lastly for themselves. That means all people have a duty and responsibility for whatever is happening in their country.

1.2 AIM Robert A. Dahl says: “Ironically, the very fact that democracy has such a lengthy history has actually contributed to confusion and disagreement, for ‘democracy’ has meant different things to different people at different places and times”5. This means

4 Guinamard, Alexis Bueno: Miraa a África. Redescubrir Europa, Barcelona: Cristianisme 2001(= cuaderno 108), 4: “Ciertamente, en los problemas actuales de África,una parte de la responsabilidad recae en los propios africanos (sobre todo en sus dirigentes)”. 5 Dahl, Robert A.: On Democracy, London: Yale University Press 1998, 3. 4

that democracy has different faces and different styles. It is not necessary that the way it is lived in Europe should be the same as in Africa. On top of that democracy must be value-based and in Malawi it must be based on Bantu-values. M.A. Mohamed Sahil confirms this by saying: “To manage democracy requires the internalization of the values and norms associated with those democratic governance institutions that integrate people’s lives, their economic expectations, political aspirations and there struggle to improve their well-being. The far-reaching implication of this statement is that African democracies cannot and should not be treated as potential replicas of Western democracies”6.

The aim of this research is to show that Umunthu remains the most appropriate ethical tool to humanise Malawian socio-politics. Umunthu can help to build the future and community of equality in multiparty and multicultural country. This Umunthu concept is based on human dignity, equality, universal brotherhood, sacredness of life and community life. This is closely linked to the lived experience of Malawians. These experiences were/are lived still in families and small communities. These principles that are understood by all the people at grass root- level can be extended to the whole country, which is supposed to be one big community where the humanity of all the people is respected and the goods of the country are shared justly7. This poses a challenge for the Malawians to go or look beyond their affiliations be they political or ethnic. They have to see all people in the country and even beyond the boarders as their brother or sister. They have to work for the universal brotherhood/sisterhood based on the Umunthu values.

All people are invited to participate actively in the life of their communities. Everybody has to strive to be the best one can be. Even though the people are gifted differently and play different roles this does not make them different in their humanity. They are all equal. Each has to contribute what one has and only in so doing they can complement each other. The Bantu believe that no person is self- sufficient; that no one has everything one needs and has no need of others. This is

6 Salih, Mohamed M.A.: African Democracies and African Politics, London: Pluto 2001, 3. 7 Etzioni, Amtia: The New Golden Rule. Community and Morality in a Democratic Society, New York: Basic Books 1996, 6: “(Community as) what makes any social entity from a village to a group of nations”. 5

also to be found also at the beginning of the Bible where God said that it is not good for man to be alone without a helper (Gen 2, 18).

1.3 METHOD There are several books which have been used to support the arguments of this research. There are things which have already been written about the Umunthu, the socio-political situation in Malawi and the CST. The internet was also used greatly especially concerning the socio-political situation of Malawi. There are many things which one cannot find always in books because of the political situation in the country which controls what one says about the government, especially the ruling party and the President. Secondly, it is expensive to publish books in Malawi and many people cannot afford to buy books as they struggle for their survival. To a large extent the experience and traditional cultural education of the author has been used. Malawian culture is originally oral culture where the cultural values are passed from one generation to the next orally. Many lessons and values are present in the proverbs. That is why in this research one finds a lot of proverbs. One cannot translate all of them literally; most of them lose meaning when translated into English8. All the same they are translated for the sake of the people who do not understand Chichewa. But most of the proverbs say more than what one can translate since they concern the daily life of the people. This is a limitation of this work that it is not written in the language of the people of Malawi, Chichewa.

8 Cf. P’Bitek, Okot: Songs of Lawino & Song of Col, London: Heinemann Educational Books 1985², 9: “It is obvious that, even after explanation, non-Acoli readers will not feel the force of the proverb as Acoli readers would”. 6

2. TRADITIONAL BANTU VALUES

2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will analyse some Bantu basic traditional values which help the Bantu speaking people to live together harmoniously in their families and communities. These are some of the items which are vital for the proper function of the community. The values which are going to be treated in this part are sense of community life, respect for the authority, sacredness of human life; good human relationship and hospitality, the importance of dialogue also called palaver, interdependence and sharing9. These things are important for the community living and when adapted to the fullest they bring dignity, respect, satisfaction, prosperity, happiness and love in each member of the community and among the members themselves. These traditional values are there to promote a happy and good community founded on respect and mutual understanding which come from dialogue and inter- and intra-relationship among the individual members and various social groups. They promote human dignity and respect for each and every member of the Bantu society.

The same values mainly answer the daily social needs of the community members as individuals and as a community. They are based on the daily living experience of the people of a particular society or community. They are traditional social norms formed by the members of the society themselves and are accepted and lived by all the members of the same community by tendency. They promote the universal good of the community and its members and, they also function, as a guide for the right path of life for the community members accompanying them in their lifetime and in their interactions from before birth till after death. In so doing, they help people of the community to avoid and fight against social vices like individualism, hatred, jealousy and grudge which cause confusion in the communities. On the other hand they promote generosity, love and peace among the people.

9 Guinamard, Mirar a Africa, 6: “ La cultura africana es tan rica en valores como la europea. Y como se trata de valores diferentes a los de occidente, pueden ser complementarios y enriquecedores. En contraposición con nuestra cultura del tener, del hacer, del "time is money", de la producción y del consumo, nos encontramos con la tradición africana que valora las personas, las relaciones y la vida antes que nada. El africano es rico en relaciones personales, es rico en tiempo, en capacidad de celebrar la vida que transcurre a su propio ritmo”. 7

Before we go deep into these values let us go quickly through a short history of Bantu speaking people so that we may know who they are and where they come from. Africa is not a big village with one ethnic group and the same culture, where the people are the same, and behave or understand the world in the same way. Patrick Chabal confirms this by saying that: “Africa is not a homogeneous entity. There are significant differences from country to country, from region to region, from folk to folk, from tribe to tribe”10. Africa is a vast continent with different ethnic groups. “The majority of the countries in Africa are inhabited by peoples of African origin. However, many ethnic groups have been affected by the migration of Arab peoples into northern Africa. There are also Europeans whose families moved to Africa during the colonial period and have stayed on. In some parts of Africa, you will also find people of Asian origin, for example from the Indian subcontinent”11. In the African Continent one finds the Bantu speaking people, the Nilotic in the sub- Sahara; the North is dominated by Islamic Arabs and white Afrikaners settled in parts of South Africa.

There ethnic and tribal groups have different myths of their origin and also their sociological and cultural settings are different. They speak different languages and they can be identified by their languages and also have different appearance as Bantu or Nilotic or even as Afrikaner or Arab. Sometimes they can also be differentiated by the way they dress. Even though these people can be differentiated by the factors cited above, there are also some similarities among them. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi in their article entitled “Ubuntu and its Social-moral Significance” confirm that there are many different cultures in Africa, but there are also some similarities among them like some value systems, beliefs and practices.12

This only shows that Africa is a big continent with different ethnic groups. There is truth in saying that what is true in one part of the continent is not necessarily the same in another: it is like all the continents of the world where one finds different

10Chabal, Patrick: Die Ordnung durch Unordnung, in: Friedl, Gerhard (ed.): Wann startet Afrika? Die Vision einer „Renaissance“, München: Olzog 2001, 35-43, 43: „Afrika ist keine homogene Einheit. Es gibt gravierende Unterschiede von Land zu Land, von Region zu Region, von Volk zu Volk, von stamm zu Stamm“. 11Think Quest Library: People of Africa. Availaible at http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_people/ethnic_groups.shtml (Accessed 12. 05.2013). 12 Munyaka, Mluleki/Motlhabi, Mokgethi: Ubunthu and Its Socio-moral Significance, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 63-84, 63. 8

ethnic and unique tribal groups. There are also some things which can be qualified as typical of the Nilotic or Bantu or any other ethnic group found in the African continent. The African continent has 54 countries and in each of them one finds different ethnic groups. This was caused by the partition of Africa by the Berlin Conference in 188413 when some European countries were sharing Africa among themselves. Bénézet Bujo adds to this point by saying that the Europeans put different ethnic groups which speak different languages together without asking them if they wanted to be together or not14. I concur with him and this can be seen today in all countries of Africa. There are few countries in Africa composed only of one ethnic group.

Isaias Ezequiel Chachine supports this also by saying “Driven by an imposed economic whim the former colonies acquired the status of ‘developing countries,’ urged to pull alongside ‘developed countries’ without, however, any chance of coming to terms with their own social realities and political difficulties. In addition to this, when the Organization of African Unity was created in 1963, though painful it might have been, endorsed in its African Charter that all member states should respect the colonial borders irrespective of whether they have been realistically delineated or otherwise. As a consequence, there are currently in Africa today many traditional African nations stepping beyond the borders of one or more former- colonial states. So, paradoxically, post-colonial Africa is made up of former colonial states, with no publicly recognized nation status in African terms”15.

This shows clearly that the colonialists did not respect the different groups of people, which they found already settled in different parts of Africa. They thought only of

13Mair, Stefan, Die regionale Integration und Kooperation in Afrika südlich der Sahara, in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte B 13/14 (2002) 15-23, 16: “Darüber hinaus hat die Koloniale Grenzziehung, insbesondere in West-, aber auch im südlichen Afrika, Volksgruppen zerschnitten.“ 14 Bujo, Bénézet: The Ethical Dimension of Community: The African model and the dialogue between North and South. Transl. by Cecilia Namulondo Nganda, Nairobi: Paulines Publication Africa 1998, 171. Cf. Richmond, Yale/Gestrin, Phyllis: Into Africa. Intercultural Insights, London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing 1998, 16-17: “When the Europen powers began to carve up Africa at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, they imposed artificial and illogical boundaries based on the balance of power and their alliances in Europe but without regard for the ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic homogeneity that existed in Africa before their arrival…The boundaries they staked out separated, in some places, similar ethnolinguistic groups and, in other places, cobbled together in a sinle state peoples who were dissimilar and, in some cases, long-time adversaries”. 15 Chachine, Isaias Ezequiel: Community, Justice and Freedom. Liberalism, Communitarianism and African Contributions to Political Ethics, Sweden: Coronet Books Incorporated 2008 (= Uppsala Studies in Social Ethics 37), 40. 9

their own interests like how they would bring civilization in form of Christianity and trade to their parts of Africa and not forgetting the raw material they would profit from these parts of Africa. It was also due to the lack of courage on the part of African leaders soon after the continent started to be independent to organize the continent according to different groups which could easily go together with one another. Secondly, it is also due to the fact that some of the ethnic groups moved in these countries at a later stage due to different reasons like looking for good life and peace when other groups had already occupied these places. Their first contact was not always peaceful and cordial. All the same these groups influenced each other and learnt from each other, but still there remained something in almost all of the ethnic groups, which is special and particular for that particular group.

Still up to the present day one sees that many people tend to be attached and more associated with their own culture especially in special moments of their lives. Mike Boon confirms this by saying that “tribes, whether we like it or not, are not simply entities that existed long ago. They exist now, not only in distant rural places, but in our hearts, for it is to the tribe that we retreat when we are most threatened”16. For some ceremonies, for example burial and initiation, people even those in urban areas return to their roots17 and also almost all the people prefer to be buried in their village graveyards where their ancestors were buried. People generally are proud of their ethnic group and there is a strong sense of togetherness and solidarity among them18 which at times close those of other groups outside.

2.2 BANTU

2.2.1 THE BANTU SPEAKING PEOPLE Walter Hirschberg confirms what is written in “Africa Tripod” that “the Bantu probably originated in what is now Cameroon, migrating downward into southern

16 Boon, Mike: The African Way. The Power of Interactive Leadership, Cape Town: Zebra Press ³2007, 63-64. 17 Tempels, Placide: Bantu Philosophy. Transl. by Colin King, Paris: Présence Africaine 1969, 17-18: “among our Bantu we see the évolués, the ‘civilized’, even Christians, return to their former ways of behaviour whenever they are overtaken by moral lassitude, danger or suffering. They do so because their ancestors left them their practical solution of the great problems of humanity, the problem of life and death, of salvation or destruction”. 18Wiredu, Kwasi: Philosophy and an African culture, London: Cambridge University Press 1980, 10: “The culture of the people is their total way of life, and it is seen as well in their work and recreation as in their worship and courtship; it is seen also in their way of investigating nature and utilising its possibilities and in their way of viewing themselves and interpreting their plan in nature”. 10

Africa. Beginning in about 1000BC and ending sometime in the 3rd or 4th century AD … The Bantu language probably spread from the Nigeria – Cameroon border over much of Africa south of Sahara”19. The Bantu speaking people claim to have a common origin, language and culture, even though each Bantu group has its own particular distinct language or dialect. All the same these languages or dialects have some similarities and are related to one another. Among the Bantu groups there are similarities and differences in the understanding of their cultures and in their views of the world. For example, some of the Bantu speaking people are matriarchal, matrilineal and matrilocal, that is to say the relations are stronger on the mother-side and the husband stays at the wife’s village and the children belong to the family of the mother. Others are patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal that is just the opposite- the relations are stronger on the father-side and the wife stays at the husband’s village and the children belong to the family of the father. They have also some cultural practices which may be found in different ethnic groups but are practiced in different ways. For example some of them have circumcision for their initiation which is also done in different ways by different cultures, while others have no circumcision. In some ethnic groups there is also a secret society which goes with the initiation. All these different groups are all Bantus but they practice some of the things different.

The Bantu people are found in most parts of the central and southern part of Africa, starting from Cameroon going down up to South Africa. More than an ethnic group “Bantu” is a language root20 which unites more than 400 ethnic groups. In most of Bantu languages the suffix for the word ‘person’ and ‘thing’ is -tu or –thu and one adds the prefix mu- or m-, in the plural ba- , wa- or a-. In the Chichewa Language of Malawi ‘a person’ is ‘munthu’ and the plural is ‘anthu’. In Kiswahili of Kenya and Tanzania and also the Bemba Language of Zambia ‘a person’ is ‘mutu’ and in plural ‘watu’. For the thing one adds the prefix ki – or chi- to the suffix -tu or –thu. In Chichewa ‘a thing’ is ‘chinthu’ and in Luganda of Uganda is ‘kintu’. “There is a

19Africa Introduction. US-Africa Tripod. Availaible at http://us-africa.tripod.com/intro.html (Accessed 17.05.2013). Cf. Hirschberg, Walter: Völkerkunde Afrikas, Stuttgart: Mannheim 1965 (= B.I. Hochschultaschenbücher Bd. 333/33a/333b), 26: „Greenberg aus linguistischen und G.P. Murdocks aus kulturgeschichtlichen Gründen vermuten die Heimat der Bantu im Kameruner Hochland…..“ 20 Lekturama Enzyklopädie: Die Länder der Welt und Ihre Kulturen . Afrika, Turnhout: Brepols 0.yr (= Lekturama), 252. 11

general belief that the word ‘person’ means ‘munthu’ in the original Bantu language. Through the centuries, this word has assumed many spelling and tonal inflexions in different Bantu subgroups.”21 The word ‘Bantu’ means ‘human beings’22; Bantu is the plural form while munthu is singular. Placide Tempels calls munthu a person by saying: “It seems to me incorrect to translate this word "muntu" by "the man". The "muntu" certainly possesses a visible body, but this body is not the "muntu". A Bantu one day explained to one of my colleagues that the "muntu" is rather what you call in English the "person" and not what you connote by "the man". "Muntu" signifies, then, vital force, endowed with intelligence and will”23. By this he wants to say that the individual has intelligence and a will which helps one to be free and take responsibility of one’s act and that this is done in the community and in relation to others. This is what makes a person different from an animal. Edward Kanyike referring to E. D. Prinsloo confirms this by saying: “For the Bantu, he is Mu-ntu, the rational being “mu” connected to the life force “ntu”. The stress here is laid on belonging to the life force. It is a conscious belonging, which implies will, direction and responsibility. But “ntu”, in normal circumstances implies “Ubuntu” which in Bantu languages signifies the quality of being human, inseparable from virtues such as patience, hospitality, loyalty, respect, conviviality, sociability, health, endurance, sympathy and munificence. Umuntu takes seriously the view that man is basically a social being and is often contrasted with violence in the animal world and immorality or luck of the above-mentioned virtues in the social world”24. Umunthu is what is typical human and what makes the living together enjoyable and peaceful. A person has a central role to play in life and this cannot be done by animals. This role can only be realized when one finds the meaning of one’s own life which can only be found in the community in which one has developed a good relationship with others.

21 Spike, Tony: Origin of the Bantu Peoples: Eastern Nigeria/Western Cameroun? Culture-Naorda. Availaible at http://www.nairaland.com/1013080/origin-bantu-peoples-eastern-nigeria (Accessed 15.06.2013). 22 Lekturama, Afrika, 252. „Das Wort Bantu ist zusammengesetzt aus der Vorsilbe Ba, das Mehrzahl angibt, und dem selbständigen Hauptwort Ntu, das Mensch bedeutet.“ Cf. Mulago gwa Cikala, M.: La religion traditionelle des Bantu et leur vision du monde, Kinshasa: Faculté de Théologie Catholique² 1980 (= Bibliotheque du centre d’Etudes des Religions Africaines 5), 9: “le mot bantu signifie “les homes”, est un terme significatif d’un ensemble linguistique qui a fini par designer, en meme temps que cette famille de langues.” 23 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 55. 24 Kanyike, Edward: The Principle of Participation in African Cosmology and Anthropology, Balaka: Montfort Media 2003, 96. Cf. Prinsloo, E. D.: Ubuntu culture and Participatory Management, in: Coetzee, P. H. and Roux, A.P.J. (ed.): The African Philosophy Readers, New York: Routlege 1998, 41-51, 45. 12

A human being is a social being. Even though there are some animals which seem to be social, the human being lives social life in a special way and fully conscious as we shall see below. Person is connected to relation.

It seems this word ‘bantu’ has not always been in use and it is not the ambit of this research to know find out what these people were called before the word was invented. Mulago gwa Cikala (Vincent Mulago) tells us who invented this word “bantu” and when was it invented by saying “it was in 1860 that W.K. Bleck proposed to give the name ‘banthu’ to all the languages which use mu-nthu = person (plural, ba-nthu) or other corresponding forms”25 (translation is mine) as seen above.

2.2.2 UMUNTHU CONCEPT In many books it is written Ubunthu but in Malawi people use the word Umunthu. From what is written above we know already that these words mean exactly the same thing only that they are spoken and written differently. To avoid confusion and while I am writing about Malawi in this work I will use the term Umunthu, which is the word that is used in Malawi, except when it is a direct quotation or where the author used Ubunthu.

This word is formed by adding an abstract prefix U – to the word of ‘person’ either banthu or munthu. Then the word becomes Umunthu (singular) or Ubunthu (plural). When this abstract prefix U- is added to munthu, it gives a sense of quality to munthu (person) like –ness (humanness)26 in English and –heit (Menschheit als Wesenheit des Menschen) in German. Ubunthu or Umunthu means humanness. As seen above that is what is typical only for human beings when they live their humanity to the fullest. According to the Free Dictionary ‘humanness’ has to do with the characteristic of humans. As an adjective it means one who has behaviour and characteristics which are typical for human beings and which make a human being

25 Mulago, La religion traditionelle, 9: “Du point de vue linguistique, c’est en 1860 que W.H. Bleck proposa de donner le nom bantu a toutes les langues qui emploient mu-ntu = home (pluriel, ba-nthu) ou des forms correspondantes”. 26 Kaphagawani, Didier N.: Some African Conceptions of Person. A Critique, in: Karp, Ivan and Masolo, Dismas A. (ed.): African Philosophy as Cultural Inquiry, Blommington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press 2000, 71: “In Chichewa, munthu denotes as much as a ‘human being’ as it does a ‘person’. … To say, for example ‘Achewa ndi wanthu’ is to assert the humanness of the Achewa; this statement emphasizes their humanness or ideal social and moral qualities rather than expressing the metaphysical idea that they possess intelligence and will”. 13

different from animals27. Umunthu gives the essence of what it means to be human: one in good and healthy relationship with others. It focuses on relationships of people with each other. This definition shows us clearly what is expected of the true munthu, the one who is in good human relations to others and not any type of relationship in which the rights and dignity of the other are not respected and the good of the community is neglected. As Valentin Zsifkovits Valentin says in his book “Orientierungen für eine humane Welt”, “that man needs the community in biological, social and cultural aspects of life and survival, is a truism…”28 (translation is mine). Umunthu principles agree with what Valentin Zsifkovits says but add that true munthu has to learn not only to relate to others because s/he needs them but more so s/he has to relate properly. Oswald von Nell-Breuning adds that one finds his own perfection in and through society and one’s service to the society leads one to reach the full maturity29. This opens also the individual to new perspectives of life. Bénézet Bujo confirms this thinking by saying that: “We should, however, note that African logic does not necessarily imply that one becomes a person by means of concrete actions or achievements. The person is not defined as an ontological act by means of self-realization, but by means of “relations”. This means that the human person in Africa is from the very beginning in a network of relationships that constitutes his inalienable dignity”.30 The more we learn to relate properly the more human we become. This makes one’s life and of those around meaningful. Edward Kanyike talking about intrapersonal relationships says that “It is the relations that constitute the person who can neither edify nor promote himself without them. The person lives in and by these relations. They are vital relations in that without them the persons tends towards inexistence; they are active in that they are not mere thoughts, objects of abstraction but acted out and ceaselessly taken up

27 Farlex The Free Dictionary. Availaible at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Humanness (Accessed 20.05.2013). 28 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Orientierung für eine humane Welt, Berlin: LIT Verlag 2012 (= Zeitdiagnosen Band 27), 56: „Das der Mensch zum Leben und Überleben in biologischer, sozialer und kultureller Hinsicht der Gemeinschaft bedarf, ist eine Binsenweisheit …“ 29 Nell-Breuning, Oswald von: Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit. Grundzüge katholischer Soziallehre. Hrsg. Von Katholischen Sozialakademie Österreichs, Wien: Europaverlag 1980, 44-45: „In der Gesellschaft und durch die Gesellschaft findet er seine eigene Vollendung; sein Dienst an der Gesellschaft, die anders als in ihm and in den anderen ihr angehörenden einzelnen gar nicht besteht, ist letzlich Dienst an ihm selber, führt ihn zu der für ihn als gesellschaftliches Wesen nur in der gesellschaft und durch die Gesellshaft erreichbaren menschlichen Vollreife“. 30 Bujo, Bénézet: Foundations of African ethics. Beyond the Universal Claims of Western Morality. Transl. by Brian McNeil, New York: A Herder and Herder Book 2001, 88. 14

relations in concrete and tangible acts”31. Edward Kanyike is saying that African community life is guided by the “being principle” and the “ought principle”. Oswald von Nell—Breuning speaks in the same line when he said: “The principle of solidarity is both a first principle of being (explicative) and consequently also a principle ought (normative)”32. Oswald von Nell-Breuning clarifies these principles by saying that: “Individual well-being and welfare of the community are mutually dependent on each other; their destinies are insoluble intertwined. This is a statement about the actual state of affairs (principle of being”. At the same time also something is said about what ought to be: the members of the community have to take care about the welfare of the community, are responsible for the welfare of the community; as well as the community has to take care about the welfare of its members, is responsible for their welfare (ought principle)”33.

This takes us to the second stage on which we ask what the word “Umunthu” actually means. Desmond Tutu says that it is not easy to translate it into Western languages34. It is not only difficult to put it in Western languages as Desmond Tutu says but also to put it into words and to explain it in any language. This word means a lot to Bantu speaking people. It is a philosophy of life and an ethical system of thinking of Bantu people. These people feel it in their blood and know when there is Umunthu or not in their daily relationships without many words35. One can stay for long time among the Bantu speaking people either in the rural or urban areas and would hardly hear that word being mentioned, but one can observe it and live it in the daily life of the people. Umunthu is what every Bantu speaking person is expected to live in his or her daily life, in relation to the others and for the well-being of others and that of the

31 Kanyike, Principle, 97-98. 32 Nell-Breuning, Gerechtigkeit, 47: “Das Solidaritätsprinzip ist beides: zunächst ein Seinsprinzip (‘explikativ’) und daraus folgend zugleich ein Sollensprinzip (‘normativ’). 33 Nell-Breuning, Gerechtigkeit, 47: “Einzelwohl und Gemeinwohl sind wechselseitig aufeinander angewiesen; ihre Schicksale sind unlöslich miteinander verstrickt. Das ist eine Aussage über den tatsächlichen Sachverhalt. Zugleich ist damit aber auch etwas ausgesagt über das, was sein soll: die Glieder des Ganzen haben sich um das Wohl des Ganzen anzunehmen, tragen Verantwortung für das Wohl des Ganzen; ebenso hat das Ganze sich um das Wohl seiner Glieder anzunehmen, ist dafür verantwortlich“. 34Tutu, Desmond: No Future Without Forgiveness, London: Rider 2000, 34. 35 Cf. Nussbaum, Barbara: African Culture and Ubuntu, Reflections of South African in America, In: Perspective. World Business Academy 17(1), 1-12, 1. Available at http://www.barbaranussbaum.com/downloads/perspectives.pdf (Accessed 27.04.15): “Much of the richness of Africa’s traditional culture is inaccessible since it is oral rather than written, lived rather than formally communicated in books or journals. It is difficult to learn about from a distance”. 15

community. Martin Buber concurs with this thinking and puts it clearly: “The chief concern is not with these products of analysis and reflection but with the true original unity, the lived relation”36. Unlike the western philosophical anthropology, the African philosophical anthropology is born out of community-lived experience. It begins with experience and not with reflection. Relation is more lived than reflected. The first president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, supports this thinking by saying that “let the west have its technology and Asia its mysticism! Africa’s gift to the world culture must be in the realm of human relation”37. In hearing this one may ask oneself why there are so many conflicts in Africa. These conflicts are there because the people are not living the principles of Umunthu to the fullest.

This relationship underlines that when the other and the community are well, one will also be well since he/she is part of the community. According to Collins English Dictionary “Ubunthu means humanity or fellow feeling; kindness”38 and Oxford Dictionary defines Ubunthu as “a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity”39. In these definitions there are some aspects of Umunthu. It has to do with our being human, our humanity and also with our togetherness as well as good relationship. What people have in common, that is being human and how human beings are supposed to relate to each other and to the community in their daily lives like in works, actions etc. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi concur with this idea by saying that humanity is not only shown in human acts, but it has to do also with values that contribute to the good of others and of the community40. The philosophy of Desmond Tutu goes in the same line and he is convinced that a person with Umunthu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, affirming of others, and is not terrified by others who are more capable and better than one is, because one is sure that they all belong to a greater community and one feels with others in good and bad times. When another person is humiliated,

36 Buber, Martin: I and Thou.Transl. by Ronald Gregor Smith, Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark 1937, 18. 37 Hirmer, Oswald: The Gospel and the social systems. An illustrated introduction into Capitalism, Marxism and African Socialism examined in the light of the Gospel (Christian leadership), Nairobi: St. Paul Publication 1990, 103. 38 Collins: English Dictionary. Pioneers in Dictionary Publishing since 1819. Availaible at http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ubuntu (Accessed 17.06. 2013). 39 Oxford Dictionaries: Language Matters. Availaible at http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ubuntu (Accessed 17.06.2013). 40 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 65. 16

threatened or oppressed; one is also humiliated and diminished with him/her41. A good relationship transforms the life of the persons involved in relation. In serving our neighbours we are also saving our own lives. This thinking discourages the acts which diminish the life of the other like selfishness and individualism. It, however, motivates people to act in a way that is not only good to themselves but also in considering the good of their neighbours: it encourages them also to come to their help when need be.

2. 3 UMUNTHU IN MALAWI The Umunthu in Malawi and among all the Bantu speakers is expressed in the togetherness of the people and in the good and health relationship among the members of the community. People place more value on community life and most of the times at the expense of their own short-term interests. This is seen in how people are attached to their nucleus - and extended families, to their clan and to the life and activities of their community. This does not go without being observed and controlled by the other members and the community at large. That is why in return one is also judged by his participation in these relationships by the community. Later we will observe some aspects of the Bantu speaking communities which bring together people. It is not always easy to separate these aspects, one from another, because they are the lived reality of the people. Most of the times they are intermingled in one another and it is difficult to talk of one aspect without touching the other aspects. I will try to present these aspects separately for the sake of clarity but now and then one may feel like the things are being repeated due to the intermingling of these social aspects. The two main aspects of life together among the Bantu are the extended family and life in the community. These also go hand in hand with some spiritual aspects among the Bantu like the respect of the life of the other.

2.3.1 SPIRIT OF TOGETHERNESS How does this spirit of togetherness help individuals in their daily lives and how does it limit them? The question to be asked is whether the community helps the individual to develop freely. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that “according to the African conception, the human being does not become human by cogito (thinking)

41 Tutu, No Future, 34 -35. 17

but by relatio (relationship) and cognatio (kinship). This fundamental principle of this ethics is not cogito ergo sum (I think, so I am), but rather, cognatus sum ergo sum (I am related, so I am)”42. What is also important is to see how visitors are treated in these communities. Above we have seen that people from different ethnic groups settled in their particular areas and their first contact was not always friendly. This will help us to determine how people, right from the time of our ancestors, have not always lived the spirit of Umunthu to the fullest.

2.3.2 PROVERBES ABOUT UMUNTHU

Fig.1: Mutu umodzi susenza denga (From Missio München)

In Malawi there are many proverbs which demonstrate that human beings are social beings and that they are called to community life. “Chala chimodzi sichiswa msabwe” and this means that “with only one finger one cannot kill a louse”. This is to say that one cannot do everything alone or can do only very little alone; in order to survive and to be successful in life one needs the support of other people. One is always in need of others in one situation or another. According to Augustine Shutte “in the African idea of persons: persons exist only in relation to others… The most important of these are the relations we have with other persons”43. There are two other proverbs which stress that one needs others in daily life especially in times of

42 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 54. 43Shutte, Augustine: Ubuntu as the African Ethical vision, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 85- 99, 90 -91. 18

difficulties and uncertainties. The first one is “mutu umodzi susenza denga” - meaning “one head alone cannot carry a roof”. In the past the roofs of the granaries were made on the floor and afterwards they were lifted up and put on the granary. This work could not be accomplished by a single person, after making the roof one always needed the help of others to put up the roof. This shows that human beings always need people in order to carry out the things which would not be possible to be done by one person. The granary is very important among grain eaters and there are even taboos attached to it. It has to do with food and therefore with life itself. In fact there is no homestead without a granary. If one needs others to in order to build a granary, it would also mean that no home is self –sufficient; one needs others to the very core of his life and sometimes even in privacy of his household. Knowledge points to wisdom. In Africa old people seem to have the monopoly of wisdom but even they are advised against being self-sufficient as far asa wisdom is concerned. To err is human and no one is exempted from it. The wisdom that is needed for one to stay alive and to keep his social status is itself an affair; man is oriented towards others in everything.

The other is “ichi ndi chiani nkulinga muli awiri” - meaning “one can ask for clarification of a thing only when one is with others”. There is no person in the world who knows everything: one needs the other now and then for an explanation or a clarification. One, even the most intelligent or richest person, needs other people at one time or another. These proverbs only want to show the importance of the community in the daily life of the individual, at the same time the community also appreciates and values the success of individuals and also what individuals can accomplish alone. These proverbs demonstrate also that the community survives and progresses by the participation of each of its members.

Another proverb which has reference to community living is “kali kokha ndi kanyama, tili tiwiri ti anthu” - meaning “who is alone and does everything alone is an animal and those who are two together they are human beings”. This teaches us that community life is not just simply sitting next to one another but that there should be a sense of concern and cooperation between the members of the community, and the behaviour of those members who do not have a human heart in this community life is like that of wild animals: they end up segregating themselves from the community or being segregated by the community. From before birth to after death,

one is not supposed to be alone, one belongs to the community. Most of the animals are usually alone but human beings should never be alone. One should always be in community and in good relationship with others. Community members need each other for friendship and company. Community life is not an option but a necessity which helps one in daily life together with others, especially in times of need as well as in joyful moments of one’s life. According to Bantu thinking a man or a woman becomes human only by relationship and kinship (affinitas) and without these communal relationships one cannot find one‘s identity as a human being44. The individual is born in a particular community and expected to participate in its activities in order to be recognized and accepted as a person. The community protects, educates and renders service to the individual. At the same time each member of the community is supposed to render service to the other members and to the community at large.

2.3.3 UMUNTHU IS TOGETHERNESS AND BEING IN GOOD RELATION Umunthu is not only being with others in community but it is shown especially in how one relates to the others and to the community and this is always controlled by the others and the community. It is clear that the quality of one’s humanness depends on how one relates to others. When one does not actively participate in the life of the community and shows signs of selfishness, they will be warned about their behaviour and when they do not change they can even be cut off from the community and when this happens one is totally alone. Marc Ntetem says: “every tribesman knows that one cannot live alone by oneself and that when one is cut from the community one cannot survive”45 (translation is mine). Nobody wants to associate with this person in their joys or difficult moments. Detached from the community one can hardly survive because people help one another with all the hard jobs and decisions. Eliseus

44 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 65. Cf. Furger, Franz: Christliche Sozialethik. Grundlagen und Zielsetzung, Stuttgart (u.a): Kohlhammer 1991 (= Kohlhammer-Studienbücher Theologie 20), 100: “Aber nicht nur in dieser mitmenschlich direkten Beziehung der Geschlechtergemeinschaft ist der Mensch sozialbezogen. Vielmehr gilt dies auch für die größere Beziehung in Sippe und Volk, in und durch welche der einzelne erst seine ganze Identität findet und ‚jemand ist‘. Sobald er diese existentielle Beziehung zum Volk verliert oder wegen eines Verbrechens aus dieser Gemeinschaft ausgeschlossen wird, ist ihm sein Verderben sicher“. 45 Ntetem, Marc: Die negro-afrikanische Stammesinitiation. Religionsgeschichtle Darstellung. Theolog. Wertung. Möglichkeit d. Christianisierung, Münsterschwarzach: Vier-Türme-Verlag 1983 (= Münsterschwarzacher Studien 36), 101: „Jeder Stammesangehörige weiß, daß er nicht bloß eigenes Leben lebt, sondern das der ganzen Gemeinschaft; denn getrennt vom Ganzen kann er nicht existieren.“ 20

Afamefuna Ezeuchenne concurs with Marc Ntetem in saying: “community is a necessity, and to be without or outside (ostracized from) the community is regarded in Igbo land (Africa) as being nobody and having nobody. That will be denying oneself or being denied the sense of belongingness which characterizes his being”46. Such people are said to have lost their humanness “alibe Umunthu” or “sianthu” - meaning “they are not true person according to the standards of the community” or “they are not human beings”. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi confirm this Bantu thinking by saying: “Having Ubuntu, or being human, is identified with behaving according to one’s human nature, and by implication, in a manner that befits a human being. This makes it possible, in this sense, to denounce a person perceived to lack Ubuntu as being inhuman – literally, a non - person“47. Sometimes to show that these people have lost their humanness the prefix chi- attributed to them and, as we have seen above, it is used for “a thing” “chinthu”. For example munthu is a person. The person who has lost ones humanness is called “chimunthu”. When a woman (mayi) or a man (bambo) has lost their humanness, they are called “chimayi” or “chibambo” respectively. This means a human being has become like an animal in his/her behaviour. People also say of these people “munthu wachabe” or “chinthu chachabe” - meaning a useless person or a useless thing, meining that one is less than what is expected of a good human being. The choosing good or evil in order to be seen as having Umunthu or not is a lifelong process. That is where we find the Bantu freedom, freedom to choose between the culture of more life or the culture of less life which may lead to death. The choice is between becoming more human or diminishing in one’s humanness.

One is accepted or is not accepted by the community depending on how one lives its rules. These rules and customs are formed by the community and all tribesmen are obliged to follow them if they want to be accepted by the community and be part of it. Ntamushobora Faustin writes, that “Ubuntu originates from an African worldview on which the sociological dimensions of life in community rest.”48 This concept of

46 Ezeuchenne, Eliseus Afamefuna: Igbo Names and Initiation. Ethical Content of the Igbo Personal Names and Masquerade Systems as Basic Tools of Initiation, Saarbrücken: Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften 2014, 47. 47 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 65. 48 Ntamushobora, Faustin: The Philosophical Presuppositions of Ubuntu and Its Theological Implication for Reconciliation. CRPC Working Paper Series Number DU/2012/007, Daystar 21

Umunthu is common to all Bantu speaking communities even though sometimes it may be expressed in different ways.

2.3.4 GLOBALISATION AND UMUNTHU There is also another problem with the traditional concept of Umunthu and the way it is lived because of globalisation. Due to the influence of globalisation people are becoming more and more selfish. Most of the times one hears things like “masiku ano chaulere ndi moni yekha” - meaning that “these days there is nothing free of charge” or “there is nothing given out of charity except greetings”. One has to pay for all services. This is seen also in the community services like the funeral. In the past people in the village came to the bereaved family with food and other things to help at the funeral and the bereaved family needed not do everything alone. Nowadays people still bring some little things to help the bereaved family but largely they expect the family of the deceased to provide food for the people who come to assist at the funeral of their deceased relative. People are forgetting little by little the spirit of Umunthu and this can be seen in all levels of different relationships. All the same all is not lost; there are still traces of Umunthu which are being practiced among the people in their respective communities. These must be saved before they are completely lost; we must also correct those aspects which do not do good to the individual, which block the individual from being oneself and to take new initiatives which sometimes are not understood by the community. These aspects are still present in the daily lives of the people in a small community can also be brought to other levels in the inter-ethnic or inter-regional or inter-party relationship.

2.4 BANTU TRADITIONAL VALUES In the following section we shall see how Umunthu is supposed to be lived, how it was lived and we shall also also include the traces of Umunthu which are still present among the people in different ethnic groups especially in rural areas.

2.4.1 SENSE OF COMMUNITY LIFE The community is a group of people which can be of any size with a common cultural and historical background and which binds the people of either the family or lineage together. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne states that “the community is seen

University, 2. Availaible at http://www.daystar.ac.ke/downloads/working-papers/Working Paper 007.pdf. (Accessed 20.08.2013). 22

as a group whose cohesion is the result of shared history, traditions and culture, a community whose relation to the individual is subsidiary and reciprocal”49. For the Bantu speaking people community life is a cornerstone for the formation of Umunthu. A person receives the formation to Umunthu (humanness) in the community through different initiations and instructions. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi contend that “the value and dignity of persons is best realised in relationship with others. One cannot be a human being alone, only in community”50. Bénézet Bujo agrees with the two by saying that a person remains incomplete when one is not instructed in the community in which one is helped to change his worldview from “I –for –myself” to “I –in –the-Community –for– others”51. The quality of Umunthu is individual but one becomes aware and conscious of it only in relationship with others in the community and it can only be seen in relationship. In Placide Tempels’ view, “For the Bantu, man never appears in fact as an isolated individual, as an independent entity… the individual is necessarily an individual within the clan”52. Not all human beings have humanness: one is not born full human, s/he must become human. The child born of a woman in flesh has to be born again in the spirit as a human person in the community. John Mbiti says: “the nature brings the child into the world, but the society (community) creates the child into a social being, corporate human person”53. This means that a person is to have a human heart which cares for the others and which is responsible. This is valid for all the people, to those still living in rural areas as well as those in urban areas, who belong to a particular community. That is why those in urban areas return to their roots at some important stages and in certain situations of their lives. They are also supposed to show concern and to contribute to the things which happen in their villages or communities of origin.

It is the community through its palavers that formulates its rules and regulations and all the members are obliged to respect them. In most of these rules and regulations

49 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 46. 50 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 68. Cf. Furger, Christliche Sozialethik, 11: “Schon den alten Griechen galt es als selbstverständlich, daß der Mensch als einzelner, als ‚Selbstling‘ (griech. „idiotes“), eigentlich nicht Mensch im Vollsinn des Wortes ist. Vielmehr ist er, wie Aristotles bereits festhielt, ein ‚zoon politicon‘, ein gesellschaftliches Wesen“. 51 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 73. 52 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 108. 53 Muzorewa, Gwinyai H.: The Origins and Development of African Theology, New York: Orbis Books 1985, 45. 23

the interests and duties to the other and to community comes first before one’s own. And these are strictly controlled by the whole community and If one executes these duties faithfully, s/he is accepted by the community and s/he is seen as a true person by all. These rules and regulations help “in the maintenance of fellowship, one-ness and (ones) identity”54. They help the people directly or indirectly to act according to the laws, otherwise one is left alone and without community help one can hardly survive. Here the community acts as a guardian of its members for it gives orientation to their daily lives by laying out clearly the guiding principles for the life of all individual members according to their status. Augustine Shutte expresses the same idea and adds that “Because the self exists only in relationship with others, there are as many sides to the self as there are relationships. In each relationship I realise a different part of myself and show, as it were, a different face”55. As a result of these different behaviours one is either accepted or rejected by the community. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi give reasons why antisocial people are rejected by the community by saying that “individualistic, self-centred acts are seen not just as a failure to contribute to the well-being of both the person and the community, but as bringing about harm, misery and pain to others”56. Not all relations are healing, liberating and humanising; sometimes they turn out to be the sources of our alienation, de-humanisation and enslavement. This happens especially when one is being selfish and individualistic and does not have at heart the good of the others.

This community life is lived at different levels. The first level is the family which does not end only with the nuclear family but includes also the extended family and the clan. Then comes finally to the village where a number of families come together and most of the times different clans come together: it can also go beyond the village to inter-village level.

2.4.1.1 FAMILY The first and fundamental community for a person is the family. It is the basic social unit and it is made by marriage, blood bond or by adoption. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne adds to this point in thios way: “a person who through long service or

54 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 70. 55 Shutte, Ubuntu, 91. 56 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 71. 24

friendship is regarded and accepted as a member of the lineage”57. This is where human values both social and moral are given to the youth. It is considered to be the fundamental school for children where they learn Umunthu values like work, sharing, love, respect for elders and strangers and compassion. Hannah Kinoti gives one of the reasons why people tried their best to educate their children well as follows: “parents schooled their children in courteous behaviour because public opinion against people who lacked good breeding was strong. Children were taught to cultivate behaviour that earned them the people’s gratitude and respect”58. Adding to that it is said in Malawi that “nkuyu zodya mwana zinapota akulu” - meaning “the figs eaten by the child gave stomach-ache to the adults”. Meaning that if a child is not behaving well and has some kind of problems it is his/her parents or guardians who pay for the damage. To add to what Hannah Kinoti said that children are taught Umunthu values in order also to be accepted in the community as valuable persons in the community and for their own future lives.

Among the Bantu when one talks about family, one does not mean only parents and their children and brother and sisters. The family also includes the extended family made up of parents, children, cousins, aunts, and uncles, grand and great grandparents. Among the Chewa speaking people one hardly hears the word “asuwani” meaning “cousin”. Cousins are called brothers and sisters and their uncles are parents in the same way as their father and mother. The brother of one’s father is not one’s uncle but one’s father and they are classified according to their position in their family. If he is the elder brother of one’s father he is called “abambo akulu” literally meaning “elder father” and if he is younger than one’s father is called “abambo ang’ono” meaning “younger father”. The same applies also to the sisters of one’s mother; they are either “amayi akulu” meaning “elder mother” or “amayi ang’ono” meaning “younger mother” according to their position in the family. The sisters of one’s father in some ethnic groups like the Lomwe are called “abambo aakadzi” meaning “a female father”. The brothers of one’s mother are called “amalume” meaning “uncles” like in other cultures and they are very influential in

57 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 51. 58 Kinoti, Hannah Wangeci: African Ethics. Gikuyu Traditional Morality, Amsterdam-New York: Rodopi 2010, 26. 25

the family of their sisters in matriarchal ethnic groups59. The relationships to the family of one’s father or ones mother depend on whether one belongs to the matriarchal ethnic group or to the patriarchal ethnic group. In matriarchal societies the line follows the family of the mother like with the Lomwe, Chewa and Yao in Malawi and, in patriarchal ones it follows the family of the father like the Ngoni and Sena.

Relations within the family are shown also in the way people call each other and the names that are given. When a child is named after the grandparent or uncle, people will not call it by its name but it will be called “Gogo” or “Malume” meaning “Grandparent” or “uncle” respectively. The elderly people usually are not called by their names but they are referred to depending on their relationship with the children in the family or by their clan-name. The father or the mother will be called “Bambo a John” or “Mayi a John” meaning “the father of John” or “the mother of John”. Most of the children reach school-going age without knowing the first name of their parents.

“Mbumba ndi anthu” - meaning “a family is made up by its individual members” and no member of the family is to be excluded without any proper reason for the blood which binds them together is much thicker than water. All the members, even though those married in other villages or working far away, have always strong ties with their people back in their village of origin. There is a proverb which says “apao ndi mizu ya kachere, ikumana pansi” - meaning “relatives are like the roots of Kachere tree (ficus nataliensis), they meet underground”. The roots of Kachere tree appear to be very far apart on the surface, but in the earth below they come together again. This means that outwardly relatives may seem to be far from each other but when something happens in the family or to one of them they easily come together and support each other. They say that “chibale nchipsyera, sichipola” and that means “relationship among the relatives is like a scar, it can never get healed” or “chibale

59 Guinamard, Mirar a Africa, 6: “En Europa, la unidad familiar típica la forman los padres, los hijos y, a veces, los abuelos. Es el modelo que denominamos "familia nuclear". La unidad familiar africana es, en cambio, el clan (o familia extensa). El clan reúne un conjunto amplio de parientes que en nuestros términos serían denominados ‘primos’, ‘tíos’ y ‘abuelos’. Para el africano serán sencillamente ‘padres’, ‘madres’ y ‘hermanos’”. Cf. Suret-Canale, Jean: Schwarzafrika. Geographie. Bevölkerung. Geschichte West- und Zentralafrikas, Belin: Akademie- Verlag 1966 (= Band 1), 89: „In Haussa, wie in vielen sudanischen Sprachen, nennt das Kind nicht nur seinen eigenen Vater so, sondern alle Brüder seines Vaters, und Mutter seine eigene Mutter sowie die Schwestern seiner Mutter. Ferner werden die Vettern Brüder und die Neffen Söhne gennant“. 26

ndi pfupa sichiola” - meaning “relationship is like a bone, it does not get rotten”. They may sleep in different houses or live in different places and they can also stay a long time without meeting each other but that does not break or weaken their relationship. Also when family members quarrel and soon after one has a problem, or needs help, the other one comes to the rescue of one’s relative. Family ties are like a tree which can bend but it does not break easily. John Mbiti is convinced that as long as the “individual is alive, he will be tied to the community and the people among whom she or he has been born (and integrated) as a child”60. People of the extended family usually stick together and when that is exaggerated they can even form a block against immigrants or strangers.

These ties are seen concretely in the way these people share their daily lives. First of all, the extended family share almost everything that one needs, even meals61. When a family has cooked something different from others or something which is rarely eaten in the extended family they usually share this cooked food with their relatives. Also when one has something in his/her garden that other family members do not have, they usually share it with those who do not have or they give them permission to go in one’s garden to get it themselves whenever they need it. This goes to the extent of sharing small things like fire and salt and other things which one needs in his daily life. When the children or the people are together and one has prepared something to eat, it is shared among all the people present. One does not need to register for a meal at a relative’s place. One shares with one’s relatives what one has at that particular moment. The Malawians usually say “mbumba n’kudyetsa” - meaning “to have a family is to feed people”. All the members are supposed to help and care for their relatives and no one is to die of hunger when others go about with full stomachs. When a family is united it eats from the same plate and there is no fear of being poisoned by other members. All this is done in respecting the dignity of the one helped. One does not need to beat the drum to let other people know that s/he has helped a relative who was in trouble or had nothing to eat.

60 Mbiti, John S.: Introduction to African Religion, London: Heinemann ²1991, 93. 61 Cf. Suret-Canale, Schwarzafrika, 87: „Manchmal ist die Großfamilie ein echtes häusliches Gemeinwesen, dessen Mitglieder ihre Mahlzeit gemeinsam bereiten und einnehmen, aber im allgemeinen führen schon die Bedingungen der Feldarbeit sehr früh eine Indivialisierung der Haushalte herbei. Außer den gemeinsamen Feldern, die kollektiv bearbeit werden- oder von denen jeder seinen Anteil zur Bearbeitung zun Nutzen der gemeinde empfängt zur Ernährung der für die Gesamtheit arbeitenden Familienmitglieder verwendet wird or zum Teil als Rücklage dient, werden individuelle Felder zugeteilt.“ 27

The extended family not shares only food and the things needed in one’s daily life. They also work together. “Mutu umodzi susenza denga”, as already explained above, means that it takes several persons to carry a roof to the top of a granary. This means that people should always be ready to help one another especially when one has a big job to do. The first ones required to come to the aid of the one in need are one’s own extended family members and only after can one count on the community at large. When others come to help, they first observe if the extended family members are present for they associate the work with the whole family and not only with the one first concerned. Hannah Kinoti supports this when she writes that the people observe and control that the person or the family requesting assistance is not doing it out of laziness and that they are not exploiting the people who come to their aid62.

They also help each other when one has a problem. For example, when one is sick or has any kind of problem usually the relatives come, even from far, in order to be with the one suffering. One leaves what s/he is doing or his/her service in order to be with the sick relative or the one who has problems. When a person is seriously sick the relatives take turns in taking care for them and they assist also at their death. It is a shame for one to die alone without any assistance or anybody close by. Bénézet Bujo says that “the African spirit of solidarity, which shows itself most clearly during the hour of death of a member, could serve as a valuable incentive for industrialised societies, namely, to give its dying people a deep sense of belonging. Until the last moment, the dying person should have the certainty of dying within the community”63.

The family also participates actively when one wants to marry. The uncle from the mother’s side is usually the match-maker. When one has found a woman to marry he tells first his uncle who meets with the uncle of the girl and both discuss the marriage proposal. These two uncles are also supposed to act as advisers to the newly wedded. This brings together the family of the bride and bridegroom. Their families try to preserve this relationship in whatever way they can help the newly married to stay married. Also, when the woman is pregnant the close relatives of both partners are called to abstain from sexual relations till the time the child is presented to the

62 Kinoti, African Ethics, 101. 63 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 21. 28

community: from this moment the child is considered as a member of the community. This rite is called kufunditsa mwana which literally means ‘to cover the child’. We shall elaborate on this below when talking about the place of the individual in the community.

When a member of the family works in town or in another village and comes for a visit, the visitor is received joyfully. They say “mlendo sathyola mphasa” - meaning “a visitor does not wear out a sleeping mat”. A visitor goes away soon, so one must receive him/her well and be generous to him/her. Otherwise the host will have a bad name among his family members and one can even be rejected by the family and be left alone because of showing signs of selfishness. When one has a good job and a good income the other members of the family expect them to help them. In Bantu thinking one does not become rich alone. Whatever one has is supposed to profit the whole community. This can and does cause problems sometimes in the family. This point will be developed later when analysing the aspect of the person in the community. Whatever the individual member of the family possesses is supposed to benefit all the members of one’s family. These people working very far from the family are informed of all the important events and activities in the village and are supposed to attend these activities and to bring their contributions, especially in case of death and initiations. Hannah Kinoti is of the same view: “most of the ceremonies required the presence of all the family members. Through the traditional system of division of labour, each person had some job or other to do in the family. The individual learnt to value family welfare and to become aware of his first responsibility64. Many of these people spend their holidays at Christmas and Easter with their extended families in the village of origin. They have good connections with their roots and they tend to return to them now and then for socialization and mutual help.

Another beautiful time for the Bantu of Malawi, but it is dying out due to globalisation, is at night when the whole family gathers around the fire. The extended family comes together for a rest after working hard the whole day, and sometimes also separately, men from women. They all sit round the fire and tell stories which are passed from one generation to another. These stories are not only for

64 Kinoti, African Ethics, 21. 29

entertainment purpose but also for teaching children or the youth about Umunthu values and behaviours.

This relationship goes on even after death. When one dies far from home, the family members make everything possible to have the corpse back to the village to be buried where their forefathers were buried. They believe that when one is buried in a foreign graveyard, where none of his relatives was buried before he will call other members of the family to this new graveyard otherwise he will be lonely in a foreign new graveyard. This helps the family members to see to it that the grave of their loved ones are properly cared for when they are buried in their own village: occasionally the Village Headman/woman (V.H.) calls all the people to go and clean the graveyard. This makes the living-dead (the ancestors) to rest in peace and not to bring calamities to their family. Bring the dead back to their village of origin helps also the extended family to come together and discuss about the question of inheritance and debts of the deceased and also of taking care of the orphans and the widow65.

2.4.1.2 VILLAGE This solidarity is not lived only in the family but also at the village and inter-village levels. This can be also at the clan and tribe levels. Here we shall focus on the village which is composed of different families living together in a particular place under a V.H. This is because what happens at village level is mostly reflected what happens at other levels like inter-village level and extended community level. This solidarity is not limited only to biological and kinship ties but it goes beyond them. It is also seen in the interdependence and care shown by people living in the same area.

In the village when there is something important all the villagers are informed about it. This is done either by beating a drum that announces what is to take place or by a mouth to mouth transmission in the village. All are encouraged to take part in the announced activity or event. Ajume H. Wingo says that: “The celebrants were farmers, bricklayers, and so forth who surely had other things to do but forwent them for the occasion. Personal identity and community, never so articulated, were

65 Kinoti, African Ethics, 26. 30

emergent effects of everyday activities and celebrations”66. The feeling of togetherness is very important to all Bantu speaking people, none of the community members are excluded and none are supposed to exclude him/herself from the community67. Most of the times there is no special invitation but all who hear about the event are expected to participate.

Like in the extended family the people of a village or clan or tribe usually have strong ties among themselves and children are seen as belonging to the whole community. John Mbiti says “following the birth of a baby, both mother and baby (or just the baby alone) are kept in seclusion inside the house for several days”68. He continues saying that it was done in order to give “the mother time to rest and recover and to allow the preparations for the ceremonies and festivals to be carried out”69. After about three weeks the child is taken out of the birth house for the first time. The child is ritually washed in front of all the people present and is given a name. The presentation of the child is called kuturutsa mchikuta. John Mbiti writes that “the mother and the child are brought out of the seclusion to be introduced to their family, relatives, and friends. This is like a social birth for them: they now come out to be received by the society”70. Now the child belongs not only to his nuclear or extended family, but to the whole community. A Malawian proverb says that “Mwana wa mnzako ndi wako yemwe” - meaning that “the child of your neighbour is your child too”. This means that the whole community has responsibility over this child.

Many people of a particular village refer to themselves as brothers and sisters especially when they meet themselves somewhere very far from home. They are expected to support and help one another in daily needs and more especially in times of trouble. Edward Kanyike confirms this by saying that “friendship tends towards

66 Wingo, Ajume H.: Good Government Is Accountability, in: Kiros, Teodros (ed.): Explorations in African political Thought. Identity, Community, Ethics, New York: Routledge 2001, 151-170, 154. 67 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 68. 68 Mbiti, Introduction, 92. 69 Mbiti, Introduction, 92. 70 Mbiti, Introduction, 92. 31

brotherhood”71. He goes on to say that sometimes it is even deeper than brotherhood72.

The initiations of both girls and boys are also a community activity. Before the date of the initiation all the members of the village are informed of the coming event and those who have children at the age of puberty inform the chief of their intention to have their child initiated. During initiation families of the initiates and some other people in the village bring food to the place where the initiates are and that food is eaten by all the people in the initiation camp. At the end of this period the whole community gathers for a feast and all the people are invited. It is a big feast, with all taking part in drinking and dancing to express their joy at the new members of the community with new responsibilities. Hannah Kinoti says that “group initiation into adulthood marked the beginning of the group’s public responsibilities”73. It also expresses the common concern for the growth and development of the youth. This shows a sense of togetherness among them and strengthens this unity between them and brings the sense of belonging to the community not only for the initiates but for all the people.

When a person gets married, the whole community is involved. The family of the one getting married must give a lot of things in preparation for the feast. The members of the community provide food and drinks and help with the work in preparation for the feast. One gives what one can. This is expressed through a proverb which says “zidze pano n’za tonse” - meaning that “everything that might come here is the concern of all of us”. Whatever happens in the village affects all the members. One cannot say that ‘this is not my business’. On the day of the wedding the whole society gathers, both those who are officially invited and those without official invitation. All eat and dance together. “It helps to unite the singing and dancing group and to express its fellowship and participation in life”74. One cannot be sent away from such feasts. They take place for the whole community.

When one in the family is sick the whole family cares for the sick. Those family members living far away are supposed to go where the sick person is and help in

71 Kanyike, Principle, 100. 72 Kanyike, Principle, 100. 73 Kinoti, African Ethics, 22. 74 Mbiti, Introduction, 27. 32

caring for him/her. The other village members also come often to visit the sick and to stay with the family. They bring gifts for the family, especially food for the sick and those taking care of them. When the sickness becomes serious, the whole family gathers round the sick together with some people close to the family.

Another point of meeting is when one dies. The whole village, but only those who have gone through the puberty initiation, gather at the place of the dead. Most of the villagers spend the night at the place of the bereaved families’ place. The people say that “maliro n’kulirana” - meaning that “a funeral is weeping together”. One is supposed to support and help others when they are in sorrow. “Chaona mzako chapita, mawa chiona iwe”- means “what has happened to your neighbour is gone; tomorrow it will happen to you”. Bad luck has hit your friend today, but it can hit you later. One is called to help one’s unfortunate friend; one will need him/her later. This is controlled by the community indirectly. They see who is there and who is not there. When one does not appear at funeral rites, the community pays back when one of his/her relatives dies. The people in the village will not appear at his relative’s funeral; sometimes they just sit idle looking and see what the family is going to do. This is one of the worst punishments one can receive from the community in places where not everyone can afford to pay for a funeral service and most of the services are done locally by the villagers.

During the burial ceremony the women go from house to house collecting maize flour and money to help with the burial and to provide food for the people who are at the funeral both those from afar or near. They collect also firewood and fetch water. The women cook the food while the men dig the grave, make the coffin and split firewood. Before or after the burial people share the meal and all present are supposed to take part, refusal to partake of the meal is badly seen by community as a sign of selfishness or witchcraft. A day or three days after the burial the people come together again. They cut the hair of the close relatives. “The shaving of the hair is a symbol of separation, showing that one of the family members has been separated from them. At the same time it is an indication of the people’s belief that death does not destroy life, since the growth of new hair indicates that life continues to spring up.”75 They also organise a feast. This is to comfort the bereaved and to bring life

75 Mbiti, Introduction, 121-122. 33

back to normal and to thank those who officiated at the funeral rites. They escort also the dead person into the world of the ancestors; otherwise the dead will not be pleased, possibly resulting in disaster and problems in the family or village. That is why the people try to observe all funeral rites.

When a dead person is causing problems, e.g. when s/he is bringing diseases or bad luck76, the relatives consult a traditional medicine man who usually tells them to prepare a feast. This feast is called “chikumbutso”. This word comes from the verb “kukumbutsa – to remind”. During this feast the whole village is invited; the people of the village remember the dead and they try to do their level best to make this feast as beautiful as possible in order to please the dead. This just testifies that among the Bantu of Malawi death is not the end of human life but the person continues to exist in the hereafter. The dead are still part of the family. The unity is not only found among the living but also with the living-dead (ancestors). When one is eating and something falls to the ground, one is not supposed to pick it up because that belongs to the ancestors and sometimes the people throw a portion of food on the ground for the ancestors.

When the village is hit with some problems or when there is too much or no rain, “it is a sign that the living-dead are not pleased with the people’s conduct and God, Leza, does not give them rain”77 (translation is mine). The chief calls the people together and asks them to check their conduct. They are also asked to prepare beer, maize flour and many things for the ancestors. On the day of sacrifice, the chief calls the names of the ancestors and the names of gods asking for help. Charles Nyamiti confirms this: “In Africa, the living and their dead ancestors are related to one another as if the dead were still on earth, since the family relationship continues: The living are a continuation of the family line begun by the ancestors, who are believed to be usually benevolent to the family, although they can become angry if they are forgotten by the family, (…the) ancestors visit the living directly or through other beings such as snakes and hyenas”78 and on top of that they also speak to their living members through dreams.

76 Gwengwe, John W.: Kukula ndi Mwambo, Blantyre (Mw): Dzuka Publications 1965, 19. 77 Gwengwe, Kukula, 19. 78 Nyamiti, Charles: African Tradition and the Christian God, Eldoret: Gaba Publications 1978, 46. 34

As we have already seen above the community comes together when there is some work to be done or when one member of the community has a big task to accomplish. People come to help the person and usually the person who is helped prepares some beer or soft drinks or some kind of food for the people who come to help. According to Hannah Kinoti “helping others and reciprocating a good deed was regarded as a duty for every individual. Defaulters were in danger of having their needs ignored or of being punished”79. There is no direct compensation for the job done. People are usually encouraged also to use their expertise in a specific skill or profession for the service of the community when need arises.

John Mbiti summaries these different points about Umunthu in his book entitled ‘African Religions and Philosophy’ by saying that, “Only in terms of other people does the individual become conscious of his being, his own duties, his privileges and responsibilities towards himself and towards other people. When he suffers, he does not suffer alone but with the corporate group; when he rejoices, he rejoices not alone but with his kinsmen, his neighbours and his relatives whether dead or living. …. What happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual. The individual can only say ‘I am because we are; and since we are, and therefore I am’”. One is supposed to share in the life of the community always in good and hard times80 and one is supposed to promote and encourage togetherness and the well-being of all. The individual is never alone. Each individual has responsibility within communal ownership and relationship. Each member of the community owes one’s existence from others. The survival of the group and each member highly depends on the individual solidarity and contribution through his/her skills, inputs, labour and generosity.

The community comes together for palavers in order to make rules and regulations to help in the good running of the life of the community but also when there are problems in the community which concern the whole community or individuals. This is especially done when one shows signs of selfishness and is not caring for the good of the other or by breaking some moral codes which can bring disaster on the

79 Kinoti, African Ethics, 101. 80 Nell-Breuning, Gerechtigkeit, 46: „Der Volksmund spricht es so aus: ‚Wir alle sitzen in einem Boot.‘ Damit ist gemeint: das gesellschafliche Ganze und seine Glieder sind aufs engste schicksalhaft miteinander verbunden. Soll es dem Ganzen wohl ergehen, dann muß es allen seinen Gliedern wohl ergehen; soll es den Gliedern wohl ergehen, dann muß das Ganze in gutem Befund seion“. 35

community or on others. Sometimes it is only a small group of wise people respected in the village who are called to discuss particular things concerning the life of the community. They talk until an agreement is reached and this has to be for the good of the whole community and not only of those present81. People freely discuss their problems and look for suggestions and solutions together. We shall develop this more when talking about the palaver in the community and in the family.

“Ubuntu is a philosophy of tolerance and compassion that also embraces forgiveness.”82 When one goes against the spirit of Umunthu, one is not rejected by the community immediately. He is given a chance to change his behaviour and to start collaborating with others and the community once again. These talks are usually led by the V.H. and their councillors. All the parties involved are given chance to express their point of view and they can talk as long as they want and also all the people present are given a chance to talk if they feel like. This is done till the truth comes out clearly. One can talk several times and some even repeat themselves and all people listen to the discussion patiently. There are times when restitution or compensation must be paid but the main aim of this is to bring about reconciliation and forgiveness. At the end there are signs of reconciliation and friendship like shaking hands or sharing a meal. Lack of forgiveness is also lack of Umunthu.

The clear example of Umunthu is what happened in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Till 2005 there were still many people sitting in prison waiting for their trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda that is why Rwandan government established the “Gacaca court system” in which the suspects would be judged by the local courts formed by local judges who are elected by the local community. This is how courts encouraged the spirit of Umunthu by letting the accused persons recognize their mistakes and ask for forgiveness and on the other hand help the victims to accept the apology of the accused persons and offer the accused forgiveness: “The courts gave lower sentences if the person was repentant and sought reconciliation with the community. Often, confessing prisoners returned home without further penalty or received community service orders. …The Gacaca trials

81 Bujo, Bénézet, Is there a Specific African Ethics? Towards a Discussion with Western Thought, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 113-128, 122. 82 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 72. 36

also served to promote reconciliation by providing a means for victims to learn the truth about the death of their family members and relatives. They also gave perpetrators the opportunity to confess their crimes, show remorse and ask for forgiveness in front of their community”83.

Desmond Tutu says that “harmony, friendliness and community are great goods. Social harmony is for us the summum bonum - the highest good. Anything that subverts or undermines this sought-after good is to be avoided like plague. Anger, resentment, lust for revenge, even success through aggressive competitiveness, are corrosive of this good. To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. What dehumanises you, inexorably dehumanises me. Forgiveness gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanise them”.84 In forgiving one becomes more human and helps in building the community.

2.4.2 INTERDEPENDENCE Solidarity means umodzi in Chichewa and this means oneness or togetherness. The Cambridge Dictionary says togetherness means “the pleasant feeling of being united with other people in friendship and understanding”85. People say that in unity they find their power by the saying which states that “muumodzi muli mphamvu” - meaning “in unity there is strength”. People feel that they can accomplish great things only when they are supported and, their neighbours can do it when they offer a helping hand and support them. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi are convinced that, “within the context of Ubuntu, people are family. They are expected to be in solidarity with one another especially during times of duress when the need for Ubuntu becomes more acute. Persons in need should be able to count on the support of those around them”86. This is also cherished and preferred even when one can manage to do the thing alone. This idea comes clearly in the proverb which says “kuyenda awiri simantha” - meaning that “two people go together is not always out of fear” but one covers the distance with facility. It would not be the same when one

83 Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations. Availaible at http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/about/bgjustice.shtml (Accessed 23.04.2014). 84 Tutu, No Future, 35. 85 Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Availaible at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/togetherness (Accessed 21.10.2014). 86 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 68. 37

would have to cover the same distance alone. This gives a sense of security and support when people are in good relationship with others. This is used especially to encourage people to share their problems with their neighbours and to help those who are in need even when the need is not very big. People are not encouraged to hide their problems. For example when one is sick in the family and the people hide it and afterwards the person dies the family is blamed for this behaviour. Sometimes they are even asked to pay a compensation for their bad behaviour to the chief of the village.

The members of the community feel that they have the obligation to get involved in the life of their fellow members. This is expected by all members of the community and by the community itself. All the members are expected to participate in the social activities of their neighbours. These social actions can either be for the well-being of those who are in need or for the celebration of the life of the other. This can be done when all the community is present like at the funeral but also in an informal ways among neighbours.

As we have seen already above sharing is very important and people share and ask from their neighbours even the little things which people uses every day like salt, fire, matches, maize flour, relish, and the like. Even children who are not initiated are also expected to share what they have with their friends. The members of the family or community are expected to share the things they have with others. This increases Umunthu and helps to building up the community.

They are done at both personal and community levels as we have seen already. One does not suffer or celebrate life alone. One is always accompanied by the community physically and also through the different gifts which the members of the community bring along. All the people with Umunthu contribute something to the welfare of others and all the services rendered at these celebrations or services are not piad for. People do all these things as a sign of solidarity and all present try to do a bit of what is required. In this way even big jobs are completed in a short time.

This is also seen in case of the orphans and old people. In traditional Africa there were no orphanages and houses for old people. In Africa there is no person who does not belong to a family as we have seen above. Even those people who have nobody in their nuclear family would be integrated and cared for in the extended family and

would be properly cared for as children or grandchildren of that family. Those old people who still can manage to stay alone but cannot do everything by themselves are usually given one or two grandchildren or some younger relatives in the extended family, especially those not yet married. It is they who do all the necessary jobs for the grandparents.

When one receives a gift from someone one has to show signs of appreciation by saying ‘zikomo’ - meaning ‘thanks’ and this shows that the gift has been appreciated. There is always a thinking behind the mind that when one has given one may receive something in return at a later time87. The gift is expected to be reciprocated but one does not have to give the same type of thing that one has received and also in the same measure. There has to be mutuality in the hospitality of the community. One has to contribute to the help of others in need according to one’s capacity and talents. People call the person who does not reciprocate “Kanga ndi wamba” - meaning that “what is mine I will roast”. This means I will use myself whatever I have. There is also another proverb which shows that reciprocity is expected: “kupatsa nkuika” - meaning that (giving is to dish out for oneself88) when you give help to someone it is like keeping that thing for future use. When one or two times there is no reciprocity it does not really destroy the relationship but when it is a habit then it becomes a bit of a problem. When one receives always and does not give or come to the aid of others one is not well seen in the community and most of the times one has a very bad name and reputation in the community. We have seen in the case of strangers one does not need to be always recompensed by the visitor but at least he gains a good name together with his community.

It is not always seen as good to give another thing immediately after receiving a gift from someone or tige the same type of gift as the one received. This is seen as paying back and it shows that one has not appreciated the gift given. One is supposed to wait before giving something to the person who has given him/her a gift or just come to his/her come to your aid and as much as possible one has to give a different thing and should he give the same thing there should be a difference in quantity, either a bit

87 Kinoti, African Ethics, 101. 88 Boon, African Way, 27: “Although the emphasis of this proverb is on reciprocity of kindness, it is important to emphasize the African view of favours. Should one offer kindness, it is understood that the individual may never be able to reciprocate. However, life’s way is that one day someone, somewhere, will return this kindness”. 39

more or less. Immediate or exactly equivalent remuneration is not appreciated in the community.

This is not to be confused with communitarianism. At the first glance we see that communitarianism has some things in common with the Bantu ethics. Like the Bantu it sees a human being as a communal being in a social interdependence relationship like in the Bantu ethics. A human being is never seen as an isolated individual. It sees the community as a group of people connected through blood or other interests that the people have in common. In this regard the common interest is very crucial in the building of the community and all the members of that particular community have an intellectual and ideological attachment to their fixed goals and values. In contrast the Bantu community life is the community which defines the person as a true human being with humanity, not some static, isolated rationality. On top of that is the fact that personhood has to be acquired, it is not given automatically at birth and it has to grow as one makes ones journey in the community. One can even fail to achieve full personhood. Last is that communitarianism is born out of a reaction to liberalism, while community life in Africa is something which is the fundamental part of their existence for generations long, and the community in Africa includes also the dead and those not yet born89.

2.4.3 RESPECT AND DIGNITY OF INDIVIDUAL In many African languages the word for “respect” is the same as “glory” and “honour”; in Chichewa, “ulemu” is in fact used for all the three. The reason might be that the world for “respect” in the sense of “live intact or do not touch” is missing in many African languages because it carries with it an element of indifference which is negative in African cultures. This may explain why nowhere in an African city a woman can give birth to a child on the street without anyone helping her. Women will come, encircle her, make an enclosure with their clothes and help her out. We always touch but with honour and solidarity.

Placide Tempels says: “In other circumstances Africans will be heard to boast that they respect the rights of the person and of the goods of others”90. Many people think that in Africa the individual is lost in the community and one does not care about the

89 Bujo, Foundations, 5. 90 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 78. 40

individual and his affairs. The fact is that the Bantu speaking cultures see the person as a basis, centre and end of everything and one is valuable in oneself whether one is known or not, rich or poor. Each and every person is valuable per se and each should be spared respect. Community life is like a forest. When one looks at it from outside, one sees only a forest but once one enters it one sees the different trees which make up the forest. All persons are assumed equal and all are supposed to be given unconditional respect and trust. One should not base one’s trust on what the other has or what the other has accomplished or can accomplish. One should rather look at the person and one should recognize that the life of the other person is just as important and valuable as one’s own. In Malawi people say “Chitsiru chili ndi mwini wake” - meaning “even the person people consider stupid has some people who see him as a person” and s/he is to be given the respect and treatment which is fit for any human being. This indirectly also implies that even children and those considered to be stupid by others are to be respected so that they too can learn to respect others. Another proverb says “wamisala anaona nkhondo” - meaning “a mad person was the first one to see the war coming”. In this way s/he saved the whole community from the attack of the enemies. This tries to show that even these simple people and sometimes even the handicapped also have the right to be listened to and they can teach others and even the community something very important. There is no fool who is disowned by his/her family and the community is not supposed to disown them out of respect the persons themselves and their families. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi concur with this thinking by saying that the person should be valued for what one is, not for what one has and that each individual values are recognized and treated as equal and with respect91.

The person is seen as a social animal, as being with others, and in order to be with others one must be distinct and unique. And when I respect and uphold your personality I also respect and uphold my personality. Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi continue that “people are conscious of their common humanity, which has a certain dignity, integrity and value to be acknowledged, respected and valued and that no one is either superior or inferior in humanity”92. Augustine Shutte concurs with the mentioned ahead in emphasising that each individual sees every

91 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 66. 92 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 66. 41

other individual member as another self and they see the community as one with them in character and identity93. One has also the freedom to follow or not what the community dedicates to him. In so doing one either grows in the spirit of Umunthu or diminishes in this process. Martin H. Prozesky confirms this point when he says “None of this (things mentioned above about Umunthu) means that cultures governed by Umunthu ethic turn people into passive beings, governed by the dictates of tradition and group pressure, leaving no room for personal initiative and creativity”94. Every person is recognized as an individual person and respected as a person who ranges above other created things. This is what we find in the philosophy of Placide Tempels95. It is a philosophy of reciprocal respect, recognition of the dignity of the other and of sympathy.

In this philosophy we also see that a human being is endowed with freedom. Placide Tempels says: “The Bantu understand free will, the faculty which the ‘muntu’ has of deciding by himself and of choosing between a greater and a lesser good, or between good and evil. They think that a man may have a ‘life giving will’, or a ‘destroying will’. A man's will may be determined in the same sense that, in respect of life and the hierarchy of forces, he wills in accordance with that ordering of forces that has been willed by God”96. A human being has the power to choose what he wants to do with one’s life and how he wants to relate to others and to the community, and he is encouraged to choose to respect life and to put the things of this world in order. This is a lifelong process. “Phukusi la moyo sakusungila wina” – the bag which has your life cannot be kept by another person – meaning that one is free to decide for one’s own life and one has to take responsibility for what happens in one’s life following one’s decisions.

2.3.4 THE CONCEPT OF AUTONOMY AND ITS LIMITS Placide Tempels in his book entitled “Bantu Philosophy” in chapter four97 says that a person is a living force which dominates over other creatures and is called by God to share and participate in his creation. Therefore man is under God but superior to

93 Shutte, Ubuntu, 94. 94 Prozesky, Martin H.: Cinderella, Survivors and Saviour: African Ethics and the Quest for a Global Ethic, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 3-13, 9. 95 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 66-69. 96 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 69. 97 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 63-74. 42

other created things. This idea is found also in the Christian creation stories where God entrusted the world in the hands of human beings98. This is similar to a Christian creation (Gen1, 26). God who is perfect and complete is the cause of life and calls man to participate in this action and man can add or decrease life in things under him. Placide Tempels writes “According to Bantu thought, it is, then, logical that the "munthu" should be able to grow ontologically, become greater, stronger; and equally that he should be able, as "munthu", to diminish, lose his vital force and come to an end in the complete annihilation of his very essence, the paralysis of his vital force, which takes from him the power to be an active force, a vital cause”99. This force is what gives one his personal identity and also the power to interact with others.

Placide Tempels continues saying that this force comes to more life, fruition or realisation when the individual engages in relations with his surrounding environment, namely God, fellow human beings and creatures. The person must engage him/herself in this constant relation to someone or something and these relations are rooted in observing communal dictates that act as sacred rules of the community and have not be violated. This includes keeping good relationship with others and following what the community holds important. The observation of these moral rules gives one moral worth. This must not be understood in the sense of Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative in which he claims that the moral value of the action is determined only by the motive for which it is done rather than by the outcome of the action. He continues that people have duties which are categorical and unconditional100.

In the Bantu sense the moral values are functional. The action will be judged as good or bad according to the outcome of the action. Placide Temples adds another important point when he writes: “The Bantu cannot be a lone being. It is not a good enough synonym to say that he is a social being. No; he feels and knows himself to be a vital force, at this very time to be in intimate and personal relationship with other forces acting above him and below him in the hierarchy of forces. He knows

98 Gen 1,26: “Let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth”. 99 Tempels, African Philosophy, 66. 100 Ochieng‘-Odhiambo F.: A Companion to Philosophy, Nairobi: Consolata Institute of Philosophy 2009 (= Guide to Philosophy Series 16), 52-57. 43

himself to be a vital force, even now influencing some forces and being influenced by others. The human being, apart from the onto-logical hierarchy and the interaction of forces, has no existence in the conceptions of the Bantu”101. One must be capable of interacting with other forces in the hierarchy of forces and as a real person that exists and at same time is respectful of other forces and creates life in the lower forces. These relationships and goodness are to be shared by all the community for the good of all. He continues saying that important persons have a more full and successful version of a person and therefore they are to play an important role in the community and more is awaited from them. One’s individual identity is inseparable from the aspiration of the community and it’s good.

Placide Tempels stipulates that “I” and “We” do not exist independently from each other. This means that the individual and the community depend on each other. The community is made up of individuals and without them the community would not be there. The community develops through the individual’s participation and the community helps the individual to become a true human being. “Community and individual are mutually supportive – each operating in fulfilment of the other and neither working to suppress the other”102. So most of the services which are rendered as seen above are done in the community but directed to the individual or individual families. This shows us that the individual entity is recognized and realized within the community and by other individuals in the community. Most of the Umunthu values are directed to an individual by another individual like hospitality, sharing, forgiveness, compassion etc. When they meet for palavers, they are the individuals who formulate rules and work out and choose goals and see how they can fulfil them in their lives. And the community uses these values to enhance the identity of its members.

This thinking of Placide Tempels is just like that of the Bantu speaking people of Malawi. They believe that a person is formed by the community to become a human being and nobody is born wise. This is a life-long process but the most important part of this process is the initiation which one must undergo in order to learn more of the expectations of the community according to one’s stage of life. It is the duty of the

101 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 68-69. 102 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 81. 44

community to initiate one into a true person or into the personhood and this is done in informally two ways; in the family and daily life teachings and formally in the initiations organized by the community.

When a child is newly born it is not considered a full human being and when it dies it is not buried in the graveyard together with others. Augustine Shutte expressed this clearly in writing that “because I depend on relationships with others for being the person I am, in the beginning, at the start of my life, I am not a person at all. Or put it another way and say that I am a potential person. I only become fully human to the extent that I am included in relationships with others”103. It is only after the ceremony called “kutulutsa mwana” that we have seen above that the child is considered as a person and it is given a name. Naming the child shows that it is a separate entity and not a nonentity. Mulago gwa Cikala says that this is the first stage of the child, in the process of becoming a full member of the society104. It is a free being endowed with the capacity of engaging itself in the process of becoming a human being. The child now belongs to the community. Now everybody can take the child in his/her hands without the danger of spoiling the life of the child. From now on it is a passive member of the community. This process has to continue throughout his life through different initiations and through different daily instructions and stories.

This process of growth continues in the family. At first the child spends most of the time with its mother while the father occupies himself looking for the basic needs of the family. It already starts learning something from its mother. ‘Ukapeza mwana wa ng’ombe akudya udzu wanaonera make’ - meaning ‘a calf you find eating grass, has seen its mother eating grass’. The child follows the examples of its parents, especially the mother. They are told about community life little by little. Usually a child is not given food to eat alone; children have to learn to eat together with others and to share. When a child shows signs of egoism by going away deliberately when others are eating, no food is kept for him/her, s/he told “wayenda, wapenga - meaning the one who is not there, is mad” and s/he gets no special treatment105.

103 Shutte, Ubuntu, 92. 104 Mulago, La religion traditionelle, 70. 105 Cf. Guinamard, Mirar a Africa, 7: “Desde niño aprenderá a practicar una fuerte solidaridad con todos estos parientes. Un ejemplo: al llegar la hora de la comida, la madre llama a su hijo a comer, 45

Children are also asked to render small services in the community like bringing food from the kitchen to the elders and a drink of water to people in the family or to visitors when they need it. After six years or so the formation continues differently; the father and the male members of the community teach young boys how they are expected to behave and live in the community and the girls continue with their mothers and other female members of the community. This is a pre-initiation stage of formation.

Then the initiation ceremony comes and this takes several weeks. It is done on the level of the community, and boys and girls are initiated differently according to their gender. During this period the individual is given instructions on personal dignity, on maturity and responsibility in the society. Here the youth are trained to be disciplined; this is a passage from childhood into the world of adults. It demands death of oneself so that one may attain a completely new and different type of life. Some rituals indicate clearly the death to childhood and rebirth into adulthood: in some tribes the initiates are meant to spend the night in pits dug in the form of graves. Even the fact of spending the time of initiation in the bush or forest is a sign of going back into the wombo of nature only to be reborn as dult at the end of the initiation. The person gets his identity as s/he develops and participates in the initiations corresponding to one’s age. From now on they can take an active part in the community. There is supposed to be a clear distinction between the youth who are initiated and those who are not. Anti-social behaviour or lack of Umunthu belongs to the non-initiated youth and that is why they are looked upon as incomplete human beings. With this initiation the youth are encouraged to increase the level of their personhood which will be determined by their participation in the life of the community and in their daily relations with others. ‘Alidere nkulinga utayenda naye - meaning you know a person only after walking with him’. These initiations do not automatically produce the true human being but each individual will be judged by the quality of his/her social relations and the participation in the community. This transforms an irresponsible person and intractable youth into a mature person with dignity who can respect oneself and in so doing becomes an instrument of transformation for others through their participation.

pero no se inquietará en absoluto si ve que ha decidido comer con su ‘tío’ o su ‘tía’ (¡son también sus ‘padres’ y ‘madres’!)”. 46

In the African mentality one does not become rich alone, because all the people are supposed to share all the things they are blessed with106 for two reasons; first of all to relieve the suffering of those in need and secondly to maintain unity with the community. Most often people, who have resources, cannot freely enjoy their wealth because when they try to be different and lead a different style of life they are seen as individualists and as if they are trying to show off. Those who are rich are very often accused of witchcraft andare suspected of having obtained their wealth through magic; should there be a mysterious or even natural death in the family, all the fingers point to them as the causes of the death. In some cases those who have the means, for example, to build a beautiful house in the village cannot do so for fear of being bewitched.

2.4.5 HOSPITALITY Hospitality can be classified in different categories. There are visitors who belong to the family or relatives and those who belong to the same clan and there are those coming from a different ethnic group or those not known to the host. For Hannah Kinoti, “customary rules required that visitors and travellers, male and female alike, should be provided with food, and if necessary, sleeping quarters. However, the status of the guest determined the kind of hospitality received”107. In general all visitors and travellers are received well and are given water and food and when they happen to pass-by when people were eating, they were invited to share in the meal. Hannah Kinoti says that when a person is generous s/he would even persuade a passer-by to stop and share in one’s meal108, and as usual the person does not accept at once so one has to insist on inviting the passer-by. Travellers and people unknown to the host were welcomed and accommodated without one expecting one day to meet and be treated well by the stranger. Mike Boon says that the Zulu in South Africa say that “Umuzi ngumuzi ngokuphanjukelwa – A home is a real home if people visit it. This means that a home is welcoming and happy, and that people will wish to visit it because of this. Strangers will always be made to feel welcome”109. Martin H. Prozesky talks of the meeting between the Khoikhoi African people and the Portuguese mariners who called the land of the Africans “Terra da boa gente” -

106 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 74. 107 Kinoti, African Ethics, 99. 108 Kinoti, African Ethics, 103. 109 Boon, African Way, 27. 47

meaning “the land of good people” because of their generosity to the Portuguese110. Martin H. Prozesky’s idea is supported by Mluleki Munyaka and Mokgethi Motlhabi who underline that strangers or foreigners were received with an attitude of tolerance and benevolence. They could move freely in their new territory and were given what they needed for their subsistence111.

A visitor was usually there for a limited time and people have proverbs to express that they should not be afraid of the stranger or mistreat him/her because s/he has not come to stay for a long time. “Mlendo ndi mame sachedwa kukamuka” - meaning “a visitor is like the dew which evaporates quickly” and another one says that “mlendo sathyola mphasa” - meaning that “a visitor does not wear out a sleeping mat”. A visitor goes away soon, so one must receive him/her well and be generous to him/her for this time. Otherwise one will have a bad name in the community and in the community of the stranger112. This was done with caution so that the people would not develop parasitic tendencies; do not work and keep on moving from one family to another113. The community does not encourage laziness among its members.

Whenever the visitor announces his or her visit people prepare good food for him/her which the family does not eat every day, most of the times they will kill a chicken for the visitor and the visitor is given the best parts of the chicken. This occasion also brings joy to the children who profit from the good meal which otherwise they could not get and this helps them to share joy of receiving the guest. This welcoming was sometimes exaggerated as Bénézet Bujo quoting J.K-Zerbo says, “When I was still a child, it often happened that my mother prepared a warm meal for us. Then there came foreign travellers, who unexpectedly stopped at our place, and we had to be satisfied with cold food, while the warm meal, which was meant for us and to which we were eagerly looking forward, was served to the guests”114. This might be seen as a sad event to the children in the family but this was done simply to show how at times a visitor was privileged over the people of the place. It is always an honour and a joy to receive a visitor well. Hannah supports this behaviour of Zerbo’s mother by saying “the visitor ought to be given food without his having to intimate that he is

110 Prozesky, Cinderella, 3. 111 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 75. 112 Munyaka/Motlhabi, Ubunthu, 76. 113 Kinoti, African Ethics, 100. 114 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 162. 48

hungry. A generous person will always find something to give, no matter how small”115. For the Bantu speakers welcoming somebody means receiving him/her in a proper and clean place, finding time to be with the visitor and giving full attention to him/her even when one was not expected. Helmut Danner, talking about the Kikuyu of Kenya, says that a visitor is always offered tea and almost always this offer will not be refused and applies also to office visits. Another point he underlines is that, first of all, people take care to make their guest comfortable and only after that do they get down to business116.

Usually women tell their fellow women that a woman is never a visitor and this means that she can also help in the kitchen in preparing food. This also helps the visitors to be with her fellow women who are usually the ones who prepare food for the visitors. In this way they can chat and discuss their affairs in the kitchen. Usually, when there are women visitors will chat with their fellow women and men with their fellow men. Also when the visitor has come with children, the children of the host will be playing with their visitors.

There is also another proverb which says that “mlendo amadza ndi kalumo kakuthwa – a visitor comes with a sharp razor blade”. This means that one can learn new things from a stranger which can help the individual or the community to solve their existing problems or to discover new things which the community did not know. It means that even though one may be staying in a community or family for a short time one can greatly contribute to the life of this community and it is a warning to the people to be attentive to the hosts and to have time to chat with the visitor.

On the other hand people say that one is a visitor for a short time and on the third day s/he must be given him/her a hoe (mgeni siku mbili, siku ya tatu umpe jembe: Swahili saying) so that s/he can participate in the normal life of the community or family that has hosted him/her and will not be treated in a special way as the one who is just passing by. For example s/he cannot expect a special meal reserved for the guest every day. Bénézet Bujo and Hannah Kinoti add to this by saying that the guest is not supposed to live at the cost of the host and is not supposed to be a parasite to the host

115 Kinoti, African Ethics, 103. 116 Danner, Helmut: Afrika funktioniert-aber anders. Erfahrung aus der Praxis in Kenia, in: Friedl, Gerhard (ed.): Wann startet Afrika? Die Vision einer „Renaissance“, München: Olzog 2001, 49- 61, 49-50. 49

and so is supposed to take part in the activities of the host as his contribution for the welcoming117. Another proverb says that “apao ndi mizu ya Kachere amakumana pansi – relatives are like roots of Kachere tree and they meet underground”. We have seen this proverb already and it means that one cannot be told everything about the family and community in which s/he is a visitor. And one is not supposed to put one’s nose in everything in the host family or community. It shows also that the host family and community always stick together and they can even form a block against immigrants or strangers. One can share a table with a stranger but one is not supposed to talk about every family affair to a stranger.

There is also a proverb which says “chitotsi cha nkhuku ya chilendo chitalika” - meaning that “the excrement of a strange chicken is seen to be bigger than that of home chickens”. People are used to the village tensions, fights and insults and people know how to settle them among themselves without a lot of noises. But when a stranger puts a foot wrong, it causes uproar. It can happen that what has been committed by the stranger is not worse than what was committed by one’s own people. This warns the stranger to be careful when s/he is hosted in another family and community. S/he should try as much as possible to leave a good name behind.

We see that a foreigner who does not belong to the family, or the ethnic group, is generally welcomed but the hosts most of the times do not open all doors for the foreigner to participate fully in the life of the hosting family or hosting ethnic group. There is sometimes a feeling of mistrust towards the stranger.

2.4.6 PALAVER Birgit Brock – Utne says that the word “Palaver” is a Portuguese word meaning “word, speech, or discussion”118. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that “the model of palaver is at the same time existential and sapiential. It is closely connected to all groups of the population, so that the people do not in any way feel treated like children by the sapientes”119. Traditional African ethics are based on a relational connection of the individuals among themselves as well as with the community at

117Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 163. (Cf. Kinoti, African Ethics, 100: “Traditional Gikuyu society discouraged both parasitic tendencies and prodigality)”. 118 Brock-Utne, Bright: Peace Research with a diversity perspective. A look to Africa 6. Availaible at http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol9_2/Brock-Utne_921JPS.pdf (Accessed 10.10.2014). 119 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 37. 50

large. That is why the living together of the people requires that the people have time to be together and share their ideas and help one another. For good co-existence, one has to be ready to accommodate the worldview of others and at the same time one must be open enough to share one’s life with one’s neighbours. These are the two important aspects of good interdependence and community life. In this way the members of the community as well as the individual and the community complement each other. This dialogue is carried out at different levels: between individuals; in the family; in the administration between the chief and his/her advisors and also at the community level. This dialogue is important for it helps to improve the living together of different parties in the community120. People know each other better and they also help others solve and find solutions to their problems.

2.4.6.1 BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS A Kenyan proverb says: “Talking with one another is loving one another”121. Steve Biko is convinced that “One of the most fundamental aspects of our culture is the importance we attach to Man. Ours has always been a Man-centred society. Westerners have on many occasions been surprised at the capacity we have for talking to each other … not for the sake of arriving at a particular conclusion but merely to enjoy communication for its own sake. Intimacy is a term not exclusive for particular friends but applying to a whole group of people who find themselves together either through work or through residential requirements”122. According to the Bantu speaking people, to relate is to create time and space to be with the other person. To be with is not a waste of time but it is time for regeneration and healing. It is time directed and enjoyed according to the needs of the time and of the individual or community. The Bantus produce quality of time by being with. Steve Biko continues that “House visiting was always a feature of the elderly folk's way of life. No reason was needed as a basis for visits. It was all part of our deep concern for each other”123. That is why people in the village or in the extended family spend most of the free time visiting others. These visits are meant to be reciprocal. During these visits people talk about everything starting from their private lives, their

120Brock-Utne, Peace, 6. 121 Richmond / Gestrin, Into Africa, 75. 122 Biko, Steve: I write what I like. A Selection of His writings. Aelred Stubbs ed), New York: Heinemann ²1987, 41. 123 Biko, I write, 42. 51

families and also the life of the community. These dialogues are a mutual exposure of the people involved, and they are also an encounter of the differences and enrichment of one another124. Steve Biko adds that these meetings are open and anyone can participate in these dialogues, all are accommodated because it has to do with the general life situation of the people125. Otherwise they will be suspected of gossiping or plotting evil against others.

People also talk about themselves and their interests and problems. In this situation other people present are required to listen with attention and to speak, whenever they have to, with respect for the sentiments of the other. The main aim of this type of communication is to help each other find solution to different problems or puzzles of life. They say nzeru za yekha anaviika nsima madzi - meaning that ‘the one who does not ask ends up dipping the morsel of food in water’. Another proverb says ‘safunsa anadya phula’ - meaning that ‘the one who does not ask ends up eating glue used for catching birds thinking it is honey’. This encourages people not to keep their problems or activities to themselves. People are encouraged to discuss their problem with others in the family and community and together with others to search for suggestions and solutions to the problem. The Umunthu encourages the people to help each other and to care for the lives of others126. This help is not only manual but also consists in suggestions and proposals. These visits also strengthen the friendship among people in the village. “Ali dere nkuligana utayenda naye” - meaning that “you know a person very well only after you have travelled with him/her”. People believe that to be without a friend is to be poor.

All public activities are supposed to be shared and announced to all family and community members. It is considered bad manners to close oneself up in one’s affairs without intermingling with others. These people are considered selfish which is totally condemned by society for it does not promote community living. When they do not share their programmes and activities with others only few people turn up for their affairs with the excuse that they were not told and therefore they did not know what was going on. These people can also be considered as having enmity with

124 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 41: “One learns more from listening to their intercourse one with another than pursuing systematic investigations”. 125 Biko, I write, 42. 126Brock-Utne, Peace, 9. 52

the other members of the community. This is also against Umunthu principles because one is not supposed to keep grudges against one’s neighbour.

2.4.6.2 IN THE FAMILY The family also have their own palaver when they have problematic activities or problems. Family affairs are not supposed to be talked about in public. Bénézet Bujo says that during initiation one is helped to change one’s world-views from only looking at one’s own needs and likes to that of including the needs and likes of the community and others. Likewise, making important decisions in one’s life, one has to consult one’s family who have a responsibility to give their advice and suggestions127. In this way the individual is not alone in their decisions but with the whole community. One can also use this opportunity of palaver in the affairs of daily life128. The head of the family calls for the meeting and all who are present are given a chance to say something about the issue being discussed. They meet when they are organising a wedding celebration, during a funerals and after funerals they discuss who will take over what from the dead person. As already seen above, when the youth are to make important decisions in their life, they have recourse to the palaver.

Bénézet Bujo gives an example of a situation in which the elders and the wisest members of the family are involved in the life of their family members. He says that when a couple have problems and they cannot solve the problem between themselves they involve others from their families to a palaver129. In these palavers only grown- ups and those married are involved and the main roles are played by the uncles of the two who act as advisors and councillors of the couple. Also when one of them has a problem with others and they are called by the chief to the community palaver, sometimes the elders and the wisest members call for a time-out in order to discuss the issue aside and try to find a solution as a family.

2.4.6.3 ADMINISTRATION The chief or V.H. is the one responsible for the people in his community and a custodian of the culture and its values. But they are not alone in executing their powers; they are helped most of the times by their mothers, councillors and

127 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 73-74. 128 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 73-74. 129 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 36-37. 53

traditional medicine persons. Bénézet Bujo concurs with this by saying that the chief always calls the wise people of the community who advise him in important and big decisions which concern the community130. He goes on to say that these are not necessarily those who belong to the council of the chief but are those who have experience and are competent and also those who live with the people in their daily lives131. Whenever there is something important in the village the chief would call his council or some wise elderly people for consultation and advice, but the last decision all the same remains in the hands of the chief. Bright Brock–Utni concurs with this point by saying that one of the roles of the palaver is that one of being advisory132 and for the purpose of bringing peace and harmony to the community. And the chief who does not seek and take seriously the advice given to him is considered a bad leader and truly most of the times he ends up being bad leaders.

The elders were the people with a long life’s experience and they have the responsibility of keeping the customs and traditions of the people and of passing them on to the youth. So they were also to help the chief in preserving what was important for the people. They are the people together with the chief who are supposed to formulate new laws. Hannah Kinoti says that “they (the elders) were the country’s legislators; it was their duty to preserve and interpret the traditions, make new rules and where necessary, administer justice and authorize military operations”133. This takes us to the next point on which these elders and councillors were also helping the chief in bringing peace the people in the village whenever there were disagreements at different levels.

2.4.6.4 COMMUNITY LEVEL According to Bright Brock-Utne says that the palaver in the community has the function of “restore(ing) social harmony and balance in the community”134. For her, crime of people against each other is not their private affair because it also affects the harmony and peace of the community. In these palavers all the concerned parties are supposed to take part and express their points of view. Ajume H. Wingo concurs with Bright Brock-Utne that “if and when conflicts of interest emerged among

130 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 158. 131 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 36. 132 Brock-Utne, Peace, 6. 133 Kinoti, African Ethics, 23-24. 134 Brock-Utne, Peace, 6. 54

individuals, it was resolved by deliberation. Families and friends who experienced conflicts of interest mostly engaged in face-to-face deliberation and dialogue until they arrived at a common understanding or consensus”135. The aim of these palavers is to reconcile the people and to bring peace into the community. Supporting this idea, Placide Tempels says that “it is in defence of their rights that non-civilized people show their personalities to the best advantage, because their rights, like their religion, are built upon ultimate essence of their humanity, upon their conception of the world and upon their philosophy”136. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne says that “in palaver the individual is given the opportunity to assert, to defend his rights and to prove his or her personality. Here one has the chance of convincing and being convinced of the position taken”137. The duty of the councillors and the chief is to summarize what is being said and to draw a conclusion at the end. Even when one in the wrong is sometimes asked to recompense the one who was injured the main aim of these palavers is to reconcile the people and to bring back peace between them and the community as a whole.

The people who are present at the discussion are given a chance to tell their side of the story too138 and also to give advice on how the matter can be resolved amicably and how others in the community can avoid falling into the same trap. Everybody has a chance to express one’s own ideas and all those present are obliged to listen to the points of views of others and discuss their opinions. It is interesting that all speakers are given the time they needed to express themselves and “it is a rule that whoever is arguing a case should suffer an interruption. Even when he stops speaking, the judge will say to him, ‘Have you finished speaking?’; only after that gives the floor to the opposing side”139. What is important in these discussions is that the other persons and their viewpoints are to be respected and taken seriously. Placide Tempels goes on to say that “the uncivilized man is very conscious of his rights as man; and one is tempted to pay profound respect to the juridical conceptions of such a ‘savage’; at least, so long as he himself has a practical respect for the rights of his neighbour on

135 Wingo, Good Government, 156. 136 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 124. 137 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 71. 138 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 76: “The participants of palaver are either the community sages, who have shared in the life-experience of the people, or the entire people. This implies that apart from small children and those who are mentally handicapped; absolutely nobody is excluded from participation in the palaver.” 139 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 44. 55

the same grounds as those which he claims for his own rights”140. That is why the words which are used are properly evaluated so that they do not cause harm or annoy the other person for this can make it difficult for the people to reconcile and have peace among them. Hannah Kinoti says that “a person who is said to have a ‘good mouth’ does not offend people by the words he speaks. For example he does not insult other people”141. Bénézet Bujo says: “Contrary to western thought, which is more oriented towards the principle scripta manent, verba Volant (i.e., writings remain, words disappear), in Africa words do not vanish (verba non Volant), because they guide the community through centuries, or destroy it. This can be explained by the fact that the word comes from the heart of the speaking person, not the writing person. Hence, it is important to learn the art of speaking and to know when to say the right and beneficial word”142.For a “bad mouth” which uses abusive language would never bring about reconciliation and peace in the community but quarrels and fights.

2.4.7 RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY AND ELDERS The parents, the elders and also the people in authority are usually accorded respect all-over among the Bantu communities. This extends also to the strangers who deserve this status of being an elder or of the one holding authority. The common Bantu saying goes: when one respects a child; s/he will also be respected by the child. Ferdinand Chukwuagozie confirms this by saying that “despite the hierarchy that exist in Igbo (African) community there is equal respect and there are reciprocal relationships between members”143. This shows that the respect which goes to the authority and elders require that they too must be people who respect others and carry out their duties faithfully. That is why Hannah Kinoti is convinced that “Eldership was a social status with definite responsibilities and privileges. Eldership gave a man the important responsibility of managing his own family or homestead. His ability to manage his family determined how highly he was regarded by the local

140 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 124. 141 Kinoti, African Ethics, 110. 142Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 70. 143 Ezekwonna, Ferdinand Chukwuagozie: African Communitarian Ethic: The Basis fort he Moral Conscience and Autonomy oft he Individual. Igbo Culture as a Case Study, Bern: Peter Lang 2005 (= Series XXIII Theology 809), 97. 56

community”144. She continues to say that this “eldership was not automatic: moral integrity and wisdom were important qualifications”145.

The elders are to be respected because they were the ones who are close to the ancestors and they might also have known some of them personally and they are most probably the next to join them. In places where life is hard and life expectancy is low, it is considered a blessing to reach an old age and this shows that God has favoured them by granting them long life in spite of all the enemies of life such as sicknesses, hunger, witches and the like. Therefore they have power to bless and to curse. That is why young people are to give them respect so that they may receive blessings from them. The blessings bring long life and success in life while curses bring only hardships. Bénézet Bujo agrees with this view: “Blessings, luck and a harmonious life depend on true love and respect, which one has to show to parents and elders”146. This consideration is not limited to them alone; it goes also to all the people who are older than oneself even those who do not belong directly to one’s clan. When a child is young right from the family, s/he is taught to respect his/her parents and all the elders of the family and community. All old people are respected as one’s own parents. All are to be respected because of their age and experience but those who are good and are seen as good models of Umunthu are accorded even greater respect.

The traditional Malawian culture is postfigurative. Margaret Mead says: “A postfigurative culture is one in which change is so slow and imperceptible that grandparents, holding new-born grandchildren in their arms, cannot conceive of any other future for the children than their own past lives. The past of the adults is the future of each new generation”147 she continues that in this system “children learn primarily from their forebears”148. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that the elders are respected first of all because they are considered to be a link between the ancestors and the living, and only in respecting and having good relationships with them can

144 Kinoti, African Ethics, 23. 145 Kinoti, African Ethics, 23. 146 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 199. 147 Mead, Margaret: Culture and Commitment, New York: Natural History Press 1970, 1. 148 Mead, Culture, 1. 57

one share in the fullness of life149. Therefore the elders have a very important role to play in the family and community and their words and rules have to be respected and observed otherwise one cannot have or reach the fullness of life. It is the elders who offer sacrifices when communities or families are hit by calamities; they are the closest to the ancestors for they connect the family or community to the ancestors.

There are different ways in which young people show their respect to the elders. Hannah Kinoti says “the younger members were required to obey and respect the senior members. There were certain jobs senior people would do if they were alone but did not do if junior members were present”150. There are things which can be done by all people, the young as well as the elders and those in authority, but when the young people are present these jobs will be done by them. Such jobs are looking after the cows and goats, giving water to the visitors and bringing food from the kitchen. It is impolite to have an elder or a man in authority bring water and food to the visitor or other members of the family while young people of the family are present.

The elders are respected because of their long experience, even though nowadays in a rapid development the importance of experience is diminishing. Through their experience the elders have become the custodians, guardians and transmitters of morality and cultural values. M.J.S. Masango writes “As people grow and relate to each other they are taught by the elderly to pass what they learn to another person. This is the beginning of caring for each other. The notion of caring manifests itself in the respectful and humble way elders and superiors are greeted and addressed by young ones”151. The elders care for the young ones so that they can grow into a true munthu who lives according to the values and expectations of the community. The elders are like a living dictionary in the society where not all cultural practices are recorded in books. The young people are supposed to listen and respect the advice and teaching of the elders because they are rarely mistaken. Mau akuluakulu akoma akagonera - The words of the elders become sweet some day. They will be proven

149 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 200: “It is important to maintain a good relationship with old people mostly because of their wisdom. If they can no longer give life biologically, they still participate in generating life and giving birth through their experience and wisdom, which they pass on to the young ones”. 150 Kinoti, African Ethics, 25. 151 Masango, M. J. S.: African spirituality that shapes the concept of Ubuntu, in: Verbum et ecclesia JRG 27(3), 930 – 943, 931. 58

right and will give protection and guidance. Placide Temple concurs with this proverb by saying that “ontologically and juridically the elders who hold the ascendancy are the only ones to know fully, in the last resort. Their wisdom exceeds that of other men”152. Placide Tempels is convinced that “besides, their ancestors lived by this philosophy, preserved and handed down life through their recourse to these natural forces, and saved the Bantu people from destruction. Consequently their wisdom seems sound and sufficient. Moreover, this practical wisdom is so completely adapted by the elders to the needs of life that no problem is, so to speak, left unanswered; and that a prescription is provided for every eventuality: this, to the minds of the Bantu, affords proof of the fundamental and realistic soundness of their philosophy”153.

Akuluakulu ndi mdambo mozimira moto – the elders are like a swamp where fire ceases to burn. When people have a problem in the family it is the elders who solve it and when a member of their family has some problems with others in the family or the community, the elders of his/her family help him/her in this time of difficulty. Some of the remuneration which the culprit has to pay is paid by the elders of the family when one cannot pay byoneself. As quoted before, the Malawian proverb says: “nkuyu zodya mwana zinapota akulu- the figs which were eaten by a child gave stomach-ache to the elders”. The elders take this responsibility because it is seen as a failure in the education of their children.

The respect of elders with its positive aspects can cause problems sense that it can lead people to accept some things without reflecting on their importance or their validity.

2.4.8 SACREDNESS OF LIFE The principles of Umunthu encompass the whole person; the secular and the religious and these things are intermingled. Umunthu recognizes the humanness of the other and respects the sacredness of human life. The sacredness of life is one of the basic values of Bantu speaking people which belong to the religious order. All people are called to respect life and hold it as sacred. This concerns one’s own life and the life of the others. All individuals’ life is equally sacred and none is more

152 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 48. 153 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 50. 59

sacred than the other. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne supports this point in saying that “life is passed on from God to the ancestors to parents, and to children. Life is therefore, understood in Igbo land as a sacred (holy) gift and a mystery from God”154. When a child is born in a family or community, people say ‘talandira mphatso’ - meaning ‘we have received a gift’. Life in Africa is considered as a gift from God, right from the time of conception and that is why all the people are obliged not only to preserve it but also to improve the quality of life. The Zambian Episcopal Conference (ZEC) says that “Human life is a precious gift from God, the source of all life. In the Book of Genesis, we read about creation: ‘God saw all God had made and indeed it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31). The last and the highest form of life that God created was human life. … Consequently, every human life is sacred and demands the greatest respect and protection at every stage of development”155. Placide Tempels showed the same view when he wrote, “The origin, the subsistence or annihilation of beings or of forces, is expressly and exclusively attributed to God. The term ‘to create’ in its proper connotation of ‘to evoke from not being’ is found, in its full signification in Bantu terminology (kupanga in Kiluba). It is in this sense that the Bantu see, in the phenomenon of conception, a direct intervention of God in creating life”156. When one has received a gift, as we have seen already, one is supposed to appreciate it and to use it properly. This means that one has to take care of life and also develop it. The parents give a human life and the society gives the child birth to Umunthu. Placide Tempels says: “The Bantu understand free will, the faculty which the ‘muntu’ has of deciding by himself and of choosing between a greater and a lesser good, or between good and evil. They think that a man may have a ‘life giving will’, or a ‘destroying will’. A man's will may be determined in the same sense that, in respect of life and the hierarchy of forces, he wills in accordance with that ordering of forces that has been willed by God”157. Man must do everything possible in order to promote life, to become more munthu with all the aspects which contribute to the good community relationship. One has to do all one is asked to for the promoting of the life of the

154Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 64. 155 ZEC: Choose Life. The Sacred Value of Human Life and the Evil of Promoting Abortion, 30 November 1997 No. 2 Availaible at http://www.afcast.org.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132:choose- life&catid=44:zambia&Itemid=191 (Accessed 15.12.2013). 156 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 39. 157 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 69. 60

other because I become more munthu according to the relationship I have to the other individuals. So if I eliminate or ignore them I reduce also my chances of growing to the fullest. We have to recognize the genuineness of the others. Placide Tempels continues to say that “This supreme value is life, force, to live strongly, or vital force. The Bantu say, in respect to a number of strange practices in which we see neither rime nor reason, that their purpose is to acquire life, strength or vital force, to live strongly, that they are to make life stronger, or to assure that force shall remain perpetually in one's posterity”158.

No violence per se is accepted. One can be allowed to kill when his life or that of the community is endangered and this is to be the last resort after trying all other possible means. Life must be lived to the fullest; life is to be long and be lived to the fullest so that afterwards one can join the ancestors after completing a successful and peaceful life here on earth. Therefore life cannot be eliminated without any proper reason. Among the Bantu one was killed or sent away from the family only when one had committed murder and was a danger to others and the community. Today people are prevented by the law not to kill these people. However, there are always cases where robbers or murderers are killed by the people in the village and also in some cases people accused of being witches are often sent out of the village and sometimes they are also killed. This goes also to the extent of killing the drivers who have killed a person accidently. If they do not run away for their lives they risk being killed by the mob present at the scene of the accident.

Placide Tempels says that nobody can take the basic existence from the other. The other is totally powerless by saying that “Those who think that, according to the Bantu, one being can entirely annihilate another, to the point that he ceases to exist, conceive a false idea. Doubtless one force that is greater than another can paralyse it, diminish it, or even cause its operation totally to cease, but for all that the force does not cease to exist. Existence which comes from God cannot be taken from a creature by any created force”159. According to the Bantu life does not end with death. Death is only a journey into a better world of the ancestors where one continues protecting the life of the people still living on earth. The ancestors are alive and take an interest

158 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 30. 159 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 39. 61

in the activities of the living. When one is killed or when his burial is not properly conducted these ancestors may be annoyed and may bring calamities on the living, and on the family of the person who has committed this crime.

A part from the destruction of life, there are other things which contribute to the diminishing of life in the munthu. It is those which are contrary to the principles of community life such as hatred, envy and jealousy160. These vices destroy relationships between people and when they are not healed they may even lead to the destruction of the life of the other. Placide Tempels goes on saying that “although it is admitted that man finds himself carried away into such states by circumstances foreign to him, it none the less holds that anger, even though involuntary, exercises a negative and wicked vital influence when it turns against other people. A man so excited no longer finds within himself a disposition of reverence towards life”161. The people who have such behaviour are usually referred to as witches or wizards; the ones who use evil powers in order to destroy or diminish the life of other people. All the same people are not supposed to accept to be overpowered by these things. They look for ways of protecting themselves as Placide Tempels urges that the Bantu use charms and follow others traditional practices because, “used negatively, the same idea is expressed when the Bantu say: we act thus to be protected from misfortune, or from a diminution of life or of being, or in order to protect ourselves from those influences which annihilate or diminish us”162.

He concludes by saying that “The strengthening of life, the preservation of and respect for life, are by the very nature of creation the business of the ancestors and elders, living and dead. Equally, inferior forces lie at the disposition of human beings for the strengthening, maintenance and protection of the life of the ‘muntu`”163.

2.4.9 HARD WORK Hard work is another Bantu value which is very important. “Every status in the traditional society had certain responsibilities and obligations attached to it”, says Hannah Kinoti. Hard work is something that people are taught from their childhood. People say that “ukakhala mwana, mphanje umayambira pamchenga” - meaning “as

160 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 69. 161 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 85. 162 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 31. 163 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 78. 62

a child you begin to hoe the garden on sandy soil”, meaning that even children are supposed to be taught to carry out small works according to their age, sex and capacity otherwise they will not be able to carry out big works when they grow up. That is why the mother spends a lot of time with the daughter to teach her how to care for the house and cooks, and why the boys spend time with their fathers to be taught the works which are required by the man in the family.

Most of the works were to prepare the young to be self-sufficient when they are grown-up and have founded their own families. The youth who do not know the basic works required by the people of their age are seen as the laughing-stock of the community: when they grow-up they find it difficult to find a man or woman to marry. No man would like to marry a woman who cannot cook or put the house in order as no woman likes to marry a man who cannot do the basic jobs of a man like cultivating and preparing small things at home. They know that lazy people bring only misery to a family. Hannah Kinoti says that “in rather subtle ways society discouraged its members from leaning too heavily on others. The individual who begged too often was despised”164. If by chance they get married and they cannot fulfil these basic works, often the marriage does not last; they end up divorcing each other, because they cannot depend on others or their extended family always without contributing in any way to the community or extended family.

Bénézet Bujo urges that “However, it has to be stressed that this generous solidarity was void of any form of parasitism. Work was, so to say, part of the human being. It helped to intensify the life force of the community”165. No healthy person is supposed to be a parasite in the community. That is why lazy people do not receive help from the community and are hardly welcomed by other people in their houses. In Malawi people say: ‘fumbi ndiwe mwini’ – meaning that ‘if you badly want something it is up to you to work hardest for it, get covered with dust and sweat’. As seen before when there is work to be done one should show that he is able to take the initiative in doing the work himself and other members will come only then to assist him. People do not help the lazy-bones; the people who exploit others by letting

164 Kinoti, African Ethics, 100. 165 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 163. Cf. Ezekwonna, African, 98: “It is this sense of making a personal contribution to the community which has nurtured him and of not being a parasite to others that pushes him to personally achieve something in life. If we like, we can call it individualism realised and expressed in communalism”. 63

others work for them while they themselves do nothing166. The aid given most of the times is to help the person go ahead with his life. It is not meant to let one sit back and just enjoy the things on a golden plate from others. They are supposed to stand on their own two feet and contribute to the running of the community and also take part in helping people who might be in need.

Each member is expected to contribute to the running of the community according to his/her skills, experience and age. Bénézet Bujo says that the old person who was lazy in his youth can never be called wise or an elder of the community. Laziness was considered as a great shame167. He goes on to say that even a guest who spends some days in a family or village is supposed to take part in the works of his host. Only those who are seen as incapable according to their age or sickness can be exempted from this obligation. Hannah Kinoti says that “adults were required to show a sense of duty. They were expected to be people of integrity who fulfilled the expectations of their family and society in general”168. This means that those who cannot fulfil these basic life duties in the society, even when they have grey hair, cannot be considered as elders in the community and can never participate in the council of the wise.

2.5 SHORTCOMINGS OF UMUNTHU As seen above, not everything which happens in the community of Bantu speaking people is ethically correct. Like all forms of life and community lives there are always some things which need to be modified, if not completely changed, if we need to have full life which respects the individual rights and at the same time work for the common good of the community. Here are some of the things which need to be taken into consideration.

2.5.1 PRINCIPLE OF LIFE Life is a gift from God and all the Bantu speaking people are encouraged to preserve it and make it blossom. This concerns one’s own life and that of the others. We see that even against the democratic laws which protect the life of all the people, many Bantu speaking people still believe that the one who has killed another person, and

166 Kinoti, African Ethics, 101. 167 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 163-164. 168 Kinoti, African Ethics, 59. 64

sometimes even accidently must also be killed. Bénézet Bujo says that “in keeping with the principle that life is the highest good, it follows that whoever kills must himself be killed. This is not only a question of murder (i.e., an intentional killing); it seems that only the ‘material’ dimension of the act counts here”169.

Even those people who are considered as witches or wizards are either sent out of the community or they too are killed. Bénézet Bujo confirms this by saying that the sorcerers are removed from the community most times by death, because they are considered a threat to the life of others in the community170. The belief in sorcerers is very strong among the people. Most of the times innocent people are persecuted and even killed without proper confirmation that they have killed somebody through magic as people believe. In IRIN, a humanitarian news and analysis it is written that “Elderly women are most commonly accused of witchcraft, but people of all ages have been ostracized, jailed, attacked and even killed on suspicion of being witches. Chigayo Tchale, 75, has served almost two years of a three-year sentence at Maula prison in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital. The community where he lived accused him of practicing witchcraft after the unexplained death of a child”171. Most of the old people who have lost their beauty are considered to be witches and they are considered to be the cause of misfortunes in their families or in the community. Sometimes people, who are rich and have a grinding mill or a grocery, are accused of being witches or wizards and people believe and say that they become rich by killing people to invest in their business magically.

Nowadays there is what people call “mob justice”. When a thief is caught, the people usually beat him up to death or put a car tyre around his neck and set it on fire. They do so because they believe that the police are not helping them when they take the thieves or robbers to police. Lameki Masina says that “Frustrated with a spate of armed robberies and deep flaws in Malawi's criminal justice system, some people in

169 Bujo, Foundations, 136. 170 Bujo, Foundations, 136. 171 IRIN: Humanitarian News and Analysis, Malawi. Suspected Witches Jailed. Availaible at http://www.irinnews.org/report/92396/malawi-suspected-witches-jailed (Accessed 23.04.2014). 65

this southern African country have decided to punish suspected criminals on their own volition”172.

2.5.2 RICHNESS In most of the cultures in African the rich must share their wealth with others in their extended families or in their community. When the extended family or the community has problems, they always turn to the rich of their family for help173. This encourages a parasitic mentality among the people in a way that they do not plan and fight for their own life but always depend on others for their survival. Bénézet Bujo says that “it is, however, interesting to note that these people appeal precisely to same tradition that is to the mentality of the extended family or to the African hospitality. Above all in big cities, there are increasing numbers of people who live free of charge with relatives and friends, or acquaintances for years on end and scarcely trouble to make a contribution to the domestic economy”174. People forget that even the rich have their own problems and cannot always answer to all the problems of others in the family and community. When these people turn down the request of others they are accused of being individualists or even witches.

This mentality blocks people from developing themselves. People expect all the people in the community to live the same standard of life. That is why most rich people in villages do not enjoy their wealth. They are afraid of being different from others and most of them think that if they show that their wealth, and live a different life from others, they might be bewitched and they will not be able to enjoy their wealth.

2.5.3 EXAGERATED SENSE OF COMMUNITY LIFE When there is an activity in the community, all the people are expected to be present at the function and this sometimes forces people to abandon their activities, some of which may be more important than the one of the community. People do this only out of fear of the communities. If they do not attend this community activity they

172 Masina, Lameki: Poor policing spurs Malawians to mob justice, Aljazeera 20 February 2014. Availaible at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/poor-policing-spurs-malawians- mob-justice-20142171132603317.html (Accessed 23.04.2014). 173 Guinamard, Mirar a Africa, 7: “En África es difícil llegar a rico: cuando un africano accede a una situación desahogada, enseguida se encuentra con una multitud de parientes que piden ayuda. Es el caso de muchos africanos residentes en España, que mantienen a un número importante de parientes que han quedado en África”. 174 Bujo, Foundations, 137. 66

will be accused of being selfish. Also when one member of the family is sick then, all activities of the family come to a standstill. All the members of the family are expected to be around the sick person and when the sickness takes a long time, the family may end up hungry or getting poor because they do not occupy themselves with the things which are more important for their daily life. Some people also abandon their services, which might be needed by many people, just to go and sit next to their sick relatives for days.

2.5.4 EXAGERATED SENSE OF ETHNICITY When the people stress too much their ethnic belonging and block all good contacts with others, problems like nepotism, corruption and conflicts between different ethnic groups occur. Bénézet Bujo confirms this point by saying that “the last modern sin we must mention is today’s ethnic conflicts, which lead to all-out war or even to genocide”175. This is so because the resources and government and public positions are not distributed equally and according to merit; they are distributed according to secondary unnecessary motives like family, ethnic belonging or to even the political affiliation. This does not only disadvantage the people of other ethnic groups and cause tension between ethnic groups, it also slows down or stops the development of the community or country

2.6 CONCLUSION We have seen that for the Bantu people community life is very important. The community and the individual influence each other for growth respectively. The community is made up of different individuals and these individuals, in the course of time, formulate their own rules and regulations which direct their individual life and their living together. It is the same community which see to it that these rules and regulations are followed by different members of the community. It helps also the individual to become a true munthu in the thinking of the Bantu, meaning that one is not supposed to live only for himself. This Bantu philosophy is built on the philosophy of respect, caring, compassion and interdependence between individuals and individuals with their respective community. One cannot be alone. There is a lot of giving hand to one another both in good and bad times. But most of these actions

175 Bujo, Foundations, 142. 67

are done with an expectation that one will receive something in return one day, if not in kind at least in the good name of the community or the family.

This concept has a lot of good things for both the individual and the community but there are also other things which people perform not out of conviction but because one is afraid of the reaction and judgement of others and the community. For example when one is sick in the family, the whole family sits idle around the sick person for many days doing nothing and they spend a lot of money in travelling instead of using this money to take the sick to hospital or to buy medicine. What is important for most people is to be present by the side of the sick and to show that they are not the cause of the sickness. When the sick person dies, all the activities of the village stop and all the people are supposed to be present at the funeral and all the other relatives, who are very far and sometimes with little means, are supposed to be at the funeral otherwise they will be accused of being the cause of the death or of being a witch. And one is expected not to go empty handed for such occasions. This is also done when there are celebrations like initiation in the village or marriage.

This has also brought about nepotism. People from the same ethnic group support each other and stick together when they find themselves in urban areas. When jobs and political positions are to be given, most of the times people look at the ethnic group of the individuals. As a result of this there is politics based on tribes resulting into tribal conflicts and underdevelopment176 because sometimes people are not capable of producing according to their positions in politics or offices; there is also lack of proper policies on the part of the government and creativity on the part of government officials. We have also a proverb which says ‘khoswe akakhala pakhate sapheka’ - meaning that ‘a rat on an earthen dish it cannot be killed’. Meaning that when one of your relatives has done something wrong it is difficult to judge him/her. And this has contributed a lot to underdevelopment and corruption in the country and in offices. We always hear of corrupt behaviour of the politicians and their people only when they are no longer in power. As far as one is in power, we hear only of the weaknesses and failures of the other people and not of the rulers.

176 Mair, Die regionale Integration, 16: „Unterdrückung von oder Aggressivität gegen eine Volksgruppe in einem Staat mobilisiert zuweilen grenzüberschreitende Solidarität bei den Volksgenossen, was wiederum zu zwischenstaatlichen (Volker) Konflikten und Spannung führen kann.“ 68

Another problem we have seen is that in Africa one does not enjoy wealth alone. When one is rich, the whole family or community is supposed to be rich. When a man has means, he cannot develop their life as they want because there are many people who come to depend on them. Sometimes simple people do not understand that the rich persons have their own problems. When a rich person does not help his relatives or his community, he is side-lined and has a bad name in the village and when something bad happens in the village he is accused of being a witch who gets his wealthy through magic. M. Bourdillon says that “those who are accused are usually people who are for some reason disliked by the community as a whole. … certain wealthy people, who continued to prosper when others were failing, came under attack”177 accused of being witches. This sometimes also blocks development in the village for many people are afraid of being different from others. People are sometimes afraid of putting up good houses because they fear being bewitched by others who will be jealous. So because of this people remain poor and do not enjoy the fruits of their labour. Also the rich are expected to give a big hand when the support of the community is expected. Umunthu presupposes a kind of egalitarian society in which competition is not encouraged. Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania, gave this as the reason why ancient African socities did not have milionaries; the more one possessed the more one had to share. Sometimes even polygamy was a way of having many people to share in the wealth of the family.

The individual must take decisions for his/her well-being and that of the community. When the decision takes into consideration only his/her own good one is considered selfish. This slows down and blocks development, because people do not think or act at the same speed. Individuality and personal responsibilities are acknowledged but they are sometimes dominated by the community ideal. This can be one of the reasons for the fact that African socities are not inventing much. Sometimes the individual are forced to undergo intolerable sufferings for the benefit of the community. One’s life is not for oneself alone. There are others who are participating in one’s life as well.

Not everything happening in the communiry of Bantu speaking people is ethically correct. Up to the present-day people in the community kill those believed to be

177 Bourdillon, M: Religion and Society. A Text for Africa, Gweru : Mambo Press 1990, 208. 69

wizards or witches. Even though it is against the law of the country to kill someone even though believed to be in the wrong, there are many people killed because of stealing or because of commiting other crimes. Another problem is that the rich people are most of times overburdened by their relatives; all relatives and neighbours sometimes depend on their rich relatives or neighbours too much forgetting that these people also have their own problems and plans. Lastly but not least is the exxageratted sense of community life and ethnicity. This slows down or blocks the development of the people and the community as a whole, when people have always to abandon their activities in order to participate in the community activities or burial.

3. SOCIO-POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF MALAWI FROM 1964

3.1 MALAWI AND ITS PEOPLE Malawi was formerly called Nyasaland. The name ‘Malawi’ comes from Maravi, a Bantu Chewa people, descendants of the Amaravi, who came from southern Congo. It is situated in south-eastern Africa. It borders with Tanzania to the north, Zambia to the west and Mozambique to the east, south and west. The country covers 118,484 square kilometres of which 24,403 square kilometres are fresh water. From west to east it is about 200 kilometres and from north to south 850 kilometres and at least 20% of the country is covered by Lake Malawi which was formerly called Lake Nyasa. It is over 500 kilometres long and up to 80 kilometres wide178.

The official population of Malawi is about 16,777,547 (July 2013 est.)179. It is a multi-ethnic180 and a multi-political party country where the majority of the inhabitants are Bantu speaking. All the ethnic groups found in Malawi are also found in the bordering countries: the Lomwe, the Sena and the Yao are also found in Mozambique; the Chewas are found in Mozambique and Zambia; the Tumbuka are also in Zambia, and the Ngoni are found also in Mozambique. There are also some Asians and Europeans who stay mostly in towns and cities namely Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba. The country is divided into three Regions namely Northern, Central, and Southern. Richard Carver says that this administrative division goes back as far as 1921181. There are 28 districts in Malawi: 5 in the North; 9 in the Central; and, 14 in the Southern region. Alex Thomson urges that “communities were therefore gathered together into regional blocs (‘tribes’) in order to make their (British) political economic management easier”182. T. David Williams confirms this point by saying: “The boundaries of contemporary Malawi owe less to

178 Taube, Günther: Malawi, in: Nohlen, Dieter/ Nuscheler, Franz: Handbuch der Dritten Welt. Ostafrika und Südafrika, Bonn: J.H.W. Dietz Nachf 1993, 368-383 (= Band 5), 368. 179Index Mundi: Malawi Population. Availaible at http://www.indexmundi.com/malawi/population.hTiml (Accessed 17.02.2014). 180 Bauer, Gretchen/Taylor, Scott D.: Politics in Southern Africa. State and Society in Transition, Boulder: Lynne Rienner 2005, 22: “What started off as the Maravi, however, ended up as many of the ethnic groups in Malawi today, including the Chewa, Mang’anja, Nyanja, Chipeta, Nsenga, Mbo Ntumba, and Zimba” 181 Carver, Richard: Where Silence Rules. The suppression of Dissent in Malawi. An African Watch Report, New York: Human Rights Watch 1990, 56. 182 Thomson, Alex: An Introduction to African Politics, London: Routledge ³2010, 64. 71

the influence of ancient tribal loyalties than to the largely fortuitous establishment of British, and especially Scottish, missionaries along the Shire River and the shores of Lake Malawi in the latter half of the nineteenth century”183.

Fig. 2: Map of Malawi showing Regions and Districts (From nationsonline.org)

Different ethnic groups are found in different regions and districts. Most live apart from each other but there are very few that live together in some districts. Migrations and tribal conflicts were there in Malawi till the beginning of the 20th century. When one goes to the other parts of the country, one is usually dominated by the culture and habits of the people of the place. Although there are some differences, there are

183 Williams, T. David: Malawi. The Politics of Despair, London: Cornell University Press 1978, 21. 72

no major conflicts among them. Malawi is relatively a young democracy (only 20 years), and most of the time the sentiments of the tribes or regions are more powerful than those of the nation184. When something in the political arena happens people usually say that they are given that position because they come from that region or they are being mistreated because they come from that region or tribe. “Despite the ethnic-regional cleavages the possibility of a civil war or serious and widespread inter-ethnic clashes is very low. The Malawians are peaceful people who seem to believe in the integrity of the state”185.

It is said that long before Christ was born there were already people living in this part of the world. These people are known only through their paintings which are to be seen in caves e.g. in the Dedza Mountains in the Central Region and in the South at Mikolongwe. One also hears their stories from the elders in the village. Some of the names used to describe these people were Kafula, Batwa and Mwandionerapati. All these names mean that these people were very short. They were a kind of Pygmies or Bushmen. Kings M. Phiri says: “The Kafula and Batwa, whom the Chewas claim to have found, have become the subject of much legend but very little factual evidence. According to oral testimony, they were a dwarfish people who lived in holes dug under earthen mounds, and hunted as a mode of production. The evidence is such that one is inclined to view that they were remnants of a stone-using, pre-Bantu population, even though some testimonies also suggest that they may have been the earliest of the Bantu peoples”186. T. David Williams also confirms this in his book entitled “Malawi: The Politics of Despair”187.

About 1000 AD a group of Bantu speaking people called the Maravi came from Katanga in the southern part of Congo. These people divided themselves into two groups upon reaching Malawi. The Chewas moved south to the western bank of Lake Malawi and the Nyanjas moved down the eastern bank to the southern region.

184 Thomson, Introduction, 61. 185 Meinhardt, Heiko/ Patel, Nandini: Malawi’s Process of Democratic Transition. An analysis of Political Development in Malawi between 1990 and 2003, 70. Availaible at http://www.dr-heiko- meinhardt.de/blocked_democracy.pdf (Accessed 10.10.2014). 186 Phiri, Kings M: Traditions of Power and Politics in early Malawi. A case study of Kasungu district from about 1750 to 1933, in: The society of Malawi Journal (53)1/2 A special Millennium Edition (200), 123-142, 126. 187 Williams, Malawi, 23: “The earliest race of men known to have occupied Malawi was a pre-Bantu people ….; hunters and food gathers, these people were either destroyed or assimilated by other people moving into or through the country”. 73

Among them were the clans of the Mbewes, Bandas and Mwales. These new arrivals were using iron for their spears while the original inhabitants called Akafula were using spears with a broad blade188. Akafula were either killed or became part of the new people. These were all the Chewas who are predominately found in the Central Region. The Nyanjas are found in Chikwawa and Nsanje in the Sothern part of Malawi.

Some other Bantu-ethnic groups in Malawi include: the Ngoni people who came from South Africa during the reign of Shaka Zulu who was the Chief of the Zulus from 1816 to his death in 1828189 and they are found in all the three Regions of the country; the Yao people who are mostly found in the Southern Region along Lake Malawi and they came from Mozambique like the other two; the Lomwe190 and Sena, people who are also found in the Southern Region; finally in the Northern Region we find the Tumbuka who are believed to have come from the Republic of Congo through Tanzania into Malawi around 1400 AD191 but some are found also in Kasungu in the central Region; and finally we have the Tonga People who are believed to have come also from the Democratic Republic of Congo like the Tumbuka and Chewa but they came later between 17th and 19th century 192.

This shows that all the indigenous people of Malawi are of Bantu-speaking group. They came to Malawi during different times from different countries193 and settled in different areas which up to now are still dominated by the ethnic groups which occupied them long time ago. Their first contacts were not always cordial; there were fights, and selling each other as slaves. Kafuwe C. Tembo and Titus B. Phiri confirm

188 Rafael, B.R., A Short History of Malawi, Washington, DC: Three Continents Press 1980, 14. 189 Linde, Günter/Brettschneider, Edmund: Bevor der Weiße Mann kam. Afrika entdeckt seine Vergangenheit, Leipzig: VEB F.A. Brockhaus 1962, 365. 190 Baker, Colin: Come Walk with Me. Three visits to Dzaleka, in: Society of Malawi Journal (64)1 (2011), 33-41, 38: “To the earlier inhabitants were added the Ayao and the Ngoni in the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century Alomwe from Mozambique came to Malavi to escape the hardships of Portuguese rule and to find work on the estates of Thyolo and Mulanje.” 191 Malawi: Official Tourism Website. Tumbuka. Availaible at http://www.visiTimalawi.mw/index.php/discover-malawi-s-beauty/item/73-tumbuka (Accessed 17.02.2014). 192Wawa Malawi: Discover Malawi, the warm heart of Africa. Availaible at http://www.wawamalawi.com/cultures/tonga.php (Accessed 17.02.2014). 193 Tembo, Kafuwe C./Phiri, Titus B.: Multiparty Democracy and socio-political Development. The Argument of Focusing the Practice of Multiparty Politics on Chiefdom collectivies, in: The society of Malawi Journal (49)3 (1996), 24-34, 24: “The history of Malawi is characterised by a massive immigration of different peoples from Zaire (the Chewa), from Tanzania (the Nkonde and Tumbuka), from Mozambique (Yao, Lomwe and Sena) and from South Africa (the Ngoni and Makololo)”. 74

this by saying that “whenever these people met, they fought bitter wars. This confrontation was more ramparts in the Northern areas which were occupied by the Ngoni. The Ngoni raided the Tumbuka and Tonga people for food and land, while the Yao from Nkhotakota raided Chewa for slaves and ivory”194.

Chewa: Karonga - Dedza - Chikwawa - Nkhata Bay - Nkhotakota

Lomwe: Thyolo - Phalombe - Mulanje

Mang'anja: Mangochi

Ngoni: Ntcheu - Mchinji - Neno - Dowa - Dedza -–Mzimba

Ngonde, Nyakyusa, Henga: Karonga - Chitipa - Nkhata Bay

Sena: Nsanje - Mwanza - Chikwawa

Tonga: Nkhotakota - Nkhata-bay - Likoma island

Tumbuka: Mzimba - Rumphi - Kasungu - Chitipa - Karonga - Mzuzu

Yao: Machinga - Mangochi - Fig. 3: Map of Malawi showing distribution of ethnicZomba groups.(from -–Chiradzulu wawamalawi.com)

Each ethnic group had its own language (these languages are related because all of them are Bantu languages) or dialect which some of these tribes still speak up to the present day. Others died away and others were slowly dying because from 1982 till 1994 Chichewa was the official language of the country besides English. Only now

194 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 24. Cf. Englund, Harri: Introduction. The Culture of Chameleon Politics, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 11- 24, 19: “The trans-Atlantic slave trade may be the most notorious example of some Africans facilitating the subjection of other Africans with a view to benefiting from what the external environment had to offer”. 75

after the introduction of multi-party democratic rule different people are trying to revive their languages and also different radio stations have news in different languages. Even though all these ethnic groups belong to the Bantu speakers, except those of Indian and British origin, there are some small little differences in their behaviour, the way they see and value things and their aspirations among other things. Some of these cultural differences are still present among the different ethnic groups in spite of the inter-cultural meetings and reciprocal interdependence. These can be seen even today especially in their dances, initiations, marriage and burial ceremonies, and sometimes also by their traditional dresses.

Even though there are areas associated with specific tribes, we still find in each region patches of people from other tribes. Most of the times these people form small colonies and are more united among themselves. Kafuwe C. Tembo and Titus B. Phiri state that “however far away from home he was, he easily found solace if he found people from his home area”195. These days we have associations of people in different areas according to their regions or districts of origin called “Friends of …” These groups foster unity and solidarity among the people coming from one area196 and “also with their people in rural areas. Gerhard Anders gives an example of a group from Lower Shire which was called ‘Friends of the Lower Shire’, a district association of people from the Lower Shire in Malawi’s far south, between Chikwawa and Nsanje. He (Mr Kachopoka) and a few other civil servants from that region had founded the ‘Friends of the Lower Shire’ in Lilongwe in 1977. The association started as a burial association and slowly developed into a revolving fund for funerals, sick pay and weddings. Furthermore, it assisted migrants from the Lower Shire to find housing and employment in Blantyre and Lilongwe”197. Gregory H. Kamwendo has this to say: “there now exists, for example, associations in which membership is determined by one’s district of origin. These district- and village- oriented associations, operating in urban centres, aim at grouping together people from the same district in order to contribute to the social and economic development

195 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 26. 196 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 24. 197 Anders, Gerhard: In the Shadow of Good Governance. An Ethnography of Civil Service Reform in Africa, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers 2009 (= Afrika-Studiecentrum Series 16), 104-105. 76

of their home areas”198. These groups or associations are found in different religious groups as well as in other social groups.

3.2 SHORT HISTORY OF MALAWI In 1891 Malawi was established as the British Central African Protectorate and it was called Nyasaland. Nyasa is the Yao word for Lake and Nyasaland means the Land of the Lake referring to Lake Malawi. It was only in 1964 that Malawi became an independent nation and in 1966 it became a republic199. The first Malawian President was Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda and he ruled the country from 1964 till 1994. During these three decades he declared Malawi as a one-party system under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970 he was made life President for the MCP and a year later of the whole country. He had also a paramilitary group of MCP called Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP), which helped Kamuzu to rule the country as his private property and to oppress the people and more especially those opposed to him. People got tired of his rule and there was pressure from both inside and outside for democratic rule. On the 14th June 1993 Malawians voted in favour of a multiparty system200. A year later, on the 17th May 1994, Dr Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) was elected as the second President of Malawi and he ruled till 2004. After him came Dr Bingu wa Mutharika who was handpicked by Muluzi after failing to amend the Constitution to allow him a third term in office. He was elected as President under a UDF ticket. Soon after, he parted company with Muluzi and his party. He ended up forming his own party called Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Bingu was re-elected for a second term in 2009. He was supposed to rule till 2014 but he died suddenly on 5th April 2012. The President Dr Joyce Hilda Banda was also handpicked by Bingu, as his vice-president, but she was later dismissed from the party: she then formed her own party called People’s Party (PP). She was sworn in on the 7th April 2012 as the first woman President of Malawi after some ministers and members of DPP tried to block her from becoming President. She was supposed to finish the term of late Bingu and she lost the elections after the

198 Kamwendo, Gregory H.: Ethnic Revival and Language Associations in the New Malawi. The Case of Chitumbuka, in: in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 140- 150, 140. 199 Lambert, Tim: A Brief History of Malawi. Availaible at http://www.localhistories.org/malawi.hTiml (Accessed 17.02.2014). 200 The African Executive: A Short history of Malawi. Availaible at http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=143 (Accessed 17.02.2014). 77

term was over. The current President is Professor Peter Arthur Mutharika of DPP, younger brother to the late Bingu. He is President of Malawi since 31st May 2014. Kamuzu ruled for thirty years under a one-party system and the other three ruled during the multi-party system. Now the question to be asked is how these five presidents have ruled the country. Have they ruled the country in accordance with the values of Umunthu which we have noted in Chapter 2? How have they cooperated and worked together with others like the opposition parties and even the people inside their own parties, especially those who have different views from those in power? How have they worked with different ethnic groups or people coming from different regions?

Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that “there are no forces, which fight the democratically elected government violently. … There are no guerrilla movements or illegal actors, which aspire to bring down the government forcefully. … This, however, does not mean that the spirit of democracy is there”201. Truly Malawi is a peaceful country and after the independence war there has been no civil war, although they were some few local unsuccessful uprisings to overthrow the Banda regime. The people are peaceful and try to live together in peace. Even the transition from one party system to multi-party was quite good without any big problems, but this does not mean that the governments that Malawi had so far have lived Umunthu to the fullest. Most of the times, the leaders have lived Umunthu to a limited degree or only in relation to their regions, tribes or supporters of their political parties and some try to be good only during the campaign time, before the general elections, in order to attract votes.

This chapter will attempt to tease out the socio-political situation of Malawi during the four governments that the country had so far, namely: Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda (6th July 1964 – 21st May 1994); Dr Bakili Muluzi (21st May 1994 – 24th May 2004); Dr Bingu wa Mutharika (24th May 2004 – 5th April 2012); Dr Joyce Hilda Banda (7th April 2012 – 31st May 2014); and, now Professor Peter Arthur Mutharika (31st May 2014 – ). An attempt will also be made to analyse the different governments and their political parties including a determination of where they have not fully lived according to the spirit of Umunthu. Jimmy Kainja urges that after the

201 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 62. 78

three democratic elections that were held so far, the elected have done nothing expect exploiting the majority of the poor people202. Some of the things may appear as Umunthu activities but when one tries to look deep into the motivation behind them one discovers that there are some hidden agendas which have nothing at all to do with Umunthu.

From 1993 after the introduction of the multi-party democracy, Malawi has seen a lot of political parties being born, some 54 in number, and some are still being born. It is easy to found a political party in Malawi because one needs only to collect 100 signatures of party members, manifesto and constitution. When these conditions are fulfilled one can register a party. The four parties which have ruled the country are those mentioned above MCP, UDF, DPP and now PP. Some of the parties are Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), Malawi Forum for Development (MAFUNDE), Maravi People’s Party (MPP), New Rainbow Coalition (NARC), New Republic Party (NRP), People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), People’s Transformation Party (PETRA), Republic Party (RP) and Congress for National Unity (CONU). Most of these parties are very small and exist only in the regions where they were founded; they have little or no support in other regions. Some of them also have never competed in a general election. For the 20th May 2014 election only 16 parties took the nomination forms and only 12 represented their nominations papers.

3.3 UMUNTHU IN MALAWIAN POLITICS Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni are convinced that Umunthu is to be seen in all aspects of the life of people like social, economic and political203 and not forgetting also religious. In this section the political leaders and their political parties will be evaluated based on their humanity in the way they have led the country. In this Chapter an analysis will be made of their duty and responsibility towards the people of their country. In doing so, attention will be focused on the four political parties which have ruled the country so far. Most of the times, Malawian politicians are ruled by the principal which says “the winner takes all”. Goran Hyden confirms

202 Kainja, Jimmy: The spirit of uMunthu. A Political Virtuous Circle that Sustains Poverty. Availaible at http://jimmykainja.co.uk/the-virtuous-circle-of-malawi-politics-that-sustain-poverty/ (Accessed 20.02.2014). 203 Tambulasi, Richard/Kayuni, Happy: Can African Feet Divorce Western Shoes? The case of ‘Ubuntu’ and Democratic Good Governance in Malawi, in: Nordic journal of African Studies (14)2 (2005), 147-16, 149. 79

this by saying: “Political compromise in African countries is never a victory – not even a half-victory – but always a sign of weakness that political leaders do not want to reveal”204. As long as one and his/her party are in power there is little, if not nothing that the other leaders and their parties can do. These people can become inhuman when they forget to live the spirit of Umunthu to the fullest and their governments can become oppressive and unjust. Some of their acts may be seen as acts of Umunthu but are they really for the good of the people they serve or for their own good and that of their parties? An examination will also be made as towards whom these acts are directed.

Umunthu is first of all for the good and well-being of other people. The question needs to be asked if these politicians are really caring for the good of their people and whether, they have all the people of the country at heart. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni urge that “a person with Umunthu ‘ndi amene amatenga vuto lanzake kukhala lake, ndikuthandiza anzake moyenera’ (who takes other peoples’ problems and turns them into his/her own so that he or she can help them accordingly)”205. Are Malawian politicians and their political parties really interested in the problems of the people and make them their own or do they use the problems of the people only for their benefit? As Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni have said there is a need to examine whether the Malawian politicians help their people ‘accordingly’? The way these acts of Umunthu are done; are they equally distributed to all the people and also those from different parties and regions according to the needs of the people and each individual? How is the rule of law and how are the political positions distributed among the people?206

Malawi can be described as having a neo-patrimonialism political system. Peter Meyns in his article entitled “Afrika zwischen Autokratie and Demokratie” says that this type of system has developed in many countries after colonial time and it is characterised by patronage, clientelism, nepotism and using government resources for one’s own party or to enrich oneself207 (translation is mine). He further urges that

204 Hyden, Goran: African Politics in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ²2013, 236. 205 Tambulasi/ Kayuni, Can African Feet, 149. 206 Tambulasi/ Kayuni, Can African Feet, 154. 207 Meyns, Peter: Afrika zwischen Autokratie and Demokratie, in: Aus Politik un Zeitgeschichte 32/33 (2006) 3-8, 7: „Neopatrimonialismus ist ein modernes Phänomen, das in nachkolonialen 80

the presidents lead the country as their personal property: once in power their ears are closed. They do not listen to anybody, and most of them end up doing only what benefits them.

Patrick Chabal adds that all African governments South of Sahara have an extensive system of Patrimonialism, also of the non-transferable relations and solidarity, and a high degree of disorder208. One may ask what patrimonialism is: It is a form of government in which all powers rest on the leader, who enjoys absolute personal power. Most of the times, there is no clear difference between the public and private sector. These patrimonialistic leaders might pretend as if there is Umunthu in the way they run the country. One needs to ask, who profit from these services or privileges. Are these solidarity and relationship directed to all the regions of the country, to all the ethnic groups and all political parties equally? If so there is true Umunthu on the national level and if not there is no Umunthu in their leadership. In this chapter these things will be analysed including some other things which are against Umunthu in the socio-politics of Malawi.

Urika Ribohn says that Umunthu has to do with humanity. It has to do with what one does and how one behaves, it can either be good or bad and it can also violate the Umunthu of the others by displeasing or disappointing the others or in short it can respect or fail to respect the humanity of the others or their ethnic group. She continues to say that this Umunthu has two great enemies which are selfishness and tribalism or racism209. In the case of Malawi one can also add regionalism and partyism in its democratic political system. Have these enemies of Umunthu been seen or are they present in the socio-politics of Malawi from 1964 to the present date? An examination will now be made of the socio-political ills which have been present in the country from the time it got independence up to the present date.

Gesellschaften durch die Inkorporation patrimonialer Logik in bürokratische Institutionen gekennzeichnet ist. Zentrale Merkmale neopatrimonialer Herrschaft sind stark personalisierte Machtausübung, Patronage, Klientelismus und Nepotismus und Privatisierung öffentlicher Ressourcen zur politischen Legitimation und Selbstbereicherung“. 208 Chabal, Ordnung, 35. 209 Ribohn, Urika: “Human Rights and the Multiparty System Have Swallowed our Traditions”. Conceiving Women and Culture in the New Malawi, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 166-177, 173. 81

3.4 AUTHORITARIANISM In the political sphere, the concept of Umunthu is used to emphasize the need for unity or consensus in decision making, as well as the need for a suitably humanitarian ethic in forming those decisions. A leader with Umunthu is selfless and consults widely, not only one’s false friends who are only there for their own interest and do not dare tell their leaders the truth. The good leaders listen to their subjects and live among the subjects and even share what they own with them. They let the people lead themselves and cannot impose always their will on the people. The Umunthu spirit says that a person is a full person only in good relations with others. This is expressed through different proverbs like ‘kalikokha nkanyama, tili tiwiri ntianthu’ - meaning ‘those who are two are people and s/he who is alone is an animal’. This means that no person is an island and all the people need support and help from others in organizing and doing some things. Malawians say also ‘nzeru za yekha anaviika nsima madzi’ - meaning that ‘the one who thinks he knows everything ends up soaking the morsel of food in water (instead of dipping it in sauce)’. When one does not ask or consult widely one ends up doing stupid things which are not supposed to be done by a reasonable person.

3.4.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA AND THE MCP Kamuzu and the MCP ruled the country for more than 30 years. They seem to have forgotten or not fully understood the principal of community life and of interdependence among the people. Their rule was characterised by authoritarian principles. They thought that they were everything and knew everything. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that Kamuzu “established an autocratic leadership system. He made himself the undisputed leader”210. Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall confirm this by saying that once Kamuzu told the crowd that he does not need the ministers, he could then control the country by using the army and his administration like Cesar who managed to control Rome211. Indeed he did control the country using the Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP), his paramilitary group and the help of Cecilia Kadzamira and her uncle John Tembo.

210 Meinhardt/ Patel, Malawi’s Process, 3. 211 Cammack, Diana/ Kelsall, Tim/Booth, David: Developmental patrimonialism? The case of Malawi, London: Africa Power and Politics Programme 2010 (= Working Paper 12), 14. 82

Kamuzu left Malawi for South Africa when he was still a young man. Then he proceeded to the United States of America and later settled in England and finally in Ghana. He only came back to Malawi, by then Nyasaland, after 40 years of absence from the country. He was invited by Henry Masauko Chipembere and Kanyama Chiume who were among the leaders of the then Nyasaland Africa Congress (NAC) to take the leading role in the party. These politicians were looking for someone who was older than themselves; the one who would be respected by all the members of the party even the older members, who were more conservative than the young leaders. He accepted to come back “but only under the adamant condition that he should be made president of the congress and given an unfettered hand to run it as he wished”212. When he arrived back in Malawi in 1958, the leaders of NAC welcomed him at Chileka Airport. These leaders told the people who gathered to welcome Kamuzu that he (Kamuzu) was to be their leader as long as he remained in the line of the congress. Afterwards the leaders met secretly and made him the leader of the congress213. They thought he would be only a leader figure and that they would continue to lead the congress behind Kamuzu and take the party in their direction214.

In 1964 Kamuzu became the first Malawian Prime Minister. He still remained on the condition he gave to the leaders who invited him; to rule the country as he willed. Chipembere noticed that Kamuzu was not accepting the advices coming from the people who had invited him and those of the leaders of the congress215. This reached its climax during the parliament session of September 1964, where four ministers – namely Kanyama Chiume, Orton Chirwa, Augustine Bwanausi and Rose Chibambo – were dismissed from the government. In solidarity with the dismissed, Henry Chipembere, Yatuta Chisiza and Willie Chokani resigned from the party216. There were several reasons which led to this development. One of them was that these ministers did not agree with the Kamuzu administration and openly criticised him for not taking enough Africans in his administration217. To this critic Kamuzu said he

212 Baker, Colin: Revolt of the Ministers. The Malawi Cabinet Crisis 1964–1965, London: I.B. Tauris Publishers 2001, 2-3. 213 Baker, Revolt, 3. 214 Carver, Where Silence, 10. 215 Baker, Revolt, 6. 216 Carver, Where Silence,12. 217 Boddy-Evans, Alistair: Malawi Timeline – 2nd Part: From independence to the death of Banda. Availaible at africanhistory.about.com/od/Malawi/l/bl-Timeline-Malawi-2.hTim (Accessed 20.03.2014). 83

was not ready to employ people who were incapable to fulfil their posts, just because they were Africans, and he was also not ready to dismiss someone who was capable just because he was a European218. These dismissed ministers accused him of favouring the white people and they thought he was more European than African219. This could be so because he had spent many years in the United States of America and England and even his way of dressing was British. Others also are said to have been murmuring among themselves that Kamuzu was “mchona (one who left the country long ago, had not returned and was out of touch)”220. Chipembere also observed that Kamuzu did not really fully understand the Africans and in his treatment he preferred the whites to his fellow Africans. For example, he was receiving Europeans and Africans in different rooms; he also could not share the toilet with Africans221.

On top of this the dismissed ministers did not agree with Kamuzu´s other policies which Happy M. Kayuni and Richard I.C. Tambulasi underline as follows: “(the) five policy issues cabinet ministers were against: (1) the adoption of the Skinner report, which approved reduced remunerations of civil servants; (2) the delay in the Africanisation process; (3) the continuation of diplomatic links with the racist regimes of Portuguese Mozambique and apartheid South Africa; (4) the introduction of three pence (ticket) hospital charges; and (5) reluctance to accept aid from, and forge links with, Communist China”222. Kamuzu was the only president in Africa, who maintained full and cordial diplomatic relations with the Apartheid government

218 Holzer, Werner: 26 mal Afrika, Münichen: Piper 1967 (= Panoramen der modernen Welt), 502: „Ich habe nicht die Absicht, einen schwarzen Mann in eine Stellung zu setzen, die er nicht ausfüllen kann, einfach wiel er ein schwarzes Gesicht hat, und ebensowenig werde ich einen anderen Mann, der diesen Post ausfüllt, nur deshalb entlassen, weil er ein weißes Gesicht trägt“ sagte Dr. Banda schon 1964“. 219 Baker, Revolt, 4. 220 Baker, Revolt, 5. 221 Baker, Revolt, 5. 222 Kayuni, Happy M. /Tambulasi, Richard I.C.: The Malawi 1964 Cabinet Crisis and Its Legacy of ‘Perpetual Regression of Trust’ Amongst Contemporary Malawian Politicians. Social Dynamics, in: A journal of African studies, (36)2 (2010), 410-427, 411. Cf. Holzer, 26 mal Afrika, 497: „Wenig später erklärte Banda in Malawi selbst, daß er den Kurs des übrigen Afrikas nicht einschlagen werde: ‚Ich werde weder Südafrika boykottieren noch Portugal oder Rhodesien!‘ Keine afrikanischen Vorwürfe konnten Banda daran hindern, diese Politik auch zu verwirklichen. Zwischen 1965 und 1967 schloß er nicht nur einen Vertrag mit Lissabon über das Verhältnis zwischen Malawi und dem Nachbarland Mozambique, sondern auch einem in seinem Inhalt geheimgehaltenen Handelsvertrag mit Südafrika. Bandas Behauptung, Peking habe den Ministern, die seinen Sturz im Jahre 1964 geplant haben sollen, einen Kredit von rund 200 Millionen DM angeboten, wenn Malawi sich dafür bereit erkläre, Peking anzuerkennen und diplomatische Beziehungen aufzunehmen, ist bisher nicht bewiesen, doch auch nicht gerade unwahrscheinlich.“ 84

of South Africa. Mbachi Joyce Ng’oma says that the NAC ministers were against the following policies of Kamuzu: “The way Dr. Banda treated the ministers with contempt, ridicule and sarcasm in private and public, cases of nepotism and corruption in the government and the party, appointment of Michael Blackwood to the important posts of Malawi Development Corporation (M.D.C) chairman and board member of Reserve Bank. This man was a former leader of Roy Welensky’s party who were all members of a ‘racist’ organisation called African Capricon Society”223. Richard K. Ghere adds that Banda patronized his young ministers and he used to call them “boys”. He would not let them contribute to the policy of the government224. He took all the powers in his hands; those who opposed him or tried to give him advices risked their lives and that of their family members. He was a hard-headed leader who was doing always what he alone wanted. Those who wanted a peaceful life and enjoy their position in his government did not dare to open their mouth and comment on the government except praising Kamuzu.

Right from the time he was made Prime Minister in 1964, Kamuzu started to consolidate his powers. He never wanted anybody opposing him or the then ruling party, the MCP. He managed to do that systematically first of all by making the MCP the only party in the country. Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall say that “thousands of people were detained without trial, some of whom died in prison, while the MCP sought to control multiple aspects of citizens’ lives – their information, appearance, discussions, affiliations, livelihoods etc. This was done through instruments of state repression – the police, Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP), the MCP’s Youth League”225. MYP, according to Harri Englund, had to see that discipline and order were maintained and they did not haste to use violence when they saw a possibility of protest against their command or that of Kamuzu226. Even the police were powerless before the MYP because they were receiving directives from the President himself.

223 Ng’oma, Mbachi Joyce: When yesterday meets today and we worry about tomorrow. Availaible at http://blaqkhofi.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/when-yesterday-meets-today-and-we-worry-about- tomorrow/ (Accessed 20.03.2014). 224 Ghere, Richard K.: The State of Public-Sector Ethics in Malawi: A Pass-Fail Question? University of Dayton P. 11. Availaible at http://www.mytouristplaces.com/?p=305384 (Accessed 29.01.2014). 225 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental 14. 226 Harri Englund, A democracy of chameleons p. 13 85

Kamuzu banned also all opposition parties. The first party to be demolished was the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) which was viewed by Banda as a tool of the Catholic Church in the early 1960s. He demolished it with the help of Aleke Banda and Orton Chirwa who were at the top of Malawi News227. These two used the media to destroy and to ban the party. In 1966 he declared Malawi as a one-party state. He also changed the laws of the country in his favour so that he could influence the judges and decide what was to be done to his opponents. Gretchen Bauer and Scott D. Taylor say that after the “cabinet crisis” there “was the centralization of political and economic power in the hands of President-for Life Banda. … Banda had taken over the Ministries of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Public Works and established a one-party state. In 1971 he was designated President-for-Life”228. He took the strategic positions like the Minister of Justice in order to be free to persecute his enemies in the way pleasing him.

Those who dared to criticise Kamuzu or MCP were either killed or imprisoned or sent into exile. Some of the people, who suffered these treatments, were those close to him and very active in the party. For example, Aleke Banda was arrested in 1980 for not authorising a cheque for the benefit of Kamuzu. Another person, who was imprisoned by Kamuzu in order to consolidate his powers, was Gwanda Chakwamba, who once pushed very hard that Kamuzu should be given all the powers in the country and that nobody was supposed to contest him. He was later sentenced to 13 years imprisonment from 1980 till 1993 “because of treason, which was probably fabricated by Tembo (this was the right hand of Kamuzu together with his niece Cecilia Kadzamira who was called the official Hostess of Kamuzu) who wanted to get rid of him because he was seen as becoming too powerful”229. Tembo, one of the persons who were believed to be loyal and trustworthy by Kamuzu, increased his power when Kamuzu was growing old and was ruthlessly crushing any opponents or those believed to be so230. This we shall see in detail in the coming subsections of this chapter.

227 Lwanda, John: Paper Tigers. The rise and fall of the independent media in Malawi. 1961-2001 ,in: The society of Malawi journal (55)1 (2002) , 1-23, 5. 228 Bauer/Taylor, Politics in Southern Africa, 26. 229 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 64. 230 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental,18. 86

3.4.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF Phoya is quoted by Herri Englund in a ‘Democracy of Chameleons’ saying that “just as Banda had ‘made Malawians stupid’ by denying anyone else but himself the capacity to rule the country, so too would the post-Banda political elite ‘make Malawians Stupid’ by denying them a healthy turn-over of the executive”231. Most people in UDF, including Muluzi himself, were also in the government of Kamuzu. Many just changed the party but their way of thinking and doing politics was just like that of Kamuzu and MCP. The only difference is the manner in which they play their politics, knowing that the times have changed. Richard K. Ghere adds that “multiparty system did not succeed in de-autocratising Malawi politics or bringing new ways of finding means for the party UDF”232.

In order to consolidate his power, Muluzi closed the mouths of the possible trouble- makers to his power by giving them top jobs. In the same way he also rewarded his supporters233. During the era of Muluzi, says Stephen Brown, the cabinet ministers were above the law because “Muluzi is indebted to many of his supporters and bound by the politics of patronage. For that reason, Muluzi's cabinet is very large (33 ministers). Many powerful members continue to hold their positions despite well- publicized corruption scandals. Donors have protested certain flagrant cases of corruption, notably those involving the cabinet minister Brown Mpinganjira, nothing was done when the practices continued. The Anti-Corruption Bureau revealed in early 2000 that it was investigating the finance minister Cassim Chilumpha over tender irregularities. Donor pressure led Muluzi to remove him from his position. However, rather than drop him from the cabinet, Muluzi assigned him the education portfolio instead”234. Having a big cabinet, where most of the members had nothing concrete to offer, helped Muluzi to consolidate his power and to have his bills passed easily in parliament. Also moved by greed and hunger for money, most of the opposition MPs defected to the side of the government and their seats were not declared vacant as stipulated by the constitution. This was due to the patronal mentality of Muluzi and his party.

231 Englund, Culture of Chameleon, 18. 232 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 13. 233 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 15. 234 Brown, Stephen: Malawi. The trouble with democracy, in: Southern Africa Report (SAR) (15)4, (October 2000), 4. Availaible at http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=3640 (Accessed 17.02.2014). 87

The state media were controlled by Muluzi, just like in the times of Kamuzu. Daily there was something positive about him and UDF on the media235. This is a powerful means of communication to people in places where many people cannot read and write. The ruling party and Muluzi prevented the opposition parties from reaching the simple citizens by denying them access to the state media236. The government used the media to give the good image of Muluzi and UDF; on the other hand to castigate and spoil the name of the opposition leaders and their parties. Only the manifestations of UDF were broadcasted live and repeated almost daily on state radios. Stephen Brown confirms this by saying: “Muluzi and the governing party benefited from a number of grossly unfair advantages of incumbency. For instance, the strong pro-UDF bias of the state-run radio network was particularly evident during the electoral campaign. Indeed, one week before the elections, the High Court ordered the Electoral Commission to ensure that fair coverage be provided to all parties, but no change was subsequently observed”237.

When the country was preparing for the second general election in 1999, the government of Muluzi removed the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairlady Chief justice Anastazia Msosa, the head of organizing and controlling the elections, without consulting the parliament or other political parties. Steven Levitsky is convinced that this happened because she “asserted her independence” and “packed the commission with allies”238. This displeased the President and his party as it was not in their favour. Stephen Brown concurs with Steven Levitsky by saying, “The prelude to the 1999 electoral campaign was not auspicious. In July 1998, President Muluzi unconstitutionally sacked the Electoral Commission (which is ostensibly an independent body) and unilaterally appointed new members. Suspicions of bias were subsequently fuelled when, in February 1999, the new commission announced the creation of 70 new constituencies of which 42 (or 60%) were in the UDF-dominated South. This caused uproar and earned the scepticism of Western bilateral donors who were financing a large part of the cost of the poll. The commission then backed

235 Levitsky, Steven/Way, Lucan A.: Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010 (= Problems of International Politics), 11. Availaible at http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/24290/Levitsky-Way-Stanford.pdf (Accessed 17.02.2014). 236 Levitsky/Way, Competitive Authoritarianism, 12. 237 Brown, Malawi, 2. 238 Levitsky/Way, Competitive Authoritarianism, p.81. 88

down, creating only 17 new constituencies (nine in the South and eight in the Central Region)”239. The President and UDF used their power to control the Electoral Commission, which was supposed to be a neutral organism. To confirm this, Stephen Brown adds that this new commission sided with the UDF in the inter-party conflicts between the UDF and the two opposition parties MCP and AFORD240.

The constitution of Malawi says that the President can only rule two five year terms. Muluzi and UDF tried also to change this constitution so as to give Muluzi another term in office of the presidency. The Young Democrats, a youth organisation of UDF, intimidated and attacked people, especially journalists, who were opposing the third-term bid of Muluzi. Just as Kamuzu used the MYP to control the country, and to remain in power, Muluzi and UDF used and supported these youth in their acts of violence. All demonstrations against this third-term were also forbidden. He used every means in order to keep his power241.

Another clear sign of authoritarian was seen in the way Muluzi handpicked Bingu, an outsider from UDF, to replace him after failing in his third term bid. He thought of continuing to control behind the Bingu. Muluzu was taking the party as his personal property because he was the founder and the sponsor of the party. This choice caused a lot of tension inside the UDF and some left the party for the opposition parties. Soon after winning the elections, Bingu left the UDF and formed his own party. He also started persecuting Muluzi for corruption and fraud. In 2009 Muluzi tried again to stand for presidency but it was rejected by the court.

3.4.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP Bingu started well in his first term of presidency for he had to fight against the party which put him in power. He was constantly terrified by impeachment from the opposition parties headed by UDF. In spite of this tension, the economy of the

239 Brown, Malawi, 1. 240 Brown, Malawi, 1-2: “Further worries over the Electoral Commission’s partisanship emerged in March 1999, when it refused to allow the MCP and AFORD to present a joint slate—ostensibly their only chance to defeat Muluzi. The High Court overruled the commission, since the constitution was silent on the matter of running mates from different parties and there was no law impeding it. The commission appealed, even though it was supposed to be a neutral, disinterested party, but the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision in May.” 241 Booth, David/Cammack, Diana/Harrigan, Jane: Malawi, Shaping change- Strategies of Development and Transformation, London: Overseas development Institute 2006 (= Working Paper 261), 14: “The Anti-Corruption Bureau has evidence that some MPs were paid to vote in favour of amending the Constitution, including admissions by some beneficiers of bribes”. 89

country improved and people had a bumper harvest. This is why he got a good number of supporters during the second term of office. For the first time in the history of the country, a President got support in all the three regions of the country. All the same, during his campaign, he took advantage of the media like his predecessor Muluzi. He also used government resources to his own advantage and that of his party (DPP), which was participating in the general elections for the first time.

Just like Muluzi, he also handpicked Dr Joyce Hilda Banda as his running-mate. He wanted to win support from women who were fighting for 50-50 presentation in government. Soon after winning the elections, he started putting her aside and giving priority to his younger brother Arthur Peter Mutharika. He was also preparing his brother to be his successor. When the then Vice-President, Joyce Hilda Banda and others, protested, they were sent out of the party. She ended up forming her own party (PP) in 2010.

During his second term in office Bingu became autocratic; he accepted no criticism and dealt with protests in a hard way. He was a great admirer of Kamuzu. He restored the name of Kamuzu on all the things which had been renamed by Muluzi. His dealing with the ministers and the opposition was also just like that of Kamuzu. Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall say that “Bingu wanted to copy Kamuzu in his relation to his cabinet ministers and in his disregard to the opponents... an ex- minister of Bingu said Bingu was ruled by fear of the parliament that it could take power from him and his ministers were incompetent and were treated as good boys.242 This was becoming clearer every day of his second term in office.

On the 20 July 2011 there was a national-wide strike organised by the human rights activists because the country was going through a lot of economic difficulties and human rights violations. Bingu used the security to stop this demonstration. The security used live bullets which killed 19 people and many got injured. They also arrested more than 300 people. The commission of enquiry stated that “First of all, the facts are now clearer. The Commission established that 20 people were killed during the violence – two in Blantyre, seven in Lilongwe, 10 in Mzuzu and one in

242 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 33. 90

Karonga. Nineteen died from gunshots, while one was suffocated by teargas”243. Further the report accused the government of Bingu and the police for all these deaths and these injuries.

In March 2012 when the same group organised demonstration against Bingu asking him to resign they were stopped on the eve of the demonstration. The Human Rights Activist, John Kapito, and Atupele Muluzi, son of Bakili Muluzi, who handpicked Bingu to the office of president, were arrested. Simon Allison says “this was a turning point in the fight against the increasingly autocratic and eccentric government of Mutharika”244. The activists and the demonstrators had given Bingu 60 – days to either resign or else they would continue disobeying him.

Like Kamuzu and Muluzi he had also a group of youth, called DDP Youth Morale (Youth Morale is a name given to the youth league of a political party in Malawi), for silencing his opponents. This group burnt the house of Rev MacDonald Sembeleka, a civil and human rights activist; one of the organisers for the demonstration. That was the way Bingu was dealing with his other critics, the media and the opposition. Bingu told this group of youth to beat up his critics. “Wa Mutharika said his party should borrow a leaf from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of the late dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1964-1994) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) of former President Bakili Muluzi (1994-2004) which protected their presidents. ‘During MCP and UDF eras, it was not Kamuzu or Muluzi who went in the streets beating up those who insulted them, it is the duty of the ruling party so what are you doing?’”245. David Drengk confirms this by reporting

243 Lee, Richard: Shining a Light on Malawi’s Darkest Day, in: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, 25th July 2012. Availaible at http://www.osisa.org/hrdb/blog/shining-light-malawis-darkest- day (Accessed 07.03.2014). 244 Allison, Simon: Malawi’s protests get political, Daily Maverick, 21 Mar 2012. Availaible at http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-03-21-malawis-protests-get-political/ (Accessed 18.02.2014). 245 The Malawi Democrat: Wa Mutharika Calls DPP Youth To Beat uo Critics. Availaible at http://www.malawidemocrat.com/tag/bingu-wa-mutharika/page/104/ (Accessed 18.02.2014). Cf. Mthawanji: Dyson: Role of youth in electoral process, Balaka: Montfort Media. Availaible at http://www.montforTimedia.org/2013/10/08/role-of-youth-in-electoral-process/ (Accessed 18.02.2014): “However, the role that youth have been playing in the past elections has usually been negative. Politicians have been using youths to intimidate their political rivals. All the previous regimes at some point abused youths. The fresh case in Malawians’ mind is what happened on the eve of 20 July 2011 mass demonstration where Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) youths were seen in blue pickup vehicles along the Masauko Chipembere Highway in Blantyre, brandishing sharp panga knives. “Amene anyoze a bingu sagona timupweteka” (We will deal with those who say bad things about Bingu)”. 91

what Bingu said to his supporters just before 20th July 2012, “He called upon all government and DPP supporters to resist such plans and activities by every conceivable means. Bingu wa Mutharika asked particularly the so-called DPP youth cadets to see that there was order in all the public places and to discipline every protesting opponent. Already days before the July 20 demonstrations of NGOs in Malawi last year (namely 2011), these youth cadets wandered around the cities’ streets to frighten people. That time they were driving around in governmental pick- ups, armed with machetes. During the anti-governmental demonstrations 20 people were shot by police forces. It was the most violent clash during protests in Malawi’s history”246. These youth were ruthless in dealing with opposition leaders and journalists.

Bingu also expelled United Kingdom (UK) High Commissioner to Malawi, Fergus Cochrane-Dyte, when he said that Bingu was becoming a dictator and was unwilling to accept criticism, and that the rights of media and opposition were deteriorating in Malawi247. Different people tried to stop him from carrying out his decision but Bingu listened to none. As a result of this, help from other countries was stopped and there was shortage of forex, fuel and sugar. Life became very expensive and hard for ordinary people.

Enoch MacDonnell Chilemba gives another example which demonstrates the dictatorial tendency of Bingu by saying that Bingu disregarded orders from the court several times. The first was when he closed the doors of MEC offices on allegations of fraud and abuse of funds and he refused to reopen them when he was ordered to do so by the court. Secondly he also refused to restore the benefits of Chilumpha as Vice-President (VP) which were withdrawn248.

246Drengk, David: Foreign Donors in Malawi should “go to hell”-Plot against Mutharika? 6 March 2012. Availaible at http://www.eufrika.org/wordpress/plot-against-mutharika-foreign-donors-inmalawi-should-go-to-hell (Accessed 20.03.2014). 247 Mapondera, Godfrey/ Smith, David: Malawi threatens to expel British high commissioner over leaked remarks, the guardian, 19 April 2011. Availaible at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/19/malawi-british-high-commissioner (Accessed 20.03.2014). 248 Chilemba, Enoch MacDonnell: They keep saying, ‘My President, my Emperor, and my all’: Exploring the antidote to the perpetual threat on constitutionalism in Malawi, Paper presented at the conference on Constitution-building in Africa at University of the Western cape Cape Town, republic of South Africa, 6 September 2013, 21. Availaible at http://www.communitylawcentre.org.za/constitution-making-in-africa-conference/constitution- ..(Accessed 15.05.2014). 92

In 2010 Bingu changed the national flag in spite of the protest from the general public. This costed K2.6 billion of the taxpayers’ money249 at the time the country was experiencing hard economic problems; there was lack of fuel and some basic needs like simple medicines in government hospitals. Bingu would not listen to opposition parties and faith organisations on the things which were for the benefit of the whole country.

3.4.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP Joyce Banda took over the presidency on 7th April 2012 from Bingu after his sudden death on the 5th April 2012. She showed some tendencies of stubbornness; she did not always listen to the views of others both within and outside her party. People, organisations and churches criticised her for making endless trips around giving cows and maize to people. She wasted a lot of taxpayers’ money by travelling, which is more expensive than what she was giving, but she did not stop it. This point will be developed later.

She made also some decisions against the ruling of the court or other organisations like installing chief Chikowi in Zomba250 and Kapeni in Blantyre. Frank Namangale writes that the high court gave an injunction restraining the President from installing Chief Kapeni but she defied the order and went on to install Benson Mtuwa as chief Kapeni251. Earlier she had also acted in the same way in installing Mariam Saiti as Chief Chikowi252. As if this was not enough she did the same in Thyolo by elevating G.V. Magi to Sub Traditional Authority253. She wanted only to be famous and win the support of the chiefs, while at the same time these acts created tensions in the royal families. The chiefs have powers to influence their people to vote for a particular party and also to determine which party is allowed to do campaign in their territory.

249 Nyasa Times: DDP govt blew K3bn on flag change, Nyasa Times, 30 May 2012. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2012/05/30/dpp-govt-blew-k3bn-on-flag-change/ (Accessed 11.01.2014). 250 Chilemba, They keep saying, 21. 251 Namangale, Frank: High Court censures JB for defying court orders, The Nation, 16 January 2014. Availaible at http:// mwnation.com/high-court-censures-jb-defying-court-orders/ (Accessed 17.01.2014). 252 Nyasa Times: Malawi Pres. Joyce Banda faces contempt of court charges, 26 July 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/07/26/malawi-pres-joyce-banda-faces-contempt-of-court- charges/ (Accessed 17.01.2013). 253 Maganga, Simeon: Bvumbwe stops President Joyce Banda from elevating chief, 06 August, 2013. Availaible at http://timesmediamw.com/bvumbwe-stops-president-joyce-banda-from-elevating-chief/ (Accessed on 17.01.2014). 93

She devalued the Kwacha against the advice of local experts in economics. She listened only to the proposals of the western countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The result of this move was that the simple people became even poorer. Nyasa Times says “Malawian President Banda has maintained that she won’t reverse the currency’s devaluation as consumer groups plan nationwide protests January 17 against soaring costs”254. Finally, she devalued it at 49% at once and the prices of basic needs rocketed up. The people demanded salary increases, without the money which was expected to come from the IMF and donor countries. Whenever people criticised her for some of her moves, she always said that those people were jealous and that she would continue on the way she has started255. In addition to that she said that people criticised and disobeyed her simply because she was a woman.

Keith Somerville says that the journalists in the country were afraid of the freedom of press because the people, who used to harass the media during the DDP regime, were now in offices of the PP. He continued that “Justice Mponda, a journalist for the Malawi Voice, was arrested on charges of insulting the president, criminal libel and publishing false information”256. There was no true freedom of press and the state run radio and TV were full of praises and rallies of the incumbent and her party.

3.4.5 PROFESSOR ARTHUR PETER WAMUTHARIKA AND DPP Arthur Peter wa Mutharika took over the presidency on 31st May 2014, after a controversial general election. A reporter of Nyasa Times says that two months before the General Election, on 4th March 2014, he showed signs of dictatorship. Firstly, he imposed on the National Governing Council (NGC) of the DPP his personal assistant, Ben Phiri, as in – charge of the party operations. Secondly, he told the NGC that he was the ultimate authority and was free to make any decision without consulting anybody. Thirdly, he told his running-mate, Saulos Chilima, that Vice-President is only ceremonial and he had always to wait for orders from the

254 Nyasa Times: JB says won’t reverse Malawi Kwacha devaluation: IMF chief defends move, 6 January 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/01/06/jb-says-wont-reverse-malawi- kwacha-devaluation-imf-chief-defends-move/ (Accessed 17.01.2014). 255 Nyasa Times: JB says won’t reverse Malawi Kwacha devaluation. 256 Somerville, Keith: Malawi’s muffled media: same as it ever was, Good Governance Africa (GGA) 01 March 2013. Availaible at http://gga.org/stories/editions/aif-9-are-you-allowed-to-read- this/malawi2019s-muffled-media-same-as-it-ever-was/view (Accessed 17.01.2014). 94

President. Finally, he reported that this meeting was characterized by banging of the table, threats and giving of decrees257.

3.5 ETHNICITY/NEPOTISM/REGIONALISM/PARTYISM In most parts of Africa people bring vertical and individual relations in all their businesses even in politics. Most people closer to the one in position want to profit from the position of the person and the one in good position wants to get support from his own258. Some people are given different positions or benefits because of secondary reasons and not because of their qualification or merit. These secondary reasons can be ethnicity, region, religion or party affiliation.

Between 1992 and 1994 there were different groups which were pushing for a multiparty system of government. Each of the three regions had its own main party; in the South was the UDF led by Muluzu, in the North was the AFORD led by Chihana and in the Central was the MCP led by Kamuzu. During the first General Election people voted these parties and candidates from their respective regions259. Kafuwe C. Tembo and Titus B. Phiri states that “even today in Malawi multiparty dispensation, politicians still appeal to ethnic affiliations and sensibilities in order to win support through such labels such as wakwithu …. or other cryptically coded words in order to win support”260. Further on, they state that chiefs will turn to support the people from their own are as they may be suspicious of the foreigner261.

The Southern Region which was mostly for the UDF during the 2009 presidential race was divided along ethnic and religious affiliation of the people. Bingu, who was a Lomwe, had a lot of votes in his home district (Thyolo) and surrounding districts. Mangochi and Machinga, Yao dominated areas, supported Tembo (MCP) who was in alliance with Muluzi, who was a Yao262.

257 Nyasa Times: Peter declares Ben Phiri ‘special one’, ‘lectures’ Chilima on ‘Vice-Presidency’, 11 March 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/03/11/peter-declares-ben-phiri-special- one-lectures-chilima-on-vice-presidency/ (Accessed 24.10.2014). 258Chabal, Ordnung, 37: „In Afrika liegt die Logik jedes Handelns, ob politisch oder nicht, in der Wirkung, die eine Aktion aufgrund der gegenseitigen Erwartungen der beteiligten Parteien auslöst“. 259 Englund, Culture of Chameleon,12. 260 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 26-27. 261 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 31. 262 Smiddy, Kimberly / Young, Daniel J.: Presidential and parliamentary elections in Malawi. May 2009, In: Electoral Studies 28(2009) 642-673), 663. 95

Alex Thomson urges that “Africans identify themselves as belonging to an ethnic group because it is in their interests to do so. Alongside the social benefits, cultural solidarity has become a method of securing tangible political power and economic advantage”263. Most of the times, the parties and their leaders receive a lot of votes from the regions where the parties were founded. As a result these leaders and their parties are obliged to favour the people who gave them a lot of votes. The people voting also wait to receive favours from the people they voted in power264. Alex Thomson continues to urge that “notions of ethnicity become pronounced and political when they are used to distinguish one social group from the other within a specific territory ... This is especially (seen) in situations where more than one ethnic group resides within a single country”265. The ethnic groups play an important role in the present day social, political and religious life of Malawians.

Richard Carver is convinced that “Malawi is sometimes described as being an ethnically homogeneous country, yet it has been riven with serious ethnic and regional tensions”266. As already noted in Chapter 2, different ethnic groups came to Malawi at different times from different places. Their first contacts were not always cordial. Later this situation was worsened by the colonial governments which divided the country into three administrative regions. Lastly it is still being worsened by the present politicians, who have always the name of particular tribes and regions in their mouth. Steven Brown states that “It is difficult to develop a party system ex nihilo, of course. That Malawi has developed a coherent and reasonably functional party system is an achievement in itself. Moreover, the current three-party structure might seem promising for the development of competitive politics. Nonetheless, the ruling party - as well as the parties in opposition - appear to be motivated more by the desire to benefit from power and the economic opportunities it provided than to implement positive policy reform, including further democratization. In doing so, these parties also have been tempted to seek expansion of their popular bases by

263 Thomson, Introduction, 65. 264 Hyden, Goran: African Politics in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ²2013, 257-258: “The aim of the political elites is not just to gather power but also to use the resources that come with it to buy the affection of their people”. 265 Thomson, Introduction, 61. 266 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 96

relying upon ethno-regional discourses that merely help deepen the cleavages that already exist”267.

3.5.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA AND MCP Gerhard Anders, as well as Richard Carver, writes that the Northern Region had better chances of getting good education, thanks to the missionaries, who put great emphasis on education. As a result many Northerners were working as civil servants. This development did not leave Banda in peace. He wanted to promote his own people, the Chewa, and Chewa culture which he later imposed as a national identity268. Richard K. Ghere adds that “Kamuzu Banda’s autocratic rule was bolstered as well by his preferential treatment of his home Central Region and discriminatory policies towards the Northern (most educated) and Southern (largest population of Muslims) regions”269. During the time of Kamuzu, the Northerners were persecuted and the Yao were denied education. Most Yaos were tailors, fishermen and watchmen. It was rare to find Yaos in politics with few exceptions like Bakili Muluzi. Richard Carver says that the president Banda and his close collaborators were all Chewa-speakers from the Central Region270. He adds that especially the members of Kadzamira and Tembo clan occupied very important posts in the government of Banda271. There were already signs of favouritism and nepotism right from the beginning of the independent Malawi. Jack Mapanje says that Cecilia Kazamira, who was the Official Hostess of Kamuzu, had her relatives and extended family members in good government positions. Her uncle John Tembo was the first Malawian to be Minister of Finance and later he was Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi. Zimani Kadzamira was principal of Chancellor College though he had no

267 Brown, Malawi, 6. 268 Anders, Gerhard: Freedom and Insecurity. Civil Servants between Support Networks, the Free Market and the Civil Service Reform, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 43- 61, 45. Cf. Carver, Where Silence, 3. 269 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 8. Cf Kayambazinthu, Edrinnie/ Moyo, Fulata: Hate Speech in the New Malawi, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 87-102, 90: “Malawi is divided into three regions: Northern, Central and Southern Regions. The regional divisions have also given rise to political polarisation and ethnic divisions that were ambivalently suppressed and promoted by Kamuzu Banda but that came to the fore during the 1994 and 1999 general elections when parties were voted for on ethnic and regional lines”. 270 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 271 Carver, Where Silence, 13. 97

credentials for the job and Mary Kadzamira was the private secretary of Kamuzu in Sanjika272.

Banda mistrusted the people of the north and the south because the dissent ministers in September 1964 were from the north and Mangochi in the south. Those who were associated with these dissent ministers, in one way or another, were seen as rebels and risked deportation, arrest or detention and most of the times without trial.273 For instance, Banda persecuted the people from the north; many civil servants were dismissed, and many imprisoned or went into exile274. Gerhard Anders continues by saying that “Banda’s principal intention was to marginalize the influence of (traditionally well educated) Northern region where (Chi)tumbuka was predominantly spoken”275 Edrinne Kayambazinthu and Fulata Moyo confirm this development by saying Kamuzu removed all top ranking Tumbukas from the National Statistical office and other civil society offices276. Kamuzu also accused the civil servants from the northern region that they took a lot of developmental projects to the North, though it was the least developed region of the country277.

It was said that there were many people from the north in the University of Malawi. In Maravi blog was written that “the district quota system was first introduced by the late dictator Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda’s Malawi Congress Party in 1988 after realising that the northern region of the country was benefiting from university places the most, followed by the central region and then the south”278. He wanted all the districts to have an equal number of students at the university. Alex Thomson adds that this quota system was also used in many aspects of African politics like in choosing cabinets ministers and in appointing people in bureaucratic offices279. He is not convinced that this guaranteed equal distribution of all things among all the

272 Mapanje, Jack: Afterword. The Orality of Dictatorship: In Defence My Country, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 178-187, 182. 273 Chirwa, Wiseman Chijere: Dancing Towards Dictatorship: Political Songs and Popular Culture in Malawi, in: Nordic Journal of African Studies (10)1 (2001), 1-27, 7-8. 274 Anders, Freedom, 45. 275 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 10. 276 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 92. 277 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 278 Nyasa Times: The gospel of quota system according to govt., 10 October 2009. Availaible at http://maravi.blogspot.co.at/2009/10/nyasatimes-gospel-of-quota-system.hTiml (Accessed 20.07.2014). 279 Thomson, Introduction, 66. 98

people. Many people find this system discriminatory. Not all the districts have the same number of students. For example, in cities and towns there are many more students than in rural dwellers. Some intelligent students in the cities were left out and places were given to those who were weaker but stay in rural area. Many think that the education should be based on qualification and not on tribe nor region. Joseph Kayira, a Commissioner at Malawi Human Rights Commission, is convinced that the “use of quota system in selecting students to public universities remains political, divisive, and works against the spirit of excellence in institutions of higher learning. Any policy that compromises on quality at the expense of scoring a political mark is not only wrong but also retrogressive: it shows loss of direction for tertiary education”280. It resulted into many students being weeded after a year or so because they were below the standard.

Edrinne Kayambazinthu and Fulata Moyo say that Kamuzu, who always preached about unity and national building, contradicted himself by sending the teachers from the North in their region in the year 1989281. Ndirande Love wrote that Kamuzu was told that the teachers from the North were favouring children from the North by giving them all the materials while the others were neglected. In the Central Region these teachers encouraged the pupils to join Nyau (mask secret society)282. At this time while many teachers were from the North had schools to teach in, the other two regions had a serious lack of teachers. This made it possible for some teachers from the north to remain in the other two regions.

In order to favour his region Kamuzu transferred the Capital city from Zomba to Lilongwe in 1975. With this development many government offices and NGOs went to Lilongwe. He also built the biggest Airport of the Country in Lilongwe. These created job opportunities for the people from the central region. The Central Region is the stronghold of MCP up to the present day. All the presidents of the party have always come from the Central Region; Kamuzu from Kasungu, Tembo from Dedza and now Dr Lazarus Chakwera from the outskirts of Lilongwe.

280Kayira, Joseph: Benedicto Kondowe. The Education Sector Needs a Complete Overhaul, 7 October, 2013. Availaible at http://www.montforTimedia.org/2013/10/07/benedicto-kondowe-the-education- sector-needs-a-complete-overhaul/ (Accessed 18.02.2014). 281 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 92. 282 Love, Ndirande: One Thing Kamuzu Got wrong About Tribes In Malawi, Malawi Voice, 20 February 2012. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2012/02/20/one-thing-kamuzu-got-wrong- about-tribes-in-malawi/ (Accessed 18.02.2014). 99

3.5.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF Bakili and his UDF party were also not spared from the plague of nepotism and favouritism. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that: “The UDF tries to control the civil service by employing more of its supporters and by side-lining civil servants who are seen as critical of the government. Civil servants, who want to campaign for a public office (e.g. Member of Parliament), have to resign first. In 1999 some opposition candidates were forced to render their resignation immediately while some UDF candidates were given more time”283. Right from the time they took over power from the MCP and Kamuzu, “the UDF perceived many at the top of the civil service to be MCP-loyalists, and so they were rooted out. Although thirteen Permanent Secretaries (PS) were retired the same day and were replaced by their loyalist”284. Muluzi used to say openly that only those who voted for UDF would receive development285. This meant that only the Southern Region would receive developmental projects because it voted massively for Muluzi and UDF while the Central Region voted for MCP and Tembo, and Northern Region for AFORD and Chihana.

Muluzi would distribute money and maize only to his supporters. Most of the times, these distributions were done during UDF political rallies. Even where these things were not distributed during the rally, there remained a lot to be desired. Blessings Chisinga says that although Malawi has a multi-party political system, the committee for the poverty alleviation were mostly dominated by the members of the ruling UDF286. Most of these programmes did not succeed because the committees did not take the things seriously. They usually favoured the UDF member and relatives in the distribution of the goods. Blessing Chisinga gives an example of different projects, meant for the youth in the rural areas, which died a natural death because many did not pay back the money287. This happened because many of the beneficiaries, if not all, were UDF sympathisers. If they happened to be members of opposition parties, they would be brought to book and forced to pay back the money.

283 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 60. 284 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 29. 285 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 93. 286 Chisinga, Blessings: The Politics of Poverty Alleviation in Malawi: A Critical Review, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 25-42,.36. 287 Chisinga, The Politics of Poverty, 26. 100

Quoting Kangwere, Blessings Chisinga says that UDF used these poverty alleviation programmes to buy the votes and supporters288.

Muluzi favoured also the people from his region in government posts. For example, he appointed Bright Msaka, who came from the same village as Muluzi, as the Commission of Inquiry in Mwanza Murder Case even though he was an inexperienced lawyer. Afterwards he appointed him as High Commissioner of Malawi in Canada where he performed poorly and later he was transferred to London. He was appointed without experience in all these jobs289. Secondly, the appointment of Joseph Aironi as the Inspector General of Police was illegal as Muluzi never consulted the parliament and the Public appointment committee for approval 290 and this man is also from the region of Muluzi.

3.5.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP Bingu expelled Joyce Banda, his nominated running-mate and Vice President, from the party because of her refusal to support Peter Mutharika, as the next presidential candidate and also the president of the party291. The Centre for Social Concern (SFSC) says that this brought tension between the Vice President and Peter Mutharika. The party was already selling Peter Mutharika as their party president and later on the country’s President292. Bingu wanted to install a family dynasty by proposing and preparing his younger brother, who was also Minister of Education, to be his successor. Joyce Banda wanted to compete with Peter for the post of the party’s presidency. He appointed his wife Callista as ambassador of Safe Motherhood, which was in the hands of the Vice President before293. Callista was paid MK 1,300,000 per month for doing the charitable work. This amount was

288 Chisinga, The Politics of Poverty, 37. 289 Face of Malawi: Why is Msaka in hot soup now, Face of Malawi, 25 March 2013. Availaible at http://www.faceofmalawi.com/2013/03/why-is-msaka-in-hot-soup-now/#sthash.tbDeCBfJ.dpbs (Accessed 19.02.2014). 290 Sonani, Bright/Banda, Mabvuto: Aironi’s Appointiment Illegal, 1 November 2001. Availaible at http://business.highbeam.com/3548/article-1G1-79617516/aironi-appoinTiment-illegal (Accessed 19.02.2014) 291 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 19. 292 CFSC Papers review: December 2010 Review of the year, News clippings with analysis from the major newspapers in Malawi, compiled by the Centre for Social Concern (CFSC) Lilongwe, 3. Availaible at http://www.aefjn.org/tl_files/aefjn-files/Africa/Info%20Africa%20eng/Malawi/2010- 12%20Malawi%20Press%20Review%20of%202010.pdf (Accessed 16.05.2014). 293 Der neue Fischer Weltalmanach 201. Zahlen-Daten-Fakten, Berlin: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag 2012, 296. 101

equivalent to a monthly salary of 30 nurses or 93 primary school teachers294. She was also to be one of the ministers if people and some organisations had not protested. The CFSC urges that: “In the first cabinet reshuffle of the year Madam Callista Mutharika was first put on the list of ministers. But the reaction led to the definitive list not having her name. The President commented that she was way above cabinet. Some functions that at first were taken care of by the Vice President Joyce Banda were transferred to her”295 as already said above, Safe Motherhood. At the same time the Vice President Joyce Banda was left out of this cabinet.

One UDF member said that Bingu offered government contracts to his friends and relatives. He gave an example of Mota-Engil, a road construction company from Portugal, which he claimed to be run by one of Bingu’s friends296. Ambuje Che Tom Li says that Bingu wanted to keep the Ministry of Agriculture for himself because he wanted to give the contract of distributing fertilizers to a company of his daughter Tapiwa called Bluada-Bas. He adds also that he gave a contract to Mulli to distribute exercise books for the Ministry of Education and this man was also appointed to the cabinet297. The CFSC urges that this way of appointing ministers created a big cabinet just to reward his supporters298. Speaking on the same topic Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall say that, Bingu “spoke strongly against corruption but in the end it was said that those close to him were profiting from special favours. His younger brother, who was also minister of Justice, profited from licences to cut and sell timber in Chikangawa forest. The ones who were doing this business before Peter were evicted by the army”299. Mulli, after abandoning UDF, was rewarded in several ways by Bingu: he was made minister; he was also given very important contracts by the government. Soon after power hand-over Bingu replaced Inspector General, Aironi, who was from Mangochi the home district of Muluzi, by Mukhito- a Lhomwe like Bingu. There were many strategic places which were given based on one’s origin and ethnic group.

294 Editor: Malawi: challenging Power and Corruption, AfricaFocus Bulletin, 30Jul 2011. Availaible at http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/mal1107.php (Accessed 16.05.2014). 295 CFSC, December 2010, 5. 296 Cammack/Kelsall with David Booth, Developmental, 34. 297 Likambale, Ambuje Che Tom, Bingu’s Bongos iv: An economy in schambles 28 May 2007. Availaible at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/amalawi/conversations/topics/2547 (Accessed 18.02.2014). 298 CFSC, December 2010, 4. 299 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 34. 102

Lester Brian Shawa brings another hot issue which was contested especially by the people from the Northern Region. He says “Quota system is contested because it talks of people identity”300. This system was reintroduced in 2009. As already indicated above it was first introduced by Kamuzu Banda and abolished by Muluzi. The people from the North, who had just massively voted for him, were disappointed because they thought that Bingu wanted to side-line capable students from the North to go to the state university.

This mentality was also present in the minds of his ministers. For example, the Minister of Information und Civic Education, Patricia “Kaliati castigated the people from the north for building mansions in the central and southern regions and not in the north”301. She accused them of not wanting to develop their own region. The northerners are also blamed of being the most tribalistic group in Malawi. Patricia Kaliati accused them also for allegedly causing disorder and instability in the countries politics302. His boss, Bingu, never commented on what she said nor disciplined her. This was a sign that he fully supported what her Minister said.

3.5.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND THE PP ‘Friends of Central Region’ said that during the reign of Bingu and the DPP most of the top government posts were occupied by the Lhomwes. During the reign of Joyce Banda and PP these posts were occupied by the Tumbukas and Tonga303. They claimed that this was so because she was married to a northerner, Richard Banda.

She also appointed her sister, Dr Anjimile Ntila Oponyo, as the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Education. Before being appointed to this post, she had squandered the money of the USA Pop singer Madonna, which was meant for constructing a school for girls in Malawi. She was hired by Madonna thanks to her

300 Shawa, Lester Brian: The big-Man syndrome as a security Threat in Malawi: A Critical Theory Perspective, in: Southern African Peace and Security studies (1)2, (2012), 44 -56, 49. 301 Nyasa Times: VP demands apology for Kaliati’s anti-north rant, Nyasatimes, 16 October 2011. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2011/10/16/vp-demands-apology-for-kaliatis-anti-north- rant/ (Accessed 20.08.2014). 302 Nyasa Times: VP demands apology. 303 Nyirongo, Gift: Malawi’s President Joyce Banda Underfire on Increased Nepotism: Northerners Dominating Govt, Ministerial Positions, 4 February, 2013. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2013/02/04/malawis-president-joyce-banda-underfire-on- increased-nepotism-northerners-dominating-top-govt-ministerial-positions-96527/ (Accessed 20.08.2014). 103

sister Joyce Banda who was then the Vice President304. Another sister of Joyce Banda, Cecilia Kumpukwe, was “trusted with the running of all the affairs in the State House”305. Shanil Muluzi, the former wife of Muluzi, accused PP of favouring Ronald Chanthunya, who is related to the president. She also claimed that the chiefs in the constituency were instructed not to participate in her campaign in their areas306. As a result she contested as an independent MP for Balaka West even though she belonged to PP.

She forgave the sentence of her relative, Festone Kuiwenga, who was sentenced to 9 years for in prison for raping a girl with whom he was singing in the choir. In her message of forgiveness of some prisoners as part of the independence celebration, as stipulated by the law that the president can pardon some prisoners, she claimed to have refused to pardon 11 prisoners charged for rape and one of them was even terminally ill. She added that these men ruined the life of the girls and there was no tolerance for those who do violence to women. At the same Festone Kuiwenga was released307.

3.5.4 PROFESSOR ARTHUR PETER MUTHARIKA AND THE DPP Thom Chiuma says Blessing Chisinga accused Peter Mutharika “on nepotism and regionalism in his selection of cabinet and public appointments”308. Zawadi Chilunga quoting the interview of Ernest Thindwa on Voice of America said “It’s normal for any new government to make some shake-ups, but if you critically look at these shake-ups, what you see is that people who are removed are mostly those from the north and central (regions) and they are replacing them with those from the south (a region where Mutharika comes from), particularly of the Lomwe tribe (Mutharika’s

304 Malawi Voice reporter: Joyce Banda Appoints Controversial Sister as Principal Secretary for Education Ministry, 7 November 2012. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2012/11/07/joyce- banda-appoints-controversial-sister-as-principal-secretary-for-education-ministry/ (Accessed 20.08.2014). 305 Mawaya, Innocent: Joyce Banda’s sister Kampukwe calls Malawians ‘makape’, fools as son Geoff spits fire on cash-gate. Availaible at http://www.malawidemocrat.com/joyce-bandas-sister- kampukwe-calls-malawians-makape-fools-as-son-geoff-spits-fire-on-cash-gate/ (Accessed 10.10.2014). 306 Nyasa Times: Malawi ex-first lady Shanil contesting for MP as independent, Nyasa Times, 8 February 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/02/18/malawi-ex-first-lady-shanil- contesting-for-mp-as-independent/ (Accessed 09.02.2014). 307 Face of Malawi: JB released rapist relative, 6 October 2012. Availaible at http://mwnation.com/jb- released-rapist-relative/ (Accessed 21.02.2014). 308 Chiumia, Thom: Chisinga Raps Mutharika on Legitimacy, regionalism, Nyasa Times, 7 July 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/07/07/chinsinga-raps-mutharika-on-legitimacy- regionalism/ (Accessed 25.10.2014). 104

tribe)”309. Later on quoting the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and the Center for Development of People (CeDeP) Zawadi Chilunga says “25 percent of positions in cabinet are held by those from the central and northern regions while 75 percent are from the south – like the president”310. Although he constantly preaches unity there is very little on the ground to show for it.

3.6 HATE SPEECHES Bénézet Bujo says that the spoken-word has power to bring life or death to the people of the family or community according to how it is used. When the spoken- word is well used it promotes life, but when badly used it diminishes life. Among the Bantu people, the spoken-word comes from the heart of the person311. Malawian politics is marked by a culture of hate and violent speeches. This worsens during the campaign period for general election. Most politicians lack ethical-moral responsibility and also obligation of politicians and public speakers.

In the transition period to multiparty there were songs castigating the people who were very close to Kamuzu. The pro-multiparty group called John Tembo useless man, Wadson Bin Deleza big headed without any intelligence and Cecilia Thamanda Kadzamira a whore who goes around with an old man Kamuzu312. It is a big cultural scandal to call any old lady a whore and to despise the way one looks in public. The Bantu say that one does not count the fingers of a person who has nine fingers before him and in public. The camp of Banda did not remain silent during this period. It also composed songs castigating the leaders who were advocating for the multiparty system. One of the songs was “munali kuti inu a bongololo” - meaning “where were you, you millipedes”. Meaning that the oppositions were cowards and could not come out for fear of Kamuzu and now they take advantage of his old age313.

Castigating one another continued even after this time of transition. Chiudza Banda noted that there were hate speeches during the 2009 electoral campaign which were even aired on both state and private media stations. Politicians called each other

309 Chilunga, Zawadi, Tribalism tag on Mutharika over purges- University of Malawi Lecturer, Nyasa times, 10 Sepember 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/09/10/tribalism-tag-on- mutharika-over-purges-university-of-malawi-lecturer/ (Accessed 25.10.2014). 310 Chilunga, Tribalism tag on Mutharika. 311 Bujo, Die Ethische Dimension, 64. 312 Chirwa, Dancing, 18-19. 313 Chirwa, Dancing, 21-22. 105

names and smeared one another314. This continued up to the present day in political rallies.

3.6.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA After the cabinet crisis of September 1964, songs were composed to denounce the dissenting cabinet ministers and to put fear in the minds of the people, who might be thinking along the same line. One of the songs was: “Moto wayaka. Amalawi safuna: Chipembere, Kanyama and Willie Chokani and in Chichewa “Chokani” mean “get away, Malawians do not want”315. This song meant that the MCP and Kamuzu were ready to persecute anyone who could have any kind of association with the dissenting ministers.

Kamuzu called the Jehovah Witnesses the children of Satan for refusing to participate in political activities and to buy the MCP membership cards. He told them that whenever they had a problem they were neither to turn to police nor to the District Officer for these were part of the MCP. Instead they were to go and report their problems directly to God. He added that even the schools to which they sent their children and hospitals, where they went when sick, belonged to the government. The Malawi News of November 24, 1967 called them foolish and stupid and that they were not worth to be called brothers316.

When the Catholic Bishops wrote a letter calling on the government to respect the human rights, the senior members of the MCP met to discuss on how to eliminate them. Hilda Manjamkhosi, the chairlady of Lilongwe women’s league of the MCP was quoted saying “Today Bishop Chimole should die. He is a witch, deranged, useless, a useless dog. As someone said, we should piss on him. Does he not know that we piss… we shall shit on his head”317.

Edrinne Kayambazinthu and Faluta Moyo list a number of abusive words used by the MCP to insult those of different views as follows: Bongololo (Millipede), Anyani

314 Chiudza Banda, Paul: The 2009 General Elections: Process, result and Lessons, in: The Society of Malawi Journal, (63)2 (2010), 4-14, 7. 315 Chirwa, Dancing, 7. 316 Watchtower: Research on Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Malawi Incident. Availaible at http://www.jwfiles.com/wt_control/malawi.hTim (Accessed 21.02.2014). 317 Roberts, James, Ministers threaten Malawi bishops, 3 October 1992. Availaible at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ministers-threaten-malawi-bishops-1555095.hTiml (Accessed 21.02.2014). 106

(Monkeys), Meat for crocodiles, Ankhweri (Baboons), zitsiru (Fools), Agalu (Dogs), ziboliboli (curious or mentally retarded person), kukodzera maBishopu mkamwa (to urinate in the Bishop’s mouth), zigawenga (rebels or thugs) and tikonza (we will kill or we will arrange)318. These were names used to undermine and mock their opponents.

3.6.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF Muluzi called the MCP Chipani chankhanza (brutal party), a party of doom, or a dying party, decadent and dilapidated. In other words, the MCP was labelled so that no change was possible319. He called the members of the MCP anthu akupha (murders) referring to all the human abuses which happened during the time of Kamuzu. They called it a party which killed people and never respected the dignity of human beings.

Edrinne Kayambazinthu and Faluta Moyo list a number of abusive words used by the UDF as follows: openga (mad person), Mafia (crooks), makatani oyoyoka (threadbare curtains), chipani chankhanza (brutal party), zitolilo (useless wind instruments), wina alira (someone will cry) wina amwa tarmac (commit suicide by drinking poison for rats) akakowa (a bird with long neck referring to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as powerless party)320 They continued saying that during their campaign the UDF reminded the MCP of the people it killed and asked the MCP to bring them back to life if they were to win. They called the MCP mfiti (witch). The MCP was stereotyped by the UDF and there was no possibility of change.

They called Vera Chirwa mkaidi (prisoner) and odwala mutu (mad person). The supporters of Muluzi told him to send her back to prison. She was arrested together with her husband on the boarder of Zambia and they were sent to prison by Kamuzu. Muluzi castigated her because she was against women dancing at the political rally of Muluzi. He called also those in opposition openga (mad people)321. Whoever had

318 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 95. 319 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 94. 320 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 95. 99. 321 Maere, Joseph Boniface: The extent of ‘Hate Speech’ Politics in Malawi: An Analysis of Proliferation of Hate speech Ahead of 2009 General Elections, in: African Development and resources research Institute (ADRRI) (4)4/2 (2014) 117-132 Journal, 125. 107

an opposite view was considered dangerous and was castigated during their rallies and this was broadcasted live on state radio.

3.6.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP Makiyolobasi was a political programme by the DPP to castigate the opposition political parties especially the MCP president John Tembo322. This radio caricature program was intended to make fun of the opposition parties. A state funded radio station broadcasted always this program and those castigated had no chance of answering back or explaining themselves.

Bingu told the foreign donors to go to hell. He accused them that they were staging a demonstration together with the civil society activists against his government. He also said the donors gave money to the civil activist to overthrow his government323.

The DPP used the state owned media (MBC and TVM) to bulldoze and abuse oppositions324. When Patricia Kaliati was Minister of Information, she together with other DPP leaders like Hetherwick Ntaba, used abusive words against the opposition parties and their leaders. The DPP, especially Patricia Kaliati and Callista Mutharika, mocked Joyce Banda for her humble beginnings by calling her mandasi seller. Kaliati also defended the First Lady Callista Mutharika who told the civil society organizations to go to hell for spoiling the name of the government of her husband325. She said that everybody has freedom of expression. Kaliati likened Kandondo to a barren woman promising to give birth when they disagreed on the venue of their political rallies in Kasungu326.

3.6.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP As Malawi was preparing for the General Elections in 2014 it was written in ‘Malawi Voice’ that “The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has implicated the

322 Masikamu, Robert, Part 2-Political Desperation Retarding Democratisation in Malawi, 30 August 2013. Availaible at http://rmasikamu.wordpress.com/tag/evison-matafale/ (Accessed 10.10.2014). 323Drengk, David: Foreign Donors in Malawi should “go to hell”-Plot against Mutharika? 6 March 2012. Availaible at http://www.eufrika.org/wordpress/plot-against-mutharika-foreign-donors-inmalawi-should-go-to-hell (Accessed 30.1.2014). 324 Chiudza Banda, The 2009 General Elections, 9. 325 Gwede, Wanga: Kaliati backs ‘foul-mouthed’ first Lady, 9 August 2011. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2011/08/09/kaliati-backs-foul-mouthed-first-lady/ (Accessed 22.02.2014). 326 Nyasa Times: Kaliati blast Minister after rally venue tussle: ‘Kandodo is like barren woman’ 25 February 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/02/25/kaliati-blast-minister-after- rally-venue-tussle-kandodo-is-like-barren-woman/ (Accessed 26.02.2014). 108

ruling People’s Party (PP) on the growing trend of hate speeches during political rallies”327. The report continued saying that the PP were in the forefront in castigating the opposition leaders and they feared that this could cause violence and incite prejudice on a person or a group of people. ‘The Maravi Post’ of the 6th September 2013 says that Uladi Mussa, the leader of the ruling party PP in the Central Region and Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, called Peter Mutharika “bachelor” because he was not married. He also called him “Mtchona”- meaning a person who lived most of his life in diaspora. In so saying he meant that Peter was not a true Malawian and that he was not in touch with the reality of Malawi. He also called Atupele Muluzi a “toddler”328. He said Atupele was immature and had no experience to rule the country. In Nkhatabay he said that Atupele had never even run a canteen or Tearoom and how could he rule the country329. The PP distanced itself from these remarks saying they were personal. Later Ken Msonda of the PP was quoted by the Nyasa Times of the 29th April 2013 as saying that “some politicians fear their own shadows and skeletons in their own cupboards and would want to score cheap political mileage from slippages and utterance”330.

Uladi attributed the armed robbery and lawlessness taking place in the country on the opposition parties331. In Nkhata Bay he told the people not to vote for people who came from the families of looters. Further he said that the only integral family, with no history of looting, was that of Joyce Banda332. By this he was referring to the former presidents Muluzi, father of Atupele, presidential candidate of the UDF, and late Bingu, the brother to Peter Mutharika, presidential candidate of the DPP. In spite

327 Malawi Voice Reporter: Malawi Human Rights Commission Faults PP on Hate Speeches, Maize Distribution, 6 September 2013. Availaible at http: //www.malawivoice.com/2013/09/06/malawi- human-rights-commission-faults-pp-on-hate-speeches-maize-distribution/(Accessed 20.02.2014). 328Chimulala, Maneno, MHRC urges politicians to desist from defamatory remarks, 6 September 2013. Availaible at http://www.maravipost.com/national/politics/4500-mhrc-urges-politicians-to- desist-from-defamatory-remarks.hTiml (Accessed 25.01.2014). 329 Nyasa Times: Uladi roasts opposition leaders: ‘Malawi needs JB beyond 2014’ 22 July 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/07/22/uladi-roasts-opposition-leaders-malawi-needs- jb-beyond-2014/ (Accessed 23.07.2013). 330 Nyasa Times: Malawi ruling PP says Uladi’s hate-speeches won’t dent its image, 29 April 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/04/29/malawi-ruling-pp-says-uladis-hate-speeches- wont-dent-its-image/ (Accessed 20.01.2014). 331 Nyasa Times: Uladi: Malawi lawmaker through the backdoor, now PP’s attack dog, 27 April 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/04/27/uladi-malawi-lawmaker-through-the-backdoor- now-pps-attack-dog/ (Accessed 20.01.2014). 332 Nyasa Times, Uladi roasts opposition leaders. 109

of all these speeches and the PP distancing itself from these remarks, Uladi was promoted by Joyce Banda to be the president for the Central Region of the PP party. Then one can conclude that he was not only speaking on behalf of the PP and that he had the backing of the party.

3.7 DETENTION AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH Drucilla Cornell says that “A man who takes away another man´s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. He is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity”333. A full mature human being respects oneself and also the other person. One cannot give what one does not have; if one has no Umunthu one cannot respect the Umunthu of the other. This is seen in the political and social life of Malawi: “Politicians who are not confident and focused tend to intimidate their competitors for fear of losing their position instead of taking it as a chance to show their strength. We saw that during MCP, UDF and DPP when some people who spoke against the government were arrested and detained without trial, some lost their jobs and property while others their lives”334. This shows that one is not free with oneself and also that one is incapable but does not want to be assisted for fear of losing one’s position.

3.7.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni give a good summary characterising the reign of Kamuzu and the MCP. They urge that: “During their more than 30 years in power there were a lot of acts which were inhuman and which made a lot of people suffer and some even lose their lives. Others were forced to leave the country in order to save their lives and for some this was not even safe enough for they were also followed in other countries. He treated other people who did not belong to his party and his mentality as less humans”335.

After the cabinet crisis of September 1964, Kamuzu dismissed Kanyama Chiume, Orton Chirwa and Augustine Bwanausi from the cabinet. Later two other Ministers

333 Cornell, Drucilla: Exploring Ubuntu – Tentative Reflections. Availaible at http://www.fehe.org/index.php?id=281 (Accessed 06.07.2014). 334 Masikamu, Part 2-Political desperation. 335 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Can African Feet, 149. 110

resigned as a sign of solidarity with those who were dismissed. These ministers were charged with treason and seduction. From this time on Kamuzu began to persecute all he thought to be a threat to his reign. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that any person who “showed ambitions-real or imagined – to succeed the ailing president was seen as a threat to Banda and his ‘royal family’, consisting of his partner Cecilia Kadzamira and her uncle John Tembo”336.

Most of the people, close to Kamuzu, ended up being his worst enemies. He put many of them in detention or sent them into exile. Kamuzu himself said that when one was closer to him, s/he was to take care and walk according to his steps337. He did not want that any person should be more influential or richer than him. He persecuted whoever showed these signs. For example, Orton Chirwa, who handed over the presidency of the MCP to Kamuzu and also worked very hard on the constitution of the MCP, was hunted by the MYP and was arrested in Zambia. Finally he died in prison in October 1992 after 11 years of imprisonment338. Another person was Chiume, who persuaded Kamuzu to come to take over the leadership of the congress. He also made a welcome speech at Chileka Airport encouraging people to accept Kamuzu as the new leader of the Congress. He was a very good and strong propagandist for Kamuzu. He even composed a song in favour of Kamuzu saying that “zivute zitani tili pambuyo pa Kamuzu” meaning that “they will always support Kamuzu come what may”. As his reward he was sucked (when he fell out of grace with Kamuzu) together with the other ministers in September 1964339. By the end of 1964, Kamuzu had more than 400 opponents arrested340. Aleke Banda, who was a probable successor of Kamuzu, was arrested in 1980 for not authorising a cheque for the benefit of Kamuzu and was only released in 1992. Gwanda Chakwamba, who pushed very hard that Kamuzu should be given all the powers in the country and that

336 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 4. 337Kayuni/Tambulasi, The Malawi 1964, 411. 338 Kayuni/Tambulasi, The Malawi 1964, 412 – 413. 339 Kayuni/Tambulasi, The Malawi 1964, 413-14. 340 Boddy-Evans, Malawi Timeline. Cf. Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 14: “A dictator by nature, Banda’s authoritarian tendencies became better known following the ‘Cabinet Crisis’ of 1964, when younger ministers refused to support some of his domestic- and foreign-policy measures (Baker, 2001). This resulted in several dismissals, some resignations, and a failed coup attempt. Those who supported the ‘rebels’ were arrested and detained or fled into exile. They had their property confiscated, and their gardens reallocated by party officials and chiefs to neighbours”. 111

nobody was supposed to contest him, was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in 1981341.

Kamuzu also persecuted – imprisoned or exiled – the Witnesses of Jehovah in 1967 for refusing to buy the MCP membership cards342 as seen already above. In 1992 he arrested all the Catholic bishops of Malawi for writing a pastoral letter denouncing the government for not respecting human rights. Some senior members of the MCP called for the death of the bishop in secret and to declare them missing afterwards343.

In May 1983, three senior Cabinet Ministers were murdered by police for refusing the proposal of Kamuzu to have Tembo as his successor or as acting president as Kamuzu wanted to take a year off. Tembo and Kamuzu ordered the then Inspector General of Police, Eliot Kamwana, to act accordingly344. Jack Mapanje confirms this and adds that “Banda was so enraged that he declared that he did not want to see the dissenting MPs when parliament next reassembled. Whereupon Tembo and the inner circle interpreted Banda’s angry words – as they had always done – that he meant death of the MPs”345. Sangala, MP, was killed because he crossed with Tembo, who had helped him to ascend to power. Their murder was camouflaged as a car accident on the Mwanza road near the Mozambique border346. Richard K. Ghere says that “having three ministers (who supported a multi-party system) found dead at a traffic ‘accident’ scene, even though all three had tent pins piercing their skulls”347. Kamuzu forbade their families to give the last respect to their loved ones and the

341 Kayuni/Tambulasi, The Malawi 1964, 414 – 417. Cf. Collier, Paul: Die unterste Milliarde: Warum die ärmsten Länder scheitern und was man dagegen tun kann. Transl. by Rita Seuß/ Martin Richter, München:C.H.Beck 2008, 95: „Ich hatte Gelegenheit, denn Mann kennenzulernen, der es gewagt hatte, die Wirtschaftspolitik des malawischen Diktators, Staatspräsident Hastings Banda, zu kritisieren. Dieser Mann legte dem Präsidenten dar, seine Unternehmung Press Holding – ein Staat im Staat-, die der Präsident als sein persönliches Eigentum führte, sie zum Scheitern verurteilt. …. Der Präsident war zwar kein Dummkopf, aber er hasste Widerworte. ….. Präsident Banda ließ Banda, den Überbringer der Nachricht, nicht ermorden, erließ ihn einsperren. Sein Mut brachte dem Mann zwölf Jahre Gefängnis ein.“ 342 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 5. 343 Roberts, Ministers threaten. 344 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 18. 345 Mapanje, Afterword, 182. 346 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 18. 347 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 9. 112

burial ceremony was under strict control of the police. Finally, even the children of all these murdered politicians were expelled from school348.

Austin Madinga, who had worked for the World Bank in U.S.A., was called to be the general manager of Malawi Development Corporation (MDC). In the 1980s as the economy of Malawi was in bad shape, the World Bank proposed Austin Madinga to be the Governor of Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) replacing John Tembo. Before he took this post, he died mysteriously in a car accident in 1982. It was believed that he was killed so that he could not take over from John Tembo. People believe that John Tembo had a hand in the murder of Austin Madinga349.

There were many people who suffered and were persecuted by the MCP and Kamuzu. Some opponents were tied up hand and foot, blind-folded and thrown in River Shire to be food for the hungry crocodiles; some were dipped in sulphuric baths350. There were many people who went missing and people do not know their whereabouts.

3.7.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF Evison Matafali was a political activist and his songs reflected his critical mind against Muluzi and his rule. His brother, Elton, says that some days before his arrest, Matafali had written letter to Muluzi denouncing some of his policies. He was maltreated by the police when he was arrested and taken to Maula where he died after three days351. The police says that he died of pneumonia while the family say there were also signs of torture352. Whatever is the case and the cause of his death, Matafali was a political prisoner who died in custody. Jack Mapanje urges that Evason Matafali composed a song which was criticising nepotism, corruption and patronage in Muluzi’s regime. Despite his ill health, he was taken from Blantyre to Lilongwe about 200 km and he died in prison. Many people attended the funeral. The students, demonstrated at the funeral, were shot by police; one lost his life and

348 Chirambo, Reuben Makayiko: Mzimu wa Soldier. Contemporary Popular Music, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 103-122, 106. 349 Carver, Where Silence, 48-49. 350 Mapanje, Afterword, 183. 351 Masikamu, Part 2- Political desperation. 352Tenthani, Raphael: Malawian farewell to ‘the prophet’, 29 November 2001. Availaible at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1682708.sTim (Accessed 07.06.2014). 113

many were injured353. This was just to silence also his supporters and those who might have had the same views like those of Matafali.

Like MYP of MCP and Kamuzu, Muluzi and his UDF had also a group of youth called “Young Democrats”. These were at times involved in the acts of violence354. The Anti-Muluzi blog confirmed these barbaric actions of the Young Democrats by saying that “5 November 2001 (IRIN) – ruling United Democratic Front’s (UDF) party activist, the so-called ‘young democrats’, have become embroiled once again in allegations of intimidation and violence”355. Further on it says that even the Catholic Church was concerned with what they call “an increase in ‘state-sponsored violence’ aimed at silencing critics of the government”356. This created fears in the country and people were not free to criticise the government. Harri Englund adds that these youth also beat up a Muslim Sheik after the Muslims wrote a letter against Muluzi’s use of Muslim attire. These youth accused him of abusing their boss, a thing they could not tolerate357. Charles Banda says “The victims of the Young Democrats’ perpetrated violence ranged from common opposition sympathisers to senior opposition leaders. In late February for instance, Mary Clara Makungwa, vice president of the opposition National Democratic Alliance, was almost roughed up by a band of the militant youths. Her vehicle was set ablaze. Another politician, Kizito Ngwembe, a member of parliament for the opposition Malawi Congress Party, was assaulted by youths while addressing a rally in Kasungu in central Malawi”358. All these acts went unpunished. Some big gurus of UDF like Clement Stambuli and Humphrey Mvula and Henry Moyo supported these youth in their barbaric acts359. Some of the big people accompanied the youth in acts violence, using government or party vehicles360.

353 Mapanje, Afterword, 180. 354 Englund, The Culture of the chameleons, 13. 355 Anti-Muluzi Block: Lest we forget. “Young democrats” implicated in intimidation. Availaible at Antimuluzi.Blogspot.com, http://antimuluzi.blogspot.co.at/2008_04_01_archive.hTiml (Accessed 12.04.2014). 356 Anti-Muluzi Block: Lest we forget. 357 Englund, The Culture of Chameleons, 13. 358Banda, Charles, Young democrats or mercenaries? Availaible at http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_6502.hTiml (Accessed 10.07.2014). 359 Anti-Muluzi Block: Lest we forget. Cf. Englund, Culture of Chameleons, 13-14. 360 Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. Availaible at http://www.child-soldiers.org/user_uploads/pdf/malawi3341200.pdf (Accessed 11.06.2014). 114

The way the government handled the death of some prisoners lacked transparency. For example the political prisoner Captain James Njoloma, who was convicted of mutiny, died mysteriously in Zomba prison361. His relatives were not allowed to attend his post-mortem or to pay the last respects to their loved one362.

3.7.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP Bingu and the DPP during their second term in office became more and more autocratic. They persecuted all their critics. The opposition parties said that Bingu was using the Anti-Corruption Bureau to persecute them. For example he accused and arrested Muluzi on charges of corruption; Chilumpha was accused of plotting treason; and Chakwamba for insulting the president363. All these cases were partly, if not totally, politically motivated. Maybe these people had something to answer but the way the cases were handled raised a lot of questions.

Robert Chasowa, a student activist who was critical of Bingu and the DPP, died mysteriously on the Polytechnic campus in Blantyre after criticising the government of Bingu364. The government immediately claimed that he had committed suicide while the commission of inquiry urged that he was murdered by being struck at the back of his head365. Journalists were forbidden to do any investigations about the death of Chasowa and those who tried to do so were interrogated by the police366.

The powers of police to detain people increased tremendously. They were given the right to check any house without the letter of permission367. They used this right to check houses of the opponents of the president and his party. Bingu also once said that “he is not Jesus and therefore he believes in tit for tat against his perceived opponents. He also advised the police to have a policy of shoot to kill wrong doers”368. Using this philosophy, 20 people were killed in the famous 20th July 2011

361 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 100. 362 Kayambazinthu/Moyo, Hate Speech, 100. 363 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 37. 364 Masikamu, Part 2- Political desperation. 365Smith, David, Student activist was murdered, Malawian inquiry rules,10 October 2012. Availaible at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/10/student-activist-murdered-malawian-inquiry (Accessed 12.06.2014). 366 Reporters Without Borders: Journalists must be allowed to investigate the death of activist Robert Chasowa, 19 October 2011. Availaible at http://en.rsf.org/malawi-journalists-must-be-allowed-to-19- 10-2011,41241.hTiml (Accessed 12.06.2014). 367 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 37. 368Mkamanga, Emily: Bingu’s reign of threats and fear, 12 August 2011. Availaible at 115

demonstration organized by the civil society. Many of the organisers suffered from Bingu and his supporters. “In the wake of those demonstrations, President Mutharika specifically targeted civil society groups that helped to organize the protests, vowing to “smoke out” the activists. In the months that followed, the homes and offices of two civil society activists were the target of arson attacks, while thugs attacked the home of the director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. One student activist at the Polytechnic in Blantyre was found dead under very mysterious circumstances, while another was beaten by ruling party functionaries in Zomba. Several activists claim that these attacks were part of an organized effort by Mutharika to target and torture opponents”369.

The Human Rights Watch in their 2012 report says that the police and the DDP supporters have been menacing, arresting and beating journalists. For example, Ernest Mhwayo was arrested for taking pictures of the president’s farm without permission. These civil society activists – Habiba Osman, Billy Mayaya, Brian Nyasulu, Ben Chiza Mkandawire, and Comfort Chiseko – were arrested for organising a demonstration370.

3.7.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP Dr Joyce Banda reigned only for two years as she was completing the term of late Bingu who died in office. Her true colours were to come out if she were to be elected as President. Her two predecessors showed their true character mainly during their second term in office. All the same this does not mean that everything went well. There were complaints about political persecutions.

The journalist Justice Mponda was arrested two times: the first time he was accused of insulting the President, and secondly of blackmailing the family of the President to pay him money so that he would not print an article concerning the son of the President on cash-gate371. Sylvester Namiwa, journalist of Galaxy Radio, was

http://www.nyasatimes.com/2011/08/12/bingus-reign-of-threats-and-fear/comment-page-1/ (Accessed 12.06.2014). 369 Knoema: Countries at the crossroads 2012: Malawi. Availaible at http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Malawi%20-%20FINAL.pdf (Accessed 12.06.2014). 370World Report 12012: Malawi, Events of 2011, Rights watch. Availaible at http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/malawi (Accessed 10.10.2014). 371 Chitsulo, Kondwani: Joyce Banda’s royal family Vs Malawi Voice Editor Justice Mponda Trial Commences Monday at Blantyre Magistrate Court, 24 November 2013. Availaible at 116

arrested because of broadcasting the names of the people expected to have been part of the people who stole money from the coffers of the government; the name of the Vice President Khumbo Kachali was among them372.

3.8 CORRUPTION Even though Malawi introduced the anti-corruption bureau after the multiparty elections, it is still ranked very high on corruption after 20 years of multiparty politics. The fight against corruption is one of the key priorities of government. Mostly it is fought by words not by action or it is used to fight the opposition. Up to now the leading political actors are not an example to the society for combatting corruption373. The cases of corruption come to light mostly when the president and the party are no longer in power and more especially when they have bad relationship with those ruling. Pastor Masikamu says “for many years, Malawi has been a country where politicians play blame shifting games and neglecting responsibility when things are messed up. Kamuzu blamed colonial masters for dehumanising Africans. Bakili Muluzi blamed Dr Kamuzu Banda for being a dictator, ruling the country with an iron fist. Professor Bingu wa Mutharika blamed Bakili Muluzi for corruption. Joyce Banda is blaming the dead for messing up economy”374. The ruling party often use corruption cases to silence members of the opposition, especially when they are too outspoken. As soon as they keep quite the cases do not go further. There are many charges of corruption which are still pending.

The government more or less monopolises access to jobs, tenders and resources. It uses also these resources for the benefit of their own party. The opposition politicians usually have no alternative to accumulate wealth and prestige outside the state structures.375 There is a tendency that the winner takes all. Those in power control all government business and all government positions like Inspector General of Police,

http://www.malawivoice.com/2013/11/24/joyce-bandas-royal-family-vs-malawi-voice-editor-justice- mponda-trial-commence-monday-at-blantyre-magistrate-court/ (Accessed on 10.10.2014). 372 Nyasa Times: PP hits at Misa-Malawi over Galaxy journalist arrest: No gagging media, 23 October 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/10/23/pp-hits-at-misa-malawi-over-galaxy- journalist-arrest-no-gagging-media/ (Accessed 17.10.24). 373 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 62. 374 Masikamu, Pastor: Embarrassing Malawi Corruption, looting and leadership Crisis! So what’s next? Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/10/08/embarrassing-malawi-corruption-looting- and-leadership-crisis-so-whats-next/ (Accessed 20.10.2014). 375 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 63. 117

Commander of the Malawi army, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi and other important government services.

Enoch MacDonnell Chilemba is convinced that: “Experience has shown that Malawi’s presidents have all become instant billionaires upon assuming office. It could be reasonably suspected that there could be acts of corruption and abuse of office which account for this”376. Usually when they leave office they are richer than what their salaries could provide.

Patrick Chabal urges that the primary aim of the political elites is not the power acquisition; it is rather the use of this power and resources, which they use to buy the affection of their supporters377. They use also these resources to enrich themselves and the people close to them or to sponsor their parties. Corruption has a number of sister evils like fraud and bribery in English; and katangale, ziphuphu and madilu in Chichewa. Matthew Chibuko Igboamala says: “This (corruption) may be called bribery, kickback, or, in the Middle East, baksheesh. In government, it is when an elected representative makes decisions that are influenced by vested interest rather than their own personal or party ideological beliefs”378.

3.8.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA Gerhard Anders says “even people who had suffered under his autocratic regime would admit that, under Kamuzu Banda, corruption was negligible and government officials discharged their duties more diligently than under his successor Bakili Muluzu (to add Bingu wa Mutharika and Joyce Banda). The expansion of graft and embezzlement was so clearly associated with the introduction of democracy that it is justified to see a connection between the two phenomena”379. Kamuzu would dismiss without mercy all the people found in this business of corruption. All the same this does not mean that everything was going on well. There were other things which Kamuzu himself did which could be put in this category of corruption. During this

376 Chilemba, They keep saying, 20. 377 Chabal, Ordnung, 39. 378 Igboamaka, Effects of Corruption, 26. 379 Anders, In the shadow, 122. 118

period there was no clear boundary between Kamuzu’s private property and that of the government or between that of the MCP and the government380.

Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that “Militant members of the League of Malawi Youth – a wing of the MCP – forced all Malawians to renew their annual party membership. … It was checked in every market, in buses and hospitals”381. Pupils and students without the MCP cards were not supposed to attend classes. These membership cards were compulsory for all Malawians. Sometimes expectant mothers were forced to buy cards for the children they were carrying in the womb. This was so because those given the cards to sell were to pay for all the unsold cards.

Malawians say “Patsepatse nkulanda, mwana wa mfulu adziwa yekha” - meaning “you do not constantly ask somebody to give you something, this is like grabbing the thing from the person who might not have the intention to give it to you”. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni state that “one of the Banda’s most notable predatory elements was the custom of getting forced ‘gifts’ in form of money, domestic animals and other material good from ordinary citizens and institutions in the country whenever the president had a public function”382. All the people in the area, where the function was to take place, had to contribute to the gift to give to Kamuzu. When one could not or was not willing, the MCP would take something from that family by force. Pupils and students would not attend classes if they did contribute. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni reiterated that according to the MCP, all the things belonged to Kamuzu. By giving him these gifts, one was just giving them back to the rightful owner. They even composed a song which was saying that “zonse zimene nza Kamuzu Banda” - meaning “everything belongs to Kamuzu Banda”.

Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni further say that nobody was supposed to be richer than Kamuzu. So his people were always on the look out to see if one was becoming richer or influential. When one was becoming successful in business he would be accused of being a rebel383 and they would confiscate his property in order to render him/her poor. Kamuzu was supposed always to be number one in

380 Anders, In the shadow, 124. 381 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 3. 382 Tambulasi, Richard/ Kayuni, Happy: ‘Ubunthu’ and Democratic Good Governance in Malawi. A Case Study, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 427-438, 429. 383 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubunthu, 431. 119

everything. He was the only one to give power and wealth to the people who were loyal to him. He had also the right and power to take them back whenever it pleased him to do so384. Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall confirm this by saying “Banda used the power of the state to direct productive assets into the hands of those he thought would use them most productively (politicians and civil servants with capitalist ambitions) and/or those whose political support was useful”385. He was to see who was to profit from these things and up to what stage. He wanted that even those who benefited from these advantages remained always below him. He acquired a lot of land in the central region which was turned into tobacco farms386.

When Kamuzu came back to Malawi, he did come with a lot of things except his suitcase with a few things in it. At the end of his 30 years in power he managed to accumulate at least US$320 million in assets. He invested in agricultural and different businesses in Malawi and also in the mines in South Africa387. He accumulated that amount while his people were suffering.

Right from the beginning of his leadership, as we have already seen above, he was not happy with the people who were blocking him from having free access to the money of the party or country. Aleke Banda was arrested in 1980 when he refused to authorise a cheque for the benefit of Kamuzu. Chipembere said that Nyasaland African Congress received a donation of 10,000 Pounds from Nassen for the freedom struggle which Chiume deposited in the account of the congress. This annoyed Banda who wanted the money to be deposited in his personal account388. That was how the things were during the time of Kamuzu and also the others who came after him; there was no difference between private property and that of the party and the country.

3.8.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND UDF Bingu regime was characterized by anti-corruption talks. This saw several opposition politicians put under investigations and arrested on cases of corruption. Some people

384 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 4. 385 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 12. 386 Anders, In the shadow, 132. 387 Tenthani, Raphael: Mystery of the Banda Millions. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/752462.stm (accessed on 01.09.2014). 388 Baker, Revolt, 9. 120

argue that he did that only to close the mouth of his opponents389 but it was more than just that. There were some funds which went truly missing. Harvey Chidoba Banda urges that Muluzi was arrested in March 2006 on charges of corruption which were later dropped. He was rearrested in February 2009 just some months before the general election in May of the same year. He continues to say that still Muluzi had to answer 86 charges of corruption, abuse of office and the embezzlement of US$10 million from donors390.

Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall add that during the regime of Muluzi a lot of money was earned illicitly. This stolen money was used to sponsor political careers, to win political support from people, to ask the youth to crush opponents and for sure to enrich him. Muluzu and his UDF gurus became rich in a short time and many acquired houses using the money of the government. They started also big businesses like Farmer World, Atupele Properties. Cassimu Chilumpha, one of the UDF gurus, misused MK 187 million which were intended for the construction of schools. They continue saying that Muluzi and his UDF gave government contracts to some companies like Petroda and in return, these privileged companies were to help and support UDF activities. To strengthen UDF ties with these companies Muluzi was giving all government contracts to these companies. For example all government cars were supposed to fuel only at Petroda Filling Stations391. He monopolised also transport and sugar distribution392. Diana Cammack and Tim Kelsall add that Muluzi and some prominent politicians controlled 70% of the distribution393.

Corruption was also used to oppress and supress the opposition. Many independent radio stations were denied licences on pretext that they did not have enough funds or technicians to run a radio. At the same time the first two licences were given to UDF supporters, even though they never fulfilled the conditions394. In so doing the UDF was sure that these stations would always speak in favour of the government. The

389 Anders, In the shadow, 123. 390 Harvey C. Chidoba Banda, Malawi: Will Joyce Banda Slay the Corruption Dragon? Availaible at http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=7541 (Accessed 05.09.2014). 391 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 25. 392 Ghere, State of Public-Sector, 14. 393 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 59. 394 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 25. 121

UDF could also monopolize and control the information which was to be broadcasted.

The Poverty Alleviation Programme, which was intended for the poor, was used to the advantage of the UDF members who controlled the programme. The President himself profited from these projects. Malawi is a small poor country; but its President was 3rd richest President in Africa. The poverty alleviation, which was used as a manifesto tool for the ruling UDF, profited mostly the rich395.

This development made donor nations and organisations lose confidence in Malawi because of its high level of corruption which were committed by politicians in government. Here are some examples of the corrupt government official and ruling UDFs gurus: Aleke Banda, Minister of Agriculture and Vice President, was accused of acquiring government land using dubious means; Brown Mpinganjira, Minister of Information, was accused of giving licences to radio stations to the people who did not meet all the criteria396. Other cabinet ministers are alleged to have been involved in sugar, fertilizer, and maize smuggling deals. Gerhard Anders adds to the list Friday Jumbe who was Minister of Finance and Chairperson of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Malawi) (ADMARC) and other high- ranking officials for illegally selling the reserve grain in 2001397. In 2001 part of the stock of maize in reserve granaries was sold to Kenya and the other part remained unexplained, nobody knows what happened to it. The money from this sale nobody knows where it ended up. This was the time also one third of the population were dying of hunger398. It is certain that the ruling party and their president know what happened with the remaining maize and the money from Kenya which is not accounted for. Some of the UDF officials quoted by Gerhard Anders are Yusuf Mwawa and Sam Mpasu.

Public officials in Malawi are required by law to declare their assets soon after swearing in. This requirement has not been pursued and the mechanism for carrying out this task has not been effectively put in place. It has been commonly noticed that politics is pursued not as a vocation but as an occupation to redeem oneself and one’s

395 Chirambo, Mzimu, 111. 396 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 25. 397Anders, In the shadow, 126. 398 Jahrbuch 2003. Zahlen, Daten, Analysen, Hamburg: Spiegel- Buchverlag 2002, 280. 122

family from poverty. Records show that the government loses in a year is over MK 22 million a year in corruption399. As long as these people are on good term with the president, and they are still in power, they are never investigated or persecuted.

Like all the governments, that have ruled the country up to the present one, there is no clear distinction between party and state business. President and other members of government are seen to use government facilities to perform party business or to campaign for their party. They use government vehicles and helicopters for campaign purpose400. They use them also for their own private businesses. These trips are paid by the government and not the party as it was supposed to be.

Muluzi was a businessman by profession. During his reign most of the politicians took advantage of that in order to conduct illegal businesses; they were bringing into the country duty free goods because of their position in the party and government. At the end they sold these products expensively while the masses were greatly taxed when they ordered things from abroad401.

3.8.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND DPP Mutharika was not a billionaire when he assumed presidency in 2004; he had about MK154 million worth of assets. After 8 years in power he acquired MK 61 billion worth of assets which was far too much to have according to his salary402. He has a villa and hotel in Portugal worth US$78 million, a car worth US$65 in his farm in Zimbabwe; he also had accounts both in Malawi and abroad like in Portugal, UK, Austria and Zimbabwe. He had also shares with Mulli Brothers and he was favouring them in giving them government contracts. He instructed government to send eight cars and four tractors, which Malawi government received as a gift from Libya, to his farm in Zimbabwe. He also authorised the treasury to deposit MK60 million to Malawi savings Bank in order to use it freely to silence the NGO who were on his neck. He was also receiving privileges from different institutions like Palladin Mining Company which was depositing US$5 million every 3 months in his account in Australia; Monta-Engil was depositing in his account in Portugal 50% of all

399 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 59. 400 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 60. 401 Chirambo, Mzimu, 112. 402 Chilemba, They keep saying, 20. Cf. Chidoba Banda, Malawi. 123

contracts from him. For his campaign of 2014 he asked Malawi Revenue Authority to give 10% of revenue to the DPP. He also ordered the Reserve Bank of Malawi to give his wife Callista a loan of K50 million403. These are some of his assets which he got and profited from Malawi in his eight years in power without forgetting the mansion and mausoleum in his home district Thyolo. When he died, a lot of money was found in his house both in the local currency and US dollars.

Like all the other regimes before him Bingu government used the resources of government in order to enrich himself. The DPP also used public and government funds in order to do their 2009 campaign404. One of the examples is the scandal of Malawi Housing Cooperation (MHC): Peter Mutharika and some of his family members as well as some top officials in the DPP obtained houses from MHC at very low prices. Joyce Banda government asked them all to give back the house to MHC405. But till now the houses have not been given back to the MHC and the people involved have not been persecuted. These houses belonged to the government of Malawi and therefore to the people of Malawi.

In spite of all these and other corruption scandals during the reign of Bingu, he kept on saying that his government did not tolerate corruption and anyone involved in this malpractice would be persecuted. The people who were exposed were only those in opposition while there was a lot of corruption going on in the president’s own family and party.

When Bingu fell out of grace with Muluzi and formed his party DPP party, he had very little support. To keep his grip on power, he gave good jobs to his opponents in order to buy them406. That is why the number of cabinet ministers was high and surely these were paid by the government. Although this was not direct embezzlement of the public funds he used it for his own benefit. He was doing also

403Wa Mutharika’s Worth, Shade Deals Revealed. Availaible at http://www.malawidemocrat.com/wamutharika%E2%80%99s-worth-shade-deals-revealed/ (Accessed 10.09.2014). 404 Maravi: Audit exposes corruption practices in Bingu govt, civil society call for action, 6 August 2009. Availaible at http://maravi.blogspot.co.at/2009/08/nyasatimes-audit-exposes-corrupt.html (Accessed 27.02.2014). 405 Likambale, Ambuje Che Tom, PP, DPP and MEC: Malawi’s dysfunctional dedfellows, 24 February 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/02/24/pp-dpp-and-mec-malawis- dysfunctional-dedfellows/ (Accessed 27.02.2014). 406 Cammack/Kelsall/Booth, Developmental, 36. 124

the same with chiefs; he was busy going around elevating chiefs in order to win their favour. These chiefs are also paid by the government407.

3.8.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND PP Like her predecessors Joyce Banda claimed to be fighting corruption. But during her two years in office a lot of government money was stolen and this was baptized as the ‘Cash-gate scandal’. Harvey C. Chidoba Banda says that: “However, corruption has reached a crisis point during the Joyce Banda administration (2012 onwards). In fact, we are talking about high-level corruption: corruption that is taking place at the Capital Hill, the seat of government machinery in Lilongwe. We are not talking about low-level corruption in the countryside, rather corruption implicating high- level personnel like cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, and name them. This is corruption which has almost paralysed the operations of government departments” 408. This was only discovered when the Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo was shot. Like all the other cases a number of arrest have been made but up to now very few have been persecuted. The Malawi Defence Force (MDF) was implicated in diverting the money to the ruling party in order to finance its campaign409. There was a report which came out about the investigation. In it one finds only figures, and the people and companies involved in the money laundering are not given410. Now that the PP is no longer in power many people in Joyce Banda government have been arrested and some have already been sentenced. Even Paul Phwiyo himself has been charged with money laundering. There are still more arrest to come which might also implicate Joyce Banda.

There is also lack of a good explanation about the money from the sale of the presidential jet. The money did not enter the account of the country, where all government transactions are supposed to pass. Joyce Banda and her government

407Masikamu, Part 2-Political desperation. 408 Chidoba Banda, Malawi. 409 Nyasa Times: Intelligence Unit probes Malawi army over payments, 20 February 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/02/20/intelligence-unit-probes-malawi-army-over-payments/ (Accessed 01.03.2014). 410 Tilly, Baker: National Audit Office Malawi. Report on Fraud and mismanagement of Malawi Government Finance: Covering transactions and controls in the six month period 1 April 2013-30 September 2013. Report dated 21 February 2014. Availaible at http://de.scribd.com/doc/208837376/CASHGATE-901 (Accessed 15.04.2014). 125

never gave a satisfactory report on how that money was used411. There was disagreement in the ruling party itself: some say that part of it was used to buy medicines for government hospitals and to buy maize for the poor, and others say it was used for the international peace keeping mission of MDF412. This raises other question too: who authorized these transactions? Who benefited from this poverty alleviation? Was it really for the poor or for campaigns?

The President used to give many donations worth a lot of money without explaining where she got the money413. Leave that aside but whenever she travelled for her campaigns and charitable works she used a lot of money from state coffers for her own advantage. She went around like her predecessors elevating and installing chiefs who would be paid using government money.

3.9 HANDOUTS Charitable works are part of Umunthu values but most of the politicians give gifts to their own political advantage over their rivals. They take advantage of the poor people and exploit them. Most of the political parties have no ideology, which is why they buy the people with food, money and other gifts414. They pretend to be charitable but in actual sense they want only to win favours. They do not really care for what is really important for the life of the people; the things that can help them to come out of poverty.

Most of them give things only during the campaign period. In ‘Face of Malawi’ it is written that “dictates of the corrupting power of money has insurmountable influence towards peoples’ choices where such people are empowered educationally, politically, and socio-economically”415. It further urges that the rich people win not

411 Nyasa Times: Money from Malawi jet sale cannot be traced, 16 February 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/02/16/money-from-malawi-jet-sale-cannot-be-traced/comment- page-3/ (Accessed 10.03.2014). 412 Face of Malawi: “Jet money did not vanish, was used for other purposes,” says Evangelist Mpinganjira, 19 February, 2014. Availaible at http://www.faceofmalawi.com/2014/02/jet-money-did- not-vanish-it-was-used-for-other-purposes-says-evangelist-mpinganjira/comment-page- 1/#sthash.lsepMqfN.dpbs (Accessed 28.02.2014). 413 Chilemba, They keep saying, 20. 414 Kainja, Jimmy: Malawi. A Political Virtuous Circle that Sustains Poverty. Availaible at http://jimmykainja.co.uk/the-virtuous-circle-of-malawi-politics-that-sustain-poverty/ (Accessed 25.09.2014). 415 Nyasa Times: Tough Race, Tough Fall. Chimunthu Banda and contest for DPP Presidency, 13 April 2013. Availaible at http://www.faceofmalawi.com/2013/04/tough-race-tough-fall-chimunthu- banda-and-contest-for-dpp-presidency/#sthash.0CbFzswn.dpbs (Accessed 20.02.2014). 126

because they have good principles in their manifestos but because they buy coffins and give out things to the people. That is why most of the times we have bad leaders, because not all rich people can make good politicians.

If one goes around throwing money to children and the poor, then one has not respected the Umunthu and the dignity of the people who has been given the money. In this case the one being helped is seen and treated as something lesser than the one helping. The one being helped is reduced to a beggar416. Umunthu requires that in helping the dignity the other person be respected. One has also to get to the root of poverty; that which reduces the other to be a beggar. “The entrenchment of politics of poverty and exploitation where the poor are more and more lured into a culture of hand-outs than being empowered to become self-reliant”417.

3.9.1 DR HASTINGS KAMUZU BANDA During the time of Kamuzu there were no hand-outs as it is in the way they are done in this time called democratic. Richard Msowoya, the Vice President of the MCP, said that even in the time of need Kamuzu never distributed maize himself. He left it to the youth. He distributed it also through the Red Cross in collaboration with local chiefs, who knew very well the situation of their people. In so doing they could reach those really in need418. He encouraged all the people to be self-reliant instead of developing a dependency syndrome, which could block the development of the country. This forced people to work hard in order to earn their living and to help in the development of their areas and the whole country. For example, there was a week each year devoted to social activities by all students and villagers.

All the same he supported some people he thought would profitably use the resources like land and the credits. He was not just giving them for gaining his popularity but to let the people use them wisely in order to develop themselves. As already said, whenever he observed that one was becoming very rich or popular he would withdraw the favours from the person.

416 Cornell: Exploring Ubuntu. 417 ECM: Strengthening The Vision of Our Deestiny. Pastoral Letter, 1st December, 2013. Availaible at http://timesmediamw.com/pastoral-letter-of-the-episcopal-conference-of-malawi/ (Accessed 10.12.2013). 418 MCP veep Msowoya denounces politics of ‘hand-outs’, 9 september 2013. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/09/09/mcp-veep-msowoya-denounces-politics-of- handouts/comment-page-3/ (Accessed 20.03.2014). 127

3.9.2 DR BAKILI MULUZI AND THE UDF Jimmy Kainja, speaking about the reasoning of Muluzi behind the hand-outs, says “he (Muluzi) distributed money and maize during his political rallies and earned himself the reputation of a generous and caring president – this translated to votes”419. He was doing this to erase the dealings of Kamuzu who forced people to give him gifts. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni confirmed this by saying that Muluzi was convinced that he was giving back to the people what they had lost during the time of Kamuzu. In addition, Muluzi said that as a true African he was to reward the people who were dancing for him420. Temwani Mgunda states that “Muluzu introduced a culture of dishing out money to lure the women to continue chanting praises for him and this made some rights activists point out that the practice of women singing and dancing for politicians was, in a way, demeaning the women”421. Muluzi himself said that it was not a sin to help the poor and was even ready to go to hell for helping them. For him it was a way of elevating the poverty of the people422. Muluzi would give out money and maize every time he had a rally and whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Muluzi was right that it is not a sin to help the poor and the less privileged. At first look it seems to be an act of Umunthu to help those in needs. One has to ask oneself who were targeted and how were the things distributed. The people targeted were only those people who attended his rallies and most of whom were his supporters. Does it mean that among those who support other parties there are no poor people? How were the things distributed? The poor have also a right to be respected. When one helps a poor man, why should one let the entire world know that that person is poor and that one has helped him/her? Sometimes when he saw people gathered along the road where he was to pass he was just throwing money at them. How can you help a poor person by throwing things at him/her instead of giving them to him personally? Does throwing money just like that alleviate poverty? By throwing money just like that, how did he know who were the really poor and those in need? This way of doing sometimes caused quarrels and even accidents as people struggled

419 Kainja, Political Virtuous Circle. 420 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubunthu, 431. 421 Mgunda, Temwani: When women sing, dance for politicians, 11 July 2013. Availaible at http://timesmediamw.com/when-women-sing-dance-for-politicians/ (Accessed 19.01.2014). 422 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubunthu, 431. 128

to collect the money. Is this Umunthu or abuse of the poor in order to get their votes, as Jimmy Kainja said?

This system of hand-outs started with Muluzi. In “Malawi Ace” it is written that “in preparation for the elections, it is widely known that Muluzi borrowed large sums of money from well-wishers and others, in order to finance the election. In the process, patronage began to be bought, and even though Muluzi is known to be a genuinely kind man, the distribution of money to chiefs, movers and shakers and the masses (before and after the elections) went a bit too far. The result is that from then onwards, chiefs, supporters and others came to political rallies, expecting politicians, to give them money or some other hand-outs423. In Malawi now only those who give out hand-outs are likely to win the elections.

3.9.3 DR BINGU WA MUTHARIKA AND THE DPP President Bingu started ruling the country following the principles of economics. He was losing his support in the UDF camp because the people and the chiefs were used to receiving money and different things from Muluzi. To regain his popularity, he started giving money to individuals; organisation as well as to churches424. He was taking opportunity of different celebrations to present his gift and to announce it to all the people present. As though that was not enough, the media would take photos to let everybody know what the President had done.

Bingu also invented another system in order to become famous among the people. He realised that the chiefs were so powerful among the people and could easily influence their people. So he started promoting them in different regions and districts. As a result of this some of the chiefs, who were supposed to be neutral, started supporting Bingu openly and telling people to vote for Bingu and his candidates as MPs. When Bingu dismissed Joyce Banda from the DPP, some chiefs went on TV and radio to support the policies of Bingu and to castigate Joyce Banda425. For sure, the chiefs could not cut the hands that fed them.

423 Sang N.: Festive Banter. Discussing the politics in Malawi with family. Availaible at http://malawiace.com/2013/12/27/festive-banter-discussing-politics-inmalawi-with-family-of- malawians/ (Accessed 01.02.2014). 424 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubunthu, 432. 425 Ngopi, Phillipo: stand up against Abuse, JB tells chiefs. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2011/10/11/stand-up-against-abuse-jb-tells-chiefs/ 129

Peter Mutharika, the young brother of Bingu, who was the President of the DPP and its presidential candidate was said to be giving chiefs a lot of money to attend his rallies. Some chiefs were sometimes even leaving their territory to attend a rally in the territory of the other chief426. This was only a way of trying to be popular among the people and of buying their votes.

3.9.4 DR JOYCE HILDA BANDA AND THE PP President Joyce Banda was also infected by this bad culture of hand-outs. She was constantly on the move distributing maize flour, so that the poor, who received it, needed not to go to the grinding mill and spend money427. As the country was preparing for the General Elections of 2014 the MHRC said that Joyce Banda and the PP were politicising the distribution of maize and flour. They continued arguing that their programme of hand-outs did not offer an adequate solution to the problem of hunger and that there was no equal distribution of food to all deserving vulnerable people428. “Malawi Ace” says that there is no clear demarcation between charitable activity and political influence in order to get support from the people. It further questions with which authority she distributed cattle and built house for the people; was it in the name of the country or in the name of the PP or even in her own name. The questions arise because the funds used by Mudzi Transformation Trust come from the government. It continues ask who were the beneficiaries, were all the poor people targeted or only the supporters of the PP429. Almost all the people who received maize or cattle were photographed in the PP clothes. This was also lack of respect for the poor, as already seen. In Malawi there are a lot of NGOs which are very active in poverty alleviation. One questions why she did not use these already established structures in order to reach the real needy.

In Malawi presidential tours are every expensive. They are always accompanied by a big convoy and a lot of government officials. Let alone the police who are lined up along the road for the security of the president. All these people receive allowances.

(Accessed 15.01.2014). 426 Nyasa Times: mutharika on Support Buying. “Plundering deceased estate”. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2012/08/29/mutharika-on-support-buying-plundering-deceased-estate/ (Accessed 12.05.2014). 427 Kainja, Political Virtuous. 428Malawi Voice: Malawi Human Rights Commision Faults PP on Hate speeches, Maize Distribution. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2013/09/06/malawi-human-rights-commission-faults-pp- on-hate-speeches-maize-distribution/ (Accessed 05.4.2014). 429 Sang N.: Festive Banter. 130

These expenses could be used to help the needy and to alleviate poverty than wasting it on allowances. Did she use also her private money to cover the expenses of these trips? Another funny thing was that on the bags of flour, which were distributed, was the name of the President. Does one need to write one’s name when giving help? The money used to write the name on the bags could also have been used to help more people.

3.10 CONCLUSION This chapter outlined how the presidents and their political parties have ruled the country in the last 50 years. Before Malawi attained independence, the nationalists were very critical of the inhuman way the colonialist treated Malawians. People were waiting for the days when they would enjoy freedom and live in total peace. They had great hopes in the nationalist believing that they would free them.

Not all the dreams of the Malawians came true. Soon after independence, Kamuzu and the MCP ruled the country for 30 years and their ruled was characterised as dictatorial and oppressive. During this period there was a merciless culture which was characterized by repression, ungrounded detentions which mostly ended without trial. There was also a culture of torture for all those who did not live according to the principles of Kamuzu or the MCP. The torture at times was extended to all the people connected with the persecuted persons like family members, friends and workmates. He killed or sent into exile many of his political opponents. There were also many mysterious deaths and abductions which took place mostly at night and nobody knew the whereabouts of the abducted persons. Kamuzu saw every person as a potential threat to his dictatorial rule.

Only few people close to Kamuzu enjoyed special privileges. He gave money and credit to the people he was sure they would use them properly. This was not 100% sure because any signs of richness or power would lead one to be persecuted by Kamuzu. He himself acquired a lot of wealth; most probably using the resources of the government and the party as his own private property. Kamuzu made the Chichewa culture to be a national culture. It was the only local language taught in schools and was obligatory up to the Malawi School Leaving Certificate (MSCE). It was the language used in Media.

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When people got tired of his oppressive rule, they started pressing for a multi-party democracy. The first democratically elected president was Muluzi, followed Bingu, then Joyce Banda and finally Arthur Peter Mutharika. Even though the system was changed from one-party system to a multi-party system of government, there are still a lot of things which need to be corrected. Most of the people and political parties are usually characterised by their ethnic group or region of origin. The political leaders tend to favour their ethnic groups and regions in distribution of the resources of the country. There is a tendency of: “you support me and I will support you in turn”. People vote for people from their regions so that they can also receive the benefits from these people once in power. With this mentality we see a lot of nepotism, regionalism and partyism in the politics of Malawi. When a new president takes over s/he puts his/her own people in the strategic positions of the country. For example, all the presidents who have ruled during this multi-party politics have had their own Inspector General of Police, the Army Commander and the Governor of the RBM.

Usually during the second and last term in office as president, they show authoritarian tendencies; they do only what pleases them and listen to nobody. They find inhuman ways of silencing people who have different views from those of the ruling party. Many opposition leaders, journalist and human rights activists have ended up imprisoned and most of the times the cases to answer are not clear. This is only to silence their opponents. There is also a tendency of picking one’s own running-mate and sometimes against the wishes of the other members of the party.

Hate speeches in public also characterizes the politics of Malawi in which political leaders castigate and undermine each other. Many discourses of the politicians are not based on the principles of their party and developmental issues but on spoiling the name of their opponents. There is also a lot of corruption because there is no clear distinction between the personal, party and government coffers. All the government, that have ruled Malawi so far, profited from the coffers and contracts of the state. Government contracts are usually given to people who are connected to the president or the ruling party. As a result, the services rendered are usually poor.

The policy of Hand-outs is another disease which is growing among the politicians in Malawi. Little by little people are getting used to getting things free of charge. This is making the people lazy and it is also creating a society of beggars. It does not

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encourage people to stand on their own and work for their life. People cannot even contribute to the country because they want to be paid for every little service.

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4. CATHOLIC SOCIAL PRINCIPLES IN UMUNTHU This chapter treats “umunthu” principles which go hand in hand with the CST principles. These values can help Malawi to build a society with a human face. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (CSDC) says that “these are the principles of: the dignity of the human person …. which is the foundation of all other principles … the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity”430. On top of these principles, umunthu adds also dialogue which is very important for living together. These five principles were already present in the Bantu culture even before Christianity and colonialists came to Malawi. These Bantu positive values could help Malawians to build a more human nation in which democracy can be lived and practiced to the fullest. Also in a way that is understandable to all the Malawians. Ajume H. Wingo notes with regret the present political situation of Africa by saying that, “Africans are not brand new people, nor is politics brand new activity in Africa. In fact, Africans are far older than the various recognizable nation-states one finds nested on the continent today. African intellectuals have failed to analyse the African unwritten past”431. There were already values and customs which helped the people to live in harmony and to promote the human life. One can say that politics was already being practiced even before the present political systems were introduced in Africa. Harvey J. Sindiama describes politics as “an everyday reality in which everyone is involved; politics is how people live together, in a family, village, town, or wherever people are. Politics is about how people work together”432. All these things mentioned above have always been present in all African cultures and they helped people to live together happily. Malawi has its own traditional culture which can help today’s politics to be successful. This Chapter will evaluate the present political system in Malawi using the umunthu principles and CST principles as the basis.

Pope John Paul II, aware of this reality, challenged the people, in his homily at the end of his visit to Malawi in 1989when he said: “I put before you today a challenge – a challenge to reject a way of living which does not correspond to the best of your

430PCJP: The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Vaticana: Libreria Edtrice 2004, no. 160. (will be quoted CSDC). 431 Wingo, Good Government, 169. 432 Sindima, Harvey J.: Religious and Political Ethics. A Moral Inquiry, London: Greenwood Press 1998, 16. 134

local traditions and your Christian faith. Many people in Africa look beyond Africa for the so-called ‘freedom of the modern way of life’. Today I urge you to look inside yourselves. Look at the riches of your own traditions, look to the faith which we are celebrating in this assembly. Here you will find genuine freedom – here you will find Christ who will lead you to the truth“433. The Pope encouraged the people to recognize that Spirit of God had been already present in Malawi even before the missionaries and colonialists had come to Malawi. He underlined the fact that in all the cultures there are good traditional values which can help the people of a particular area to advance in life and to lead a fruitful life. He also stated that the Holy Spirit is at work all-over the world with the same intensity; in Africa as much as in other parts of the world434. In supporting the view of Pope John Paul II, Harvey J. Sindima sees the present situation of African countries as worrisome because only Africans do not search for their political system in their culture and heritage, while “Westerners do; Asians are very strict about cultural values and behaviour. … Cultural values and practices are included in business ethics and courtesy”435. Even more worrisome is that “in Africa, the educated (people) despise their own traditional values, regarding them as a sign of backwardness“436. For many people in Malawi and in many parts of Africa to be educated and civilized is to live according to the Western or North American values. Ajume H. Wingo thinks in the same line and says that, “colonialists attempted to destroy all of the African past, a legacy taken over by an African elite who failed to look into their unwritten past”437. This mentality is also spread among the local illiterate or semi-illiterate people who try to imitate the life style of the elite with its foreign values. Ali A. Mazrui is convinced

433 John Paul II: Eucharistic celebration for the faithful of Malawi, homily of his holiness Pope John Paul II no 6, „Army Air Wing” Airport, Lilongwe (Malawi) Saturday, 6 May 1989. Availaible at http://www.vatican.edu/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1989/documents/hf_jp- ii_hom_19890506_lilongwe_en.html (Accessed 06.06.2014). 434 Benedict XVI: Africae Munus. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vaticana: libreria Editrice 2011, no. 12. (Will be quoted AM). 435 Sindima, Religious, 167. 436 Sindima, Religious, 167. Cf. Guinamard, Mirar a Africa, 12-13: “Y la crisis no ha sido sólo política o económica; el peor desgarro es quizás el que Aliou Diao (senegalés, participante en nuestro Seminario) denomina "colonización mental": "En África mientras se aspira a ser como los europeos y a disfrutar de su prosperidad y riqueza individual, se están abandonando aquellos valores fundamentados en la propia realidad que permiten superar las condiciones de vida: la idea de pertenencia a una comunidad, la solidaridad, el orgullo de no querer depender de los demás. Sin este bagaje cultural, muchas personas afrontan su existencia despistados y vulnerables. Tienen serios problemas para sobrevivir porque se lanzan a lo más fácil, un poco deslumbrados por la vida que llevan los europeos”. 437 Wingo, Good Government, 169. 135

that people take everything that comes from abroad as more important and more modern than what one has locally at home (the already known). That is why “African political thought has been excessively a prisoner of the categories of European thought and European ideologies. There has been excessive effort to make Africa’s ideological experience conform to the European ideological categories of liberalism, conservatism, capitalism, socialism, Marxism, fascism, and the rest”438. They forget or do not realise that not everything taken from other cultures is positive. A famous proverb says that “everything that glitters is not gold”. This is similar to a Malawian proverb which says “msipu wobiriwira udadyetsa mbuzi” - meaning “a goat which was looking for greener pastures was eaten by the wild animal”. Not all foreign inherited customs from the West and North America go along with African life-style and can help Africans. Some of them do not help Malawians, to have full life and personhood. A. Nicolaides and H. Sumbana support this idea and add that “not everything in the West (and North America) is sound ethically speaking. Indigenous African philosophy should also be utilized as an ethical driver439”. Not everything modern and foreign is good for Africans and not everything local and traditional is bad. In African Bantu cultures there are a lot of good things which can be used to help the people to have a successful life. Bénézet Bujo concurs with A. Nicolaides and H. Sumbana and goes a step further like Pope John Paul II by inviting “the African people to reflect critically on their ancestral tradition and abstain from abandoning it light-heartedly in favour of Western modernity”440. Doing so would mean an intellectual suicide for itself for Bantu philosophy is what makes them the people they are441.

Each group of people has its own history and life style. Each group has also its traditional customs and values which have been formed through its history depending on its experience442. The path that the Africans have gone through in history is not

438 Mazrui, Ali A.: Ideology and African Political Culture, in: Kiros, Teodros (ed.): Explorations in African Political Thought. Identity, Community, Ethics, London: Routledge 2001, 97-131, 97. 439 Nicolaides, A./Sumbana, H.: Ethical Business Practice in the South African Tourism Industry, in: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Vol. (1)4 (2001), 5. Availaible at http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/nicolaides_a___sumbana_h_article_9_vol_1_4.pdf (Accessed 17.07.2014). 440 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 22. 441 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 27. 442 Furger, Christliche Sozialethik, 9. 136

the same as that of the Europeans or the Americans. Africans now try to follow the European or North American way of life with its values but they do not know what path these other people have gone through to be where they are. Neither do they know where these groups are coming from. John S. Mbiti encourages the Africans not to abandon their origins but to accept and be proud of their culture. He says that, “Africa has a very rich heritage of what past generations of African peoples thought, did, experienced and passed on to their children. This heritage forms a long line which links African forefathers and mothers with their descendants who now feel proud of it”443. Africans need to free themselves from the colonial conception of the West and North America. It is high time that Africa and Africans use more their tradition and make the best out of it.

As already said, in this section the socio-political situation of Malawi will be evaluated using umunthu principles which will be supported by the CST principles. It is not intended to baptise the umunthu principles by the CST, but to show that the traditional Bantu culture and CST have similar principles: solidarity, human dignity, and subsidiarity. This is not surprising, because both are part of human inheritance. Of course their teachings do not go hand in hand hundred per cent. There is a need for the two (Bantu and CST) to complement each other and help each other to develop; there is always a need for learning from one another. A Malawian proverb says “kuyenda awiri simantha” which means “when two people are walking together, it is not out of fear”, but they can help one another as they make their way. This process of mutual exchange and mutual help is very important for the betterment of the people and a good help for them to attain a full personhood. Umunthu ethics as well as CST444 are based on human engagement and interdependent relations based on values of solidarity, subsidiarity, dialogue, compassion, and respect. Mobogo P. More is convinced that for the Bantu people “what is morally good is what brings dignity, respect, contentment, and prosperity to others, self, and community at

Cf. John S. Mbiti, Introduction, 7: “Every people has a culture and culture is changing all the time, whether slowly or rapidly. The word culture covers many things such as the way people live, behave and act, and their physical as well as their intellectual achievements”. 443 Mbiti, Introduction, 2. 444 Furger, Christliche Sozialethik, 9: „Christliche Sozialethik … versteht sich als theologische Überlegung, die… aus Einsicht der Vernunft bejahten Prinzipien von Mitmenschlichkeit in Gerechtigkeit und Liebe nach Richtlinien und Weisungen für einen vor den eigenen Grundsätzen verantwortbaren Aufbau der Gesellschaft sucht“. 137

large”445. These are the very same principles of the CST. We see that the CST is not completely strange to the Bantu culture or vice versa. They both put a great emphasis on the good of the individual as well as that of the community at large.

Ajume H. Wingo has already been quoted above saying that politics is not new to the African continent446. By the time the Europeans and the North Americans came to Africa, they found that the people had their own organisation which helped them to live together. Harvey J. Sindima states that African “political ethics concerns organizing and controlling the distribution of goods in the society, a stewardship of resources and regulation of social relations to produce peace, justice, and harmony among citizens of a given state”447. Long before the missionaries and the colonialists brought in another type of political system, African ethnic groups had their own political ethics which helped them to live peacefully together in an organized way. After colonialism and being evangelised in different religious groups, many countries in Africa including Malawi were forced to follow the Western type of politics and governance448. Those who adapted this system are considered to be developed and modern. Till today most of the African countries are still being held with remote control by European and North American countries. The so-called aid, which these countries send to Africa, has most of the times strings attached to it which help the donor countries to keep on controlling and directing political activities in African countries449. Maurice Nkawihe and Zawadi Chilunga give an example of donors control on the culture and politics of Malawi by saying that “(i)n Malawi homosexuality became a contentious issue in 2009 when two men were arrested and charged with public indecency for getting married in a traditional ceremony. They were later pardoned by the late President Bingu wa Mutharika after pressure from donors and the United Nations”450. Now the time is ripe when Africans and African countries have to ask themselves if this European and North American democratic

445 More, Mobogo P.: Philosophy in South Africa under und after Apartheid, in: Wiredu, Kwasi: A Companion to African Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell 2004, 149-160, 156. 446 Wingo, Good Government, 169. 447 Sindima, Religious, 168. 448 Salih, African Democracies, 2. 449 Dadakim: Donor Dependence, Donor Withdrawl. What to Make of Malawi’s Cashgate Scandal. Haba na Haba: February 2014. Availaible at http://habanahaba.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/donor- dependence-donor-withdrawal-what-to-make-of-malawis-cashgate-scandal/ (Accessed 28.10.2014). 450 Nkawihe, Maurice/Chilunga, Zawadi: Court boosts Malawi gay rights case. Throws out AG’s objection, Nyasa Times 21 January 2014. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/01/21/court- boosts-malawi-gay-rights-case-throws-out-ags-objection/comment-page-5/ (Accessed 28.10.2014). 138

system has found its right place in Africa, in this case in Malawi. Does this help leaders and the political parties to respect the human rights of the citizens in their countries? How does this type of democracy help and motivate the leaders as well as all the people and different political parties to practice the Bantu traditional value of solidarity? The Bantu people find community life to be very important and each considers oneself as brother or sister to one’s neighbour. They value also subsidiarity, in which they believe that one has to be responsible for one’s life and the others come only to assist and complete where the one concerned had already started working on. Malawians say “Fumbi ndiwe mwini”, - meaning that “if you badly want something it is up to you to work hardest for it, get covered with dust and sweat”.

When one looks critically at African countries one sees that the Western and North American democracies do not function well as they do in the countries where they developed. This is so because these countries have made their own historical journey and have experiences which are totally different from that of African countries. Now it is high time that African countries find their own political policies according to their historical experiences and their traditional cultures. Teodros Kiros says that “the extension of democracy to all Africans is a possibility devoutly to be wished. Wiredu, Wingo, and Mentiki separately argue that there is a scarcity of democracy in Africa, although there is no scarcity of African traditions from which democratic institutions can be critically drawn”451. Malawi as well as many African countries need democratic rule but which type of democracy? In Malawi without doubt it has to be the one based on the principles of umunthu.

As already stated, Africans put a lot of stress on community life. This is where the socio-political thought and life must put its emphasis. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne is convinced that this community living is “more than a collectivity of persons, as is represented and seen in modern societies, bound only by common agreements or juridical ties”452. What is very important in this community life is the sense of togetherness; not just being one next to the other, but the care and concern

451 Kiros, Teodros, Introduction African Philosophy: A Critical/Moral Practice, in: Kiros, Teodros (ed.): Explorations in African Political Thought. Identity, Community, Ethics, London: Routledge 200, 1-6, 5. 452 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 46. 139

which the community has for each member and also among the members of the community themselves. Teodros Kiros concurs with Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne by saying that, “Africa’s communalistic societies provide a sense of belonging, sympathy, and solidarity as alternatives to modernity’s excessive individuality and insecurity”453. Each member of the community has not only to look at one’s welfare but has to see that it is also going well with those with him in the community and also those family members living in far distant places. Umunthu is for the common good as Michael Battle explains that, “Ubuntu is the interdependence of the persons for the exercise, development, and fulfilment of their potential to be both individuals and community”454. There is the working together between the individuals in the community and those related to them and also between the community and the individual members. One cannot deny that Africa is living in a globalised world where cultures influence each other and all the cultures are evolving. Still one finds traces of the Bantu traditional cultural values like community life, palaver and hospitality. As seen above, “(t)he Bantu, only converted or civilized superficially, return at the instance of a determining force to the behaviour atavistically dictated to them (by their ancestral tradition)”455. Here one sees that these values are really present and active among the people. Steve Biko is proud that although “the African culture has had to sustain severe blows and may have been battered nearly out of shape by the belligerent cultures it collided with, yet in essence even today one can easily find the fundamental aspects of the pure African culture in the present day Africa“456. To this point of Steve Biko adds Bénézet Bujo that, “In existentially critical situations, even the intellectual elite and loyal church-goers return to their forefathers’ practices. Apparently, to them the challenges to existential problems cannot be solved within a technologically oriented society or within the churches of foreign origin. Considering this, it seems right to admit that the ancestral tradition still influences the African down to his very roots”457. This shows that Africans find most of the times solutions to their pertinent problems in their traditional culture and in the community. Placide Tempels also says that this shows clearly that the thoughts and aspirations of the Westerners were presented in a form that the Africans could

453 Kiros, Introduction, 5. 454 Battle ,Michael: Ubuntu. I in You and You in Me, New York: Seabury Books 2009, 3. 455 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 18. 456 Biko, I write, 42. 457 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 15. 140

not assimilate and as such they remained something foreign and only on the surface of the life of the Africans458. So using the Western or North American system, which remains only on the surface, cannot at all help to solve the problems deeply rooted on African continent at all. After seeing all that is going on in this continent one can ask oneself why Africans cannot find solutions to their political problems in their traditional culture. Africans and the African continent need the healing power which is rooted in their traditional culture.

Now the Malawian leaders and their political parties will be analysed to see where they have failed in the respect of human rights, solidarity and subsidiarity. We will use umunthu principles to evaluate the behaviour of the political leaders and their parties. These umunthu principles will be supported by the CST as already indicated above. Although the CST are used to support umunthu principles it does not mean that this concerns only the Catholics nor only believers, it concerns all the people of Malawi. These principles may be expressed with different words and different reasoning in other groups but they remain the same. All Bantu speaking people, regardless of their religious and political affiliation, understand the importance of umunthu principles for harmoniously living together. Pope Benedict XVI is aware that “in today's complex situation, not least because of the growth of a globalized economy, the Church's social doctrine has become a set of fundamental guidelines offering approaches that are valid even beyond the confines of the Church: in the face of ongoing development these guidelines need to be addressed in the context of dialogue with all those seriously concerned for humanity and for the world in which we live“459. Umunthu principles and CST principles are put together in this section and they can both be of great help to the people of Malawi to lead a fulfilled personhood. In this section and the next the document from the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP) will also be quoted just to show that these values are truly Malawian and they go beyond different confessional groups. In Malawi the CCAPs and the Catholics have a big following.

When umunthu principles are not lived to the fullest the Bantu find themselves in a “very sad situation, (which) in addition to causes external to Africa, also has internal

458 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 175. 459 Benedict XVI, God is Love (Deus Caritatis est), Vaticana.: Libreria Editrice 2006, no. 27. (Will be quoted DCE). 141

causes such as tribalism, nepotism, racism, religious intolerance and the thirst for power taken to the extreme by totalitarian regimes which trample with impunity the rights and dignity of the person. Peoples crushed and reduced to silence suffer as innocent and resigned victims all these situations of injustice"460. These are also the very things which are against the CST. The Bantu themselves consider that they are the first to be responsible to remedy these evils or evil structures; it is no time to point a finger at the missionaries and the colonialist who introduced other values and different types of government. Pope John Paul II says that, “a world divided into blocs, in which instead of solidarity imperialism and exploitation hold sway, can only be a world structured in sin. Those structures of sin are rooted in sins committed by individual persons, who introduced these structures and reinforced them again and again. One can blame selfishness, short-sightedness, mistaken political decisions, and imprudent economic decisions; at the root of the evils that afflict the world there is - in one way or another - sin”461. It is time now that Africans themselves name and work on each of these evils. Since 1964 Malawi is an independent country and the colonialists are no longer there. Yet still there are structures of sin like nepotism, regionalism, torture, authoritarianism and intolerance of opposite views. Malawians themselves must name these evils which exist in their politics today by their names and also try to find their root causes. They must take the initiative in their own hands to organize their country according to the umunthu principles. The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) is convinced that “nobody will come to build our nation for us. A better future is our own task. Democracy means taking responsibility for ourselves, for others, for our future. Democracy means self-reliance. ‘Fumbi ndiwe mwini,’ we must awaken from our dreams and get to work”462. In support of this point, the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) says that “(p)erhaps time has now come for Africa to strive to invent models of government that really respond to our needs and fit our contexts, inspired by the wisdom of African traditional governance systems and structures. African societies must start to engage themselves in this reflection, to develop a holistic vision that can well serve the transitions and consolidate the democratic

460 John Paul II.: Ecclesia in Africa. Post-Synod Apostolic Exhortation, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1995, no. 117.(Will be quoted EA). 461 Pope John Paul II.: Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Vaticana.: Libreria Editrice 1987, no. 36. (Will be quoted SRS). 462 ECM, Building Our Futur, .3. 142

experience”463. The bishops of SECAM have said something very important for Africa but it could have even been better if they had not used the word “(p)erhaps”. There is no doubt that the time is already ripe for the Africans to do something for the continent and for their respective countries. Africans must now enjoy all their rights and duties as well as the riches of the continent and their respective lands.

Chapter 3 showed how the political regimes in Malawi failed to live umunthu principles to the fullest. This section will treat and evaluate these under the subtitles like human rights, common good, subsidiarity, solidarity and last but not least dialogue with others and oppositions. These principles both in the Bantu and in the CST are related and they have to be understood as a unity. The CSDC says “(t)he principles of the Church's social doctrine must be appreciated in their unity, interrelatedness and articulation … Examining each of these principles individually must not lead to using them only in part or in an erroneous manner, which would be the case if they were to be invoked in a disjointed and unconnected way with respect to each of the others. A deep theoretical understanding and the actual application of even just one of these social principles clearly shows the reciprocity, complementarities and interconnectedness that is part of their structure”464. These principles will be treated separately for the sake of clarity and accounts. Some points might appear in several places and this should not be taken as a repetition. This is so because one point can be treated from different angels and it can fit well in two or more Bantu as well as CST principles.

4.2 HUMAN DIGNITY

4.2.1 INTRODUCTION The ECM gives a good introduction to this section on human dignity by saying that “(t)he unity and dignity of the human race have been definitively sealed in Christ the Son of God who died for all, to unite everyone in one Body. Rejoicing in this truth we proclaim the dignity of every person, the right of each one to freedom and respect. This oneness of the human race also implies equality and the same basic rights for all. These must be solemnly respected and inculcated in every culture,

463 SECAM Pastoral Letter: Governance, Common Good and Democratic Transition in Africa, no. 41. Availaible at http://mafrsouthernafrica.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/secam-pastoral-letter-feb- 2013.pdf (Accessed 21.07/2014). 464 CSDC, no.162. 143

every constitution and every social system”465. Both the CST and the Bantu ethics find their root and foundation in the dignity and respect of the human person. As seen in the third chapter about the socio-political situation in Malawi from the time after independence in 1964, almost all the political leaders have not respected the life and the rights of the citizens. In short, they did not live according to the principle of umunthu. There have been killings and persecutions of those who had different views to those of the political leaders and their political parties. These acts are not only against the umunthu principles but also against the human rights in general and the CST. All these three institutions agree that human life is very important and must be respected and preserved at all cost. Wilfrido V. Villacorta is convinced that “human rights aren’t based solely on Western teachings, Western culture or historical experience. Because human rights are inalienable and universal, they find support in the teaching of the major religious and philosophical traditions“466. This is also valid for the cultures of the Bantu speaking people, in this case the people of Malawi where “moyo (life) is an art of learning to live together by accepting and affirming one another as persons and establishing genuine communication”467. Human life is always held in high esteem by both the Bantu speaking people and the CST.

Some people may question why some cultures in Africa have killed twinsbabies or triplets and also those people believed to be witches or wizards while here it is stated that Africans have a great esteem and respect for life. John S. Mbiti gives us a good explanation about the killing of twins or triplets, which can be applied to the situation of those believed to be witches or wizards, by saying that, “the killing of twins and triplets where and when it occurred, must not be judged purely on emotional reactions, however severely the practice should be condemned on ethical grounds. From the point of view of the cooperate community, such births were experienced as heralds of misfortune. The people concerned experienced them as a threat to the whole existence, as a sign that something wrong had happened to cause the births, and that something worse still would happen to the community if the ‘evil’ were not removed. So they killed the children for the sake of the larger community, to cleanse,

465 ECM: Living Our Faith. Lenten letter of the Catholic bishops to their faithful, Balaka: Montfort Media 1992, 2. 466 Villacorta, Wilfrido V.: The Indivisibility of Rights of the Human Person, in: Mimmerath, Roland/Fumagalli Carulli, Ombretta/Possenti, Vittorio: Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights, Vatican: Pontifical Acadamy of Social Sciences 2010, 208-227, 218. 467 Sindima, Religious, 172. 144

to ‘save’, to protect the rest of the people. If this was not done, then not only would the twins themselves suffer, but the rest of the society would be in danger of annihilation”468. Placide Tempels agrees with John S. Mbiti by saying that “the Bantu say: we act thus (killing misfortune bringer) to be protected from misfortune, or from a diminution of life or of being or in order to protect ourselves from those influences which annihilate or diminish us”469. Ferdinand Chukwuagozie Ezekwonna adds that twins “were rejected on the grounds of abnormality and as devil’s act, the people thought that intercourse between a man and a woman can and should only produce one human being and when it does not work out like that it becomes an abnormality. And abnormality (nke m di iche bu ajo ahu) has no place in Igbo culture”470. The twins were believed to bring either deaths or problems like sickness or misfortunes in the community and these could hinder the people to have a fulfilled life. Some ethnic groups in Africa were killing twins and triplets to save the community. That was the thinking in the past and it no longer happens these days. This is also the same situation with people believed to be wizards and witches; they are killed in order to save the lives of others. This is still practiced in some ethnic groups up to the present day even though almost all governments condemn the killing and mistreating of those believed to be witches and wizards.

There have been practices which were not ethically good and some of them have died away, but some are still being practised like killing or ostracizing people believed to be witches or wizards. There is need to use the umunthu principles with the help of CST to see that these practices are stopped and the dignity and life of these people is also protected and promoted. Many people tend to look only at these negative African cultural practices and most of the times these practices have even been overemphasized. Some people, especially those from other cultures, tend to throw the child with dirty water by rejecting good positive umunthu values together with the bad negative aspects which are found among the Bantu speaking people. One should know that there are many good values, which give joy to life and help people to preserve and develop it. One needs only to be aware of these values and put them into practice. Like in all the cultures of the world one finds both negative and

468 Mbiti, Introduction, 144. 469 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 45. 470 Ezekwonna, African, 58. 145

positive aspects471. Ferdinand Chukwuagozie Ezekwonna is of the same view: “One can categorically say that there is no culture or ethic that is totally bad in itself. At the same time there is no system that does not have its own weaknesses”. One needs only to be aware of these aspects and to use the positive ones constructively, and avoid and work on the short-comings.

In Africa, and Malawi in particular, people have a sense of respect for the human being and human life in particular472. Urika Robin talking about the rights of women in Malawi started by explaining what human rights are according to the Bantu people of Malawi. She says that “it is necessary to consider local notions of human dignity. In Chichewa (Malawi)/Chinyanja (Zambia), the concept that comes closest to an idea of human dignity is ulemerero wa munthu. There is no exact English translation of the concept; it evokes dignity, worth and honour”473. Later on she concludes that “an attempt at literal translation would render it as ‘worthy of humanness’. Ulemu means esteem, honour, reverence, respect and dignity, worth and civility”474. Here it is clear that umunthu obliges each and every person to see and respect others as human beings instead of dehumanizing them. Umunthu can establish a human society based on its democratic values which respect all people for what they are and which work at preserving and improving the quality of life of all its citizens. Placide Tempels also adds that all other created things should never take the place of man for they were created in order to assist man and help him have proper dignity475. All that happens should be aimed at the well-being of the persons as individuals and as a community.

This quotation of Placide Tempels shows that the dignity of man comes from his origins. Dignity is given by God through the ancestors at the time of conception. Man is placed above all other created thing. As seen above, every person, even the

471 Ezekwonna, African, 20-21. 472 EA, no. 43: “The peoples of Africa respect the life which is conceived and born. They rejoice in this life. They reject the idea that it can be destroyed, even when the so-called 'progressive civilizations' would like to lead them in this direction. And practices hostile to life are imposed on them by means of economic systems which serve the selfishness of the rich. Africans show their respect for human life until its natural end, and keep elderly parents and relatives within the family”. 473 Ribon, Ulrika: Human Rights and the Multiparty System have Swallowed Our Traditions. Conceiving Women and Culture in the New malawi, in: Englund, Harri: A Democracy of Chameleons. Politics and Culture in the New Malawi, Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute 2002 (= Kachere Books 14), 163-177, 173. 474 Ribon, Human Rights, 173. 475 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 97. 146

one considered stupid, deserves to be respected. This dignity is expressed in the life of the community. Each initiation stage brings with it its own dignity and respect as well as duties.

4.2.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS

4.2.2.1 POLITICAL MURDER As already said in the third chapter about the socio-political situation in Malawi, the lives of many people have not been respected and promoted in Malawi since 1964, when the country got its independence. Many people who were/are against the ruling party were/are killed or just disappeared without any trace. Some were forced to flee into exile. Others were killed in a brutal way like Medson Evans Silombela who was hanged in public in front of his relatives in Zomba District476. Stacey Hynd from the University of Oxford wrote that “the question of public executions had arisen repeatedly since the establishment of Nyasaland in 1892, and subsequently in independent Malawi. Indeed, it became most controversial after Independence when in 1965 Prime Minister Hastings Banda amended legislation to allow the public execution of Medson Evans Silombela, a high-ranking rebel who had been convicted of murdering a MCP Chairman during the revolt by the former Education Minister, Henry Chipembere. Banda’s public comments that ‘I know that you will want to see him swinging from a pole. Whatever happens, his swinging must be public. I want him to dangle there until he breathes his last’”477.

This was done to intimidate people so that they do not follow the example of Medson Evans Silombela of rebelling against him and his party. Peter VonDoepp is convinced that “the use of thuggery and intimidation presented a potentially viable strategy for keeping power – quieting political foes and keeping potential disloyal elements in line”478. These deaths and ill-treatments are totally against the dignity of the person and were used as a political tool to threaten the people. Man is disparaged

476 Slayer in Malawi executed in Prison, In: Milwaukee Journal, Tuesday 1. Febr. 1966, 27. Available at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19660201&id=LT0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wScEA AAAIBAJ&pg=2411,288589&hl=en (Accessed 15.10.2013). 477 Hynd, Stacey: Decorum or Deterrence? The Politics of Execution in Malawi, 1915-1966, in: Cultural and Social History (5)4 (2008), 437-448, 437-438. 478 VonDoepp, Peter: Institutions, Resources, and Elite Strategies. Making Sense of Malawi’s Democratic Trajectory, in: Villalón, Leonardo/ VonDoepp, Peter (ed.): The Fate of Africa’s democratic Experiments. Elites and Institutions, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 175-198, 195. 147

to a function. Not only the political prisoners were suffering but the whole nation was also paralysed by the fear of being treated in the same way. This blocked the people from realizing their potentials and freedom of expression.

There have been also a lot of mysterious deaths which one does not know how exactly they happened but all these concerned the people who were against the ruling parties (MCP, UDF and DPP). During the time of Kamuzu there were road accidents which were not clearly explained. In 1983, as already seen above, three prominent members of MCP, namely Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama and John Twaibu Sangala, were found dead in Mwanza in the road accident. They had “urged changes in procedure for parliamentary elections“479. It was first reported that they were missing and did not attend a meeting which they were supposed to attend. Richard Carver says that “(i)t was later announced that they had been killed in a car crash while trying to flee the country. After the announcement of the crash the police contacted the District Commissioner of Mwanza to send the local police to the scene of the ‘accident’. The press was also present but only the police photographer was allowed to record the scene. The car was upside down but otherwise apparently undamaged and was surrounded with footprints. The bodies … had visible bullets wounds in them“480. Another one who was killed in this way was Austin Madinga who was supposed to take over from John Tembo, the right hand of Kamuzu, the post of Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). Richard Carver said: “Testimony of a witness interviewed by African watch tends to confirm widespread belief that Madinga was murdered”481. This method was used especially during the time of Kamuzu in order to silence and eliminate his opponents.

The other regimes which followed MCP, namely UDF, DPP and PP, also had their ways of silencing their opponents. The method mostly used by these people is mysterious death both in and outside prisons. One of the recent examples was the death of the University of Malawi student, Robert Chasowa, who was a critic of Bingu, he was found dead in the University compound in Blantyre. “Robert Chasowa, 25, was found dead on campus last month. Police ruled the death a suicide but civil society groups said it was a political murder and accused authorities of

479 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 480 Carver, Where Silence, 51-52. 481 Carver, Where Silence, 48. 148

trying to cover it up. The Chasowa case has piled pressure on Mutharika, who faced international condemnation after his security forces killed 20 anti-government protesters in July, which led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid for his cash-strapped country”482. There are also other opposition politicians who died in prison and most of these cases have not been fully investigated. These are clear signs that human life has not been respected in the political history of Malawi from the time after independence.

All the presidents and their parties the country have had so far did not rule according to the principles of umunthu. For umunthu says clearly that life is a gift from God, and that the community at large and all its members are obliged to respect and to promote it483. Nobody was allowed to take away the life of an innocent person. Whatever the politicians and their political parties have been doing is clearly against this principle. Placide Tempels says that one has to protect and respect the life of others as well as one’s own because “(l)ife belongs to God. It is he who summons it into being, strengthens and preserves it. His great and holy gift to men is the gift of life. Other creatures which, according to Bantu ideas, are lower or higher vital forces, exist in the divine plan only to maintain and cherish the gift made to man”484. People are born with these basic rights since they originate from God. He further says that, “(t)he strengthening of life, the preservation of and respect of life, are by the very nature of creation the business of the ancestors and the elders, living and dead. Equally, inferior forces lie at the disposition of human beings for the strengthening, maintenance and protection of the life of the ‘muntu’”485. John S. Mbiti supports this idea of Placide Tempels by saying that, “Life coming from God ‘flows’ in a hierarchical order. At the peak are the ancestors, who are followed by the elders of the community, and these including father and mother of the family, the clan dead, and the chief or king. According to their function and task in the community, they form the link between the ancestors and the living, who in this way can participate in

482 Banda, Mabvuto: Malawi leader orders probe into death of activist, 10 October 2011. Availaible at http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19837:malawi- leader-orders-probe-into-death-of-activist&catid=52:Human%20Security&Itemid=114 (Accessed 10.09.2014). 483 EA, no. 43. “Open to this sense of the family, of love and respect for life, the African loves children, who are joyfully welcomed as gifts of God”. 484 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 120. 485 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 120. 149

the fullness of life”486. The people of Malawi also live by this principle and express it by saying that, “talandira mphatso”- which means “we have received a gift” when a child is born. A child and its life are conceived as a gift and a blessing from God487. Ajume H. Wingo says that the fact that the people make a great feast when a child is born showed that “the new-born was a dignified being”488. He goes on saying that this shows all the people that all human beings deserve to be respected and their lives to be protected and promoted by saying that “the respect for a bare innocent baby, a tabula rasa, a potential (not only potential but real) bearer of an identity and rationality (whatever that may turn out to be) was the first – order moral respect that every human being deserved by virtue of being human. This was the sacred foundation of morality – the dignity of the human being qua human”489. That is only to confirm that life is a gift from God, and like all the gifts which are appreciated it has to be taken care of well. According to the thinking of the Bantu speaking people, it is only God who has the right to take the life of a person. John S. Mbiti says that “it is sometimes believed that God may call old people to leave this life”490. Life is supposed to be lived till one attains an old age and this is a sign of God’s blessing and care, especially in places where there are many enemies of life like witches, sickness, hunger etc. Like the Bantu speaking people Pope John XXIII is convinced that “human life is sacred - all men must recognize that fact. From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God. Those who violate His laws not only offend the divine majesty and degrade themselves and humanity, they also sap the vitality of the political community of which they are members”491. Here the Pope and the Bantu agree on the sacredness of life and that no one is allowed to take away the life of the other for no matter what reason. Only God has power over the life of every human being.

God is seen as a Creator and Sustainer of life and everything in the universe. John S. Mbiti says that among the Bantus “it is generally believed … that the universe was created. The Creator of the universe is God”492. He goes further by saying that, “he

486 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 197. 487 Boon, African way, 95. 488 Wingo, Good Government, 152. 489 Wingo, Good Government, 152. 490 Mbiti, Introduction, 118. 491 John XXIII, Christianity and Social Progress, no 194 492 Mbiti, Introduction, 35. 150

(God) is also its (universe) sustainer and upholder”493. As Placide Tempels, John S. Mbiti puts man at the centre of the creation. This means that a human being like the whole universe is created by God and it is God who sustains and keeps the human life. He is the only one in control of the whole human life. John Mbiti continues by saying that, “this concept is expressed through the saying “God created all things” and through giving Him the name of Creator”494. In Malawi one of the names of God is Namalenga495. This name comes from the verb “kulenga” which means “to create” and Namalenga means the one who creates. In Igbo language this idea is expressed by the name “Chineke”. Elizabeth Amoah supports this thinking and says that this is also the foundation of the human rights as she says, “since human beings have a sacred source, each and every person should be treated with care, dignity, and respect”496. This idea is also supported by Kantian ethics which states that “a human being exists right from the moment of conception”497. In his universal principle he says: “Act only on maxims which you can at the same time will to be universal laws”498. God is a Sustainer and Protector of life. The people of Malawi use the name Chiuta499, which comes from the noun “uta” meaning “bow” which was used by the

493 Mbiti, Introduction, 43. Cf. Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 98-99: “In relation to the beings whom he has created, God is regarded by the Bantu as the causative agent, the sustainer of these resultant forces, as being the creation cause. Man is one of these resultant living forces, created, maintained and developed by the vital, creative influence of God”. 494 Mbiti, Introduction, 39. 495 Wendland, Ernst: Yahwe- The case of Chauta, “Great God of the Bow”, in: The Bible Translator (43)4 (1992), 430-438, 435: “Namalenga- This term points to the deity primarily in his role as the Creator of all things: definitely mankind, probably all visible elements in the universe, and possibly also the universe (earth and heavens) itself, though the latter is not explicitly recorded in the myth of origin. God’s surpassing power and wisdom as revealed in creation (the verb stem being – lenga) are emphasized and so is his graciousness in providing for his ‘children’. The later is also suggested by the generic female personal prefix na-, which also invests the name with a decidedly positive connotation similar to that of ‘mother’ (less frequently used ‘male’ variant is Mlenga). However this name is also relatively restricted in usage and application to creation contexts, for example to supplicatory prayers in which God’s primal mercy is applied to.” 496 Amoah, Elizabeth: African Traditional Religion and The Concept of Poverty, in: Paris, Peter J. (ed.): Religion and Poverty. Pan- African Perspectives, Durham: Duke University Press 2009, 111- 127, 115. 497 Ochieng‘-Odhiambo: A Companion to Philosophy, 61. 498 Ochieng‘-Odhiambo: A Companion to Philosophy, 54. 499 Wendland, Yahwe, 436: “Chauta- There are two major derivations of the meaning proposed for the name Chauta, which is literally ‘Great-One-off-the bow’. There is no doubt about the ‘bow’ element (uta), but the question is: Which bow is meant? That of the hunter or its colourful image in the heavens? The hunter or warrior’s bow was an essential instrument used for both provision and protection, especially in ancient times. Thus it is understandable that the term could be used symbolically with reference to these crucial activities of God. He was the great Provider and Defender of his people. On the other hand, and probably more likely, the rainbow (uta-wa-Leza – ‘bow of God’) was also an important symbol, again connected with the life-giving rains and hence God’s concern for 151

hunter to provide meat for the family or by the warriors in order to protect their land and people. The bow in question can also be the “rainbow”, the sign of rain on whose abundance the life of agriculturalists depends. In fact for the Tumbuka, neighbours of the Chewa, the name of God is “Chiuta” meaning “the great bow2. This makes one think of the rainbow looking like a great arc that embraces the earth from above. Stephen Kauta Msiska adds that God is called also “Leza” and he says: “Leza comes from the word M’lezi, ‘one who looks after the little ones’”500. This is only to confirm that God is seen as one who cares for His people like a person takes care of little children.

The rights of the human being must be recognized and respected because they are already present in all people since they are given to man by God from the time of conception and they reflect the dignity proper to human beings. Ajume H. Wingo says that the titles that a person acquired during his/her life time are removed at death. S/he is called by his/her proper “name given at birth. This was a way of tearing down the draperies of earthly life and uncovering and respecting the person’s basic humanity”501. All human beings have the same dignity in spite of their different talents, roles and, status. The Bantu speaking people are convinced and believe that any person with Umunthu understands the values of human life and knows that s/he has the obligation to preserve and promote it. Pope John Paul II confirms this Bantu thinking by saying that “the peoples of Africa respect the life which is conceived and born. They rejoice in this life. They reject the idea that it can be destroyed, even when the so-called 'progressive civilizations' would like to lead them in this direction. And practices hostile to life are imposed on them by means of economic systems which serve the selfishness of the rich (and politicians). Africans show their respect for human life until its natural end, and keep elderly parents and relatives within the family”502.

Pope John Paul II says clearly that those who do not respect the life of others are motivated by their selfish interest. This is what has been happening in the Malawian

the well-being of all his creatures. The fact that this bow extends from one end of the sky to the other world suggest his control over the entire universe”. 500 Msiska, Stephen Kauta: Golden Buttons. Christianity and Traditional Religion among the Tumbuka, Blantyre (MW): CLAIM (= Kachere Text 4), 23. 501 Wingo, Good Government, 152. 502 EA, no. 43. 152

socio-political situation because the political rulers are interested in preserving their power at all cost. This power gives them a lot of benefit like material resources and because of this they are ready to eliminate anyone whom they perceive as a danger to their selfish interests. These politicians and their party forget something very important for the Bantu people that the one who destroys or does not respect the life of the other loses one’s own umunthu. The people of Malawi call “anyone whose life does not benefit human dwelling… chinyama, an animal, flesh and blood without human characteristics! One of the characteristics of animal life is self-interest”503. John S. Mbiti agrees with Desmond Tutu that “whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and what happens to the whole group happens to the individual”504. It is clear that among the Bantu when one disrespects the life of others and dehumanizes them; he also disrespects and dehumanizes his own life. Placide Tempels goes further by saying that “every injury to anything depending upon a person will be regarded … as a diminution of the being of that person himself”505. Ajume H. Wingo confirms this thinking of Pope John Paul II and Bantu thinking in the following statement: “the sacred dignity of a human being and community was paramount, and all other virtues were fashioned around this summum bonum. The dignified individuals collectively made up the community, and the community became the humus for meaningful life”506. This is according to the Bantu principle which says that what happens to an individual member of the community affects as all the members of the community and the community as a whole, and what happens to the community affects all its individual members. This is exactly what St Pauls says: “If one part (of the body) is hurt, all the parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honour, all parts enjoy it” (1Co 12, 26). The Malawians say “zidze pano ndi zatonse” - meaning that “that which happens to one member affects the whole community”.

503 Sindima, Religious, 170. 504 Mbiti, Introduction, 106. Cf. Tutu, No Future, 35: “A person with ubuntu is open and available and good; for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.” Cf. Ezekwonna, African, 89: “Solidarity has no boundary in Africa because for them, when one person suffers it is the whole community that suffers, and when one person rejoices it is the whole community that rejoices”. 505 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 82. 506 Wingo, Good Government, 152. 153

The fifth commandment of God which says “you shall not kill” (Ex 20, 13) goes in line with the Bantu thinking about the respect and preservation of life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) gives an explanation for this commandment. It says that, “Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in the fifth commandment: ‘Do not slay the innocent and the righteous.’ The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. The law forbidding it is universally valid: it obliges each and every one, always and everywhere”507. It is true that all normal people everywhere know that life is important. Therefore all try to protect and care for it according to their thinking and resources. This idea is also supported by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) in 1987 which states that, “from the moment of conception, the life of every human being is to be respected in an absolute way because man is the only creature on earth that God has ‘wished for himself’ and the spiritual soul of each man is ‘immediately created’ by God; his whole being bears the image of the Creator. Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves ‘the creative action of God’ and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being”508, even though in the world of today many people do so. Both the CST and umunthu agree that God is the one who created each and every human being and that life is a special gift of God to human being and also that it is sacred.

In this way, both the CST and the umunthu principles condemn the killing of innocent people practised by some political leaders in Malawi. Ajume H. Wingo says that in Africa “even manslaughter (not to mention murder) violated (human) dignity and involved prolonged purification rituals to wash the victims clean before they were normal human beings and could re-join the society”509. The CST is very clear on this point of the dignity of the human being and it underlines that all human

507 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Vaticana: libreria Editrice ²1997, no.2261. (Will be quoted CCC). 508 CDF: Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation (Donum vitae), February 22, 1987, intro.no. 5. (Will be quoted DV). 509 Wingo, Good Government, 155. 154

beings are created in the image of God and, therefore, are endowed with dignity510. This includes also the notorious criminals. Therefore the capital sentence is a sign of lack of respect for the life of the other. Because all human beings are created in the image of God, every person has the right not only to life but also to those things which preserve their dignity and improve the quality of their life. Pope John Paul II confirms this by saying that, “In creating the human race ‘male and female’; God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with inalienable rights and responsibilities proper to the human person”511. This is also exactly what the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (UDHR) in articles 1 and 3 says respectively: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” and “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”512. All people are equal and they are like brothers and sisters to one another. This means that all have to treat each other as brothers and sisters and for sure in a normal situation one would not like to see his or her relative suffer or lose life. This implies that all the people know that all their brothers and sisters have the right to life and responsibility to preserve and promote it513 both their own as well as that of others. Harvey J. Sindima says that “moyo manifests itself in different forms in creation such as animal and vegetation life. However, there is one form which is a prototype, one which embodies the meaning and purpose of all creation, human life or people (munthu) as a member of humankind or a particular community or people“514. Pope Benedict concurs with Harvey J. Sindima by saying “that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: ‘Man is the source, focus and aim of all economic and social life’”515. A human being is at the centre but not master of the universe, he has no right to take the place of the master as far as human life and dignity are concerned.

510 CSDC, no. 428. 511 EA, no. 82. 512 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1 and 3. Availaible at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf (Accessed 07.06.2014) (Will be quoted as UDHR). 513 Sindima, Religious, 172: “While the state is mainly concerned with protecting private interests, it also has a duty towards preservation and quality of human life. In this respect, the state shares the same concern with the church.” 514 Sindima, Religious, 172. 515 Benedict XVI: Caritas in Veritate, Vaticana: libreria Editrice 2009, no. 25. (Will be quoted CV). 155

This shows that the way the politicians and their political parties have been treating others, especially those with opposite views and those in opposition is inacceptable. Both Bantu and CST agree that only God has the total responsibility on the life of the person and that the person is above other created things and interests and also all created things are at his service. Politicians and their political parties have no right to kill people in order to silence the opposing voice as has been the case in the history of Malawi and other countries. Richard Carver writes that the “Africa Watch” recommended to the Malawi Government (MG) to tell the police and other security officers to put a stop to the political killings because that is totally against the right of the person to life516. Harvey J. Sindima referring to the respect of life of others says that “one is said to be good if she or he encourages, helps, or leads others to experience dignity and fullness of life. A wicked person, whom Malawians call mfiti (witch or wizard), the highest embodiment of evil, is the person who harms others through deed, thought or speech; that person does not promote life and community. The bottom line is that good has to do with life, in particular human life because humans are the only meaning making creatures”517. Here we have seen that both Bantu and CST agree that human life is sacred and has to be respected and preserved. There is absolutely no reason for which one is allowed to take the life of the other that rests totally in the hands of God. Some of the killing like the one of Medson Evans Silombela who was hanged in a public place in front of his relatives was not only bad for him but also for his relatives who were to see their loved one dying in this inhuman way. “Umunthu rejects everything that is dehumanizing”518. In this killing it was not only Medson Evans Silombela who was dehumanized, tortured and suffered but also those who were present, especially his relatives. It dehumanized also those who were torturing him, because one cannot claim to be living umunthu and at the same time violate the dignity of others. This concerns also the capital sentence. One can kill only in self-defence when the other intends to dehumanize his/her life.

516 Carver, Where Silence, 91. 517 Sindima, Religious, 168. 518 Sindima, Religious, 176. 156

4.2.2.2 POLITICAL TORTURE Not only the relatives of Medson Evans Silombela were dehumanized and humiliated but there were also many people who were refused access to their relatives and friends who were in prison. Richard Carver gives the example of Jack Mapanje who was detained in prison for almost two years and he was never allowed to see his relatives or a lawyer519. Further on he narrates also about the couple Chirwa, namely Vera and Orton, who were detained in Zomba but were kept separately and were not allowed to talk to each other520. Those who tried to communicate with the political prisoners or those who were sympathising with the parties of the political prisoners were also persecuted and some of them were even thrown into prison. T. David Williams confirms this in his report of February 1966 “within a few days four hundred known or suspected supporters of Chipembere were taken prisoners”521. Often it is dangerous to be a relative, family or friend of those in opposition. Many have been persecuted or even killed innoncently.

The torture and disrespect of human rights and dignity went so far that some even suffered for the so called presumpted sins of their relatives. Richard Carver mentions the situation of Goodluck Mhango who was arrested in 1987 because of his brother, a critique of the Kamuzu government, who was in exile522. Richard Carver quotes an article from the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights which says: “Punishment is personal and can be imposed only on the offender”523. This is only one example but there are many who were imprisoned, or lost their jobs just because they were related to or corresponding with some people who were not in good terms with the government. This is seen today in other forms when a president loses the elections, all the people who were close to him/her or were employed to government’s posts by the president are removed from the posts.

Some political prisoners were kept in prison without trial or their trials were not at all fair. Most of these were mistreated when they were being arrested or when they were in prison. Richard Carver confirms this by saying that: “A common form of ill- treatment is for a prisoner to be held permanently in leg-irons and denied exercise …

519 Carver, Where Silence,.25 520 Carver, Where Silence, 37. 521 Williams, Malawi, 228. 522 Carver, Where Silence, 87. 523 Carver, Where Silence, 87. 157

There have also been reports of electric shock torture”524. This was during the reign of Kamuzu but also during other regimes the political prisoners have been suffering different humiliations and sometimes their cases are never heard till the end. There were also those opposition politicians who were limited in their relations, job opportunities and movement by the regime. They were not allowed to visit some places nor associate with certain persons525.

Placide Tempels summaries the evaluation of umunthu on the brutal behaviour of the politicians and their parties by saying that: “Every act, every detail of behaviour, every attitude and every human custom which militates against vital force or against the increase of the hierarchy of the ‘muntu’ is bad. The destruction of life is a conspiracy against the Divine Plan; and the ‘muntu’ knows that such destruction is, above all else, ontological sacrilege: that it is for that reason immoral and therefore unjust”526. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne talking about the Igbo people says, “(t)he concept of life as being sacred goes to explain the reason why the Igbo frowns and prohibits homicides, suicides, euthanasia, hitting a woman … and the related evils that diminish, depersonalize and devalue the human person”527. These two agree on the sacredness of life and that nobody has power to eliminate or ill-treat another person on any account. In Malawi, as seen above, the political prisoners and sometimes also their relatives and friends were denied the possibility to develop as human beings because according to the Bantu thinking a person achieves his/her full personhood only in good relation with others. What has been happening in the socio- political situation of Malawi removes and diminishes the humanity of those imprisoned as well as that of their relatives and friends since a person is a social being and attains the humanity in the community. Placide Tempels says that all sufferings, depression and every injustice diminishes the life of the person528 and also of the person related to that person.

524 Carver, Where Silence, 43. 525 Carver, Where Silence, 25: “Detention orders may be suspended and replaced by any of the number of restrictions, for example by banning a person from engaging in particular employment, living in a particular place or communicating with particular people. Alternatively a person may be detained under house arrest or required to notify his or her movements to the authorities”. 526 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 121. 527 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 65-66. 528 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 46. 158

The ECM is worried about the situation of many political prisoners who rot in prison without any trial or proper trial. Most of the times, as seen above, these people are subjected to various inhuman treatments. The bishops criticise the political system of Malawi in its dealing with prisoners, especially political prisoners and they wrote that: “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. In particular, before a penalty is imposed, it is in the interest of justice and human dignity that the accused be informed in good time of the charge against him and be granted opportunity for a fair trial, and where necessary, the possibility of legal counsel. We call upon all and particularly those responsible for the administration of justice to ensure that not only those procedures are respected but also that impartial judgment is rendered to the accused person. This will only be possible if the administration of justice is independent of external influence, political or other. Our bond of brotherhood and sisterhood in the one body of Christ and our solidarity as a people should, in love, compel us to hunger for the justice and righteousness of the Lord in our society”529. Richard Carver writes, in the recommendations of “Africa Watch“ to the MG, that when one is arrested one should be given the reason for which one is arrested and one has to be given a fair and prompt trial530. The UDHR concurs with this thinking in saying that: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”531. Harvey J. Sindima says that in Africa “that which destroys community, or reduces people to objects or the level of animals, is evil”532. Another Bantu principle which the politicians and their parties usually forget and therefore end up mistreating and dehumanizing others and this says that “I am because we are and since we are therefore I am”. To put it in biblical words we can say: “Treat others as you would like them to treat you” (Lk. 6, 31). Valentin Zsifkovits says that it is the principle of concerned and fairness. He continues that this is a Golden Rule which says that one should not do to others, what one would not like others to do to him/her533. Valentin Zsifkovits says also that this well-known

529 ECM, Living Our Faith, 10. 530 Carver, Where Silence, 92. 531 UDHR, Article 5. 532 Sindima, Religious, 168. 533 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Ethik des Friedens, Linz: Veritas 1987 (= Soziale Perspektiven), 31. „Nämlich das Prinzip der Betroffenheit and das Prinzip der Fairneß mit der beide Prinzipien berührenden Goldenen Regel: Was Du nicht willst, das man dir tut, das füg auch keinem andern zu“. 159

wisdom is expressed both negatively and positively as “What you do not want others to do to you, you should also not to do them” and “what you expect others to do for you, do also for them” respectively534. If the politicians and their parties had considered those in opposition or those with different views as their fellow human beings, they would not have mistreated them. This is so because the person with umunthu judges his/her acts always in relation to the others and to the community. Whatever a person with umunthu does must always be for the good of the others and the community at large and that will surely be good also for the person who performs the act and in doing so one promotes one’s own life, the life of others and that of the community. Even if some of the political prisoners had done something bad they were supposed to be treated with dignity and their lives respected.

The Vatican Council (VC) II agreeing with Harvey J. Sindima says that on top of reducing others to the level of an animal, these inhuman acts “do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury”535. According to the Bantu thinking when one does not treat and respect others as human being one loses one’s humanity; one becomes like an animal as already seen above. That is why the VC II reiterates that “(r)espect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act differently from us do in social, political and even religious matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through such courtesy and love,

Cf. Dölken, Clemens: Katholische Soziallehre und liberale Ökonomik. Das Verhältnis von katholischer Soziallehre und Neoliberalismus in Licht der modernen Institutionenökonomik, Tübingen: Mohr 1992 (= Die Einheit der Gesellschaftswissenschaften Bd. 77), 183: „Was ja heißt: Du sollst jeden Menschen lieben, weil jedem Menschen der Wert der Personwürde zukommt, entsprechend dem deskriptiven Inhalt der Golden Regel, Gleiches gleich und Ungleiches ungleich zu behandeln. Das Gebot, den Nächsten zu lieben, bedeutet folglich: Liebe ihn nicht statt deiner selbst oder mehr als dich selbst, sondern ebenso wie dich selbst. Das Gebot, den Nächsten zu lieben, hebt das Gebot, sich selbst zu lieben, nicht auf“. Cf. Zsifkovits, Valentin: Asylpolitik mit Herz und Vernunft. Zu einer aktuellen Problematik, Regensburg: Pustet 1993 (= Soziale Perspektiven Bd. 8), 22: „Die Goldene Regel erinnert auch an die Notwendigkeit der empathie und des Sichhineinversetzens in die Lage der Betroffenen gerage gegenüber in Not Geratenen.“ Cf. Beyaraza, Ernest: Global Ethics. Cases from Africa, Kampala: Makerere University Printery 2006, 125: “Those who hold responsibility for others are obliged to help those for whom they hold responsibility. In addition, the Golden Rule implies: If we were in serious difficulty wherein we could not help ourselves, we would want those who could help us to do so, even if they heldno responsibility for us; therefore we should help others in serious difficulty who cannot help themselves, even though we hold no responsibility for them”. 534 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Ethisch richtig Denken und Handeln, Wein: LIT Verlag 2005 (= Ethik aktuell Band 3), 53: „Sie ist altbekannt und stellt ein Erfahrungswissen bzw. eine Erfahrungsweisheit der Menschheit dar, die Goldene Regel. Negativ formuliert lautet sie: ‚Was du nicht willst, dass man dir tut, das füg auch keinen anderen zu.‘ Positiv formuliert ist sie z.B. zu finden im Matthäusevangelium, 7. Kapitel, Vers 12: ‚Alles, was ihr von den Menschen erwartet, das tut auch ihr ihnen.‘“ 535 GS, no. 27 lnkb. 160

the more easily will we be able to enter into dialogue with them”536. Difference in seeing things should never be interpreted as enmity but as a richness through which people can enter into dialogue and enrich one another.

Most of the people who committed these crimes have never been brought to justice and most of these deaths remain mysterious since the processes are not followed till the end. Richard Carver says that “all alleged instances of political killings - including the deaths of Mkwapatira Mhango and the Cabinet Ministers who died in 1983, as well as the March 1990 Kawale massacre - should be fully and impartially investigated and criminal charges brought against those alleged to be responsible”537. The umunthu thinking would also be comfortable when these people come in the open and go through the process of reconciliation with those affected by their inhuman acts and also if possible to recompense them. Richard Carver says that, where necessary, “compensation should be paid to victims of torture or cruel punishments or to their dependents”538. This brings unity and love among the people of the community and in this case it can bring love and unity in the country when people accept their failings and the other side forgive them. This reciprocity is very important for the harmonious living together in the community. The CST supports this Bantu thinking by saying that “this pain (of those who suffer in prison and those who mourn their loved ones) can only be eased by a deep, faithful and courageous reflection on the part of all parties, a reflection capable of facing present difficulties with an attitude that has been purified by repentance. The weight of the past, which cannot be forgotten, can be accepted only when mutual forgiveness is offered and received: this is a long and difficult process, but one that is not impossible”539. The elders and wise people listen to the accusations as well as to the arguments in defence. Those present can contribute to the case by giving their opinions and testimonies. Nobody is to be interrupted as one speaks, even when some times the things are repeated. This goes on till there is reconciliation between the accuser and the accused. This reconciliation is with God, the author of life, and the ones who are affected directly and in directly and among the Bantu it involves also the community because what happens to one of its members happens to the whole community too.

536 GS, no. 28. 537 Carver, Where Silence, 91. 538 Carver, Where Silence, 91. 539 CSDC, no. 517. 161

In respect to the human person’s rights and dignity Malawi has not been exemplary. No person or worse still their dependents or relatives should be killed or humiliated or forced into exile because of political reasons. Life is a beautiful gift from God and it must be respected at all cost. All people must be treated with respect regardless of their political affiliations or their views. When some injustices have been done to some members of the community these must be brought in the open and discussed fully with the people involved and if necessary the community can also be implicated with the aim of restoring justice and reconciliation among the people of the community. In order to do this the judicial system must be independent from the ruling party.

All people are equal before God and there is nobody’s life which is superior to that of others. When political leaders enjoy their lives and want to have a fulfilled life, they should also know and be aware that even those in opposition and those with different views from theirs have also the same desire and longing. All people are entitled to enjoy their human rights equally. Mike Boon goes in the same line by saying that in “the philosophy of Ubuntu … rank means nothing unless one’s spirit and humanity are of the same stature”540. This means that all people are equal in their humanity and that there is no one who is more human with more rights than the other. Pope Benedict XVI says “those with greater political, technical, or economic power may not use that power to violate the rights of others who are less fortunate”541.

Pope Benedict XVI makes a good summary of the position of a human being in the universe in saying: “The dignity of man and woman derives from the fact that when God created man, ‘in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them’ (Gen 1:27). Both man and woman are created ‘in the image of God’, that is, endowed with intelligence and will and therefore with freedom. The account of our first parents' sin confirms this (cf. Gen 3). The Psalmist sings of man's incomparable dignity: ‘Yet you have made him little less than a god; with glory and honour you crowned him, gave him power over the works of your hand, put all things under his

540 Boon, African Way, 26. 541 Pope Benedict XVI: Message for the World Day of Peace no 4, 1st January 2007. Availaible at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben- xvi_mes_20061208_xl-world-day-peace_en.html (Accessed 08.06.2014). 162

feet’ (Ps 8:6-7)”542. To end up this subsection about the human rights Kuan-Hsin-chi says, “All social life is an expression of its unmistakable protagonist: the human person. The foundation of a just society is the principle that affirms the inviolable dignity of the human person”543. The human being is the centre of all that happens and his dignity must always be respected.

We conclude with the words of ECM which are inviting all political parties, especially those in power that, “(a)ll forms of intimidation and harassment must be rejected by all parties. Democracy flourishes to the extent that the rights and freedom of all are respected. All citizens must be constantly invited to exercise their rights, to participate, to make choices and to be involved in the building of society in peace and security”544. The CSDC invites the politicians and their parties to create a community and environment where “the human person is the foundation”545; and so everything that happens in the community or country must be directed to serve man who has been created “in the image of God”. Francis M. Deng says: “In Dinka thought, because God created all of humankind, every human being, no matter what his race or religion, has sanctity and moral or spiritual value that must be respected. To wrong him is to wrong God himself”546.

4.3 COMMON GOOD

4.3.1 INTRODUCTION Under common good one understands “the good for all”: that which is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community547. In the whole world as well as in each and every land there are things which are supposed to profit all its members regardless of their status in the society. These are the things which create conditions that make it possible for each group, be either ethnic or political, and each and every member to achieve a life with full of potentials. The VC II goes in the

542 EA, no. 82. 543 Chi, Kuan-Hsin: Universality, Indivisibility and Interdependence of Human rights. The Case of China. Availaible at Minnerath, R./Carulli, O.F./ Possenti, V. (eds.): Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights, Vatican: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences 2010, 359-387, 359, available in: http://www.pass.va/content/dam/scienzesociali/pdf/acta15/acta15-hsinchi.pdf (Accessed 10.10.2014). 544 ECM: Building Our Future, Balaka: Montfort Media 1994 (= Pastoral Letter by the Episcopal Confrerence of Malawi 3), 3. 545 CSDC, no. 384. 546 Deng, Francis M.: Human Rights in the African Context, in: Wiredu, Kwasi: A Companion to African Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell 2004, 499-508, 501. 547 Zsifkovits, Orientierungen, 80-81. „Gemeinwohl als das größte Glück der größten Zahl“. 163

same line by saying that: “God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the use of all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of justice and in the company of charity, created goods should be in abundance for all in like manner”548. Thomas Aquinas talking about “abundanta rerum” says that the things needed by each species are abundantly provided by God549. May be other countries like Malawi do not have the things in abundance, but when the limited goods and limited resources are properly, fairly and justly shared they can help to improve the life and living condition of all the citizens. The CST here wants to say that the goods and resources of the country must not intentionally be used to the profit or benefit of one group over the others. SECAM speaking on behalf of the African Catholic Church said that, “(f)or the Church, the principle of the Common Good requires that all social, political, economic, and cultural structures, systems and processes be accessible to all. Furthermore, it requires that even those who are marginalised in society are not neglected”550. They underline that the distribution and enjoyment of these goods must include all the people even the future generation without exception551. They urged African leaders, especially politicians, to put their interest on the population as whole and to see that their people enjoy the fruits of their land and of the continent as a whole. The duty and role of each and every government is to protect the common good and to make sure that all the citizens have access to it. This section examines how the government of Malawi has often failed to share the resources and fruits of the land to its citizens in the various regions of the country and among the people who belong to different ethnic groups and political parties. Up to now most of the resources of the land are shared and distributed depending on one’s affiliation either political or ethnic or region. This is lack of justice which puts priority on the fulfillment of vital necessities of life for all552.

548 GS, no. 69. 549 Aquinas, Thomas: Political Writings. Edit & Transl. By R.W. Dyson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2004, 38. 550 SECAM, no. 24. 551 Zsifkovits, Orientierungen, 81: „Das an der Bestimmung der Menschennatur und der Bewahrung der Schöpfung sich orientierende größtmögliche Glück aller Einzelnen in Gegenwart und Zukunft mit vorrangiger Beachtung vitaler Lebensbedürfnisse für alle“. Cf. Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 34. „ 552 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Orientierung für eine humane Welt, Wien: LIT Verlag (= Zeitdiagnosen Band 27), 82: „Gerechtigkeit mit vorrangiger Erfüllung vitaler Lebensbedürfnisse für alle sowie mit besonderer Berüchsichtigung der Realisierungsbedingungen ber Anliegen.“ 164

This concept of common good is one of the fundamental principles of umunthu and it is also closely related to the other umunthu principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. These three principles go hand in hand but, as already said, they will be presented separately for the sake of clarity. These three principles also promote and deepen the right of the human being. In this sense it is clear that the common good concerns the goodness for the community and all the members of the community. The common good promotes a specific good that is shared by and benefits all members of a specific society. What one does and is good for one’s self must also be good and profitable to the whole community and the individual members of the community. In Africa it is often said that the richness of the individual does not make the community rich but the richness of the community makes its individual members rich. When a person is rich and does only what profits oneself, that person does not automatically profit the whole community and cannot be a common good of the whole community but when the whole community is enjoying life then all the individual members also enjoy life with it. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne says that “the freedom (one can add also other things like richness) of the individual depends on that of the community and vice versa”553. The individual in the community knows that s/he has the responsibility to contribute to the good of the community and that when the community is well not only s/he will be well but the other members of the community will be well, too554. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that “it must be recalled that African ethics does not define a person as self-realization or as ontological act; rather, it describes the person as a process of coming into existence in the reciprocal relatedness of individual and community … This means that the individual becomes a person only through active participation in the community life. It is not membership in a community as such that constitutes the identity: only common action makes the human person a human person and keeps him from becoming an ‘unfettered ego’”555. This common action is not static, but a process.

Those who are selfish and try to develop alone cannot become full human being. When one wants to attain a full munthu (personhood) one must participate in the

553 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 531. 554 Nell-Breuning, Gerechtigkeit, 41: „Einzelwohl und gemeinwohl stehen in Wechselbeziehung zueinander; das Einzelwohl der Glieder trägt das Geimenwohl des Ganzen, dies hinwiederum ermöglicht und fördert das Einzelwohl der Glieder“. 555 Bujo, Foundations, 87. 165

activities of the community and its members. The community is the greatest richness for the individual and it helps the individual to become what one is supposed to be. The German word “arm" is related to orphan (one who is alone) in etymology556. Pope Benedict XVI concurs with this thinking when he wrote that “(o)ne of the deepest forms of poverty a person can experience is isolation. … Poverty is often produced by a rejection of God's love, by man's basic and tragic tendency to close in on himself, thinking himself to be self-sufficient or merely an insignificant and ephemeral fact, a ‘stranger’ in a random universe. Man is alienated when he is alone, when he is detached from reality, when he stops thinking and believing in a foundation. … Today humanity appears much more interactive than in the past: this shared sense of being close to one another must be transformed into true communion. The development of peoples depends, above all, on recognition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side”557. The individual person cannot prosper and come to full maturity of personhood if one is not in good relationship with others and does not contribute to the good of others and that of the community. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne is convinced that the person “is an incomplete being who is basically dependent on the community for advancement, self-development and fulfilment”558. The community depends also on the participation of the individual members. Mike Boon gives a good summary on this point by saying that “a community is made up of individuals who are all independent but interdependent … Ubuntu is only possible because of the individuals in the group”559. Both the community and the individual members must always work for the common good. One has to keep in mind that in Africa the group is more than the sum of the individuals and that the individual is not more than the group. What the individual

556 Böhm, R./Buggler, R./Mautner, J.: Arbeit am Begriff der Armut. Working Papers 3. Facing Poverty. University of Salzburg. Research Project Y 164, June 2003, 19: “Dabei ist es äußerst hilfreich, nicht beim Substantiv “Armut” zu beginnen, sondern be idem sprachgeschichtlich zuerst belegten Adjektiv „arm“: Das bereits im Althochdeutschen (ab ca. 750) und besonders im Mittelhochdeutschen auftretende Adjektiv ‚arm‘ entwickelte sich wahrscheinlich aus dem Substantiv „Erbe“ und brachte aus heutiger Sicht wohl dessen negative Seite zum Vorschein, hatte es doch vorwiegend die Bedeutung ‚verwaist‘“ 557 CV, no. 53. 558 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 534. 559 Boon, African Way, 29. Cf. Ezekwonna, African, 21: “For Africans, community is very important and vital to what transpires in one’s life. Without the community there is no individual and without the individual there is no community”. 166

and the community do must benefit all the individuals of the community. They both aim at the good which will profit all members. This has to do with the aspects of umunthu like justice, respect of the rights of others that we have just seen above, equality and other things like these. The CST supports this idea by saying that the goods of the country are for the common use of all its members regardless of their ethnic or political affiliation or their status. All the people are equal in their humanity and all need to have equal access to the national resources. VC II supports this Bantu thinking by saying that: “Since all men (and women) possess a rational soul and are created in God's likeness, since they have the same nature and origin, have been redeemed by Christ and enjoy the same divine calling and destiny, the basic equality of all must receive increasingly greater recognition”560. The common good is destined to all people because all the people are equal in their humanity and what is destined for the community good must reach all the members of the given community.

4.3.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS

4.3.2.1 NEPOTISM, ETHNICISM, PARTISAN Philip Selznick says: “Particularism is an ethnic of commitment to people and institutions we care about because they are related to us in some special way, usually based on kinship, religion, or a local way of life… A classic expression of particularism is nepotism – hiring or doing business with relatives (or fraternity brothers) in preference to outsiders”561. According to the ECM, “Nothing is more destructive of harmony than regionalism or tribalism which refuses to accept the dignity of every person and treat them equally”562. As we have just seen above, among the Bantu life and mutual support among the members of the family or community are very vital, but in the modern world where many countries are formed by different ethnic groups and many political parties, it breeds nepotism, ethnicism and partisan policies when it is misplaced. This is exactly what has been or is happening in the socio-politics of Malawi. In the fight for political powers and the distribution of the little resources of the land like jobs, promotion, developments

560 GS, no. 29. 561 Selznick, Philip: The Communitarian Persuasion, Washington,D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 45. 562 ECM, Building Our Future, 13. 167

projects and places in the universities one turns to favour and privilege one’s own group first. Most of the times, Malawian politics is reduced to opportunism and self- serving interest of individual politicians and their political parties, ethnic groups and regions of origin. The CCAP, Nkhoma Synod noted that the development projects are not equally distributed by saying that: “The CCAP Nkhoma Synod noted with sadness the sudden change of mind to relocate two projects without a convincing explanation. We need to pray against such poor and selfish decisions by government. The move of the proposed Lilongwe University of Science and Technology from Lilongwe to Ndata Farm in Thyolo as well as the proposed stadium from the Capital City to Blantyre has left us as a Church very concerned since the projects would have afforded our faithful and other people resident in the central region jobs and business opportunities”563. This is only one of the examples showing how the regimes locate development projects in favour of their regions and their people. Instead of being a government for all the citizens, in Malawi we have a government only for a specific group of people. This has been the tendency of the politicians from the time of the Malawian first president Kamuzu. Most of the times the political parties are not even ashamed to say in public that those who want development in their areas must support the ruling party because development projects come from those who are in the government. This shows clearly that there is lack of accountability when people are in government as there is no clear difference between the ruling party and the government as well as what belongs to the government and to the ruling party. The ECM supports also the criticism brought forward by the CCAP, Nkhoma Synod, and adds that it is “a betrayal of the democratic ideal if a government were to favour people of one tribe or the people of a particular region at the expense of other tribes or regions. Tribalism and regionalism are serious evils”564. As already seen above, there is strong tribalism in Malawi because different ethnic groups came to Malawi at different times and settled in different districts and regions. This was also strengthened by the colonialists who used the principle of “divide and rule”.

Richard Carver says that “Malawi is sometimes described as being an ethnically homogeneous country, yet it has been riven with serious ethnic and regional

563 CCAP Nkhoma Synod: Exercising Our Faith through Prayer, in our Time, in our Nation. Pastoral Letter 2012, no. 2 (i). Availaible at http://munthalikondwani.blogspot.co.at/2012/04/full-ccap- nkhoma-synod-pastoral-letter.html (Accessed 09.09.2014). 564 ECM, Building Our Future, 7. 168

tensions”565. Banda who was a Chewa tended to concentrate a lot of things in the Central Region, where most Chewa people are, for example he removed the capital city from Zomba District in the Southern part of Malawi to Lilongwe which is found in the Central Region and he built the international airport in Lilongwe and most of the big government offices are in Lilongwe. In doing so he created an opportunity for more people in the Central Region to have easy access to government jobs. Sadly enough on the other hand he was very hard on the people from the Northern Region and several times he even mistreated them. As we have seen above Banda introduced the University selection Quota System. This was to the disadvantage of the Northerners who profited from the colonial rule und missionary education more than others566. This system was also reintroduced in 2009 by Bingu in spite of the High Court rule of 1993567. The candidates are selected for the university according to the district of origin and not on merit. The university which was supposed to be open to all regardless of their origin has seen some capable students being left out and taking others who are less qualified because of their origin. The ECM deplores this development by saying that: “The criteria used in the selection of pupils for secondary schools and third-level institutions should be known to all and be seen to operate fairly. Nor should they work to the disadvantage of particular individuals or groups. Access to education should not depend on whom the candidate knows nor on how much money he possesses”568. All have a right to quality education basing on merit and all citizens are supposed to be employed and promoted according to their performance. The VC II confirms this by saying: “(B)ecause there is a social or communal dimension to human dignity itself, persons in Catholic moral thought must be conceived not in overly-individualistic terms - but as being inherently connected to the rest of society. At this level exactly, the political community must assume a role of being in charge, and of being the guardian offering the common good for all without discrimination"569.

Another thing typical of Kamuzu was that he introduced Chichewa as a national language. Bright Mhango says that it was strictly prohibited to use other languages in

565 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 566 Carver, Where Silence, 3. 567 Shawa, The big-Man syndrome, 49. 568 ECM, Living Our Faith, 1. 569 GS, no. 12,3. 169

the school and even in the church. Chichewa was the only language which was taught in schools from primary till secondary school and was one of the obligatory subjects. Bright Mhango writes: “Tongas and Senas had to study ‘Maliro Ndi Miyambi ya Achewa’ as if they had no funerals and customs. I know a teacher who was slapped for teaching in ChiTumbuka soon after the ban and the church elders at St. Peter’s Parish in Mzuzu were nearly arrested for preaching in ChiTumbuka”570. But strange enough he himself never used to speak Chichewa when addressing the nation. He would always speak in English and another person would translate the speech in Chichewa. The common good also requires that every group of people keep and use their language and customs. Why should the cultures be judged differently and why should one force others to adapt the culture and the language of others? Why should all Malawi be forced to speak Chichewa? Like in other countries like Zambia, Uganda and Kanya have English as a unifying language? Or why not choose at least three local languages; one from each region? The common good does not mean to removing the differences but keeping them and using them in order to help one another to grow and progress in life.

The citizens of Malawi are not treated equally and do not receive equal opportunity at national level and this is based on ethnicity and political affiliation. Nepotism, ethnicism and selfishness have been manifesting themselves in the social, political and economic systems of oppression, exploitation and discrimination in Malawi. Due to this habit we see that the gap between the rich and the poor keeps on growing and also the development of the country is not equally distributed. There are some regions which are more developed than others. The goods and resources of the country are not equally distributed. The CCAP, Nkhoma Synod have openly said in their pastoral letter that: “We have to pray for the State President and his cabinet for their health to govern this country with sober minds and concern for all Malawians without bias along tribal, regional and political party affiliations. People occupying senior public positions should be appointed only on merit. Similarly the awarding of contracts should be done fairly. It is sad to note that some ruling party leaders are

570 Mhango, Bright: Kamuzu Must Die from Malawian History- Celebrating Him Is Satanic. Availaible at http://banthutimes.com/kamuzu-must-die-from-malawis-history-celebrating-him-is-satanic/ (Accessed 25.05.1014). 170

openly declaring that contracts should be awarded only to ruling party members. This cannot be condoned in a democratic environment”571.

The CCAP are not alone in this fight against nepotism, ethnicism and politics of partisan politics. The ECM says that Malawi claims to be following the democratic systems of government which is a government of the people, by the people and for the people572. The ECM knowing the voting system of Malawi, which the people vote for the leaders according to their regions of origin, warned the political leaders to treat all people equally as citizens of Malawi and distribute the resources equally. The ECM says that: “If follows that the government must govern all citizens without favouritism. It may well happen that the governing party received its support and was elected principally by a particular segment of the population or particular region of the country. But once elected it is the government of all the people”573. As ethnic groups fight for resources and political positions, each and every group wish to put their own as president so that they can profit from the regime like getting employed in the government offices, appointed to good positions in the government and also that most of the development will be directed to that part of the country. The politics of Malawi is formed around the demands for or in opposition to ethnic entitlements and the ECM says it clearly that this must be overcome. The catholic bishops of England and Wales support this idea by saying: “Public authorities have the common good as their prime responsibility. The common good stands in opposition to the good of rulers or of a ruling (or any other) class. It implies that every individual, no matter how high or low, has a duty to share in promoting the welfare of the community as well as a right to benefit from that welfare. ‘Common’ implies ‘all- inclusive’: the common good cannot exclude or exempt any section of the population. If any section of the population is in fact excluded from participation in the life of the community, even at a minimal level, then that is a contradiction to the concept of the common good and calls for rectification”574. The social order and its development must invariably work to the benefit of the human person. In fact, the

571 CCAP, Exercising Our Faith, no. 2 (a). 572 ECM, Building Our Future, 13. 573 ECM, Building Our Future, 13. 574 Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW): The Common Good and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching. A statement by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and wales 1996, Manchester: Gabriel Communications, no. 70. 171

Catholic Church believes that we are all members of one family and we should live and treat one another as brothers and sisters since we were all created in the “image of God”. The Acts of Apostles says that on top of that God "from one single principle he … created the whole human race" (Acts 17, 26).

The ECM says that which is needed in Malawi in order to have a country ruled according to the principles of umunthu is that: “All political parties must strive to be truly national and reject and taint of regionalism or tribalism. By national we mean that they draw their support from all sectors and groupings in the country. It would be a betrayal of the democratic ideal if a government were to favour people of one tribe or the people of a particular region at the expense of other tribes or regions. Tribalism and regionalism are serious evils”575. The ECM is criticising what has been going on in Malawi that all the political governments that have ruled so far, have shown signs of favouritism and the developments have not always been equally distributed. The VC II concurs with the ECM by saying that the political community exists, consequently, for the sake of the common good, “in which it finds its full justification and significance, and the source of its inherent legitimacy. Indeed, the common good embraces the sum of those conditions of the social life whereby men, families and associations more adequately and readily may attain their own perfection”.576

The ECM puts it in a direct way by saying that: “Bribery and nepotism are growing in political, economic, and social life. This causes violence and harm to the spirit of our people. Honesty, righteousness, respect, equal opportunity for all: these must be the qualities which guide our nation as it grows and develops into the future”577. The system of ethnicism, favouritism and partisan must be stopped completely for they dehumanize human person and they also block the opportunities for the full development of the persons and their local communities. Rerum Novarum says that “(t)here is another and deeper consideration which must not be lost sight of. As regards the State, the interests of all, whether high or low, are equal”578. The State

575 ECM, Building Our Future, 3. 576 GS,no. 74. 577 ECM, Living Our Faith, 3. 578 Leo XII, Rerum Novarum, no.33. (Will be quoted RN). 172

must treat all people equally in spite of the outward differences like ethnic and political affiliation.

The bishops of Africa during their Synod said that these are “various forms of division which need to be healed through honest dialogue. It has been rightly noted that, within the borders left behind by the colonial powers, the co-existence of ethnic groups with different traditions, languages, and even religions often meets obstacles arising from serious mutual hostility. ‘Tribal oppositions at times endanger if not peace, at least the pursuit of the common good of the society. They also create difficulties for the life of the Churches and the acceptance of Pastors from other ethnic groups’. This is why the Church in Africa feels challenged by the specific responsibility of healing these divisions”579. These are problems which are seen in many African countries because of lack of working together between the different ethnic groups and political parties.

4.3.2.2 CORRUPTION Matthew Chibuko Igboamala gives the etymology of the word “corrupt” as “Middle English, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, to abuse or destroy: com-, intensive pref. and rumpere, to break, when used as an adjective literally means ‘utterly broken’”580. The CSDC defines: “Corruption has broadly been defined as a perversion or a change from good to bad. Specifically, corruption or corrupt behaviour involves the violation of established rules for personal gain and profit”581. Transparency International - Deutschland e.V. gives a good description of corruption as “the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption is not only bribery; it is also misappropriation of funds, misuse of entrusted goods, unfair patronage and many other forms. If such behaviour occurs in organisations and projects of church development cooperation, this harms the reputation of the organisations and churches and impedes the achievement of their goals. Every Euro which ends up in the wrong hands due to corruption is stolen from the target group, the poor. Every job that is filled with an incompetent person as a personal favour weakens the project. Every

579 EA, no. 49. 580 Igboamala, Matthew Chibuko: The effect of corruption on Human development. Corruption Control Strategy. The way out. Unpublished Dess., Graz: 2013, 26. 581 CSDC, no. 60. 173

case of misconduct strengthens unjust power structures”582. This quotation indicates also the problems which come into the organisation or country because of corruption. The poor performance in some government department, lack of developments in some parts of the country and lack for basic needs for the simple people like basic medicines and quality education can be seen in Malawi and they can be attributed to corruption which has been going on in the country for a long time now. Like the Transparency International - Deutschland e.V., the SCDC confirms that “corruption radically distorts the role of representative institutions, because they become an arena for political bartering between clients' requests and governmental services. In this way political choices favour the narrow objectives of those who possess the means to influence these choices and are an obstacle to bringing about the common good of all citizens”583. Corruption favours a group of people against others and this is very bad in the case of a country where all people are supposed to have the same dignity and rights. All the citizens of a country are equal and are to be treated equally.

Where there is corruption for sure there is no justice, where people have a right to get their due. According to Pope Benedict XVI “justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics. Politics is more than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of public life: its origin and its goal are found in justice, which by its very nature has to do with ethics. The State must inevitably face the question of how justice can be achieved here and now”584. Further on quoting St. Augustine Pope Benedict XVI says that “a State which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves: ‘Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia?’”585 The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) adds that, justice “demands proportionate share in the fruits of economic cooperation and equitable distribution of the wealth of a nation among different social classes. It also imposes obligations of mutual relation on different social groups, e.g., the better to assist the poor so that they can live in a manner worthy of human beings. Social justice condemns such situations as ‘excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and

582 Thiel, Reinhold E./Aschoff-Ghyezy, Christiane: Transparency International - Deutschland e.V.: Corruption in Development Cooperation - a Problem that equally affects Church Organisation, August 2007, 6. Availaible at http://www.transparency.de/fileadmin/pdfs/Themen/final_webversion_englisch.pdf (Accessed 31.07.2014). 583 CSDC, no. 411. 584 DCE, no. 28 (a). 585 DCE, no. 28 (a). 174

peoples’ (GS 29), the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, and excessive profits”586.

This is what has been happening in Malawi. In the part which dealt with socio- political situation of Malawi we saw that all the four presidents that we have had have misused the resources of the country and many resources and money which was supposed to be for the good of the country and its citizens, ended up in the pockets of the presidents, the ruling parties and of the people around the presidents. The last big public scandal was what happened when Joyce Banda was president of Malawi and the “The Telegraph” reports of this incident by saying that: “Britain has suspended direct aid to Malawi over a multi-million pound corruption scandal which has seen ministers close to the President Joyce Banda implicated fraud … which saw central government pay out for goods and services that were never supplied”587. Although the article says that it is unlikely that Joyce Banda was implicated and that she knew something about it, now that she is out of office things might go the opposite direction. This confirms only what Valentin Zsifovits says that politics is ruled by individual and party interests and the politicians forget about the common good588. By these acts of corruption the politicians, especially those in power, take things and money from the people they promised and are supposed to serve. That is what has been experienced in Malawi from the time the country became independent till the present day. We have already seen how people of opposition have been treated most of the times and on top of that we have also seen how political and public offices are

586 Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines: Cathechism on the Church and Politics. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Philippines. Prayer for the National Elections of May 11, 1998, no. 4. Availaible at http://www.cbcponline.net/documents/1990s/1998-church_politics.html (Accessed 31.07.2014). 587 The Telegraph: Britain Suspends aid to Malawi over corruption claims and attempted murder of whistleblower. Availaible at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/malawi/10457574/Britain- suspends-aid-to-Malawi-over-corruption-claims-and-attempted-murder-of-whistleblower.html (Accessed 22.07.2014). 588 Zsikovits, Valentin: Politik ohne Moral? Linz: Veritas 1989 (= Soziale Perspektive 6), 15: „Politik ist von Interessen, vornehmlich von Einzel- und Gruppen- bzw. Parteiinteressen, also von Partikularinteressen, bestimmt; Moral, auch politikbezogene Moral, betont den Vorrang des Gemeinwohls. Was die Menschen treibt, ist aber nicht das Gemeinwohl, sondern es sind die Eigeneninteressen“. Cf. Sutor, Bernhard: Politisch Lied - ein garstig Lied? 25 Essays zur politischen Ethik, Schwalbach:Wochenschau 2011 (= Positionen), 21: „Manche Ideologiekritiker meinen deshalb, den Begriff des Gemeinwohls ganz verwerfen zu müssen. Politik ist, so meinen sie, Kampf der Interessen und Machtgruppen; wer die Mehrheit oder die Macht hat, setzt sich durch. Das ist alles, worum es in der Politik geht“. 175

being distributed. Enoch MacDonnell Chilemba says: “Hegemonic presidency refers to the presidency that is such powerful and strong that it dominates all other powers in a political system. … Hegemonic presidency is no stranger to African politics as the presidency is seen as a key to ‘everything’ in most African countries. It is perceived as a route to accessing state resources for personal abuse“589. That is exactly what has been happening in Malawi since independence. All the politicians claim to be for the people and development, but once in power they forget about all these promises and start to enrich themselves and their people using the funds of the state. The politicians play a game of greed and plunder as much as possible when they are in power and leaving always the country and its citizens poor. They try to get as much as possible for themselves the time they are in power. All the presidents that we have had up to now massed a lot of government money when they were in power and they are all accused of corruption after their time in power. The reasons for corruption in Malawi are greedy and selfishness. Also when a leader wants to keep on to poor, s/he turns to bribe people and sometimes also one’s opponents using the resources of the state. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that “it has been commonly noticed that politics is pursued not as a vocation but as an occupation to redeem oneself and one’s family of poverty. Records show that the government loses in a year over MK 22 million in corruption”590. Pope Benedict XVI says that “Africa’s economic problems are compounded by the dishonesty of corrupt government leaders who, in connivance with domestic or foreign private interests, divert national resources for their own profit and transfer public funds to private accounts in foreign banks. This is plain theft, whatever the legal camouflage may be. I earnestly hope that international bodies and people of integrity in Africa and elsewhere will be able to investigate suitable legal ways of having these embezzled funds returned. In the granting of loans, it is important to make sure of the responsibility and forthrightness of the beneficiaries”591. The SECAM confirms that corruption is really one of the big problems in the present day Africa592.

589 Chilemba, They keep saying, 5. 590 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 58-59. 591 EA, no. 113. 592SECAM, no. 29: “The development of our countries is strongly mortgaged by corruption. Corruption has become a cancer in almost all the African countries and affects vital sectors such as the economic system, day to day administration, the job market, health, education, and the judicial system. We are aware that many governments are conscious of this problem and are making efforts to 176

The umunthu principles and the CST are against the tendency of the political parties and their leaders who enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and simple people. The seventh Commandment of God says that “You shall not steal”. What the presidents in Malawi have been doing enriching themselves using states money in an unlawfully way is stealing. Whatever people call it be embezzlement, corruption etc., what comes at the end is that they are taking the money and things which do not belong to them, and that is stealing. The CCC says that “the goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. The appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge. It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men”593. This challenges the politicians in two ways; firstly, they must get their things in a legitimate way and secondly, the goods and resources of the country should not only profit the politicians, their parties and their ethnic groups/region but should benefit everybody. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace says that corruption goes also against the four main principles of CST by saying that: “It exploits the human person, disdainfully using men and women for selfish interests. It represents an obstacle for achieving the common good, because it is based on individualistic criteria of selfish cynicism and illicit special interests. It is a contradiction of solidarity because it gives rise to injustice and poverty, and a contradiction of subsidiarity because it does not respect the different social and institutional roles but corrupts them. It also acts against the preferential option for the poor by hindering the proper delivery to the poor of the resources intended for them. Finally, it stands in contrast to the universal destination of goods because the good of legality, as we have already seen, is a human good for every man and woman, intended for all people”594. Pope Benedict XVI concurs with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace by saying that, “on the social plane, human consciences are challenged by the grave injustices existing in our world as a whole and within Africa

combat it. Unfortunately, personal interest and the frantic quest for gains have become stronger than the sense of the common good”. 593 CCC, no. 2402. 594 Pontifical Council for justice and Peace: The Fight Against Corruption, no. 8. Availaible at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20 060921_lotta-corruzione_en.html (Accessed 24.07.2014). 177

in particular. The plundering of the goods of the earth by a minority to the detriment of entire peoples is unacceptable; because it is immoral. Justice obliges us to ‘render to each his due’”595. Below we will see the evils this behaviour causes among the people of Malawi, especially the simple people, that they cannot access the things which are very important for their lives because the government has no money for these services as the little which is in the country often ends in the coffers of the politicians.

This problem of corruption has also something to do with the problem of subsidiarity. The system of hand-outs, being practiced by the politicians especially those in power, brings also the problem of corruption because the government resources are not used properly but they are used only to serve their individualistic purposes. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni are convinced that “as Muluzi has been issuing hand-outs without any concern for transparency and accountability, beneficiary institutions tended to follow suit”596. They are also convinced that some of the relief aid that the country was receiving in order to help the poor was used for campaigning597. Instead of helping the real poor people one deprives them of their right and gives the help to some people, who most of the times, are only lazy and are not the neediest of the community. This was not only with Bakili but also with those who followed after him.

4.3.2.3 SELFISHNESS Ajume H. Wingo says that in the African traditional cultures “the value of community and the public good in general were designed non-arbitrarily to take priority over individual’s self-interest while at the same time respecting their moral worth”598. He wants to show that in Africa the common good was supposed to be the priority in all the activities of all the individual members of the community and of the community itself but in the political history of Malawi this has not always been the case. During the campaign period all politicians and their parties promise the best for the people. They all promise to serve the people and to see that it is all well with the

595 AM, no. 24. 596 Tambulasi, Richard/Kayuni, Harry: Ubuntu and Democratic Good governance in Malawi, in: Murove, Munyaradzi Felix (ed.): African Ethics. An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2009, 427-440, 437. 597Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubuntu, 436-437. 598 Wingo, Good Government, 152. 178

country and the people. Once in power they all forget about their promises and start enriching themselves. This concerns the president, the Cabinet Ministers (CM) and MPs. Malawi Voice reporter on 15 February, 2013 says that “the other cabinet has effected to ministers in addition to the 700 litres (from 200 litres) of fuel are: night allowance from 25,000 (Malawian Kwacha) to 50,000 and external travel allowance from 300 US dollars to 500 US dollars per night”599. As that is not enough the MPs salary has been doubled as the country is going through economic crisis. Nyasatimes of 20th July 2014 has reported this development by saying that, “Parliamentarians in Malawi have silently raised their remuneration package by 100 percent which will see them pocketing 1.2 million a month a move that observers say is ‘inappropriate’ in light of economic conditions”600. Greed usually blinds the political leaders. They look only at their own interest first while the majority of simple servants get little money and the public lacks the basic needs like simple medicine and the like. At the same time it was seen that a civil servant with a first degree was getting MK 104,694 and those with diploma MK 70,180601. Worse still is for the simple people who depend on the government for their medical care, basic education and so forth. Lameck Masina confirms this by saying that: “Drug shortages in Malawi’s public hospitals are nothing new. But, health authorities say the situation has reached a critical tipping point. The majority of patients cannot get treatment at public hospitals and doctors are rationing the few medications they do have”602. This shows clearly that the politicians look for their own interests before that of the country if ever they do. Kwasi Wiredu concurs with this idea and he says that “the ethos of a

599 Malawi Voice: Trouble in parliament: Members Demand 1 Billion Kwacha in Arrears. Threaten to close House. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2013/02/15/trouble-in-parliament-members- demand-1-billion-kwacha-in-arrears-threaten-to-close-house-96815/ (Accessed 09.06.2014). 600 Nyasatimes: Malawi MPs in 100 percent pay rise. “Wholly inappropriate”. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/07/20/malawi-mps-in-100-percent-pay-rise-wholly-inappropriate/ (Accessed 21.07.2014). Cf. Selznick, Communitarian, 64: “government is largely staffed by self-serving human beings and is often captured by special interests. Well-intentioned programs are often administered by officials who care little for interests not their own and who are less than faithful to public purposes and democratic principles”. Cf. Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 63: “Most of the political actors are not seen as being mainly interested in the welfare of Malawi and its citizens but more if not exclusively in promoting themselves and their families. This trend- which is seen in European democratic states too”. 601 Nyasa Times: Malawi civil servants get another salary hike: 43%. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/07/12/malawi-civil-servants-get-another-salary-hike-43/ (Accessed 09.06.2014). 602 Masina, Lameck: Malawi Public hospitals Face Acute Drug Shortage. Availaible at http://www.voanews.com/content/malawi-public-hospitals-hit-by-acute-drug-shortage/1603580.html (Accessed 09.06.2014). 179

communalistic society bears an important relation to the ethics of human community as such. The fundamental imperative of ethics is: adjust your interests to the interests of others even at the possible cost of some self-denial”603. If this is followed it will certainly reduce the gap between the rich and the poor but how things are happening up to the present day will only widen the gap between them. In this sense the rich will always become richer and the poor will become poorer. The SECAM noted also this sad development in African after the colonial rule by saying that: “Fifty years after independence … some leaders … only endeavoured to ensure that their personal material comfort was secured, against the common good of their societies”604. Malawi has celebrated in 2014 fifty years of independence and what SECAM is saying fits very well to the situation of Malawi, where the politicians are busy enriching themselves and many of them never bother about the well-being of the people who put them in power. Many of them when elected they abandon the areas they are supposed to represent in parliament and go to live in the city.

The bishops of England and Wales warn against this bad behaviour. They say that it can cause problems in the country when the people are not satisfied and are living undignified lives by saying that: “The Church’s social teaching can be summed up as the obligation of every individual to contribute to the good of society, in the interests of justice and in pursuit of the ‘option for the poor’. This is the context most likely to foster human fulfilment for everyone, where each individual can enjoy the benefit of living in an orderly, prosperous and healthy society. A society with insufficient regard for the common good would be unpleasant and dangerous to live in, as well as unjust to those it excluded”605. This text of the bishops of England and Wales criticizes the politicians who heap on themselves the state money, while the majority of their people lack the basic necessities for their daily lives. It is true that anyone who works deserves a decent remuneration, but while the dignity of the human person is affirmed, individuals live in common with others and the rights of individuals must be balanced with the wider common good of all. The African bishops at their synod supported this idea by sayingthat: “This involves the commitment to pursue sound economic policies, adopting the right priorities for the

603 Wiredu, Kwasi: Society and Democracy in Africa, in: Kiros, Teodros (ed.): Explorations in African political Thought. Identity, Community, Ethics, New York: Routledge 2001, 171-184, 172. 604 SECAM, no. 15. 605 CBCEW, The Common Good, no. 73. 180

exploitation and distribution of often scarce national resources in such a way as to provide for people's basic needs, and to ensure an honest and equitable sharing of benefits and burdens. In particular, governments have the binding duty to protect the common patrimony against all forms of waste and embezzlement by citizens lacking public spirit or by unscrupulous foreigners”606. The rights and needs of others must be always respected. Usually the people who are honest and work very hard are the ones who are the worst remunerated.

4.4 SOLIDARITY

4.4.1 INTRODUCTION Solidarity comes from a Latin verb “solidare” which means “to fit together firmly”. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word “solidarity” as “unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group”607. These two definitions show that the community is not made only by numbers when people live one next to the other in a territory. More than that is the togetherness608 and the complementarity which exists among the members. Human beings are social by nature and do not exist merely as individuals. Therefore solidarity has to do with the responsibility which each member of the community has in carrying the burden of others609 and in taking interest in what is happening in the life of the other. The VC II confirms this by saying that “God did not create man for life in isolation, but for the formation of social unity”610. When considering the human community it must be remembered that it consists of individuals and social elements611. Another characteristic of a true Bantu community life, in the definition from Oxford Dictionary, is that the members of the community are always ready to help each other. In this sense the community members have a

606EA, no. 113. 607 Oxford Dictionaries. Availaible at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/solidarity (Accessed 05.08.2014). 608Zsifkovits, Orientierungen, 70: „Solidarität meint ganz allgemein ein Verbundensein, ein Zusammengefügtsein, ein Zusammengehören.“ 609 Zsifkovits, Orientierungen, 70. 610 GS, no. 32. 611 Sutor, Politisch Lied, 95: „Wir leben in Beziehung zueinander. Wir können gar nicht anders leben, uns entwickeln, arbeiten, Erfolg und Sicherheit haben. Wir sind als Menschen so sehr soziale Wesen, dass wir gerade unsere Eigenart, unsere Individualität nur entfalten können im Mitsein mit den Anderen. Deshalb ist es völlig richtig, aus dieser grundlegenden Bedingung unseres Daseins zu folgern, dass wir auch einander verpflichtet sind; dass wir einander helfen müssen, besonders in Notlagen“. 181

reciprocal sense of responsibility towards each other612. In many cultures there was/is a system of mutual assistance, the system of giving and receiving. In Malawi this is expressed by “kupatsa nkuika” which means “giving is to dish out for oneself”. Francis M. Deng urges that this system goes beyond the material giving and receiving for it “is a system in which the protection of the individual is inherent in the solidarity of the group. No family or group based on family values would allow its members to be tortured or subjected to inhuman treatment with impunity. It is also a system which imposes on the individual certain reciprocal obligations in the mutual interest of the group”613 and its individual members. Family Members or ethnic group stick always together in bad as well as in good times. Sometimes this togetherness is exaggerated in the sense that people support their own even when one is in the wrong. Community members see that things are going well with their fellow community members. Pope John Paul II states that “(s)olidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow sadness but a firm and preserving determination to commit oneself to the common good. It is an attitude squarely opposed to greed and the thirst for power”614. In this complementarity all the members have both rights and duties in their communities. Mobongo P. More is convinced that “in its politico- ideological sense it (Bantu community life) is a principle for all forms of social or political relationships. It enjoins and makes for peace and social harmony by encouraging the practice of sharing in all forms of communal existence. Ubuntu in this sense expresses an understanding - a societal bond - and forms the basis for consensus. Fundamental to African political philosophy and ontology is the view that an individual is not a human being except as s/he constitutes part of a social order. This is a conception of the self as intrinsically linked to, and forming a part of, the community. In this communal orientation the self is dependent on other selves and is defined through its relationships to other selves”615. He gives here a good summary

612 CV, no. 11. Cf. Sutor, Politisch Lied, 96. 613 Deng, Human Rights, 501-502. Cf. Neuhold, Leopold: Der Sozialstaat auf dem Prüfstand christlicher Sozialethik, in: Lehner, Markus/Zauner, Wilhelm (ed.): Grundkurs Caritas, Linz 1993, 13-42, 23: „Die Personwürde ist nicht nur für den einzelnen zu achten, sondern für alle. Dazu bedarf es solidarischer Beziehung. Dies ergibt sich auch daraus, daß Personsein auf Beziehungen zu anderen Personen angewiesen ist. Damit der Mensch Person werden kann, bedarf es des Auf- and Ausbaus dieser Beziehungen“. 614 SRS, no. 38. 615 More, Philosophy, 157. 182

of the community life in Sub-Sahara Africa and its role in the political and social life of the people.

The Bantu society and the biblical tradition as well as the CST consider a human being as animal sociale. Right from the beginning of creation God intended people to be in community in which He said that it is not good that man/woman should be alone. In Genesis 2, 18 it is written that “Yahweh God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate’”. God wanted that man has a co- partner and companion so that they can complete themselves. It is not to be limited only to the bond of marriage between man and woman, but it includes all good social relationships. Pope John Paul II in “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis” is convinced that “(s)olidarity helps us to see the ‘other’ as our neighbour, as a helper, to be made a sharer in the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God”616. Solidarity as one of the Christian fundaments teaches that each human being is connected to and also dependent on other human beings as individuals as well as community. Pope John Paul II adds that the people God created were equal in dignity and rights and were above all other created things. He wanted to show that with all the things God had left in the hands of man for his use, man was not complete because he lacked a companion, someone who was his equal. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse”617. This is also the idea we find among the Bantu of Malawi in which they say that “kali kokha nkanyama, tili tiwiri tianthu, - meaning he who is alone is an animal and those who are two are human beings”. A human being as a social animal is dependent and geared towards social cooperation. Placide Tempels states that “(t)he Bantu cannot be a lone being. It is not a good enough synonym for that to say that he is a social being. No; he feels and knows himself to be in intimate and personal relationship with other forces acting above him and below him in the hierarchy of forces. He knows himself to be a vital force, even now influencing some

616 SRS, no. 39. 617 Benedict XVI. Spe Salvi, no. 48. 183

forces and being influenced by others”618. The good interaction within the community and with the cosmos is what is important in the life of every human being.

All human beings need others and the community in order to survive and to have a fulfilled life. Human beings need and complete each other. Michael Battle adds that also a human being needs others in order to be munthu (person)619. One is born in a human community and depends on it in order to attain full human maturity. On the other hand the formation and success of the community depends strongly on the active participation of its individual members according to their age, talents and experience. In this sense solidarity means helping and supporting each other according to the motto “one for all, all for one”620. In order for this motto to be fulfilled all the members of the community must be connected and all must be responsible for one another. Pope John Paul II says that “Solidarity is the path to peace and at the same time to development. Interdependence demands the abandonment of blocs, the sacrifice of all forms of economic, military, or political imperialism and the conversion of distrust into collaboration”621. The Bantus emphasize that from before birth (right from the time the woman is pregnant) until after death622 a man should not be alone; he always belongs to the community. Man should always be in the community and in a good relationship with others. John S. Mbiti says that, for African people, community life is what makes life journey of human beings “meaningful, happy, safe and satisfactory”623. It is not enough just to sit one next to the other, but the relationship, cooperation and unity among the members of the community are very import to the building of the community as well as to the development and the success of each member. When the community is well so will be also its individual members. The community or family members also work together and help, even little, is also expected from everybody who happens to be passing-by while others are working. The Bantu of Malawi use this proverb “ukaona

618 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 103. 619 Battle, Ubunthu, 3. 620Zsifkovits, Orientierung, 70: „Formelhaft wird dies in der bekannten ‚Feuerwehrparole‘ ausgedrückt: ‚Einer für alle, alle für einen‘. Um etwaiger individualistischer Fehldeutung schon formelhaft vorzubeugen, ist es besser, zu formulieren: ,Einer für alle, alle für alle Einzelnen‘“. 621 SRS, no. 39. 622 Mbiti, Introduction, 87. 122: “For some societies, the departed remain in the neighbourhood of their human homestead. They are still part of the family… The surviving relatives and friends feel that the departed are close to them”. 623 Mbiti, Introduction, 87. 184

anzako akutong’ola maso, nawenso tong’ola akowo” - meaning “when you see your friends watching something, you should also stop and watch with them”. Meaning when one sees one’s friends working one should also stop and help in the work, even just a bit. What affects one member of the community, affects also all the other members of the community or family and vice versa. This is exactly what St Paul says in his Letter to the Ephesians 4, 25 that “we are all parts of one another”. For the Bantu community life is not an option but a necessity that helps one in one’s daily life, especially in times of need and also in joyful moments of life.

African cultures have an acute sense of solidarity and community life. A country is like a family or a community. Like in the family or community one finds people with different personalities and likes so also in a country one finds people of different ethnic groups and political parties. Just as the members of a family or community are different but they collaborate and work together in spite of their differences so also the people of a country even though they belong to different ethnic and political groups, all the people are supposed to hold together and work together in good and difficult times. Their differences are not to be used to fight against each other but more to complete each other. In other words, there have to be unity in diversity. African families’ solidarity is one of the most important aspects that binds the people together and the members of the family or ethnic group try to see that it is all well with the other members of the family or ethnic group. Pope John Paul II in “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis” says that this is only possible “when members of each society recognize others as persons”624. They hold together in their daily activities and more especially in times of need. The words of the African bishops at the African Synod give a good conclusion to this introduction in which they say, “African cultures have an acute sense of solidarity and community life. In Africa it is unthinkable to celebrate a feast without the participation of the whole village. Indeed, community life in African societies expresses the extended family. It is my ardent hope and prayer that Africa will always preserve this priceless cultural heritage and never succumb to the temptation to individualism, which is so alien to its best traditions”625. It is very unfortunate that the western type of democracy has brought selfishness to Malawi. Many politicians think that they can rule the country on their

624 SRS, no. 39. 625 EA, no. 43. 185

own without the help of the opposition parties or sometimes even worse still without the help of the people of their own party. They make a big mistake of taking themselves as self-sufficient.

4.4.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS

4.4.2.1. WINNER TAKES ALL Francis M. Deng sees that the present democratic system being adopted or imposed on African continent does not function well in many, if not all, the countries. This democracy “has become closely associated with elections in which Africans tend to vote on the basis of their politicized ethnic or religious identity, its literal application risks creating a dictatorship of numbers, with the majority imposing its will on the minority”626. In addition to this, those who win the elections are fully aware that they will not be in this position for ever. As a result they use this opportunity given to them by the people to milk the country as much as they can as they are still in power627. That is why Malawi and many African countries are always getting poor and poor and very few individuals in these countries are getting richer and richer. All those who ruled the country up to now, just emptied it of its resources and wealth. Fighting and routing the state resources blocks the evolution of the country. Worse still is that there are very few winners, only those holding high positions in government or at times also their dependency, while the majority become losers and remain in their poverty or even also sink deeper into their poverty. This is a wrong solidarity which profits only few people while the majority keep on falling deep into the poverty.

From this comes the principle of the politicians in Malawi that says that the one who wins takes it all. In Africa the politicians do not know how to share power, responsibilities and resources with others, especially those belonging to the opposition parties or those with different views from the ruling party. The people in power do everything possible in order to destroy the opposition parties. The

626 Deng, Human Rights, 502. 627 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Demokratie braucht Werte, Münster: LIT Verlag 1998 (= Zeitdiagnosen 2), 61-62: “Staatliche Macht kann gefährlich werden, vor allem auch deswegen, weil der Staat ein Gewaltmonopol besitzt. So bedarf die Macht einer ständigen Krontrolle, um den Machtmißbrauch zu minimieren. Vor allem aber bedarf es einer institutionellen Verankerung dieser Konrolle. Das Prinzip der Gewaltenteilung, das Mehrparteiensystem, das Spiel von Regierung und Opposition als Forum für Argumente und Gegenargumente, das rechtsstaatliche Prinzip, das das Handeln an Gesetze bindet, sind solche Instrumente der Kontrolle“. 186

opposition parties, in their part, do also everything possible to block the plans of the government. Both groups forget that “njovu ziwiri zikamamenyana umavutika ndi udzu”- meaning that “when two elephants fight, it is grass which suffers”. These groups are like two elephants which are fighting for power and resources of the country but in the end they are the simple people who suffer and in the end both become losers also628. As a result of the selfishness and greediness of the politicians, both those ruling and also those in opposition629, simple people and the country suffer. The time and resources are wasted in arguing for the things which do not profit the people or the country at all630. This is seen in a lot of money which the government has to pay the people of other parties when dismissed unjustly from their posts. This is a wrong solidarity which blocks development in the country. For example, Nyasa Times reports that “the Industrial Relations Court has ordered Malawi government to pay a total of K52 million to Dr Ntaba and seven other presidential aides for unfair … They were working under DPP led government and they were subsequently dismissed by the Joyce Banda administration after the death of the former President Bingu wa Mutharika”631. This is what happens with all new regimes when they take power; they dismiss most of the top civil servants who were employed by the former regime. In their place they put on their own people and those who are dismissed end up getting a lot of money for having been unjustly dismissed. This shows not only the incapacity of the ruling party to work with opposition parties but also their lack for concern and care for the simple people, for they pay out a lot of money to the dismissed instead of using it for developmental works and to buy the things people really need like medicine etc. Sometimes also the people to replace those dismissed are not always capable of fulfilling the posts; usually they are employed as thanks for their support during the campaign period. On the other hand, things which were supposed to benefit the country and its citizens are not accepted in parliament just because the opposition parties want only to frustrate the agenda of the ruling party.

628 Zsifkovits, Ethik des Friedens, 85. 629 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 62-63. 630 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 62: „Das Denken in Freund-Feind-Schemata führt zu einer Paralysierung jeglichen Zusammenlebens und zu einem Abbau menschenwürdigen Umgangs“. 631 Nyasa Times: Ntaba, ex Bingu aides to be paid K52m: Court orders Malawi gov’t. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/12/02/ntaba-ex-bingu-aides-to-be-paid-k52m-court-orders-malawi- govt/comment-page-2/ (Accessed 24.07.2014). 187

Supporting the Bantu thinking of the two elephants the African Synod says in order to prevent this confusion all the people including the presidents must be under “the sound basis of laws which protect the rights and define the obligations of the citizens. I must note with great sadness that many African nations still labour under authoritarian and oppressive regimes which deny their subjects personal freedom and fundamental human rights”632. In Malawi the presidents and those in the regime have the immunity. That is why they tend to abuse their power and authority and do the things which disrespect and violate the rights of others like dismissing the people without right reason. They also lack respect for their people and do not concern themselves for development of their people. They prefer to pay a lot of money from the State instead of working with members of opposition parties. In traditional African setting when a leader is not performing according to the principles of the community, the members of the community or their representatives who oblige the leader concerned to step down. A Malawian proverb says “Mudzi ndi anthu”- meaning that “a village is there because of the people”. If the chief is there it is because the people are there and he has a duty to care for them and to see that they prosper. In a healthy democracy all citizens work together to promote the good of the community. The ECM agrees with the Bantu thinking by saying that “Elections offer us a unique opportunity to choose and confirm good leaders and replace those that have failed us”633. While there is agreement with the Bishops one has to ask oneself if it is worthy to suffer five years when it is clear right from the beginning that the regime is not serving the people. Why can the people not impeach the president and his party when they are not ruling according to the common good? Is it good just to look on as politicians are misusing and spoiling the resources and goods of the country in order just to wait for the next elections?

The essential character of such a society is solidarity. As Pope John Paul II urges that “(s)olidarity helps to see the ‘other’ as our neighbour”634. He also adds that “the exercise of solidarity is valid when members of each society recognize others as persons – the more influential feeling responsible for the weaker, the weaker doing what they can for the good of all, and the intermediate groups respecting the interests

632 John Paul II: Ecclessia in Africa. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice, no. 112. 633 ECM, Vote for Leaders not looters, Balaka: Montfort Media 2013, no.4. 634 SRS, no. 39. 188

of others”635. This is asking especially the politicians to consider the good of their people in all their decisions and in order to make this possible the political parties must be open and ready to work with other parties who have different viewpoints as their own.

The CCAP, Nkhoma Synod complains about the monopoly of trade and business by saying: “Let us pray for the economic injustice that we see in our land in the form of monopoly of trade. There are a few individuals and organisations that are given opportunities to invest in so many businesses and contracts to the disadvantage of small scale business people. Such a practice renders the rich richer and the poor poorer. We would like to reiterate that all Malawians have a right to economic activity”636. Valentin Zsifkovits urges that in a democratic country all the people should be treated equally because all the people have the same dignity and that one should fight against all unjustified privileges given to one group of people against another637. One notes that only those who are in government or in good relationship with the ruling party are given contracts by government. This is not only bad for the others who could also render the same service and sometimes also better but it is also bad for the development of the country because most of the times these contracts lack seriousness as they are done on the basis of friendship more than capability. In solidarity everyone is supposed to be given a chance to contribute to the common good according to one’s capacity and gifts.

The ECM observes also that “(i)n the aftermath of a general election the unsuccessful parties can be tempted to discouragement. They may even question the value of their presence in parliament. The ruling party, on the other hand, may fall into the temptation of wishing to create difficulties for the opposition parties. It may even wish to destroy the other parties so that it would remain indefinitely as the only party effectively able to rule”638. This attitude makes the political parties in the government to become a small dictator or to practice patronage, where they have all the resources of the country in their hands and distribute them as they wish especially in order to

635 SRS, no. 39. 636 CCAP, Exercising Our Faith, no. 2 (j). 637 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 36: „Wegen der allen Menschen eigenen gleichen Würde bedeutet dies eine gewisse Gleichheit, Gleichheit vor allem hinsichtlich der Grund- bwz. Menschenrechte. Dies impliziert auch Abbau von ungerechtfertigten Privilegien und Ausbau von Chancengleichheit“. 638 ECM, Building Our Future, 12. 189

win favours from the people and those in opposition who have no principles. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel are convinced that “the actors of the political opposition are mostly not democrats, too. They try to use the democratic dispensation to gain maximum profit from it. Some are willing to be co-opted into the government and are ready to give up their principles”639. This concerns especially those politicians who keep on crossing the floor in order to get favours from the ruling party and make their pockets fat. This attitude is there because the MPs involved claim that they serve their people better when they are with the ruling party. This is a weak and poor argument because all their constitutions are supposed to get the equal amount of money for their developments whether one is in the ruling party or not. This can also be questioned if the common good means that all get the same amount even though they have different needs. Acts of the Apostles 4, 34-35 gives a good example on how things are supposed to be done in the administration. It says: “None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any who might be in need”. The goods were distributed according to the needs and it does not say that they were distributed equally or that they were distributed according to any affiliation.

This subsection has shown how Malawian political leaders are usually ruled by two principles which are looking only for one’s profit and thirst for power. When they have these two things in their hands they impose their own will on others or corrupt them with gifts. When political parties look only to their own personal interests or their ethnic groups or political parties they destroy themselves and the society, because the Bantu believe that in unity there is strength.

4.4.2.2 CORRUPT CHIEFS Chieftaincy in Malawi is hereditary; the chiefs come from royal families and they are chosen by the elders, especially women, after the death of the former chief. These elders analyse different possible candidates to chieftaincy to see if they show signs of umunthu; that is to say if they can take care of the people in the village640. They

639 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 62. 640 Makumbi, Archibald J., Maliro ndi Miyambo ya Achewa, Bukhu la Chiwiri, 78. Availaible at http://www.readbag.com/gulewamkulu-maliro-ndi-miyambo-ya-achewa (Accessed 06.08.2014): “Mfumu itafa, panthawi yometa malirowo anthu amapangana kulonga mfumu ina. Patsikuli 190

observe if he goes well with the people in the village and is a hard-worker. Crooks and corrupt people are not entrusted with this responsibility. John S. Mbiti says that in traditional African setting “the traditional rulers are in many ways the symbols of their people’s health and welfare. They also symbolize unity and common tradition. They are responsible for the security and safety of their people”641. They are supposed to represent all their people in their territory, which comprise of 100 to 200 families, regardless of their political or religious affiliations. The chiefs are still respected by the community and they have great influence on their people. They live with their people in the same territory and they act as mediators among the people. Kafuwe C. Tembo and Titus B. Phiri argue that “the traditional chiefs are more than ever before still in control of ‘their people.’ This is because … chiefs derive their power and authority from elaborate systems of inheritance which in some cases are ritually deified”642. The government and the politicians know the influence and the status of the chiefs in the community and try to abuse them. The two further state that “politicians have no option but to compete with each other to influence these chiefs with their ideologies and development plans as embodied in their manifestos. All this is done in order to win the favour of the people”643. They are aware that if they have the support of the traditional chiefs, they can also easily have access to and support of people who live in the area of the given chief. The politicians try to corrupt and bribe the chiefs with gifts and positions so that the chiefs in turn can influence their people to support a particular party or politician.

Chiefs’ Act of 1967 “provides for the recognition, appointment and functions of Paramount Chiefs, Senior Chiefs, Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, Councillors, Group Village Headmen (G.V.H.) and V.H. The Act also provides for regulation of certain aspects of District Administration”644. Section 4 of this Act says that the president has

amasonkhana anyakwawa, madoda, amayi, atsikana ndi anyamata. Anyakwawa amafunsa amayi nati: mukuganiza kuti pamudzi pano amene angathe kusunga anthu bwino ndani? Ndipo amayi amanena munthu amene angathe kusunga mudzi.” 641 Mbiti, Introduction, 163. Cf. Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 59. “Damit aber das Ziel der Demokratie, das Gemeinwohl, erreicht werden darf es einer entsprechenden Qualifikation der Volksvetreter“. 642 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 29. 643 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 29. 644 Malawi Law Commission: Special Law Commission on the Review of the Chiefs Act, Southern Region Consultative Workshop, Hotel Victoria, Blantyre, 27 September 2012. Availaible at http://www.lawcom.mw/docs/Background_Paper_Review_of_the_Chiefs_Act.pdf (Accessed 30.10.14). 191

powers to create and promote chiefs645. This act is against the traditional installation and promotion of chiefs because these had to come always from the royal family and were chosen and promoted according to how they live their umunthu, and not by the political interests of the few. This Act gives also the politicians, more especially the ruling party, the chance to manipulate and corrupt chiefs. When the chiefs get gifts and depend on the government for their promotion and salaries, they turn to support the ruling party. They always claim that they work with the ruling party, like all the citizens are supposed to, but the question is how can they support only the ruling party and neglect the others in opposition. This is so because one does not cut off the hand that feeds him/her646. As the Bantu say that “the mouth which eats does not talk” - meaning that one cannot despise the one who provides him/her with things one needs in life. In being partisan they stop functioning as a symbol of unity and common tradition because the people in their areas belong to different political parties. Mike Boon says that “traditionally, the king represented the unity of the tribe and was the personification of the law”647. So when they become partisan they stop being the just representatives of their people and the tradition which is built on interconnectedness and reciprocal support. Due to the sweetness of the things they receive from the politicians, especially from the ruling party, sometimes they do not even allow some political parties, especially those of opposition to do campaign in their territory. Blessings Chisinga gives some of the examples showing how the traditional rulers have lost their neutrality and they turn to support the ruling party and this is what he wrote: “Chiefs have continued to function as handmaidens for promoting the self-interests of the political elite. Chiefs hide under the cloak of serving the government of the day ... (This) does not mean giving it a blank cheque to do as it pleases. Unfortunately, this is the interpretation that our chiefs have chosen to embrace at the expense of the greater common good”648. The Chiefs are not supposed to indulge themselves in politics as they are like civil servants because they get paid by the tax payer’s money of both those who support the ruling party as well as those who support the opposition parties. Precious Msosa reported that some

645 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 31. 646 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 31. 647 Boon, African way, 43. 648 Chisinga, Blessings/Dulani, Boni: No More Chiefs in Malawi, 21 September, 2010. Availaible at http://ntwee.blogspot.co.at/2010/09/no-more-chiefs-in-malawi-with-guest.html (Accessed 23.07.2014). 192

chiefs were terrified that they might lose their chieftaincy if they support opposition parties649. How can a president have the power to promote chiefs or to dismiss them? This goes totally against the tradition and forces chiefs to do everything in order to get support from the ruling party.

The CCAP, Nkhoma Synod is worried with the way ruling parties are relating with the traditional chiefs and they say that: “We have to pray that the government should not entice traditional leaders with gifts in order to promote the ruling government’s agenda. Chiefs are representatives of all people with different political affiliations”650. Not only were they given gifts to bribe them but they were also promoted by the government to senior positions of traditional chieftaincy. That means more money at end of every month for the chiefs are paid by the government according to their position in the chieftaincy. The chiefs must respect their position and responsibility in the community and should not be carried away by greedy and the small things they receive from politicians at the expense of the good of their people and the unity of their communities. Placide Tempels states that the chief has a “higher vital force capable of strengthening and maintaining everything which falls ontologically within his care”651. Section 4 of the Chiefs’ Act of 1967 needs also to be revised in order to free the chiefs from the grip of the politicians. This Act gives only opportunities to politicians to bribe chiefs. L. Zimbiri says that the chiefs are supposed to be guardians of the local tradition and the link between the people and the district administration652 and as such they have to be impartial and free from any political affiliations as they have to link people of different political affiliations to the government of the day. They are not supposed to be in solidarity with the politicians at the expense of their people. That is what Valentin Zsifkovits says: “The concept of solidarity, which expresses the all-important value of for –one- another and co-

649 Msosa, Precious: Ruling Party interferes with our Political Impartiality- Chiefs, 17 October 2013. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2013/10/17/ruling-party-interfere-with-our-political- impartiality-chiefs/ (Accessed 23.07.2014). 650 CCAP, Exercising Our Faith, no. 2 (b). 651 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 102. 652 Dzimbiri, L.: Multipartism. Dynamic Transition in Malawi, in: Ngware, S./Dzimbiri, L./ Ocharo, R.M.: Multipartism and People’s Participation, Dar es Salaam: TEMA Publishers Company Ltd, 1-51, 26. 193

existence must be critically analyzed, examined and scrutinized, so that it does not create an unjust opposition”653.

4.5 SUBSIDIARITY

4.5.1 INTRODUCTION Subsidiarity comes from two Latin words “sub-sides” meaning “to sit under someone so that s/he can stand upright”. That is what Oswald von Nell-Breuning calls help to self-help654. Going in the same line Stephan V. Monsma says that the word “subsidiarity” comes from a Latin word “subsidium” which means “help” or “aid”. He further says that “in its origins subsidiarity signals the idea of aid or help being extended from one entity to another. And the state is posited as the entity that is to help the smaller or lesser entities … to be all that God intends them to be”655. This principle shows how the government can help other stakeholders and group to attain their legitimate goals. In the word “aid” or “help” one understands that the individual or the group must first of all be responsible for one’s or their own decisions and must invest all their energies and talents to make what they can on their own and only when one cannot fulfil everything alone then can ask help or aid from somewhere else. “Help” or “aid” does not mean substitution or taking over responsibility for the person or group concerned.

Pope Pius XI makes a very good summary of the CST about the subsidiarity principle in his Encyclical Letter “Quadragesimo Anno” by saying that “it is true that on account of changed conditions many things which were done by small associations in former times cannot be done now save by large associations. Still, that most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy: Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the

653 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Orientierungen für eine humane Welt, Wien: LIT Verlag 2012 (= Zeitdiagnosen Band 27), 70: „Der Begriff Solidarität, der den so wichtigen Wert des Füreinanders und Miteinanders ausdrückt, muss kritisch analysiert, geprüft und hinterfragt werden, damit daraus nicht ein ungerechtes Gegeneinander entsteht.“ 654 Nell-Breuning, Gerechtigkeit, 48: “Die beste gemeinschaftshilfe ist Hilfe zur selbsthilfe; wo immer Gemeinschaftshilfe zur Selbsthilfe möglich ist, soll daher die selbsthilfe unterstürzt” 655 Monsma, Stephan V.: The Relevance of Solidarity and Subsidiarity to Reformed Social and Political Thought. A Paper prepared For The International Society For The Study of reformed Communities July 9-12, 2006 Princeton, NJ , 3. Availaible at https://www.calvin.edu/henry/ISSRC/Conferences/Papers/monsma06.pdf (Accessed 05.08.2014). 194

community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them”656. In this case the government should never replace people in carrying out their duties which people can fulfil on their own. The duty and responsibility of the government is only to create conditions which help its individual members and their communities to develop themselves and have the fullest of life657. It is not the duty of the government to spoon feed its citizens when they can eat by themselves. This goes in line with the Bantu principle of hard work by which no healthy person is supposed to be a parasite in the community and people do not support lazy bones. Bénézet Bujo says one should not confuse solidarity and laziness by saying that, “(h)owever, it has to be stressed that this generous solidarity was void of any form of parasitism. Work was, so to say, part of the human being. It helped to intensify the life force of the community”658. Even Saint Paul supports this idea in the Second Letter to the Thessalonians where he says that “we urged you when we were with you not to let anyone eat who refused to work” (2 Thessalonians 3, 10). In this text Paul explains that he himself had to work hard for his own upkeep and that of his fellow preachers for it was not good for them to be a burden on the people they were serving659. The parasites in Malawi are badly seen in the community and are called Msundu, which is a “sucker worm” because their tendency is to suck others; to profit always from others without contributing something towards the good of others they are sucking.

Subsidiarity is help to self-help660. This principle recognises that there is a hierarchic in the fulfilling one’s responsibility661. The first is each person who has to take the

656 Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1931, no. 79. (Will be quoted QA) 657 John 10,10. 658 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 163. 659 2 Thessalonians 3, 6-13. 660 Zsifkovits, Valentin: Die Kirche. Eine Demokratie Eigener Art?, Münster: LIT Verlag (= ICS- Schriften 37), 16: „Es plädiert sozusagen für die möglichste Belassung der Kompetenzen bei den den einzelnen Lebensbereichen näheren Einzelnen und Untergruppen; als wesentliche Aufgabe des übergeordneten Gemeinswesens und seiner Instanzen wird die Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe für die Einzelnen und untergeordneten Gruppen betrachtet. Es ist ein wichtiges Prinzip der Machtteilung und damit der Freiheitssicherung.“ Cf. Nell-Breuning: Gerechtigkeit, 49. 661 Nell-Breuning: Gerechtigkeit, 48: „Man kann die Reihenfolge bilden: Selbsthilfe- Nachbarschaftshilfe-Fernhilfe“. 195

responsibility for one’s own duties and engage one’s effort in order to improve one’s life and attain the full personhood as well as that of those who depend on him/her. What the individual person cannot do by him/herself one has to depend first and foremost on the extended family for assistance and then goes to the nearby community and extended community. Only in the end can the state come in and so on. This shows clearly that the responsibility has to start from lowest level concerned and then goes slowly to higher level concerned. This shows clearly that the higher- level community should not interfere in the activities and responsibilities that the lower-level can fulfil on their own. Division of power is very important because when it is not shared it tends to corrupt.

Stephan V. Monsma says that one should be very careful when one uses the word solidarity and how it is practiced. He says that “solidarity and paternalism need to be distinguished. God has created us to be choosing, willing, creative persons, who in our choosing, willing, creative activities mirror the image of God in which we have been created. Solidarity (subsidiarity) does not mean that the debt of love we owe our fellow human beings is elevated to the point where individuals are no longer responsible for their own choices or doing what they can for themselves”662. Paternalism makes the people lazy and dependent whereas if it is exercised in a subsidarian way, it gives responsibility to each social level of the community to take its own initiative and do what is in its capacity to do. The individual person or group is not taken as a child who depends for everything on its parent.

Pope John XXIII agrees with Pope Pius XI in showing that this has always been in the tradition of CST and he urges that “in this work of directing, stimulating, co- ordinating, supplying and integrating, its guiding principle must be the ‘principle of subsidiary function’ formulated by Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno. ‘This is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, unshaken and unchangeable … Just as it is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to a community what private enterprise and industry can accomplish, so too it is an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order, for a larger and higher association to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower societies. Of its very nature the true aim of all social activity should be to help members of the social

662 Monsma, Relevance of Solidarity, 10. 196

body, but never to destroy or absorb them”663. Pope Pius XI and Pope John XXIII show that if a person cannot do or fulfil what one can do or fulfil by oneself, one loses ones humanity. In the Bantu thinking we can say that one loses one’s umunthu. For hard working is one of the conditions which helps a healthy person to reach a full maturity as a human being. Those who cannot work are supported by the community because in this situation there is no parastismus.

Pope Benedict XVI goes on to explain and clarify this principle in which he underlines both sides of this principle: hard work and charity. One needs to balance between these two aspects starting from what concerns an individual person till to what concerns the nation. Pope Benedict XVI is convinced that “works of charity – almsgiving - are in effect a way for the rich to shirk their obligation to work for justice and a means of soothing their consciences, while preserving their own status and robbing the poor of their rights. Instead of contributing through individual works of charity to maintaining the status quo, we need to build a just social order in which all receive their share of the world's goods and no longer have to depend on charity. There is admittedly some truth to this argument, but also much that is mistaken. It is true that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the State and that the aim of a just social order is to guarantee to each person, according to the principle of subsidiarity, his share of the community's goods”664. Charity is also providing the necessary conditions so that the people can fulfil their own responsibilities so as to achieve the perfection of their own humanity and one should not give things to the people in order to cheat them and profit from them and the system for one’s own good. When the people see these acts one may think they are really acts of charity but the ones doing it are doing it for their own interest not to liberate and empower the people being helped.

The CSDC gives a good summary by saying that: “The political community pursues the common good when it seeks to create a human environment that offers citizens the possibility of truly exercising their human rights and of fulfilling completely their corresponding duties”665. The common good does mean that all the people must actively participate in the activities of their own life and those of the community and

663 John XXIII: Mater et Magistra, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1961, no. 53. (Will be quoted MM). 664 DCE, no. 26. 665 CSDC, no. 389. 197

where the person or community cannot manage then the state must create conditions that the people can fulfil their corresponding duties or even come to the help of the people when need be.

Now we see how the politicians in Malawi have often failed to balance the two. How have they failed to help the people to take their own responsibility in their own hands according to their possibilities? The other side which concerns charity we have already treated as we were treating the common good and solidarity. We have seen how the politicians and the government distribute its resources and positions in the country basing on affiliations be it political or regional or ethnic. Here we will concentrate on the side of the people’s responsibility. As already said these social principles as well as umunthu principles are intermingled and there is not a clear cut between them.

4.5.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS

4.5.2.1 RESPONSIBLE HUMAN BEINGS The government and the politicians as well as all leaders, be religious or traditional, are not supposed to provide everything for the people on a golden plate: They are to empower the people as individual persons and groups so that the people must be responsible for their own lives. On top of that they must also take active part in finding the solutions to the problems affecting their lives. In Malawi, all the governments, except the first government led by Kamuzu, try to win the people by giving them things and money. This makes people to expect everything from the government and the politicians. The people even say that they cannot vote for someone who does not give them things and do things for them. The politicians themselves also take advantage of the laziness of the people and during their campaign promise to do the things for the people. Harry Kayuni and Fanie Cloete give an example of this relation of dependence between the politicians and the citizens by saying that “except for members of parliament and councillors, all the respondents emphasize that elected officials rarely consult the people when making their decision. One officer in Mulanje actually said that in some areas, people take their MP as their ‘god’. To them, any problem they face can be solved by the MP – hence the common expression ‘musadandaule, tapanga kale ripoti kwa a MP’ [Don’t worry, we have already reported it to the MP]. They further argue that close to election time, prospective candidates from different political parties tend to compete 198

with one another in proclaiming that all the constituents should look up to them for any development work. Consequently, the communities assume that by voting for their favourite candidate, they simultaneously hand over to this particular candidate every responsibility for development activities”666. This is what happens all-over the country and almost by all politicians and political parties. As a result of this the country and the life of people is going down every year because the people are not taking their responsibilities. They always wait for the MP or the government, which is more or less the ruling party, to do the things for them. On the other hands, these MPs or government do not have sufficient resources to answer to all the needs of the people667. As a result people keep on waiting for MP or government to do things for them as the things keep on going worse. This also happens with the help coming from other countries when donors do not consult the beneficiaries and empower them to take their part in the project.

The hand-outs are not only given when politicians are in power but also during the campaign time people are used to getting different gifts from the politicians. This encourages a parasitical behaviour among the people and makes the people lazy. They keep on following the politicians wherever they go instead of doing some constructive work which can help them to develop their lives and that of their dependants. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni urge that “dependency erodes initiative and innovation, both necessary for personal autonomy. Muluzi’s hand-outs triggered a dependency syndrome among many in the country who come to wait passively for food and money to be given to them”668. This was not only the case with Bakili but also all the other presidents who came after him. Worse still is that what people get from these politicians are only peanuts with which they can never develop their lives and those of their dependants. A famous Luganda proverb says

666 Kayuni, Happy/Cloete, Fanie: The Role of Party Politics in Local Participation and Representation Challenges and Prospects in Malawi local Assemblies, 12. Availaible at http://community.eldis.org/.59dee0c8 (Accessed 06.08.2014). Cf. Selznick, Communitarian, 64: “However, we have to woory about depending too much on government insofar as this results in a loss of self-discipline and self-reliance, when what we can and should do for ourselves is done bay distant and impersonal agencies. We oppose welfare without work, for those who can work, and we want to be sure that the largely self-generating and self- regulating groups in society have genuine responsibilities and adequate resources. We do not want to empower government at the expense of grass-roots solidarity, engagement and competence”: 667Dzimbiri, Multipartism, 40-41: “Self-help projects needed in multi-party state? Why? Yes, because as a poor country, we need to work side by side with government to develop our own areas. Government cannot do everything by itself. Citizens have a role to play in national development:” 668 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubuntu, 435. 199

that “mazzi masabe tegaloga nnyonta” - meaning that “water begged does not quench thirst”. One cannot develop oneself only by begging. As the ECM says that, “great things are not achieved without courage, generosity, self-reliance and self- sacrifice”669. Alick J. Longwe confirms this by saying that “my fellow Malawians … hand-outs don’t help to get rid of our poverty – as voters, but rather do the opposite. It is the politicians who benefit the most - we put them in power and they leave us still blind and lame and that is how they start to squander the meagre resources for their personal gain”670. This is to remind the people that one can never develop oneself if one does not take one’s responsibility to solve problems. People are encouraged to work hard in order to support themselves and their dependants and people must be aware that having a democratic country does not automatically guarantee progress. All citizens must be convinced that their future depends strongly on their dedication, sense of responsibility and hard work. It is sad to see that this does not always happen in African countries. Everyone has the freedom of movement and to join any party and to participate in its activities but on the other hand, one has to weigh the things and put the most important thing first. It is totally useless to follow politicians all-over when one has not fulfilled the basic needs at home. The Church also condemns this attitude of the people of Malawi by saying that those who are weaker should not adopt a purely passive attitude, but while fighting for their rights, they should do “what they can for the good of all”671. One can never get rich and come out of poverty from begging alone and begging itself is also degrading and a shame672 to the one who practice it. Richard Tambulasi and Harry Kayuni quoting the Malawi Nation Newspaper of 13th August 2003 say that Bakili is responsible for the laziness of the people and he also created Malawi to be a begging nation by killing the initiative of the people to help themselves673. This is true of all the people who help without following the good procedure of subsidiarity. The ECM warns and urges local people to be vigilant and take up their responsibilities if they are to develop themselves, their dependants and the whole nation by saying that “we Malawians, among other things, need to cultivate a strong

669 ECM, Building our Future, 3. 670 Longwe, Alick J.: Development and Politics of Handouts, January 21, 2014. Availaible at http://www.malawivoice.com/2014/01/21/development-and-politics-of-handouts/ (Accessed 07.07.2014). 671 SRS, no. 39. 672 RN, no. 30. 673 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubuntu, 436. 200

work ethic if our country is to achieve sustainable development. Some people work very hard: both self-employed and those working for companies or Government. But there are too many among us who at times succumb to the temptation of laziness”674.

The responsibility of the state would rather be to empower the people and to provide them with the necessary conditions so that the people can later stand on their own and develop their lives instead of wasting time dancing and clapping hands for the president and the politicians. The concerned people should be made participants for the solving of their problems. Alick J. Longwe who is very critical against the culture of hand-outs says that “it is a shame to see a person who is supposed to lead us in formulation of policies of independency, is in the forefront practising policies of dependency. Instead of finding ways to let people walk on their own, we are letting people walk while carried on our backs. Instead of inferring cure for blindness we are seeing things for the people and leave them in blindness because that is how we get the applause and what we initially wanted - votes”675. The politicians are supposed to make participants out of the concerned ones. Further on he says that “if any leader starts working for the people and not with the people, then, thus an indication of leadership failure”676. The ECM agrees fully with Alick J. Longwe in criticizing the politicians and all the leaders who take themselves to be super-men. Those who think they can solve all the problems of the people by themselves without consulting or participation of the others especially those concerned. They say that “African society has traditionally recognized that what is true of the Church is also true of any society: its strength resides in recognizing the gifts of all and in allowing these gifts to flourish and be used for the building up of the community. ‘Mutu umodzi susenza denga’. No one person can claim to have a monopoly of truth and wisdom677. No individual - or group of individuals - can pretend to have all the resources needed to guarantee the progress of a nation. ‘Mtsinje wopanda miyala susunga madzi.’ The contribution of the most humble members is often necessary for

674 ECM: Come Back To Me and Live. A Call To repentance as We walk Together Towards The year 2000, Balaka: Montfort Media 1998 (= Pastoral Letters by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi), no. 3.5.1. 675Longwe, Development. 676Longwe, Development. 677 Selznick, Communitarianism, 46: “Every individual and every group must meet threshold standards of moral acceptability… Moderation begins by denying that any group can claim moral perfection and privileged truth”. 201

the good running of a group. ‘Wopusa anaomba ng'oma wochenjera navina’”678. Like the Bantu people the ECM is convinced that no one is so poor or so helpless so that one can absolutely not do anything for oneself or for others. They underline also that the simple little contribution of people is very crucial for the building and developing of the country. This just confirms that the State has no monopoly on the development and progress of the people. It should always work with the local members of the country and let them do what they can do on their own. The government must come in only when the people cannot fulfil their activity on the own, but this must always be done together and in dialogue with the people concerned.

The ruling party take advantage of the poor lazy people in order to make themselves famous and to gain more power over other political parties in the opposition. The ruling party made everything possible not to allow the opposition to participate in the power. Most of the times the political party in power uses government finances in order to win favours from these poor lazy people. People should know that most of the times the things they get belong to the state and not to the politician or party distributing them and that what they get is very little in comparison to what the country and its citizens were supposed to profit from the State coffers. Most of the resources remain in the pockets of the politicians who pretend to be charitable to the people. The people should also open their eyes and see that what they get is very little in comparison to what the politicians get when they are voted in power. The politicians profit also in an unjust way from the things which were supposed to profit and benefit the country and all the citizens. Justice also demands that the one who gives does not show off and gives the impression that the others always depend on his/her generosity.

Chiku Malunga in the ‘Learning Leadership Development from African Cultures’ writes “Cooperation in work and life were encouraged, with real progress was believed to be that which could benefit all. Those in privileged positions took it as their responsibility to help the less privileged to rise to positions of privileged as well, living by saying that ‘a lit candle loses nothing by lighting another candle’. They were therefore not expected to be jealous of others rising to positions of

678 ECM, Living our Faith, 8. 202

privilege as well”679. The politicians if ruled by principles are not supposed to be afraid to help the people to come out of their poverty by giving them the necessary conditions so that they can develop their own lives. But since most of them have no principles they stick to giving out things so as to keep people in the situation of poverty and dependence. Like that the people will keep on depending on them for the little things they get and the politicians will still be voted back in power and they will continue to abuse the resources of the government.

Pope John XXIII condemns the politicians for making the people they serve poor and dependent on them by saying that “however extensive and far-reaching the influence of the State on the economy may be, it must never be exerted to the extent of depriving the individual citizen of his freedom of action. It must rather augment his freedom while effectively guaranteeing the protection of his essential personal rights. Among these is a man’s right and duty to be primarily responsible for his own upkeep and that of his family”680. The constitution of the country has to see the evil these hand-outs of the politicians have caused among the people. On top of that S. Ngware points out something which is important in a democratic society by saying that both the people and the politicians who are involved in this practice they are doing corruption681. It is very sad to see that the people now-a-days cannot even work freely on what will benefit themselves and their communities. They expect to be paid or recompensed for these services whenever they happen to render them. This is totally against the Bantu culture and CST which encourage the people to work hard in order to support themselves and the community.

Pope John Paul II was very strong in encouraging the people to protect and keep their dignity by taking their responsibilities in their hands and to do whatever is possible

679 Malunga, Chiku: Learning Leadership development from African Cultures. A Personal Perspective, International NGO Training and Research Centre, (= Praxis Note 25), September 2006, 3. Availaible at http://www.intrac.org/data/files/resources/252/Praxis-Note-25-Learning-Leadership- Development-from-African-Cultures.pdf (Accessed 17.06.2014). 680 MM, no. 55. 681 Ngware, S.: Institutional Capacity Building. Local self Governance Under Multiparty System in Tanzania, in: Ngware, S./Dzimbiri, L./ Ocharo, R.M.: Multipartism and People’s Participation, Dar es Salaam: TEMA Publishers Company Ltd, 53-102, 90. Cf. Igboamalu, Matthew: The Effects of Corruption on Human Development in Africa. Corruption Control Strategy. The Way Out, Graz: Univ. Diss. 2013, 369: “I want to point out here that when we talk of Gift, we should also talk about the intention of the giver and also the given. This means then that accepting gifts may or may not be ethical. If there is no connection with doing business, it is acceptable. If it may create a conflict of interest, it is not acceptable. Some factors are necessary to be considered for us to be able to pass valid judgement on whether a particular gift is ethical or not”. 203

according to their capacity. He states that: “development demands that the needy countries have a spirit of initiative, favouring the self-affirmation of each citizen and helping themselves … The less affluent nations of the same area should establish forms of cooperation that will make them less dependent on more powerful producers. They should come together in partnership to be able to accomplish together what they cannot do on their own”682. That is what he said concerning the relationship between the rich and power countries and this can easily be applied to different social groups. In this case it can be easily applied to the relationship between the government or politicians with the citizens of Malawi. Remaining on the same line he was very direct when he spoke to the youth of Malawi in 1989: “You have a word, ‘Chitukuko’, meaning ‘self-help’. The Lord has blessed you with the strength, vitality and creativity of youth. He has blessed you with ways and means of achieving higher standards of living and education which were not available to your parents and grandparents. Use these talents to develop your own character and what is best in life. Malawi now needs people who are strong in character, who know the value of self-help and yet who have the humility to turn to Christ for the graces that they need”683. Although he did not translate well the word “chitukuko” which means rather “development”, here Pope John Paul II shows that this principle of hard work and taking one’s responsibility is something which has always been present in the African traditional cultures684 as well as in the CST and it has to be preserved and practiced if people are to lead a successful and prosperous life.

Going in the same direction as Pope John Paul II the ECM challenges the country and its citizens if they can go on only receiving things without their active participation by saying that “Can we as a nation accept this challenge? Or must we like children, always look to others to provide the good things of life for us? Great things are not achieved without courage, generosity, self-reliance, and self-sacrifice. Are we ready for all this? Now is the hour in which we as a nation and as individuals

682 SRS, no. 44-45. 683 John Paul II: Meeting With the Young People of Malawi. Address of His Holiness John Paul II, Kamuzu stadium, Blantyre, Friday, no 5, 5 May 1989. Availaible at http://www.vatican.edu/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1989/may/documents/hf_jp- ii_spe_19890505_giovani-malawi_en.html (Accessed 06.06.2014). 684 Prozesky, Cinderella, 9-10: “None of this means that cultures governed by the Ubuntu ethic turn people into passive beings, governed by the dictates of tradition and group pressure, leaving no room for personal initiative and creativity. On the contrary, these cultures greatly prize human fulfilment through personal vigour”. 204

are called to commit ourselves, consciously and freely, to the realization of the dream and to the concrete tasks which lie ahead”685. The responsibility lies in the hands of the people of Malawi as individual persons as well as a community if they have to see their land and their lives prosper and develop. The human person possesses the potential of building his communities and realizing his projects, if not hundred percent at least part of the projects. This is also a Bantu thinking as expressed by Gerald J. Wanjohi and Hannah Kinoti who say that “adults were required to show a sense of duty. They were expected to be people of integrity who fulfilled the expectations of their families and society in general”686. Supporting this thinking Chiku Malunga says, “While encouraging collaboration, each person was expected to contribute towards the well-being of the clan according to his or her age, knowledge, skills and experience”687. Among the Bantu people hard work is encouraged and people do not support lazy people in the family and community. Justice of Bantus does not encourage people to become beggars, they have to work very hard in their daily lives in order to cater for themselves and their families and also share the benefits of their work with the community.

A Malawian proverb says that “Wamva m’mimba ndiye amatsegula chitseka” - meaning “the one who has stomach-ache is the one who opens the door”. This means that the one who has a problem must be the first one to take the initiative and the others just come to help what the affected person has already started doing. The government should challenge the people to get to work and earn the bread they eat instead of profiting and encouraging people to be lazy and neglect their responsibility of developing their lives and that of the country. Worse still is that most of the things which the people are given by the politicians and other leaders are not what the local people really need. This is so because most of the times there is no dialogue between the leaders and the people they help. The concerned people are taken as children who cannot decide on their lives. Most of the times people are given out peanuts while leaving out the things which are very important for the existence of the people.

685 ECM, Building Our Future, 3. 686 Kinoti, African Ethics, 58. 687 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 3. 205

4.5.2.2 DIGNITY OF WORK Just like the Bantu the CST states that work is very important for the development of the person and the world. The Bantu, as already seen above, teach people to work hard in order to support themselves and also to contribute to the running of the community688. Right from the time of creation God had this intention for the people when “Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it”689. God wants that man takes his responsibility in order to improve his/her life standard and one cannot wait for others to accomplish all his/her works for him/her. GS commenting on this passage says that God gave a mandate to human being to subdue and rule the earth for his/her own good and for the good of others690. This is also what VC II states in GS that “for when a man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside of himself and beyond himself”691. In so doing God gave human beings a privilege of being co-creators. Therefore they are expected to be active in cooperation in this plan of God. This is a dignity which human beings received from God. Pope John Paul II confirms this by saying that the human beings were created in the image of God and were given a mandate by God to subdue and to dominate the earth and when the human beings carrying out this mandate, they reflect the very same action of the Creator of the universe692. When a human being participates in this act of creative work of God he perfects the image of God in which he was formed. Like the Bantu also Pope John Paul II sees work as something very important for one’s own life and that of community, but also as something which makes the person to become a full ‘munthu’ (to attain full personhood) who is respected by others and can be intrusted with responsibility such as getting married and care for orphans and widows. He writes in ‘Laborem Exercens’: “God’s original intention for us – to ‘work the earth’ - was not cancelled when, after the fall, we were told: ‘In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread’ … work remains a good thing, not only because it is useful and enjoyable, but also because it expresses and increases the worker’s dignity. Through work we not only

688 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 135-136: “He knows that to carry out his duty will enhance the quality of his being ... He knows his clan duties. He knows, too, his duties towards other clans”. 689 Gen 2,15. 690 GS, no. 34. 691 GS, no. 35. 692 John Paul II: Laborem Exercens, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1981, no. 4. (Will be quoted LE). 206

transform the world, we are transformed ourselves, becoming ‘more a human being.’”693. Work makes a person to get the dignity of munthu in the community. In agreement with the Bantu thinking Pope Leo XIII says that “Work is good and helps a person to be what God wanted him to be”694. Through work one develops oneself and his capabilities. In work we direct our energies towards a common good.

This shows only that the politicians in Malawi have the responsibility to follow our cultural values which see hard work as something important for the full development of the person and also as something that gives the human beings their dignity. The community does not respect lazy people who always want to profit from others. Hannah Kinoti confirms this by saying that “such (lazy) people could not expect to enjoy the goodwill of their neighbours”695. In addition to this Oguejiofor Obi says that the “Igbo concern for hard work and achievement tend to leave them with little patience for the lazy and for failure”696. Also the principle of solidarity demands that each member of the community must bring into the community what one can contribute according to one’s sex, age and experience. There is no healthy person who cannot contribute to something to one’s own development and that of the community. Pope Leo XIII sees also the question of work in the line of the Bantu by saying that: “It is a most sacred law of nature that a father should provide food and all necessaries for those whom he has begotten; and, similarly, it is natural that he should wish that his children, who carry on, so to speak, and continue his personality, should be by him provided with all that is needful to enable them to keep themselves decently from want and misery amid the uncertainties of this mortal life”697. Hannah Kinoti agrees with Pope Leo XIII by saying that “every status in the traditional society had certain responsibilities and obligations attached to it”698. Those who do not fulfil their obligations because of laziness are mocked by the community and they are not considered as serious mature people by other members of the community. Bénézet Bujo adds that among the Bantu “a tribal elder who had been lazy in his younger days - hardly imaginable in traditional society - would have had

693 LE, no. 9. 694 RN, no. 62. 695 Kinoti, African Ethics, 90. 696 Oguejiofor, Obi: The Influence of Igbo Traditional Religion on the Socio-Political Character of the Igbo, Nsukka: Fulladu Publishing Company 1996, 19. 697 RN, no. 13. 698 Kinoti, African Ethics, 58. 207

no right to be called a ‘sage.’ Idleness was indeed a great shame”699. The people say that everybody is supposed to work hard and not only to wait for a help from others as is the situation in Malawi these days, where people wait for the government to do for them almost everything including also the things that they could be done by themselves.

Pope John XXIII urges that “That a man should develop and perfect himself through his daily work - which in most cases is of a temporal character - is perfectly in keeping with the plan of divine Providence. The Church today is faced with an immense task: to humanize and to Christianize this modern civilization of ours. The continued development of this civilization, indeed its very survival, demand and insist that the Church do her part in the world. That is why, as We said before, she claims the co-operation of her laity. In conducting their human affairs to the best of their ability, they must recognize that they are doing a service to humanity, in intimate union with God through Christ, and to God’s greater glory”.700 Work is about more than making a living; it is a form of participation in the creative work of God and it brings also dignity and respect for the person accomplishing it. This helps also the people to direct the lives according to their initiatives and possibilities and not to depend on others as beggars who never know what and when they can get something for their lives. No person can completely do nothing for oneself and the community. Even the old and the handicapped people contribute also according to their capabilities, if ever they can. Otherwise they are supported by the community while that is not out of laziness.

4.5.2.3 RESPECT OF THE PERSON When the help is given in collaboration with the one being helped then the dignity of the one being helped is preserved and one takes the thing as one’s own. Also when a person has laboured in order to get a thing that person is more likely to value it more than the one who has not worked for it. On top of that when the one to be helped takes an active part then this forces the one who is helping to respect the dignity and the initiative of the person to be helped. The one to be helped is not taken as a ‘tabula rasa’, the one who has nothing valuable to offer even for oneself. Only the

699 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 163. 700 MM, no. 256. 208

handicapped people, who cannot participate in the work being done, they are helped without waiting for them to participate in the work but where they can they are encouraged to offer the little they can for their own good as well as that of the community. This will also determine how this help will be given to the poor. At the moment most of the help being given to the people by the politicians is done in un- dignifying ways. Most of the times they let people scramble for food or money they are given. Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni report of an incident which happened in Ndirande during the time of Bakili and they say: “Most of the violence in the country arose as party patriots and ‘unlawful outside beneficiaries’ scrambled to get as much as they could out of Muluzi’s hand-outs. One of the many instances was in Ndirande, Blantyre, where people were hacked with pangas (machetes) while several, mostly women and children, were trampled as the crowd pushed and shoved”701. This removes the dignity of the people being given things. Sometimes the politicians just throw money or things at people as they pass along the road. These are the things which are never to be done to human beings, the ones one considers equal to oneself. One throws things only at animals like dogs, pigs or cattle. In throwing the things at people the politicians do not respect the dignity of the one to be helped or given things and these people being given the things are reduced to the level of animals. As already seen above, in Malawi where the president or a political leader throws money or things at people and they let people scramble as animals that scramble for food when it is thrown to them. If one goes by throwing money or food at people, one has not respected their umunthu, or their dignity, because one has treated them as less than oneself, in the sense that one has presumed something about whom they are and that they can be reduced to beggars. In Malawi it is obligatory to give something with two hands to the other, be it to the rich or to the poor. Giving a thing with only one hand is a sign of disrespect and it shows that one is not willing to do it and worse still to throw the thing at a person. That is the worst sign of disrespect to the one being given. Mike Boon gives an example of this respect as he says: “One day, with the grey-headed black gardener working close by, the little white boy was playing with a friend while eating a lunchtime sandwich. With the half-eaten sandwich now unwanted in his hands, he turned, shouted, ‘Here’, and flung it, laughing, at the gardener. It hit the ground in

701 Tambulasi/Kayuni, Ubuntu, 435. 209

front of the man. The black gardener slowly stood up and, looking directly at the little white boy, said, ‘I am not a dog’”702.

How the politicians give out things and money to others shows that the politicians consider the others being given the things as not equal to themselves but as someone under them. Enoch MacDonnell Chilemba says “In addition, the dominant presidency is personalised. Consequently, it results in neo-patrimonial leadership constituting a political system of governance dominated by personalised authority and clientelism, private appropriation of public funds, selective resource distribution and nepotism”703. They see themselves as bosses and the others as their servants. They considered themselves as everything and the other as the nobodies.

In Bantu culture as also in STC all people are equal regardless of their status and the dignity of all the people is to be respected. What one sees in the politics of the world and also in Malawi is that when a politician or president has helped someone, next day one sees these pictures all over in the media. If these gestures are done in good faith why should the whole world know that such a politician or president has given food or money to that person. This reduces the dignity of the person to that of a being helped. One’s humanity is always shaped by the humanity of others, and one’s commitment to others. People diminish their humanity when they treat each other without respect. This is what has been done in the politics of Malawi. The political leaders and even the presidents, in this time called democratic, go with the media and the camera men, when they want to help people or the poor. That is a total lack of respect for the poor. That is mocking and looking down on the people one is helping. This is a worst sign of being proud and of telling the people that one being helped is useless and could not help oneself out of one’s situation and that the poor depend on his generosity in order to survive. This is a total functionalization of the “poor” or the “handicapped”.

702 Boon, African Way, 98. 703 Chilemba, They keep saying, 6. 210

4.6 DIALOGUE

4.6.1 INTRODUCTION M. Jacques Denis speaking about the initiations in Zambia concerning being present to others says that, “we must learn how to listen even to things which we know or can guess before one begins to tell them to us. We ought not to try to get ahead of the speaker, but let him relate as he likes. This is the key to any dialogue which will gradually become interesting and may do some good”704. Palaver is very important for the community life because through it the members of the community know each other and the rules guiding the living together of the community are formulated. They share about their daily lives with each other. It is also a system of empowering the members of the community to participate and contribute to what concerns their daily lives. When a consensus is arrived at a given problem then all the members feel themselves also obliged to take active part in fulfilling what was agreed upon. Valentin Zsifkovits gives a good summary of what can be a Bantu democracy by saying that “(i)n a broader sense of the word I want to define democracy as the biggest opportunity and meaningful participation of the members of a social group to the formation and implementation of the will of the community”705 (my translation). This is a best system of democracy for it encourages the members of the community to govern, support and propagate themselves. The people are actively involved in the whole process from finding the solution till the resolutions are put into practice. This is what Valentin Zsifkovits say: “Man as a meaningful answer-seeking, as creativeness, as believing, hoping and loving being is the main actor in the identification and implementation of fundamental values”706. When palavers are conducted in a respectful way and freely they facilitate a harmonious co-existence of the members of the community. This in the end makes the people to lead a dignified and happy life as individual persons in the community as well as a community. In doing so the community is rendered human.

704 Denis, M. Jacques: Pang’ono Pang’ono ndi Mtolo. Notes on the Alangizi, Lusaka: Teresianum Press 1963, 10. 705 Zsifkovits, Die Kirche, 66: „Im weiteren Sinn des Wortes möchte ich Demokratie definieren als größmögliche und sinnvolle Beteiligung der Glieder eines Sozialgebildes an der Findung und Durchsetzung bzw. Verwirklichung des Gemeinschaftswillens unter institutioneller Garantie“. 706 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 21: „Der Mensch als sinnantwortsuchendes, als Schöpferisches, als glaubendes, hoffendes and liebendes Wesen ist der wichtigste Akteur ber der Findung und Verwirklichung der Grundwerte.“ 211

What is important in palaver is that all the people present, are given a chance to say their views and are also obliged to listen to the views of others with respect. All present are expected to be open and express their views in a polite way so that nobody is injured by the way things are said. This does not mean that people do not say the truth; for “(e)verybody can criticize, blame and accuse anybody, thus contributing to the desired solution. The ultimate goals are peace within the community and above all the increase of the life force for all”707. This is not done so as to destroy or humiliate the other person but it is done only with the aim of increasing the life of the members of the community as well as the life of the community as a whole. This encourages the participants to recognize the otherness of the other person and whatever is said is supposed to be for the improvement of the humanity of the other as well as that of the whole community. Bénézet Bujo expresses this idea of the otherness of the other by saying that, “(d)ialogue i.e., conversation whose primary aim is to learn from the other- is a necessary means whereby women and men learn to respect the other, ceaselessly to expand and deepen their own explanation of meaning of life, and to develop an ever broadening consensus whereby men and women can live together on this globe in an authentically human manner”708. These discussions usually aim at finding the root cause of the issue at hand and to find a solution that will last and bind all the members. All this is done to help people to live together happily be it in the family or the community. This demands a lot of patience and time. The participants in a palaver are not to be conditioned by time as seen in the peace talks taking place in African countries these days whenever there are problems. Only two or few people are called in another country for a day or two for peaceful talks and the results have shown that it has always been a failure. This way of doing is not African at all.

Palaver is also relevant to politics and the African traditional leadership is democratic, which is practiced in a different way in comparison to the Western democracy or the one being practised in Northern America where the president is not present in parliament as national issues are discussed and after the discussion in parliament the president has power to sign what was discussed or not. The chief as a political leader of a community is also obliged to discuss the issues concerning the

707 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 76-77. 708 Beyaraza, Global Ethics, 125. 212

community with others. Bénézet Bujo supports this idea of democratic rule in the traditional African setting by saying that, “The fact that the King or Chief was not an absolute ruler is proven by the fact that he was supported by a council of elders. On all decisions of public importance he had to consult this council. The council of elders consisted of sages, who were known and recognized by the village community and shared similar living conditions”709. Here is the principle of concern at work since the sages were living the same situation like all the villagers; they represented the real situation and wishes of the people of the community. Chiku Malunga concurs with Bénézet Bujo as he writes: “While the king was the most visible leader and the indigenous custodian of power, auxiliary authorities – often people of highly respected religious or elder status - continually advised the king in roles that promoted democracy in the kingdom”710. The Chief is supposed to follow what has been discussed with the elders or the sages. Further on Chiku Malunga writes: “African leadership was much more participatory than appears from the outside”711. He further refers to Tangwa and Molotlegi by saying that the king was controlled by the taboos of the land and some personalities in the community like queen mother and the elders, and he later says that “the king’s decisions and policies were continually subject to review by others”712. When the chief or king was deciding all things on his own without consultation and later on the things turned out to be negative the community through the sages or elders could depose the chief. “Mfumu ndi anthu”- meaning one is chief or king because of the people who are under his/her territory, without the members of his territory one cannot be chief. The chief exists only for the good of the people who tender him the power to rule and as such they should always strive to seek and promote the common good of his people. The chief is supposed to have a listening ear which will help him/her to follow the will of the people. Therefore the chief was obliged to rule according to the good will of his people and to see that their lives were progressing. When his individual decisions were against the good of his people and their progress he was not supposed to continue representing them.

709 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 158. 710 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 5. 711 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 5. 712 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 5. 213

Bénézet Bujo says that the aim of “palaver is not a form of conversation where one engages in a battle of words, nor a duel where the defeat of one of two adversaries is aimed at”713. These dialogues are aimed at helping one another and not to show that one is cleverer than the other. The people engaged in these dialogues; even though they might have different views they are not enemies and their different views should never make them enemies. These views are aimed at helping one another to grow. No person is complete on his own; all people need the help and advice from others. Pope Benedict XVI observes that sadly enough: “Today, many decision makers, both political and economic (also in church), assume that they owe nothing to anyone other than themselves”714. Also The Chewas say “kuyenda awiri simantha koma kudziwa” - meaning that “when people are going together in a pair it is not because they are afraid but it is a sign of wisdom”. It is there that they help each other as they walk along life. That is why also Jesus sent the apostles two by two in their mission715. They were sent in pairs so that they could encourage and strengthen one another in their mission. That is also how these dialogues help the people in a given family or community. These dialogues are not aimed at showing one’s superiority but reciprocal help so that the people can improve their lives and the living together. All community affairs of importance are conducted in the open air directed by the chief and the elders. They examine the truth from all that is said to affect a resolution.

4.6.2 FAILURE OF POLITICIANS

4.6.2.1 LACK OF DIALOGUE AND MONOPOLIZING MEDIA ‘The winner takes it all’ is the way of thinking that is found in many countries in Africa. And the biggest injustice we see in most of the African democracies is that the one who wins sometimes also steals the portion which was supposed to be for the loser. That is where we see clearly that the democracy imported from the West is not fitting for Africa and neither is it understood by the politicians nor by the people716. This mentality goes a far as what concerns the media. The one who wins takes control of the state media and these media talk always positively about the winner

713 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 77. 714 AM, no. 82. 715 Luke 10:1: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit”. 716 ECM, Building Our Future, 8. 214

and never criticize him. On the other hand they never say anything about the opposition except when they have to criticize and humiliate them. Even private media have to be careful on what they report and if by chance they happen to say something against or something negative about the ruling party or the president the media or journalist risks harassment or closure. Brian Ligomeka gives a good summary of the situation of the journalists in Malawi when they try to report the facts which are not in favour of the ruling party and he says that, “Malawi risks losing its envied position as Southern Africa’s most stable and open country, as power-hungry politicians are increasingly using violence, intimidation, and old and new pieces of legislation against media practitioners to stifle press freedom and gag criticism … Journalists who expose corruption amongst top government officials are physically harassed, abducted, or jailed”717. The politicians in the ruling party forget that dialogue and openness to listen from others can help them improve the way they are ruling the country and also that all the criticisms are not meant to destroy their power but rather to help them put straight the things that are not going on well or they can improve718. Like in the palaver all the people of the concerned community have a word concerning what is happening in their community in order to help the community to become more human and each is free even to criticise the other in order to help the other and not to destroy and humiliate the other. The ones also to criticise should make it in good faith for the good of the other and the community not just to pull the other down. The palaver brings the people, even with different viewpoints, together to discussion on some concrete problem. This is not possible in the media because usually the other party is not given a chance to express itself. In media also there is no possibility of direct exchanging of views in order to reach an agreement.

The ECM after observing that the media are strictly controlled and state stations are used mainly by the ruling party only reminds the politicians and these stations that “the means of communications - radio, the press etc. must be available by right to all. It is the duty of political parties to ensure that this vital sector is open to all, truly expressive of the opinions and aspirations of all and free from domination by any

717 Ligomeka, Brian: Malawi Losing Shine on Media. Availaible at http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_602.html (Accessed 07.08.2014). 718 Boon, The Africa Way, 105. 215

particular group, sector or opinion”719. The state media are run using the tax-payers money and should be open to all the people so as to give all political parties equal access to these media to express their ideas and aspirations and also to give the citizens of the country to have full and adequate information about the agendas of different political parties720. This should be practiced especially in radio stations run by the government, because many people cannot read and have no access to the written media but in almost all the corners of the country the people listen to the radio. This is a powerful means of communication in Malawi. The media should be objective as much as possible; media should not tell people lie by praising one group and demonizing the other group. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel confirm this by saying that “The opposition political parties do not get adequate air-time to address the masses. As radio is the most popular and pervasive mode of communication, lack of adequate access by all contending parties has in the past been tantamount to an uneven playing field. The monopoly of the national radio station (the only station with national coverage) by the ruling party was a classic example of using public resources for partisan purposes, which is an offence under any electoral law. The MBC covered the political campaigns of the state president live and rebroadcast them that same evening, while those of the opposition leaders were not covered. In spite of its much stated independence, the Electoral Commission appeared unable to implement new legislation which was intended to open the airwaves to all political parties and thereby level the playing field during the campaign period”721. This shows that even other players in the running of the country do not push for justice and equal possibility to all political parties. This is so because most of the times these people are put in these ruling positions by the ruling party.

The internet in Malawi is just developing and it is used especially by the few educated people and the youth. The majority of the people, who are illiterate, have no access to internet and secondly because the internet itself is very expensive. Many people cannot afford to buy a computer or a phone with internet access. Even for those who have these gadgets, the connection to internet is expensive. Some few

719 ECM, Building Our Future, 7. 720 ECM, Reading Signs of the Time. Reflecting On The Socio-Political And Economic Issues In Malawi During The Season Of Advent 2010, no. 2.3. 721 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 28. 216

politicians and political parties have Facebook pages and they will always be read by very few people and have very little impact on the majority of the people.

In Malawian politics there is no inter-party dialogue between the ruling party and those in opposition. The politicians, most of the times, waste a lot of time and resources of the country quarrelling instead of working out developmental projects for the nation and its citizens. Here both the ruling party and the opposition are to blame. They have to realize that the aim of the dialogues or palavers is not to be a winner but to help one another in order to improve the quality of service of the political parties as well as the quality of life of the people they serve. The palaver is there in order that the parties involved can share ideas for the positive change. They forget that the dialogue is to help them to grow in wisdom and to help all the people. If the idea is good it will not only help the people who have proposed it but it will benefit all the people including those in other political parties. The politicians have to know that they are not semi-gods who know everything and do everything rightly. They are to be aware that they are also limited people like all the others. They are also at times in need of help and complementarity. This is clearly not an idle talk in order to kill time or to compete with another. It is more for solving problems which touch the lives of the people and also for bringing harmony among the people of a given community.

Heiko Meinhardt und Nandini Patel say that “Even in the case of functioning parties, interaction within the party at various levels is rare and inadequate, while inter-party interaction is extremely limited. Party activities are too election-focused. Democratic structures within parties in terms of transparency, appointments and appropriation of funds, have not yet evolved”722. Worse still is that in most of the political parties there is also no intra-party dialogue. The political parties most of the times they are taken as a private property of one or few people in the party and all the others have only to submit to what these decide and do723. Mike Boon is convinced that

722 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 29. 723 Boon, African Way, 74: “Strong leadership is not autocracy. Autocrats are generally dictatorial in their approach, often taking little or no recognizance of the opinions or wishes of others. They make things happen their way. The authority of an autocrat is usually unrestricted”. Cf. Kabemba, Claude: The Impact of Democracy on Public Participation in the SADC Region, in EISA 13 (2003), 6: “There is no intra-party democracy in many political parties in SADC. Most political parties’ activities centre around their leader. Even when there is consultation between party 217

“autocrats very seldom create excellent teams. People usually work very hard and do what they should out of fear of such leaders. In teams led by autocrats there will be a corresponding lack of trust because of fear. People can be fired or severely disciplined by the autocrat, with very little recourse”724. When one has courage to say one’s mind which is not in line with that of the leader, then one is shown the door. Since most of the political parties are sponsored by the presidents of the parties and who are sometimes also the founder or related to the founder of the party, they turn to take the parties as a personal property and they do not see any need to consult anybody on their decisions. That is also why there is no dialogue with other parties because these have not learnt and do not practice it in their own parties. The ECM observes with regret that it is “within political parties, the party constitution and the leaders must provide ways and means to make it possible for all members to participate fully and give aspirants the opportunity to freely contest for key positions. Some of the consequences of not paying attention to these elements are: dictatorial tendencies in party leaders and those who surround them, disgruntled party members, factionalism in parties, and break up of parties. Our conviction is that it is within the political party that democracy starts; it is also here that it starts to fail! The symptoms of this failure are seen when parties give in to the big-man syndrome ... We call upon all political parties to uphold principles of constitutionalism and tolerance within the parties”725. This lack of dialogue within the political parties is seen also when the parties win the elections. The president alone or sometimes with his executive, which most of the times cannot oppose the president, are the ones who make important decisions without consulting the opposition and other groups who could help them discern the situation. The SECAM observed that, “(i)n many countries, this was mainly due to the absence of coordination and cooperation between different actors. Today, dialogue between the State and local communities is still weak. There is limited opportunity for the local communities to participate effectively in the decision-making processes. For this reason, public action also remains weak, while civil society is still perceived as a political rival”726. The African Bishops in “Ecclesia in Africa” talking about the church said that dialogue is

members, it is in most caases symbolic. There is no way public participation can be enhanced at the macro level (government) when at the micro (political party) participation is non-existent”. 724 Boon, African Way, 80. 725 ECM, Reading Signs, no. 2.2. 726 SECAM, no.19. 218

very important within the Christian community as well as with other believers727. What they say here can be applied also to different groups as well as to the political parties that if they want to be true to themselves and to grow and also to serve their people in the best way possible then they must be open to dialogue.

Pope Pius VI is convinced that “a spirit of independence, bitter criticism, defiance, and arrogance is far removed from that charity which nourishes and preserves the spirit of fellowship, harmony, and peace in the (country). It completely vitiates dialogue, turning it into argument, disagreement and dissension - a sad state of affairs, but by no means uncommon. St. Paul warned us against this when he said: ‘Let there be no schisms among you.’”728 This describes very well the situation of the political parties of Malawi and their leaders. They all think that they are indispensable and they do not need help from anybody but in so doing it is the country and its citizens which suffer. Due to lack of dialogue comes what Saint Paul says that there is often separation within the parties.

4.6.2.2 ABUSE OF DIALOGUE Bénézet Bujo says something which is very important in a Bantu community where many people do not know how to read or to write. He urges that, “(t)he word establishes the foundations of the community and causes it to grow, because it means life. The word, however, can mean death, as well, and can destroy the community. The word has power”729. This thinking is also supported by Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne who says that “with the use of word, one can either strengthen or weaken the vital force of the community”730. This means that the words can bring life or death to a person or to the whole community according to how they are used731. If

727 EA, no. 65. 728 Paul VI: Ecclesiam Suam, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1964, no. 115. (Will be quoted ES) 729 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 70. Cf. Bujo, Foundations, 31: “The words must always be considered not only in its communitarian dimension, but also in its function of creating community, since its aim is to give the community life in fullness … if the word is to create community, one must pay heed to the direction intended by its communication. A word that results in the destruction of the community loses its communicative significance”. 730 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 77. Cf. Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 82-83. 731 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 112: “If one man curses another and the second falls sick or meets with an accident, the malevolent word shows unmistakably to the sick or injured victim that the wicked influence that has broken into his life emanates from the one who uttered the curse”. 219

they are used constructively (like in palaver) they bring and promote life732 and if they are used negatively (like castigating others or backbiting) they destroy or diminish life. The sad thing is that most of the times instead of engaging in the constructive debate which promotes life, the politicians lose a lot of time castigating each other on podiums or in media. In so doing they do not only dehumanize the one they are castigating and calling names but they also dehumanize themselves. In Malawi mentality the person who uses bad words and calls others names is called wotukwana. This word comes from a verb “kutukwana” - meaning “insult others, vulgar, swearing and obscenity”. The people who use this bad language are never respected in the community. That is why right from childhood children are told not to use bad words or call others names - they are told “osamatukwa” or “mwana wabwino satukwa” - meaning “do not use bad words” or “a good child does not use bad words” respectively. Bénézet Bujo states that the aim of the parents in telling the children these things is that the children should be prudent and careful in using their words in communication733. So in mind of all people when they hear these words they know that they are bad people. Alibe umunthu – they have no humanity.

Many people like British High Commissioner Michael Nevin und US Ambassador Jeanine Jackson as well as Anglican Bishop Brighton Vitta Malasa condemned the inflammatory and derogatory language used by politicians in Malawi both those in government and those in opposition734. This does not help the country as it often fuels tension between the political parties and prevents the citizens from hearing the things which would be very important for their development and that of the country as a whole. Heiko Meinhardt and Nandini Patel say that “(l)ack of accommodation of dissenting views within parties is expressed in derogatory and spiteful language by party presidents themselves”735. This just shows that in the socio-political life of Malawi there is a big lack of respect and acceptance between the different political parties and since almost all of the large political parties are based on different regions

732 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 58: „Es muß also die Wertbasis gepflegt werden, auf der sich die gegnerischen Parteiungen, Parteien und Gruppen zu einem konstruktiven Dialog finde können“. 733 Bujo, Foundations, 30. 734 Nyasa Times: Anglican Bishop Deplores Malawi Political insults. Availaible at http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/08/02/anglican-bishop-deplores-malawi-political-insults/ (Accessed 12.08.2014). 735 Meinhardt/Patel, Malawi’s Process, 50. 220

this brings also tension between different regions which are usually inhabited by people of particular ethnic groups.

4.6.2.3 DIFFERENT FROM DISCOURSE ETHICS Bénézet Bujo says: “Whoever takes the ethics of discourse seriously will make impartiality in the name of the search for truth a fundamental principle. This dialogue can take place on the basis of the given conformity between the model palaver and ethics of discourse, for both models stress the communal and solidarity responsibility in a discourse which is directed towards communicative action”736. In the West there is discourse ethic which is similar to Africa palaver but it is not the same. There are some similarities as well as differences. One big difference between the two is that African palaver is for all the members of the community that includes also the ancestors, those who lie in the grave, and also those who cannot well express themselves or present convincing argument. In Malawi it is said that “wamisala anaona nkhondo” meaning that “a mad person warned the people of the coming war”. That is to say that the person who is considered as useless saved the whole village from the attack of the enemies. These people can have also valuable things for the betterment of the community. Nobody is to be undermined. African palaver is not limited to spoken words but it includes also signs and gestures737. That is why the sitting step-up must give the possibility that the people can easily see each other. He further explains how the palavers are conducted by saying that “(i)n order to reach a consensus, the interests of all participating in the ‘round table’ have to be taken into consideration”738. This means that all the participants, regardless of their talents and responsibilities are all equal when they come to the palaver739. Discourse ethics on the other side is for the intelligent people; only those who can bring good arguments in order to convince others. Jürgen Habermas says that the participants of the discourse ethic are “every subject with competence to speak and act”740. This means only those “who have the capacity to take part in argumentation”741 are the ones to take part in the dialogue. Bénézet Bujo explains this by saying that “(a)ccording to

736 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 39. 737 Bujo, Foundations, 43-44. 47. 738 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 38. 739Boon, African Way, 104: “It must be emphasized that there is no rank at this forum – merely a group of human beings.” 740 Habermas, Jürgen: Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action. Transl. by Christian Lenhardt/Shierry Weber Nicholsen, Cambridge: Polity Press ²1995, 89. 741 Habermas, Moral Consciousness, 89. 221

the basic principle of the ethics of discourse, which allows only those who are able to argue reasonably to participate in the discourse, not only animals or children have to be advocatorily represented, but also the interests of all illiterate or uneducated people or those who are not yet intellectually mature”742. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that discourse ethic is similar to the African palaver but what makes it different are the participants in this dialogue. Whereas in palaver all the members are invited and have the possibility to say their points and also to listen to others, discourse ethics is for “only for those who can argue reasonably”743. According to discourse ethics the less intellectually gifted and the ancestors are not part of the discussion group for they cannot argue and bring convincing arguments. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne says that “this African palaver is different from discourse ethics or ethics of discuss of the west which emphasizes individual conscience against community consciousness and where only selected few engage in discussion and take decisions for the rest and in most cases considering neither their opinion nor context where that is to be carried out”744. Here is confirmed that only the clever ones who can speak and argue well are to formulate the laws and regulations which have to be followed and respected by all without giving them a chance to contribute to this decision process or being represented by the people who know their daily life well. The discussions in the palaver do not aim only at the argumentation but also its application to the daily life of the people in order to improve it and let the people have a fulfilled life.

4.7 CONCLUSION In this section we have seen how the political leaders and their parties have failed in ruling the country for the common good. We have seen that most of the things done are against the umunthu principles as well as the principles of the CST. The politicians have not always respected the right and dignity of a person which is the basis of umunthu and CST. Many people have been mistreated, dehumanized or even

742 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 40. 743 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 9. 744 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 76. Cf. Bénézet Bujo, The Ethical Dimension, 36: “They (wise men) are the ones who share daily life with the people, so that their argumentation is concerned with the people's existential interests, often to the smallest detail. In order to find a solution for a problem, they share their experiences, refer to the entire history of the clan community, and consider the interests of both the living and the dead. The whole procedure can be time consuming because it is carried on and on until a consensus is reached”. 222

killed because of their political affiliation or because of having and saying views contrary to those of the ruling party. The politicians, mostly those from the ruling party, forget that both CST and umunthu see the life of the person as a great gift from God and that is why it must be respected starting from the time of conception till it reaches its natural end. Not only killing is bad but also everything which diminishes life and dignity of the person is bad and dehumanizes also the person who mistreats others. That is why these acts against a human being are condemned by both umunthu and CST.

We have seen also that most of the times the politicians and their parties do not have the interest of all the people at heart. When they are campaigning they promise the people that they want to be their servants and help them improve their lives. However, once they are voted in power they look at their own interests only or sometimes also only of their parties or ethnic group or region. They forget that once elected they belong to all the people and have to serve all the people regardless of their affiliations. Politics is seen most of the times in Malawi as a fast way of getting rich at the expense of the simple people. Most of the times the MPs heap a lot of advantages and remunerations on themselves while the country is suffering serious economic problems and as a result poor people are denied the basic needs which were supposed to be offered by the government for the betterment of the life of the people. They forget that the resources of the country are for all the people and have to be shared equally according to the real needs of the people. The VC II says that “(t)he role of the political community is to be in charge of the full growth of each of its members, called to cooperate steadfastly for the attainment of the common good”745. That is also exactly what the umunthu teaches that each member of the society should not look only at his own good or of only those close to him/her but also at the good of others and of the community as a whole.

The politicians in Malawi and their parties have not yet understood that no man is an island. A human being is a social animal which is destined to be in community not just sitting one next to the other and to compete with one another in unhealthy way but more that they help and complement each other. The people and the country have been refused a lot of good things and developments because they do not profit from

745 GS, no. 74. 223

the views of all the leaders of the country. This is so because all parties present themselves as super-man who needs no help from others. This domination of a single person in the name of the president or of the ruling party makes it pass the chance from being enriched through the diversity of ideas of the others or opposition parties. Mu umodzi muli mphamvu – in unity of diversity powers and thinking there is power. There is no true dialogue between the ruling party and those in opposition and what both look for is to destroy the others; to make the other look bad to the people and they make everything possible that the plans of the other do not succeed. In so doing they deny also the country and its citizens the development they are supposed to enjoy.

Another sad development is that the politicians especially those in the ruling party give a lot of things to the people without taking into consideration the real needs of the people just in order to win favours from the population. The question which raises concern is: Where do they get the things that they distribute to the people and mostly they manage to do that only when they are in power? Secondly is that the things are not distributed equally to all people, as seen already they are given only to the people of their political party. Surely they get these things from the government cases and they use them for their own selfish interests instead of using them for the common good. What belongs to the government coffers is destined for all the people in spite of their affiliation and should never be used by any political party or individual politician for their personal ends. Secondly what these politicians do not realize is that this practice makes people lazy because people wait for the politicians to do almost everything for them, even the things they could do by themselves. Things like providing coffins for beavered families, clearing paths in the locations and so on. These things can and were done by the people themselves and now-a-days in most places people look to the government or their MP to do these things for them. As a result the life standard of the people instead of going upwards is always going downwards as the country does not have enough resources to substitute all the activities of all the people in every corner of the country. This is clearly against the principles of umunthu and CST which encourage the people to work hard in order to improve their lives and that of the community. Without working hard one can hardly lead a dignified life.

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In Africa palaver is also very important for the living together and also for the improvement of the life. It is not an idle talk as many people think. Now-a-days due to the individualistic democracy that Malawi has inherited from the West we see that the politicians are not ready for dialogue. The political parties do not trust, accept and respect each other and that is why they are not able to come together and discuss the things of national interest. As we have seen already this palaver demands that one says the truth to the other without injuring the respect and the dignity of the other and at the same time also be ready to listen to the other with respect even though one knows already what the other is saying. I repeat the Malawian proverb that I have used already above which says that: “Mutu umodzi susenza denga” - meaning “only one head cannot carry a roof”. Even the strongest person cannot carry the roof alone. Even if the politicians can happen to be very clever and capable but they have to realize that they cannot rule the country alone basing only on their wisdom and intelligence. One is always in need of others in order to be assisted and completed in what one is doing. The thinking of others who think different from them or those who belong to different political parties can also help them in improving their leadership and the life of the people. Worse still is also that in most political parties there is also no intra-party dialogue and the political parties end in being a personal property of the leader or in some cases with a few people around them. This dictatorial mentality within the parties makes them to be blocked and cannot grow and develop their vision as they only depend on one or few people and in the end this mentality affects also the whole nation when these people are put in power. They take with them their blocked and limited vision also to the nation.

In the political arena of Malawi especially during the meetings or rallies of political parties, politicians use abusive words. Most of the times instead of telling the people what they really need to hear for the betterment of the country and that life of the people, they spend most of the time castigating and abusing each other. This removes the dignity of both the one being castigated as well as the one castigating because according to the Bantu thinking a person who respects oneself is not supposed to use bad word against others and worse still not in public.

The discourse ethic and the CST can learn something from the African palaver. What is very important in the living together and working together is that the people can dialogue on the same basis as equals. Those in authority should be open to listen to

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those who are under them and be aware that the Holy Spirit is also working in those under them as it is working in them. Like the Bantu palaver all present are given a chance to say their part on the discussion so also the discourse ethic must be open to listen also to those who are less gifted intellectually and cannot argue properly. These simple people most of the times have also good ideas which can help the discussion and also the life of the community to develop. Also according to the CST principle of subsidiarity it is not good that the discussion and decisions should be reached by a small group of people who can argue properly and then oblige all the people to abide by what is discussed in a closed room. Most of the times when things are decided in this way people feel themselves not really part of the decision and as a result do not participate in it actively.

This is the present socio-political situation in Malawi but it does not mean that one cannot change. We still have the possibility of learning from our traditional democracy which was there before the coming of the colonialists and missionaries to Malawi. There are still a lot of good traditional values which are still alive and present in the lives of the people and which influence the people in their crucial moments of their lives. These are the values which can help Malawians to restore a true African democracy in their country based on Umunthu principles. This is what Jeroen Zandberg calls “rule of the people by the people for the people”746. The Western type of democracy has failed in Malawi as well as in many African countries and it is useless to keep on clinging to something that is not very well understood both by the local politicians and the people and which has brought more problems into the country.

746 Zandberg, Jeroen: The philosophy of Ubuntu and Origins of Democracy, Leipzig: Amazon 2010, 76. 226

5 PRINCIPLES OF AFRICAN DEMOCRACY

5.1 INTRODUCTION Democracy comes from the Greek word “δημοκρατία (demokratia) which is composed of two words “demos” meaning “people” and “kratia” meaning “rule/authority”. Philip Selznick says: “Democracy – literally ‘rule by the people’ - requires self-preserving consent”747. Therefore democracy is the rule by the whole population or eligible representatives of the people. The people themselves must be implicated in forming directives for ruling their country.

Valentin Zsifkovits is convinced that “politics also in the democratic rule, which is not based on values, turns finally against itself and the people, it was supposed to serve”748. Elizabeth Amoah says the Europeans with their democracy “brought in values that viewed material things as more valuable than human beings…. Again, the trend toward competition for individual wealth, acquisitiveness, and consumerism ignored the traditional African spirit of communal concern for the needs of all”749. Elisabeth Amoah shows that Western democracy, which puts emphasis on the individual and his/her personal interest, is just the opposite of African democracy which puts a lot of emphasis on community life. Bénézet Bujo speaking in the same line of Elisabeth Amoah says that, “A hasty break with African traditions in favour of the Western model of democracy would be deadly, for this would mean repeating the same mistake made during the euphory of independence in the sixties. At that time, democracy and dictatorship, both of a Western kind, were adopted. Today, both models can be judged as having failed in Africa. The reasons for this failure may well be found in the fact that Euro-American models, which emerged in their specific cultural and historical space, were tale quale imposed on the African nations”750. This should not be seen as the end of everything. Africa has still a chance to revive

747 Selznick, Communitarian, 82. 748 Zsifkovits, Valentin, Demokratie, 7: ”Eine Politik, die sich nicht an Werten orientiert, wendet sich auch in der Demokratie letzlich gegen sich selbst and gegen die, denen Politik dienen soll, nämlich die Menschen”. 749 Amoah, African, 125. Cf. Ezekwonna, African, 22: “The level of individualism in the world today does not show any sign of making people more human either”. Cf. Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 24: “One runs the risk, while believing that one is ‘civilizing’ the individual, of in fact corrupting him, working to increase the number of the deracinated”. 750 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 157. 227

its traditional democracy which was practiced before colonization. The African Bishops in “Ecclesia in Africa” say that African culture “is endowed with a wealth of cultural values and priceless human qualities which it can offer to the Churches and to humanity as a whole”751. Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin emphasise this point by saying that “Africans have a strong sense of belonging to a larger community where sharing, caring, and doing good for each other contribute to the greater good of the community”752. The colonialist did manage to bring the new style of democracy based on Western and North-American model as seen in many African countries today. Gretchen Bauer and Scott D. Taylor are convinced that “liberal democratic states and forms of government are fundamentally incompatible with African culture, Western notions of civil society are inapplicable, and the State is merely an instrument for deprived elites”753. Ali A. Mazrui sees still hope for Africa to go back to its original democracy and political system. He says that it is true “that while colonialism succeeded in destroying most of Africa’s traditional political institutions, it fell considerably short of annihilating African traditional values and ideas”754. Placide Tempels agrees with him in saying that “(w)e see more clearly every day that the European civilization imparted to the Bantu is a mere superficial garb which has no deep impact upon their souls”755. This can truly be seen in the daily life of the people especially in crucial moments, even the elites return to the African traditional values. The politicians are aware of this, they sometimes misuse these values in order to give the impression to the people that they follow the traditional values but in actual sense they use them for their own selfish aims and those of their party as well as ethnic group. Mike Boon confirms this by saying that “they (politicians) use the tribe to their own selfish political ends; they want power, wealth and status at any cost”756. All this shows that not all traditional umunthu values are lost as many people think. There are a lot of pre-colonialist lived values which are still varied and being in practice till the present day. If these values can be used positively, they can surely change the face of African politics. This can also be the contribution of Africa to the world politics which should also be open to this

751 EA, no. 42. 752 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 7. 753 Bauer /Taylor, Politics in Southern Africa, 1. 754 Mazrui, Ideology, 98. 755 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 174. 756 Boon, African Way, 53. 228

unity in diversity. There are many ways of killing a cat, as there are many ways of doing politics. Not all can do politics in the same way, but each country must find its own best system of doing its politics. Important thing is to stick to the essence of democracy; these are the collective decisions which bind all its members and regulate the common interest, which see all the members as equal, and see that every member of the community enjoys one’s freedom. A. M. Mohamed Salih says: “It (democracy) is about political participation, the ability of the people to express their preferences freely and without intimidation”757.

“As a nation we pause to reflect. We remember the past; we look at the future, our dream is of better things and of a better future; better for every person and for the whole community”758. With these words the ECM encouraged the people of Malawi to look ahead and to learn from the experience. It is useless to cry over spilt milk. As already noted above, Malawi is made up of different ethnic groups. The Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 divided the continent of Africa among different Western countries without respecting the boundaries of different ethnic groups. This is a reality we have to live with and it is useless to keep on pointing fingers at the colonialists and the Berlin Conference. In Malawi, as in many African countries, it would have been better and easier to have a democracy based on ethnic groups. As it was also noted above, firstly in Malawi there are a lot of political parties and most of the times these parties work against each other; those in power against those in opposition and vice-versa. Secondly, the major political parties are regional conditioned and have a lot of support from the ethnic groups found in these regions. These political parties were formed and are being formed following the democratic system of government which is used in Europe and North America. It is right to ask if all that happens in Africa, in this case Malawi, is all because of the colonialists who ruled Africa for some time. Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin give a good and satisfactory answer by saying that “the colonials must share responsibility for Africa’s current ills, but they ruled Africa for little more than half a century and many of Africa’s wounds today are self-inflicted”759. This indicates that Africans

757 Salih, African Democracies, 3. 758 ECM, Building Our Future, 3. 759 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 21. 229

themselves must take their own responsibility on whatever is happening today on the continent.

This imported, sometimes obliged, democracy has not found its home in Africa as seen in many countries. Bénézet Bujo is convinced that it is all because, “Western democracy is a ‘literate democracy,’ which can hardly be realized without a certain degree of education of the general population. To enforce democracy based on the Western model in Africa means that a largely illiterate people are open to arbitrariness and manipulation by despotic politicians and parties”760. This is exactly what has been happening in the socio-political situation of Malawi. This imported and obliged democracy has been unsuccessful in Malawi because the party in power uses everything for its own benefit and for the benefit of their region and ethnic group. This is so because all big parties have strong support in the regions where they were formed. The people usually vote based on the region and ethnic group of the party and their leaders. Up to now there is no party which has the majority in all the three regions of the country. From this comes the tendency that those in power have to support the people who put them in power. This mentality has brought different problems like nepotism, ethnicism, corruption and worse still elimination of political opponents in the country. This politics based on party interests or ethnic identities destroys the national interest. Kwasi Wiredu is convinced that, “(i)t is becoming increasingly clear that the multiparty system of politics that is currently being operated in Africa, though, of course, better than the accursed one-party dictatorships of a few years ago, does not necessarily ensure a suitable form of democracy. There are, therefore, currently, some attempts to think out possible alternative embodiments of democracy. It is being remembered that in many parts of traditional Africa, decision by consensus in the governing councils ensured a veritable democracy without any analogue of the present-day system of parties”761. As Kwasi Wiredu says this present day democracy is not functioning well in Malawi. On top of that the principles of umunthu and CST: like the right to life of all human beings; the sharing of the sources of the country; and the collaboration of different ethnic groups and political parties, are not at all respected. Finally there is a lack of

760 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 167. 761 Wiredu Kwasi: Introduction. African Philosophy in our time, in: Wiredu, Kwasi: A Companion to African Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell 2004, 1-27, 20. 230

dialogue inside the political parties and also between different political parties. This democratic system has also encouraged a tendency of hand-outs by the politicians in order to win support from their people and to buy those in opposition who could challenge the ruling party. These hand-outs make the people lazy as they expect to have everything on a golden plate from the state, even the things which they could do on their own. These points can be summarised in the language of CST as: lack of respect for the dignity of the human being; no sense of common good; no sense of solidarity; and subsidiarity. The Bantu culture adds that there is also lack of palaver in the leadership of Malawi. In this leadership there is a great hunger for material things and selfishness, with little concern for the good of the country and all its citizens.

What to do so as to save Malawians from the unjust political situation? Everything is not lost. Umunthu can give guidelines to establishing a democracy based on the African traditional values. Placide Tempels is convinced that, “only if we set out from the true, the good and the stable in native custom we shall be able to lead our Africans in the direction of a true Bantu civilization”762. Mobogo P. More goes further with this idea by saying that, “(i)n one sense, ubunthu is a philosophical concept forming the basis of relationships, especially ethical behaviour. In another sense, it is a traditional politico-ideological concept referring to socio-political action“763. This is what the people of Malawi as well as the other parts of Africa know and live in their daily lives. It is not imposed on them like the democracy that is being practiced these days. Steve Biko also concurs with Mobogo P. More by saying that, “(i)n rejecting Western values, therefore, we are rejecting those things that are not only foreign to us but that seek to destroy the most cherished of our beliefs - that the corner-stone of society is man himself - not just his welfare, not his material wellbeing but just man himself with all his ramifications. We reject the power-based society of the Westerners that seems to be ever concerned with perfecting their technological know-how while losing out on their spiritual dimension. We believe that in the long run the special contribution to the world by Africa will be in this field of human relationship. The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial and military look, but the great

762 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 25. 763 More, Philosophy, 156-157. 231

gift still has to come from Africa---giving the world a more human face”764. This African or in this sense Malawian democracy puts the human being at the centre. Everything is done to see that the individual members and the community prosper and lead a fulfilled life. Whatever one does must not only profit the person in question but must be helpful to the other members of the community as well as the whole community. These socio-political institutions of pre-colonial Africa put a lot of stress on the well-being of the community as well as of each of its members. This political system puts alot of emphasis on the deeds and behaviors considered by the community as good. These include things as justice, generosity, honesty, hospitality, forgiveness and respect. These things bring the well-being of the community.

Pope John Paul II says that, “(t)o commit oneself to the development of the whole person and every human being is an obligation not only for the individual, but also for societies and nations … Collaboration in this development is a duty for all and towards all … If people try to achieve it in only part of the world, they can do it only at the expense of others, and their own development will be jeopardized. This need for development may not be used to impose on others one’s own way of life or own religious belief”765. Even the Catholic Church agrees that each and every culture has the right to its own development and politics. No other nation has a right to impose its own culture on the others. Now the time is ripe for Africa to find its own way and to abandon the ways which are foreign and were imposed on it, especially the ones which are not well understood by the people. The African Synod bishops confirm this by saying that, “what Africa needs most is neither gold nor silver; she wants to stand up, like the man at the pool of Bethzatha; she wants to have confidence in herself and in her dignity as a people loved by her God (universal God).” 766 When a person has self-confidence and dignity, then it is easier to have the other developments which one and the community needs. Africa must stand up and start to walk on its own, it must not be conditioned by the help and the conditions imposed on it by other continents. It must prove all the things coming from outside, and keep only the good things which can help to improve the umunthu principles.

764 Biko, I write, 46-47. 765 SRS, no. 32. 766AM, no. 149. 232

John S. Mbiti is one of the Africans who is very proud of African culture and he says that, “(t)he African heritage is rich, but it is not uniform. It has similarities, but there are also differences from time to time, from place to place, and from people to people”767. Malawians are supposed to start from what they know and what unites them, their common values which are practiced by different ethnic groups. These values have to be extended to incorporate all the other ethnic groups found in Malawi. This has to be extended to the nation as a whole, with the hope that the same spirit can be extended even beyond Malawi. Some people are sceptical thinking that this cannot work. If the will is there from all sides this can work very well. How come the present political structure, imported from other continents and are not fully understood by the simple people and sometimes also by the politicians themselves, is found all-over the continent. African traditional values are still present in the daily lives of the people and the people understand all that is behind these values. Eliseus Afamefuna Ezeuchenne is convinced that, “in Africa, we talk of commonalities that unite us as a family in spite of the very many differences”768. That will be the point to arrive at. In the present socio-political situation in Malawi the talk is more about the things which separate the people. These things may even be fewer than those which are common to the different ethnic groups. All the ethnic groups in Malawi, except those of Asian and Britain origins, belong to the Bantu speaking people and they have a lot of things in common among them like the principles of umunthu. Then why do Malawians not use these principles in order to find a system which is understood by all the people of the country and passes very well to their life style. What is needed is that these umunthu principles are lived beyond the ethnic groups to include all the other tribes in the country and also beyond.

Bénézet Bujo confirms this point by saying that, “It is obvious that this traditional democracy cannot be realized tale quale in a modern State of Western character. What is required basically is not to confront the Western political form with any kind of tradition, but to consider a policy based on the traditional African spirit. It is not sufficient to introduce a multi-party system to declare Africa democratic. On contrary, a multi-party system, not understood and not rooted in tradition, leads to chaos, bringing about the reverse of what was originally intended. African ethnic

767 Mbiti, Introduction, 3. 768 Ezeuchenne, Igbo, 39. 233

communities consist of people who have largely conserved the ideal of community life and who, therefore, largely feel at a loss in the face of Western understanding of freedom”769. L. Dzimbiri confirms this by saying that “analysis of the overall perception … revealed that the majority of the citizens did not understand the role of the citizen, the obligations of government, and the roles of leaders especially Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ward Councillors, and village heads”770. Due to this misunderstanding come the negative influences this Western democracy has brought on African continent like nepotism, corruption and the like. This is a type of democracy in which every person looks for oneself or one’s group interest is not fitting to the Malawian mentality. Joe Teffo gives a good summary of what the Western countries have done and are doing to African countries by saying that “(s)ome contemporary societies manifest tendencies toward universal hegemony. Thus it is that the Western superpowers have sought to impose their brand of democracy as the only viable option for human survival and flourishing. Indeed, their brand of democracy seems to work for them. However, other societies need not mimic the West without taking cognizance of the cultures in which their democracy is located”771.

The democracy needed in Malawi is the one which has the concern and care of the community and every member of the community at its heart. The ECM says: “The word democracy means government by the people. The people govern themselves. The people decide how they are to be governed. They also decide who is to govern; they elect those who will represent them, those who are elected govern. Elected representatives can only hold power for a limited period of time. Then the people choose again. In a democracy power rests with the people. The democratic system makes possible the participation of all citizens in the political life of the nation”772. Like in traditional Africa communities, all the members were expected to be active in the running of their community by taking part in different activities of the community and its members. Only the democracy which gives room for active participation of all its members and encourages the concern and care of the

769 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 166. 770 Dzimbiri, Multipartism, 30. 771 Teffo, Joe: Democracy, Kingship, and Consensus. A South African Perspective, in: Wiredu, Kwasi: A Companion to African Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell 2004, 443-449, 444. 772 ECM, Building Our Future, 5. 234

community life and its members can succeed on African soil. This democracy should not be limited to the voting of the politicians but it should also give space to the citizens to have a word on how the things are being run by those who are put in power. In this type of democracy there is no big-man who knows everything and does everything alone but one decides on crucial matters through large consultation and shared values.

5.2 UMUNTHU DEMOCRACY John S Mbiti says that, “by the time European powers entered the interior of Africa in the nineteenth century, the African people already had long histories of their own. They had gone through many changes socially and politically”773. African had its own political democracies and among the Bantu it was based on the umunthu principle. This Bantu traditional democratic politics is based on the humanness774, which is the responsibility to respect the dignity of others, interdependence and looking at the common good of all the members of the country and of the country as a whole. This is what Pope Benedict XVI calls “a sense of responsibility on the part of everyone with regard to everyone”775. This solidarity creates the environment and space where people can participate in their own development and that of the country. These values are lived in almost all the Bantu communities but what is needed is that these principles are lived beyond the ethnic groups to encompass all people with different backgrounds and cultures. As noted already above, in the past some of these values were already lived with people of other ethnic groups like in case of visitors coming from other ethnic groups they were well received and cared for776. When these values are lived or remain only within the ethnic culture or any other closed group then they create patronage, dependence and self-enrichment. That is why umunthu has to encourage all the people with different ethnic backgrounds to live and work together in harmony as already practised through hospitality to foreigners. A Malawian proverb says, “Mu umodzi muli mphamvu”- meaning “In unity there is power”. The people have to be helped to understand that on their own they cannot succeed and progress in life, this is only possible if one is in good relationship with

773 Mbiti, Introduction, 6. 774 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 74. „So bleibt die Demokratie immer ein Auftrag an den Menschen, ein Auftrag zu stets neuer Ausgestaltung und Druchdringung mit humanen Werten“. 775 CV, no.38. 776 Prozesky, Cinderella, 3. 235

others and in collaboration with others. This usually happens at a limited level of the family or ethnic group or political party. When these values are lived beyond these groups to include others then the fruits have to be even better than only those of limited groups. This is so because the enrichment and contribution from many people are considered to be richer and better than that of a limited group. The ECM realizes that this is the only way by which Malawi can succeed and progress in its development. The Malawian bishops are convinced that “(a)ll parties are called to work in the first place for the betterment and development of all Malawians. This has not always been the case. Foreign concerns and multinational companies have often had too much influence on government policies. This has led to the exploitation of the Malawian worker. All political parties must reject pressures and influences from whatever source which are evidently not for the good of all citizens, especially the poorest”777. This solidarity and collaboration has to include all ethnic groups and regions; they all have to work for the good of others and of the community at large. All the different groups have to see themselves as belonging to one big family of the Bantu speaking people found in one country, Malawi. In spite of their small differences they have the common origin and also a lot of common cultural values. In CST language it can be said that they are all sons and daughters of God; they are all brothers and sisters. Therefore both of these principles encourage the citizens of Malawi to live as members of one family and whatever is lived in the family and small communities can also be lived in the country and even beyond. Even though systems on different levels have different rules but they all draw from the same values.

Umunthu principles put focus on humanness, which has community solution to problems, through palavers and interdependence, and guidelines in connection to the daily lives of the people. Each member takes care and is concerned about the good of one’s neighbour and of the community as a whole. This can be achieved by education both in the community and in different institution. This humanistic ethics encourages human engagement in community activities and interdependence. This means that people put the thought and the practice of the community higher than those of the individual but it does not mean that the individual members are forgotten. There is a supportiveness, cooperation and solidarity among the members

777 ECM, Building Our Future, 7. 236

of the community. What is more important is that the leader is a servant of the people. He does not impose his/her will but works in collaboration with the community. S/he realizes that s/he is there for the service of the people and the community as their guider. S/he does not look only for his/her selfish interests but has always the concern for his/her people at heart. This was also what Jesus taught his disciples that those who want to be first in other words to be leaders they must be servants of all778.

Now the umunthu principles, which can be recuperated in the socio-political life of Malawi and which can help the people understand and participate actively in their political and social life, will be treated. Africa needs politics which encourages team- work and empowerment of the people. Placide Tempels states that “all enmity, hatred, envy, jealous, evil speaking, even false praise or lying eulogy, are severely condemned”779 in this democracy. In Malawi the people say that “nkhuku ya njiru siswa” – meaning “a jealous hen does not hatch”. This means that jealous cannot help one to progress in life. This is exactly what has been happening in Malawian politics as the country follows an imported democratic system from the Western. Here are proposals for what the Bantu democracy can be.

5.2.1 UMUNTHU CONCEPT OF LIFE The aim of the community life and of reciprocal work is to see that the life of the community as well as that of those of its individual members are protected and well cared for. In Africa people say that “a person is a best medicine for another person”. The ultimate objective of community life is to see that human life and dignity are protected as well as advanced. Umunthu in the community demands that one humanises others through one’s selfless and sacrificial generosity. These acts of self- giving must be mutual that each member has to be ready to deny oneself other things for the good and to the benefit of others as well as of the whole community. Kwasi Wiredu confirms this by saying that “the fundamental imperative of ethics (of human community) is: adjust your interests to the interests of others even at the possible cost of some self-denial”780. Every member of the community realizes that s/he can attain the fullness of umunthu only when s/he recognizes and respects the umunthu of

778 Mat 23:11 “The greatest among you must be your servant”. 779 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 126. 780 Wiredu, Society, 172. 237

others; when s/he recognizes and respects the dignity of the others781. Talking about umunthu Harvey J. Sindima says that “morals (umunthu principles) are about those values that protect life, or individuals and bind people together … These are values or virtues that are considered very important for living together in African culture and society. Anyone who does not have these qualities of life is called chinyama, ‘an animal’”782. The umunthu encourages its members to increase and to prefect their humanity as well as that of others and the community as a whole. The Bantu teaches also that the injury done to one member of the community is the injury to the whole community. This is the same thinking that we find in the teaching of St. Paul to the Corinthians that: “If one part is hurt, all the parts share its pain. And if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy. Now Christ's body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole” (1 Cor 12, 26-27). In the same way what happens to an individual member of the community affects also the other members of the community.

This is also what is expected of the political leaders and their parties; they should have a human face by respecting the humanity and the life of their members and that of those in other parties. They are supposed to protect the life of all the citizens and to create conditions that can see the life of the members as well as that of community flourish. Placide Tempels says that in traditional African culture one has not only duties towards oneself and those of one’s clan but also it has to be extended to people of other clans. He states that “however hostile in practice intertribal relations may be, Bantu know and say that it is forbidden to kill an outsider without reason. Outsiders, in fact, are equally God’s people and their vital force has a right to be respected”. When one mistreats or kills those of other parties one loses also something of himself because they too are part of the cosmos in which also one takes part. This is also because the human being is at the centre of the creation and everything is supposed to be at the service of man783. So a person is not supposed to be killed for any other reason lower that the human being like to hold on to power or to accumulate riches.

781 Cf Furger, Christliche Sozialethik, 17: „Unabhängig von Herkunft, Stand, Rasse, Geschlect, ja sogar von Feindschaften aller Art sind sie alle also geschöpfe Ebenbilder Gottes“. 782 Sindima, Religious, 9. 783 Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, 46. Cf. Agbakwuo, John Obinna: Die traditionelle Afrikanische Kosmologie, in: Gmainer-Pranzl, Franz/Noartangar, Rodrigue: Christlicher Glaube im heutigen Afrika. Beiträge zu einer theologischen Standortbestimmung, Innsbruck: Tyrolia-Verlag 2013 (= 238

This shows that life of all people is to be respected since it is a precious gift from God through the ancestors. He alone has the right and power to take it from the people. Therefore the first responsibility of the politicians and all the people is to see that the life of each and every member is protected and has the necessary conditions which can help it to develop. This idea is expressed well in the following Malawian proverbs: “Mudzi umakoma ndi anthu” - meaning “a village looks beautiful because of people” and “mfumu ndi anthu” - meaning “a chief is a chief by the people”. The wealth of the chief is his/her subjects. The second proverb shows that one can be a leader only because one has people in his/her territory; without these people s/he would never be chief. This proverb obliges the leader to care for the dignity of the people in his territory. S/he needs also to listen to them and together with them to find solutions to their needs and problems. The first saying shows that the village or a home looks beautiful or good when there are people living there. That is why the leader should also make everything possible that s/he does not lose or mistreat his/her members. In South Africa among the Zulu they say “Kgosi ke kgosi ka batho (A chief is a chief through the people). It follows from this maxim that one cannot be a chief without the people. You become a king by consent of the people and you remain one as long as the consent is not withdrawn”784. The individual members should be cared for in a way as to make the whole community look beautiful and promote it.

One does not only have to preserve one’s life and that of the other but it has also to be promoted so that it becomes always better. That is why Elizabeth Amoah says that, “(p)overty … degrades and dehumanizes people. Their (Africans) common humanity demands that those in poor situations must be helped to regain their dignity in order to become human beings again”785. This shows also that the umunthu leadership should see to it that it fights against all enemies of life – these are the things which diminish the quality of life of the people like hunger, sickness etc. When these enemies are allowed in the community they diminish the quality of its life as well as that of its individual members. That is also what the ECM reminds Malawians and more especially the politicians: “In democracy care is taken to

Salzburger Theologische Studien Band 49), 13-102, 24: „Die traditionelle afrikanische Kosmologie ist anthropozentrisch.“ 784 Teffo, Democracy, 446. 785 Amoah, African, 115. 239

protect the basic rights of every person without exception: the right to life, the right to the basic needs of life such as food, clothing and shelter, the right to basic education and health care, the right to religious freedom. Another important characteristic of a true democracy is that every person is equal before the law which protects him from aggression, unfairness or infringement of his rights. Every citizen in turn is required to respect the rule of law”786. In this the ECM shows that the African leaders who follow the umunthu principles must make sure that their people have fulfilled basic needs that can help them to improve their lives. Also the leaders themselves or through their people must refrain from the activities which dehumanize others like torture and all the other forms of aggression. For the Bantu, all the people are equal despite their different status or talents. Mabogo P. More confirms this by saying that “(u)buntu is a demand for respect for persons no matter what their circumstances may be”787. This includes also the people in opposition who have a right to life and are equal in humanness like those in the ruling party; they too are to enjoy the possibilities which can help them flourish their lives. As already hinted at above, in a Bantu community even the strangers were welcomed and given what was necessary for their lives. The Bantu realized that the other person even though different and from another ethnic group had a right to life. As such deserved to be respected and protected from whatever could diminish his/her life like hunger, wild animals, thirst and coldness of the night. This is supposed to be the behaviour of the political leaders towards all the people of the country and even beyond it.

In the eyes of the Africans “true development must respect and promote personal, social, economic, and political human rights, including the rights of nations and peoples … If there is no respect for moral, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of the human person, material gains, goods, and technical resources will prove unsatisfactory and even debasing”788. Here Pope John Paul II goes in the same line with the Bantu thinking, which is also the thinking of CST, that what is important in all political systems and other social activities is that the life of the person is respected and also promoted. This goes very well with Bantu democracy which is based on the humanness of each member of the community as well as the humanity

786 ECM, Building Our Future, 5. 787 More, Philosophy, 157. 788 SRS, no. 33. 240

of the whole community. It encourages the responsibility to respect one’s own life and that of others as well as that of the whole community. In the modern language of Malawi people say that “Moyo ndi mpamba” - meaning “Life is a capital”. This wants to show that life is very important and that whatever happens in the country and history of a person depends on life of each person. Life is the foundation of everything.

The traditional leaders or rulers are for all the people and they are supposed to work for and with all the people for the common good of all the people. In the same way “(o)nce elected, the ruling party has a duty to govern the country in the interest of all the people, both those who voted them into power and those who voted for other parties. They have become the government of all the people without exception. Indeed they have a special responsibility to protect the rights of minority groups. There is no place for revenge. Democracy presupposes respect for those of different views and it requires the government to treat all citizens equally and with fairness”789. Also already noted these differences are good and they are to be taken as richness to the country. The government must create an open and democratic state where equal treatment and equal opportunities are given to all based on one’s qualifications.

The VC II sees this also from the religious point of view that “all men are not alike from the point of view of varying physical power and the diversity of intellectual and moral resources. Nevertheless, with respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, colour, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent”790. Here we can also add that it is contrary to the umunthu principles which see every person as a human being despite their differences and talents. Every person is worth per se; that means every person has to be accepted, respected and valued by others of the community. The inherited dignity of every member of the community must be respected without any condition.

789 ECM, Building Our Future, 6. 790 GS, no. 29. 241

5.2.2 UNITY IN DIVERSITY Mother Theresa once said: “I can do what you can’t do, you can do what I can’t do and together we can do great things”. The presence of different ethnic groups and political parties or regions in Malawi is not supposed to block the people’s need to love and to collaborate with others who are different. As seen above, Malawi is made up of different ethnic groups, three regions and many political parties. This does not mean that they have to be enemies because of their differences. The VC II says that “(d)iversity must not lead to discrimination with respect to the fundamental rights”791, but it must lead to more cooperation and interdependence. Mike Boon talking about South Africa says that “we should celebrate our differences and grow from this unnatural birth into a powerful and productive nation”792. All the members of the country are to be considered equal in their humanness; there is no group which is more human than the other and no person or group of people is greater than the whole community. In community living one does not have to abolish the differences which exist between different groups but these differences must be recognized and accepted as they are so that through the differences they can complete and enrich each other. Bernhard Sutor urges that all people are equal in their rights and dignity but they are also different because of their origins and they have also different gifts. What is interesting and important is that he underlines also that they have the right to be different793. People do not need to be homogenous in order to be members of a family or community. In the unity in diversity one does not have to diminish one’s status nor does it have to be non-hierarchical. In the same way people do not need to belong to the same ethnic group or political party in order to form a country. The variety of ethnic groups and political parties is supposed to be considered as a blessing and richness that we are having in Malawi. Mike Boon says that “the vision of our African team must, therefore, not be based on enemies, but on what and who we are and what we can become. We should be united in a common cause, fighting common enemies, but those enemies should be things such as poverty, unproductiveness, crime, anarchy and autocracy. The defeat of these enemies should

791 GS, no. 29. 792 Boon, African Way, 55. 793 Sutor, Politisch Lied, 104. Cf. Boon, African Way, 67: “There is no point in denying that ethnicity exists. It simply does, whether one likes it or not. But it need not be negative. It can be the most inclusive, colourful, wonderful and positive things. Instead of dividing us, it can help us celebrate and share our differences. Tremendous joy can be derived in the discovery of variety”. 242

be part of a process aimed at achieving a more noble and ever-evolving vision for ourselves and for Africa. To be truly powerful, one must have a team. Great teams are self-motivated, democratic and share same values”794. In Africa among the Bantu there is a question of attaining the full personhood. Each person or group of people needs the other in order to achieve full personhood. The difference can be used in a positive and constructive way for the betterment of the country and for enriching each other instead of fighting for resources and positions in the government. Like in an extended- family or in a community one finds people with different gifts and experiences and for the success of the family or community one is supposed to bring these different gifts together. They do not fight because they are different but they complement each other. Each member brings into the family or community what s/he can according to one’s talents, experience and age. Pope Benedict XVI talks in a way about the Church which can be also attributed to the political life that “(t)he disciple of Christ, in union with his Master, must help to create a just society where all will be able to participate actively, using their particular talents, in social and economic life. They will thus be able to obtain what they need in order to live in accordance with their human dignity in a society where justice is animated by love”795. This is also what is supposed to happen in Africa, in this case in Malawi, if the country is to experience true democracy and to have a true development as a nation and also for all its members. The ECM elaborates this umunthu principle by saying that, “(o)ne of the cornerstones of the nation is ‘unity’. This reflects the will of our Creator that we live in mutual respect and oneness. Tribalism, apartheid (whether economic or social), regionalism and divisions are contrary to the call and truth of humankind. We call all the faithful to celebrate our common birth and destiny in mutual respect, acceptance, justice and love”796. The ECM underlines that this unity and collaboration is only possible when there is mutual acceptance and respect. Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin say that “to Africans, cooperation is more important than competition”797. Here it has to be underlined that the competition meant here is that one which is unhealthy, which aims at destroying one another but they were/are encouraged by the community to do their best in developing their lives and that of

794 Boon, African Way, 81. 795 AM, no. 26. 796 ECM, Living Our Faith, 3. 797 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 8. 243

the community. Healthy competition encourages the members to be their best. This shows that in order to achieve unity and progress in life as individuals and as a country all ethnic groups and political parties have to go beyond their political and ethnic lines. The ECM supports this idea by saying that “(w)e are responsible for our words and actions. No one may act solely out of self-interest. We are called to do what is good and we are assured that the good will make us more human”798. This is the only way by which all the different ethnic groups can live together as one big ethnic group. The political parties and different ethnic groups should see each other as neighbours and not as enemies. If they just look at themselves and their interests they do not only destroy others and their possibilities but they also destroy themselves. They have to recognize that according to the Bantu thinking no one is complete on his/her own; every person needs others to survive and to be successful in life. They have to realize that one becomes a full and successful human being only in the community in which one interacts with others in a positive way. This is varied also for the politicians; they have to know that “mutu umodzi susenza denga - meaning “one head cannot carry a roof”. There is no government or leadership which has absolute and unquestionable power to decide on all the activities of all the people of the country. “Man’s social nature makes it evident that the progress of the human person and the advance of society itself hinge on one another”799 as pointed out by the Fathers of VC II. This reminds the people in a given community for their common responsibility to strengthen their life as well as that of the community. Even the greatest leaders are powerless on their own and must be humble enough to realize that they need support from the whole group or community. This shows that mutual interdependence and mutual support are very important in striving for the common good. These are the great help for the survival and progress of the individual members as well as of the whole community. This is what Pope Paul VI calls integral development: “So today We earnestly urge all men to pool their ideas and their activities for man's complete development and the development of all mankind”800.

798 ECM, Building Our Future, 8. 799 GS, no. 24. 800 Paul VI: Populorum Progressio, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice 1967, no. 5. Cf. no. 14: “The development We speak of here cannot be restricted to economic growth alone. To be authentic, it must be well rounded; it must foster the development of each man and of the whole man. As an eminent specialist on this question has rightly said: ‘We cannot allow economics to be separated from human 244

The African Bantu philosophy is based on the equality of the members. All the members are seen as equal and have a right and duty to equal (but in different ways) participation in the community and in this sense in the country. The ECM supports this by saying that “(m)oreover human persons are honoured and this honour is due to them whenever they are allowed to search freely for the truth, to voice their opinions and be heard, to engage in creative service of the community in all liberty within the associations of their own choice. Nobody should ever have to suffer reprisals for honestly expressing and living up to their convictions: intellectual, religious or political”801. Contrary to the present style of democracy is that in Bantu community the saying that “the majority rules” is not valued802. In traditional African cultures the decisions are “based on consensual democratic rule … Decision process (is) based on weighting voices rather than counting votes”803. As history can prove it that most of the times also the majority had been deceived and had taken wrong decisions. This will help also the minorities, from the point of view of their political party or ethnic group, to bring their contribution and also to profit from the common good of the country. Pope Benedict XVI is convinced that “Africa is capable of providing every individual and every nation of the continent with the basic conditions which will enable them to share in development. Africans will thus be able to place their God-given talents and riches at the service of their land and their brothers and sisters. If justice is to prevail in all areas of life, private and public, economic and social, it needs to be sustained by subsidiarity and solidarity, and still more, to be inspired by charity”804. This confirms only that African politicians have to use the umunthu principles which make it possible for the people to live and to work together in a spirit of openness.

In supporting this idea Bernhard Sutor urges that people say that too many cooks spoil the broth but in the democratic country one needs them so that they can add to the taste (to a common recipe plan) of the broth and also give constructive criticism

realities, nor development from the civilization in which it takes place. What counts for us is man - each individual man, each human group, and humanity as a whole.’” 801 ECM, Living Our Faith, 6. 802 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 57-58: „Wer nämlich garantiert, daß die pars maior auch die pars sanior ist, daß also der größere Teil auch der bessere und vernüftigere ist? Umgekehrt muß man sich ebenfalls hüten, den kleineren Teil von vornherein als den besseren anzusehen“. 803 Bearth, Thomas: Communicative Sustainability, in: Bearth, Thomas/ Beck, Rose Marie/ Döbel, Reinhold (eds.): Communicative Sustainability. Negotiating the Future from Periphery, Münster: LIT Verlag 2014 (= Forschung und Wissenschaft), 67-202, 121. 804 AM, no. 24. 245

to the running of the country. He goes on by saying that what has been prepared by the chief cook can bring problems in the stomach805. Francis M. Deng is proposing how democracy should function in Africa: “Given the tendency of Africans to vote according to their ethnic or ‘tribal’ identities, democracy will have to mean more than voting at elections. In the context of ethnic diversity, devolution of power through decentralization down to the local level, combined with some method of ensuring the representation of those who would otherwise be excluded by the weight of electoral votes, is necessary. In any case, democracy, however defined or practiced, implies accommodation of differences and a special responsibility for the protection of minorities”806. Here it is clear that for the development of the country one needs different forces from different ethnic groups and political parties. S. Ngware supports this point by saying that the role of the opposition is to help the ruling party by its positive criticisms807 which are aimed at improving the condition of the country to the benefit of all its citizens. This can also be applied to different ethnic groups instead of castigating one another. They have to help each other simultaneously in order to improve their lives and that of the country.

The saying that the winner takes all is not at all African, let alone Bantu. Francis M. Deng says: “When important decisions had to be made, chiefs tended to consult village councils (composed mainly of elder lineage heads) and to seek unanimity, even if doing so required very lengthy discussion”808. Good African traditional leadership is always communal and never in isolation. Human beings do virtually influence each other. Then after the deliberation the chief is obliged to put into practice what has been agreed upon in the palaver. Edward Wamala says that in the Ganda culture, what is also found in other cultures, “(t)here is no such thing as the veto ... Neither the king nor anybody else had a veto. The idea of a veto is defined as the constitutional right of a president to reject a decision of the legislature under certain conditions. Such an idea contradicts the idea of consensus and is alien to

805 Sutor, Politisch Lied, 8: „Viele Köche verderben den Brei, lautet ein Stichwort. Aber wenn wir Demokratie wollen, geht es nicht ohne die vielen Köche, nicht ohne deren Zulieferer, nicht ohne die Kritiker, nicht ohne den Geschmack der Abnehmer. Was uns der eine angeblich große Meisterkoch in seiner Küche zubereitet hat, davon haben wir uns seinerzeit gehörig den Magen verdorben“. 806 Deng, Human Rights, 503. 807 Dzimbiri, Multipartism, 30. 808 Deng, Human Rights, 503. 246

traditional Buganda concepts of legitimate governance”809. Whenever the chief acts against the consensus of the elders, councillor or the community, s/he can be deposed by the community. The chief was also present in the palaver, while the Malawian Presidents are never present when the MPs gather to discuss the issues affecting the country.

The ECM states that the strength of the society “resides in recognizing the gifts of all and in allowing these gifts to flourish and be used for the building up of the community. ‘Mutu umodzi susenza denga’ (-meaning ‘one head alone cannot carry a roof’). 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 a nation. “Mtsinje wopanda miyala susunga madzi’ (- meaning “a stream without stones does not keep water’) The contribution of the most humble members is often necessary for the good running of a group. ‘Wopusa anaomba ng'oma wochenjera navina’ (- meaning ‘one who is foolish did beat a drum, while those who are clever danced’)”.810. This means that no person is as useless that s/he cannot contribute anything to the running and developing of the community. The small contributions of simple people, when put together, can do wonders and can change the face of African Bantu democracy. When the simple people are involved in the whole process of decision-making and its implementation they take whatever was decided as their own affair and they are ready to contribute to its running. Even when they meet problem in the process of implementation they have strength to overcome them. On the other hand, when they are not involved and consulted they take the things as something foreign which belongs to so and so and they fold their hands only to see how the thing develops.

In order for this to come to a reality the ECM says that it is a duty of both the simple and responsible people. The simple people need to wake up and take their responsibility in their hands because “Fumbi ndiwe mwini” - meaning that “if you

809 Wamala, Edward: Government by Consesus. An Analysis of a Traditional Form of Democracy, in: Wiredu, Kwasi: A Companion to African Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell 2004, 435-442, 440. Cf. Wiredu, Kwasi: Demokratie und Konsensus in traditioneller afrikanischer Politik. Ein Plädoyer für parteilose Politik, in: Münnix, Gabriele (ed.): Wertetraditionen und Wertekonflikte. Ethik in Zeiten der Globalisierung, Nordhausen: Traugott Bautz 2013 (= Studies in Intercultural Philosophy 21), 231- 242, 234: „Jede solche Einheit hat ein Oberhaupt (head), und jedes dieser Oberhäupter ist automatisch Mitglied in dem Rat, der die regierende Instanz der Stadt bzw. des Dorfes darstellt“. 810 ECM, Living Our Faith, 6. 247

badly want something it is up to you to work hardest for it, get covered with dust and sweat”. The responsibility of the responsible is to open up the doors to let the simple people have a hand in whatever is happening in their life and that of the country. The ECM summarised this point by saying that “(w)e urgently call each one of you to respond to this state of affairs and work towards a change of climate. Participation in the life of the country is not only a right; it is also a duty that each Christian should be proud to assume and exercise responsibly. People, in positions of authority, in government and administration, have a particular duty to work for the restoration of a climate of trust and openness. However participation will remain a fiction without the existence of adequate channels of expression and action: an independent press, open forums of discussion, free association of citizens for social and political purposes, and the like ...”811 Edward Wamala supports this by giving an example of how responsibilities are shared in the traditional Ganda society between the king and his subjects and what he says also fits very well to CST about subsidiarity. He states that “(i)nherent in the idea of subsidiarity was the principle that higher units had legitimate authority, but only to promote the well-being of the lower units, aiding them to realize their good and their potential. There was in the proverbs just cited an indication that interference from above in the affairs of smaller units was not welcome and that even the Ssabataka, who had overall authority over the tribe, was, nevertheless, supposed to recognize domains where others had authority. Indeed, there is a well-known saying which hints at the principle that no one, including the Ssabataka, is above the law: Ekinene tekyetwala: Kabaka ayingira owa Kibale (nobody can be completely above the law; the king is in the power of Kibale - the official in charge of settling royal disputes)”812. This unity in diversity is supposed to happen in different ways between people of different political views or ethnic groups but also within the people of the same political party, between those who hold high positions and simple members. In the present situation most of the decisions about the political parties are taken only by a few people who hold high position and the rest of the members are not even consulted or given a chance to say their positions. This is what Malawi as well as many African countries need as Edward Wamala says that “not every party member has power in the party hierarchy. As only a few

811 ECM, Living Our Faith, 9. 812 Wamala, Government, 437. 248

members at the top wield power, even the parties that command the majority and therefore form the government are really ruled by a handful of persons at the top of the party. The powerful party bosses, as a matter of fact, personalize power, and whoever wants favours will try to come under their wings”813. The little ones and the minority groups also need to be heard on what concerns their lives and the life of the country. This process can be slower but more sustainable. When the bosses close up in themselves in deciding national issues they miss a chance of getting enriched by the diversity which is a grace to the country. Due to the domination of a few people in Malawian politics, what this results in is recycled politics as well as politicians, and things never move ahead.

This unity also concerns those in the opposition as the ECM writes that “(j)ust as the government has a duty to cherish all citizens equally, so too everyone must accept the government of the day even if they voted for a party which lost the election. Respect and tolerance for the views of others includes accepting the decision of the majority of the voters. Once the government has taken office, all citizens are bound to recognize and obey it as the legitimate government of the country”814. They have to know that in a true democratic system they have a role to play in the running of the country and to see that law and order are maintained. Later the ECM says that “(t)he opposition has an important role in a democracy. We have already seen that it is made up of all those elected members of parliament who belong to parties other than the ruling party. Like all other citizens, they owe allegiance to the legitimate government of the country. At the same time their role is to help the government to govern well and to be accountable to the people by challenging it when necessary”815. It is important to realize that their role is to bring positive criticisms that can help the ruling party to execute its duties. It has not to work so as to bring down the ruling party and to see that its plans do not succeed. They are to collaborate in the good decisions of the country which are good for the country and its peoples. They should also not penalize those MPs who are willing to support positive decisions and activities of the country proposed by the ruling party. They have to practice a mature and responsible politics by which they do not oppose for the sake

813 Wamala, government, 441. 814 ECM, Building Our Future, 6. 815 ECM, Building Our Future, 6. 249

of opposing. Otherwise they are also not following the umunthu principles which aim at helping the individual citizens as well as the whole country to achieve a higher degree of personhood. They have to realize that this can be achieved only if different powers work together without being jealous of one another and also without being selfish and proud. Jealous, selfish and pride are against umunthu principles. There is a great need in African politics of working together of different political parties in order to achieve national good. This demands more than tolerance. It requires that the different political parties truly accept each other as they are and on top of that to understand that difference enriches the human relations. They should respect the good which is in the other group instead of wasting time looking for the limitations of the other. Pope John Paul II supports this idea by saying that genuine development can only be achieved when there is true solidarity and freedom, and when one does not sacrifice either of them under whatever pretext816. A Malawian proverb says that “muumodzi muli mphamvu” – meaning “in unity there is strength”. For this unity to become a reality people must be free to exercise their duties. But this freedom has also to respect the freedom of others and also that in Bantu thinking this freedom is exercised always in the community for the good of all the community and each of its members. The ECM supports this by saying that “(e)ach person has a free will. However we should remember that the freedom we have received from God is a responsibility to do what is right and not what is wrong, to build and not to destroy. We are called to use our freedom positively”817. This freedom should be used for the promotion of the personhood of all members of the community as well as for the progress of the whole community. That is what Bénézet Bujo says: “This communitarian understanding of freedom has also to be taken seriously for the formation of democracy in Africa. Democracy in this context does not mean the ‘dictatorship of the freedom’ of the individuals against the community. Nor must the community become a ‘police state’ which suppresses the individual freedom of its members. Freedom, therefore, is not meant to be negatively defined, i.e., in the sense of ‘liberation-from-something’ rather, it is a ‘liberation-towards-something’”818. This

816 SRS, no. 33. 817 ECM, Building Our Future, 8. 818 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 75. 250

is a freedom to the full humanity819. Freedom is aimed at helping the person to attain full personhood and the community at full development. Amtia Etzioni, talking about communitarism versus liberalism, says: “The notion of the golden rule at the societal level, to characterize the good society as one that nourishes both social virtues and individual rights”820. Further on he emphasizes the same point by saying that there has to be a “balance between individual rights and social responsibilities, individuality and community, and autonomy and social order”821 because “we are social animals, members in one another”822. He wants to say that in a good society both aspects have to be taken seriously: the primacy of the freedom of the individual members of the community and the priority of the common good of the community life.

In “Ecclesia in Africa” Pope John Paul II gives a good summary by recognizing that “(o)n the political front, the arduous process of building national unity encounters particular problems in the Continent where most of the States are relatively young political entities. To reconcile profound differences, overcome longstanding ethnic animosities and become integrated into international life demands a high degree of competence in the art of governing. That is why the Synod prayed fervently to the Lord that there would arise in Africa holy politicians - both men and women - and that there would be saintly Heads of State, who profoundly love their own people and wish to serve rather than be served”823. In addition one can say the leaders who can rule the country according to umunthu principles. That means the decision should be arrived at only after a wide consultation based on shared values which benefit the country and its citizens. The diversity of experiences and interests when put together enrich the life of the people and that of the community. Unity in diversity sees the differences as valuable and essential in order to help each other to grow towards a full personhood. In order to have this as a reality each member including the leaders of the country need to empty themselves of their prejudices, pride and other narrow minded complexes.

819 Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 38: “Daß die Menschen begreifen, daß menschliche Freiheit nicht einfachhin eine Freiheit von, sondern eine Freiheit zu bedeutet, vor allem eine Freiheit in Richtung auf die Entfaltung weiterer humaner Werte“. 820 Etzioni, The Golden Rule, 4. 821 Etzioni, The Golden Rule, 5. 822 Etzioni, The Golden Rule, 6. 823 EA, no. 111. 251

5.2.3 INTERGRITY AND HONESTY In Malawi chiefs are chosen from the royal family by the elder women of the family after the burial of the ruling chief. They look for the person who has shown signs of umunthu and who is capable of protecting the life of the members of the community. S/he should also be capable of fulfilling the common good that is bringing the people to work together and to share justly the resources. That is why those people who are lazy or are unable to fulfil their role in their lives, families, and/or community cannot be chosen because laziness has robbed them their dignity as human being. These people can never reach the fullness of personhood (umunthu). Therefore they cannot be leaders or considered as elders in the community. They have failed in their basic responsibilities and as such they cannot also represent or lead others to attain the fullness of life; to perfect their humanity which is the goal of community life. One cannot give what one does not have. These people are considered to have failed in life and as such they cannot protect and promote the lives of others and that of the community. Hard-work is supposed to be one of the conditions in the Bantu democracy. Those elected to be presidents or political leaders should be only the people who have not failed in their life and who are hard-workers. The ECM advises the people of Malawi that “(a) candidate must be capable of holding public office. Certain ability is needed. A sense of vocation and of dedication to work hard on behalf of the people is essential. Nothing will be achieved without conscientious work on the part of both leaders and people”824. They should be the people who can stand on their own and lead a good and prosperous life even without joining politics. Politics and political positions should not be used as a means to enrich oneself and one’s dependants. This is the only way to prevent politicians from emptying the coffers and resources of the nation and also to overpay themselves while the nation and the simple people slip deeper into poverty. Bénézet Bujo supports this idea by saying that “(t)he African tradition is definitely opposed to private enrichment, especially by leaders of the people. Whoever has not got the people’s welfare at heart and is not willing to share with them is no longer worthy to be their chief. Whoever indulges in kleptocracy is disqualified forever, the more so that theft is regarded by many African peoples as one of the most criminal and shameful offences”825. In

824 ECM, Building Our Future, 10. 825 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 169. 252

voting for politicians the citizens should first look for the qualities in these candidates. The potential thieves (and those already involved in corruption cases) are not to be voted in power for they can never serve the country selflessly. This also challenges the people to see who they vote people into power. On what is their choice based?

Adding to the point discussed above Mike Boon says that “the chief personifies the unity of the tribe. He must ‘live’ the values of his community and be an exemplary model of his people”826. The leaders who are hard-workers and those who have succeeded in life also serve as an example to encourage their people to emulate their life styles. That is why the second thing these women look for is that the person to be elected must be the one who is in good relationship with others and participates very actively in the life of others and of that of the community. They are not supposed to be people who are selfish, egoistic and greedy. They are not to be drunkards and those who abuse others or have a bad name in the community like stealing or womanizing. The umunthu principles which the women look for in the chief-to-be are like hospitality, caring and foster participation. They have to be people who are friendly and harmless. These are also the qualities needed in African Bantu democracy. People need the people who respect themselves and also respect others and the property of others. In Chichewa people say “lemekeza mwana ndipo mwanayo adzakulemekeza” - meaning “respect a child and it will in turn respect you”. A leader must have a respect of all the people for the respect in the Bantu community is reciprocal. This means that a person wins one’s respect, reputation and consideration within the community depending on one’s behaviour and deeds. The above quoted proverb shows that if the politicians castigate each other and use abuse language they lose the dignity and respect. Good political leaders should not castigate one another in public during their rallies or in media; the people need the things which can unite them and also developmental projects. John B. Mbiti lists some of the things which a person with umunthu is not supposed to practice and these “are many things held to be morally wrong and evil, such as: robbery, murder, rape, telling lies, stealing, being cruel, saying bad words, showing disrespect, practising sorcery or witchcraft, interfering with public rights, backbiting, being lazy or greedy or selfish, breaking promises, and so on ... Whoever does them is

826 Boon, African Way, 44. 253

considered to be a bad or evil person”827. The one to-be-chief is not supposed to be a person who brings confusion into the community and country practising the things held as morally bad. The ones chosen are supposed to be trustworthy, truthfulness, objective and those who can relate and listen to others. These are the qualities which can also help the presidents and the politicians as well as all the leaders in order to guide their people to the fullness of umunthu. They must be people who respect others and only then they can also be respected by others.

Among the qualities of the African umunthu leader are hard-worker, one who has a positive and just self-esteem, the one who has concern for others and for justice and has also a capacity of motivating others to achieve full personhood. This is based on African thinking that one must be judged by the works of one’s hands as was always quoted by Bingu that “Ntchito za manja anga zindichitire umboni” - meaning that “the works of my hands testify for me”. The Bantu believe that the way a leader or chief behaves and acts affects also the whole group or community. Mike Boon confirms this by saying that “the primary principle is that only people who are respected, knowledgeable, capable and enlightened will lead”828. When s/he behaves well and in a dignified way then the whole community or village will be respected and dignified and when s/he misbehaves then the whole village is put to shame. People say that “tsamba likagwa manyazi amagwira mtengo” - meaning “when a leaf falls from a tree, then the whole tree is ashamed together with a fallen leaf”. That is why the ECM says that, “(i)t is essential that candidates be well known to the people of the constituency which they hope to represent. They should be known to be persons of integrity, unselfish and caring for others; not just individuals who are hungry for power”829. People should know very well the people who are going to be their representatives that they are capable of fulfilling this responsibility.

5.2.4 COMMON GOOD The goods of the world are supposed to be for the benefit of all. The Bantu community encourages the people to work hard in order to get things for one’s use

827 Mbiti, Introduction, 177. 828 Boon, African Way, 121. 829 ECM, Building Our Future, 11. Cf. Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 60: “Für eine gemeinwohlorientierte Politik ist es ferner entscheidend, daß sich genügend fähige und charaktervolle Persönlichkeiten um das Amt eines Volksvertreters bemühen. Das oft als ‚schmutzig‘ apostrophierte Geschäft der Politik darf nicht unfähigen und gewissenlosen Menschen überlassen werden.“ 254

and for the common use and the overall common good. Bénézet Bujo confirms this by saying that “every member has to behave in such a way that all that is done contributes towards the development of life”830. This is also supposed to be the purpose of every government to see that the common good in their country is promoted. Governments and all their citizens are supposed to actively participate in society so as to promote and ensure that there is social justice and equity among all the citizens. Elizabeth Amoah talking about the principle of Common Good says “the principal of sharing and reciprocity, which is a typical feature of the African way of life, operates in such a way that the community’s resources (material and nonmaterial) are mobilized to ensure the welfare of all the members of the community”831. Hervey Sindima goes further to say that “(i)n African society generosity is virtue par-excellence for it assures security, mutuality and communication elements critical for circulation of available resources and benefits so that none suffers need in society and moyo (life) is promoted”832. In Africa no one is poor alone when one suffers hunger then it means that the whole community is suffering from hunger. With the word “common good” one understands that there is a need for equality, fairness and creating opportunities and good environment for the people to make progress in their lives so as to attain full personhood as individual members or as a community at large. This means that people of the same community are supposed to have the same rights and opportunities. On top of that all the members of the same community should be given equal treatment as human beings regardless of other secondary things like status, ethnic and political affiliation. This is what is supposed to be happening in an African Bantu democracy where the resources should be shared equally basing on the needs of the community or the person in question. This fails terribly when the sharing is based on the affiliations like ethnic belonging or political or regional. Common good does not mean that all have an equal share but that every person and community has what s/he really needs. It does not necessarily mean that all the people and groups or regions have the same needs. Only in dialogue with the concerned people one finds out the best way to fulfil this common good as said in the Acts of the Apostles that “(n)one of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them,

830 Bujo, Ethical Dimension,16. 831 Amoah, African, 119. 832 Sindima, Religious, 164-165. 255

and bring the money from the sale of them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any who might be in need” (Acts 4, 34-35). The ideal of umunthu is to have everything in common and to share it among the members according to their needs. This also means that positive competition is allowed; that one must strive to be his best and not aim at destroying others. One must be ready to share what one has with others. Pope John XXIII says that what is important is that the state “must take account of all those social conditions which favour the full development of human personality”833. He goes on to say that this is possible only when the leaders “treat their individual members as human persons and encourage them to take an active part in the ordering of their lives”834. People must be given the responsibility to name their true needs and also participate in fulfilling them. Bénézet Bujo urges that “(t)here is a large consensus that the strengthening and the growth of life are the fundamental criteria also in the realm of ethics. The members of the clan share the obligation to contribute to the growth of life of the whole community by their moral action. Usually, only that kind of behaviour which leads to the building up of the community is morally good. To guard the common welfare and to promote the growth of life are the responsibility first of all of the community leaders. Yet, the people as a whole are co-responsible, because the fate of the leaders essentially depends on every single community member. Between leaders and single members there exists a dialectical relationship: the life-strength, coming from God, gets new vitality not only from above but also in the way that all the members reinforce one another, to circulate in waves through the whole ‘body’, i.e., the clan community”835. The leaders and the people must work hand in hand in bringing the common good of all the people.

The structure of the common good is a movement from below upwards. Pope Leo XIII says that “although all citizens, without exception, can and ought to contribute to that common good in which individuals share so advantageously to themselves, yet it should not be supposed that all can contribute in the like way and to the same extent. No matter what changes may occur in forms of government, there will ever be differences and inequalities of condition in the State. Society cannot exist or be

833 MM, no.65. 834 MM, no.65. 835 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 27. 256

conceived of without them”836. As already noted above, one has to analyse critically the real needs which need to be treated as in the case of the first Christians, there it is indicated also that everyone contributes according to what one had837. Common good does not mean always equal participation and equal distribution but what is important is to see what one needs for a good life and to create environment which can help one to attain full personhood and the community attain a full development. What is very important here is to encourage individual initiative to the contribution of the common good. One has to make the citizens realize that their participation in the democracy should not be limited to the voting and putting leaders in different positions but they have to know that they have also the responsibility in the running of the country to promote the personhood of its individual members.

Chiku Malunga warns that when the leaders and the country as a whole is not ruled by the umunthu principle of just sharing this can cause serious problems as those already seen in many African countries which have a lot of natural resources. He says: “Collective responsibility also applies to the fair distribution of benefits and efforts. When some people are perceived as unjustifiably benefiting more than others from the organisation’s collective efforts, this will lead to resentment and strained relationships, adversely affecting team spirit and organisational performance”838. Elizabeth Amoah adds that, “(w)ealth in the traditional African system is not merely acquisition or piling up of material things for individual use. Rather, it is community- centred. By this I mean that the emphasis on wealth is on its use to promote the welfare of the community. In this sense, the idea of sharing is an integral part of the concept of wealth. Thus wealth by itself is worth very little if it is not used to advance or promote human welfare”839. One cannot be rich and enjoy the wealth alone when the majority of the people are sinking always deeper under the poverty line. This is what is being seen in most African countries including Malawi where most of the resources end up in the coffers of very few politicians. This is totally against the umunthu spirit of caring and concern for the others.

836 RN, no. 34. 837 GS, no. 30: “Profound and rapid changes make it more necessary that no one ignoring the trend of events or drugged by laziness, content himself with a merely individualistic morality. It grows increasingly true that the obligations of justice and love are fulfilled only if each person, contributing to the common good, according to his own abilities and the needs of others, also promotes and assists the public and private institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions of human life”. 838 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 9. 839 Amoah, African, 120. 257

As already noted in the section about the subsidiarity this umunthu principle of being sensitive to the needs of others does not concern only the politicians or any other leader only. It is the responsibility of all the citizens of the community as the Bantu say that nobody is too poor to offer something to someone. It is a grass-root movement. This common good is to come from the cooperation of all the members and in the community, if it is to function well, there are supposed to be no “free riders” who want to profit from the common good without any participation. Claude Kabemba is convinced that this is not an easy journey for the “effective citizen participation will not happen by exhortation and beautiful speeches. It will require struggle. It needs people who have a passionate conviction and commitment”840. Common good requires the full participation of all members according to their possibilities. This is very important in order to have a common good as well as to maintain it. Talking about “participation” the CCC says that it “is the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange. It is necessary that all participate, each according to his position and role, in promoting the common good. This obligation is inherent in the dignity of the human person”841. Even the person considered to be the poorest has something that that person can offer to the well- being of the community. That is why the ECM appeals to the politicians to encourage their people that they have to take their part in the working for the common good. This also encourages the politicians that they themselves must be in forefront in working for the development and the common good of the country. Instead of accumulating wealth for themselves, “the civil power must also have a hand in the economy. It has to promote production in a way best calculated to achieve social progress and the well-being of all citizens”842. This is the sad situation of many African countries where leaders do not give good examples of hard-working to the people. In order to have the good for all the people all must be active in the production. As seen up to now most African countries are better at consuming than producing. The government and politicians should therefore respect and encourage human freedom by enabling all its individual citizens to take responsibility for their own lives and of the country, and should co-operate actively with each other in

840 Kabemba, Impact of Democracy, 14. 841 CCC, no.1913. 842 MM, no. 52. Cf. Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 60: “Die Verantwortung des Volksvertreters vor seinem Gewissen und vor den wohlverstandenen und längerfristigen Interessen des Volkes ist äußerst wichtig”. 258

pursuing the common good. This means that the functions of government, though important, must always be subsidiary; that is, government should help its citizens to make everything possible in order to realise their own destiny. The government and the politicians have the responsibility to care for the common good of all its citizens but at the same time should teach the citizens to be accountable for whatever is happening in their lives and in the country as a whole.

5.2.5 SERVANT LEADERSHIP The ECM is convinced that “(a) good candidate is one who serves. Members of parliament are public servants, just like teachers, doctors, nurses etc. They are servants of all, rich and poor, young and old, those who live in town and country. They serve people by being available to them, by listening to their needs and by acting on their behalf. Any indication that candidates are concerned only with enriching themselves at the expense of others would be a reason for not voting for them”843. The leader or president or a political party with umunthu does not look at his/her/its own needs and interests first but puts the interest and needs of the group first. S/he works for the common good of the community or the country. The position s/he has is not his/her to be used as it pleases him/her but one needs to feel that one is responsible for all the members. This is what Desmond Tutu says that “a person with ubuntu is open and available to others”844. The leaders are supposed to use their responsibility to the benefit of all. The Bantu thinking says that when the community is well then all its members are well, too845. For example, if the leader puts the interest of others and the community first, then one’s own needs are also fulfilled. Chiku Malunga confirms this Bantu thinking by saying that, “(l)eadership must be taken as an opportunity to serve rather than as a means to accumulate personal wealth and power“846. All the authority is first of all for the service of others. It must not be used as a means of oppressing others or enriching oneself. The leader with umunthu must not wait for people to serve him/her but one must be at the service of others as Jesus said that “anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for

843 ECM, Building Our Future, 10. 844 Tutu, No Future, 35. 845 Tutu, No Future, 35. 846 Malunga, Learning Leadership, 10. 259

many” (Mt 20, 26-28). The servant leader must be ready to sacrifice his self interest in order to serve well the common good. When the will is there, everything is possible and we can see the example of Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania, who died poor after his term in office. The political ruler must assume the responsibility similar to that of the traditional rulers who “are in many ways the symbols of their people’s health and welfare. They also symbolize unity and common tradition. They are responsible for the security and safety of their people”847. The political rulers must have their people always at heart.

Edward Wamala regrets that this has not been the case in many African countries because “those who are elected are representatives, not really of the people but of the party, which has become a power in itself. Party members do not really have loyalty to the people whom they are supposed to represent, as is understood by the principles of political delegation. Rather, their loyalty is to the party that ensured their success in the elections”848. That is why one must ask oneself if it is possible to have servant leaders with the present political system we are following or if it would not be better to use the traditional way of chieftaincy which based on consensus and the performance of the leaders lies in the hands of the people themselves. This consensus can also be reached at a higher degree if the true representatives of the people are involved in the dialogue.

A leader with umunthu has a listening ear and does not impose his ideas and rules but he listens to the council and people. The voice of the people is the voice of God. This leadership is collective and avoids any individual member from monopolizing the conduct of the affairs of the country or the party. Solutions to pressing problems of the country must be decided by all the members of the party or the country through their true representatives who have people’s lives at heart through different committees and at different levels. Claude Kabemba says that many African politicians have failed because they “are too keen on placating others so as to keep power and their seats in office and who do not interact with the people they pretend to represent (and this) will not bring about the required changes. It is only when politicians are forced from below, that they will make the necessary decisions”849.

847 Mbiti, Introduction, 163. 848 Wamala, Government, 440-441. 849 Kabemba, Impact of Democracy, 14. 260

For threats, insults and madness can never rule a country. Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin quote a proverb from South Africa which says “If you want to keep your workmen, keep your temper”850. Later on they explain it by saying that “(l)ike the chief or head of an extended family, the boss establishes trust and harmony in the work place by taking a personal interest in the lives and families of his employees and by governing by consensus”851. For those who rule using force maybe obeyed as long as the people have fear for these forces but once they are removed then everything goes out of control. One can rule only through dialogue and by empowering the people. Pope Benedict XVI adds that “(t)his proper way of serving others also leads to humility. The one who serves does not consider himself superior to the one served, however miserable his situation at the moment may be”852. The leader is not everything but with the community.

5.2.6 EMPOWER PEOPLE A Yoruba Proverb says that “the cure of poverty is work”. The ECM in line with this Yoruba Proverb says that “(w)e also wish to stress the importance of self-reliance. Only if we continue to work hard can we be assured of a bright future for our country. Committing ourselves to hard work promotes personal growth, family well- being and the good of the nation”853. The ruling party or parties should realise that they cannot do everything for the people for it is against the dignity of the person. On top of that they do not also have the means to do so. According to the principle of subsidiarity in CST which is the principle of hard work among the Bantu, the government is supposed to work more with the traditional chiefs in order to bring developments to different parts of the country. This is so because the traditional chiefs are found in all parts of the country. They are still very influential among their people and they can easily motivate their people to do some of the things for themselves which lie in their capacity. Secondly, the traditional chiefs do not abandon the people like the MPs do once elected to represent the people in the parliament854. The chiefs are always in their territory and they are helped by the councillors and the elders who are also always in the same territory. These people

850 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 145. 851 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 145. 852 DCE, no. 35. 853 ECM, Building Our Future, 8. 854 Kabemba, Impact of Democracy, 7-8. 261

know better the people and their problems since these problems are also their problem. Kafuwe C. Tembo and Titus B. Phiri state that “this will ensure development focused development in these areas rather than letting them benefit from nationally administered projects only”855. They go on to say that this will ensure that all the development programs start at the grassroots level rather than from up –down because people must be given a chance and freedom to determine their own development policies. They add that this “will reduce inter-ethnic tensions and promote a collective national identity while at the same time will make people in these chiefdom collectivities focus on their own social and economic needs as perceived by them”856. This can work better as those projects being monitored by the politicians and the government with a remote controller. Up to this present day when the chief calls his/her people for a development project, all the members of the given society try to be present and actively participate in the activity for they all know that it is for their own well-being. Afterwards they take keen interest in caring and protecting it because it is the fruit of their own sweat857. When the projects are from the government without the participation of the people in the process of deciding for and cooperation in the development of the project, these projects are not fully cared for and taken care of because people say these projects belong to the person or group that realised it. Leopold Neuhold urges that dialogue is very important if people and their government need to work successfully together, both parties need to be ready to listen to and to understand the other858. Only then can the local people feel and understand that the development or project belongs really to them. Mike Boon confirms this by saying that “participation empowers people, but, more importantly, it leads towards democracy”859.

The traditional chiefs and the elders do not support or encourage the people to support a lazy person. They know their people and they come to assistance of only

855 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 32. 856 Tembo/Phiri, Multiparty, 32. 857 Neuhold, Leopold: Religion und Katolische Soziallehre im Wandel vor allem der Werte. Erscheinungsbilder und Chance, Münster: LIT Verlag 2000 (= Institut für christliche Sozialwissenschaft Münster 43) 232: „Die Handlungen sollen besonders vom Volk, das gerufen ist, sein Schicksal in die Hand zu nehmen, getragen werden“. Cf. Neuhold, Der Sozialstaat, 21: „Nicht jenes Staatssystem und Sozialsystem ist das beste, das von einem idealen Menschen ausgeht, sondern jenes, das mit den Fehlern des Menschen rechnet, diese in die Planung miteinbezieht und die Stärken des Menschen am besten nützen kann“. 858 Neuhold, Der Sozialstaat, 31. 859 Boon, African Way, 77. 262

those who have really difficulties and are in real need. The chiefs help them without waiting for any immediate recompense from them. This encourages people to do what they can do in their power and not just to sit idle and wait for someone to give them what they need on a golden plate. This is the only way in which the country can discourage the greedy politicians from abusing the people with the little money and gifts which they give them. Most of these gifts cannot even sustain their lives comparing to the time and energy they lose following these politicians wherever they go and do the things they are commanded by these politicians. Patrick Chabal urges that these politicians have no interest of the people at their heart. What they are after is only to buy them so that they can have a simple access to the power and resources of the state860. This behaviour of the politicians of making the people lazy is also refused by St. Paul who says that the people should not waste their time doing nothing and interfering in the affairs of others861. Work should never be seen as only a curse but also as a responsibility which was given to all in order to develop their own lives as well as that of others. Stephen V. Monsma urges that “(i)f with the best of intentions we over-emphasize solidarity to the point where persons’ responsibility for their actions is lost sight of or where they no longer need to do what they can for themselves, we are in danger of fostering an unhealthy dependence. That also undercuts persons’ God-given opportunity and obligation to be creative, willing persons who contribute to the broader society. The wise social service agency soon learns how to offer help to those in need without turning those recipients into persons who become dependent on that help and never learn to develop their own abilities and talents. ”862. Whatever the people are given must not take their dignity and responsibility from themselves.

Pope Benedict XVI supports this idea of giving space and freedom to people to develop themselves by saying that “(t)he State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy

860 Chabal, Ordnung, 39-40. 861 2 Thessalonians 3, 6-11: „In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who lives an undisciplined life, not in accordance with the tradition you received from us. You know how you should take us as your model: we were not undisciplined when we were with you, nor did we ever accept food from anyone without paying for it; no, we worked with unsparing energy, night and day, so as not to be a burden on any of you. This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to imitate. We urged you when we were with you not to let anyone eat who refused to work. Now we hear that there are some of you who are living lives without any discipline, doing no work themselves but interfering with other people's”. 862 Monsma, Relevance of Solidarity, 10. 263

incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person - every person - needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need”863. This is not easy as it appears for it demands a lot of humility and openness on the part of the government and the rulers. The government with umunthu should let the people to be creative and innovative and this sometimes brings with it some controversial ideas. These ideas should be expressed and discussed in the palaver. If the country is to grow and to develop the citizens should be empowered to propose new things and let the people use their talents to the fullest. This can serve them as well as the community at large.

The African democracy has to develop “a people centred development process”864 which encourages the people to be very active in the activities of their own lives as well as those of the whole community. The SECAM confirms this by saying that “(e)very citizen is invited to participate in consultations affecting their own society. Democratic practice must prevail at all times. Citizens must ensure that democratic practice is not compromised at all”865. Empowerment has to do with the unselfish interaction with others by which every person also takes care and is concerned with the life of the other and that of the community as a whole.

People should be given the space and freedom to contribute to national policies and leaders should also be open enough to take positively the contribution of the citizens. The leadership should create the environment for growth and creativity of its members. A Malawian proverb says that “khasu liposa amako” - meaning that “a hoe is better than your mother”. This wants to say that the mothers are very good at providing things for their children but the children should not always depend on their mothers for their substance but they have to learn to cater for their own life with their hands. This discourages also the mothers from spoiling their children by providing them with everything without letting them work and support their life. The ECM uses this thinking to encourage the people to choose only those “who can inspire

863 DCE, no. 28 (b). 864 Ngware, Institutional , 62. 865 SECAM, no. 47. 264

their people ... Elected representatives are in a position to inspire their constituents to have a sense of their own dignity, to free themselves from dependency and to become self-reliant. They also should encourage people to improve their lives and that of their families, and to contribute to the development of the nation”866. The government should not make the people lazy by doing what the citizens can accomplish by themselves. They should also empower the citizens to take active participation in the politics of the country starting from the decision-making process till to the implementation of the decisions taken.

The ECM also says that in order to talk about the common good and the attainment of full personhood all the citizens must actively participate in the activities of the government. “We cannot expect a government to achieve its goals unless we too are willing to make our contribution. Our contribution is not limited to voting of Election Day. Each of us is responsible to do our own work honestly and willingly. Without dedicated commitment to our daily work, a just and peaceful society will not be built. We call on all citizens to work faithfully to create the conditions necessary for democracy to flourish in our country”867. The government and all the citizens must collaborate in making sure that there are good conditions for the advancement of democracy in Malawi. Claude Kabemba agreeing with the ECM adds that “(t)he SADC countries need to empower their people so that they feel confident in their capacity to confront their own problems and find the way towards solutions. This can only happen when countries make politics into a service for the common good. This will only take place when those in power cease thinking that people are ignorant, incapable, backwards and uneducated. Instead, they should start looking for available capacity and build upon that, letting them experience the power they have by gathering them together and seeing their own possibilities”868. When there is no true democracy and no true attainment of full personhood of the individual members,

866 ECM, Building Our Future, 11. 867 ECM, Building Our Future, 14. Cf. Zsifkovits, Demokratie, 54-55: “Oder Demokratie wird auf eine einzelne Maßnahme wie eine Wahl der Volksvetreter reduziert, und mit dieser einen Maßnahme glaubt man, der Idee der Demokratie Genüge getan zu haben. Hier muß eine Ethik der Demokratie ansetzen, die sich mit dem schönen Klang des Wortes Demokratie begnügnen darf, sondern die Demokratie als Aufgabe, zu der jeder beizutragen hat, begreift und vor allem die für das Gelingen von Demokratie notwendigen Umfeldwerte und Voraussetzungen auf menschlicher und gemeinschaftlicher Ebene herausstellt.“ 868 Kalemba, Impact of Democracy, 14. 265

each citizen must ask him/herself what part has s/he played in the running of the country?

5.2.7 PALAVER Palaver can be described as a communication in love and in responsibility for the common good of the community as well as of that of its individual members. A Yoruba proverb says that “(w)e join together to take wise decisions, not foolish ones”869. The African Bantu knowledge is communal. The community members come together to share their experiences, feelings and imagination for the good of the community as well as of its individual members. The community reasons as well as thinks together, by letting all present say what they think and feel is good for the building of the community and for helping the members to attain full personhood. Ferdinand Chukwuagozie Ezekwonna says: “Before the palaver the news must have filtered into the village or clan about the subject to be discussed and the people get prepared … if it is a palaver that requires representation, those who represent their clan, family or village are elders who have a reputable character, wisdom and are members of the community they represent. In most cases, before they go to represent any group they first hold small palaver at that level and sample the opinion of the people and when he (the representative of the group) goes his ideas will be centred on the intention of his people”870.

A good African leader is not spared from this communal epistemology871. A Nigerian proverb shows this by saying that “the wisdom of other people prevents the king to be called a fool”. This simply means that a good African leader must have a listening ear; s/he has to be open to receive advice coming from different corners and must have the patience to wait for the different political parties and ethnic groups come to agreement872. S/he must never impose ones opinion on the people without consulting

869 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 75. 870 Ezekwonna, African, 146-147. 871 Cf. Nussbaum, African Culture, 4: „A good chief listens to the group and finds the point of consensus. He (most are men) would play a low key role, listen to all viewpoints, facilitate debate and, in the end, summarize and make a decision which is just, preserves dignity and reflects the consensus of the group”. 872 Boon, African Way, 123: “Interactive leadership involves leading one another; leading and being led by collegues regardless of their position in the organization (community)”. Cf. de Liefde, Willem: Ubuntu. In der Gemeinschaft Lösungen finden und Entscheidungen treffen. Transl. By Ingrid Hoffmann, München: Signum 2006, 89: “Ein guter Zuhörer zu sein ist eine hoch geschätzte Qualität in der afrikanischen Kultur. Menschen, die zuhören und beobachten können, lernen am meisten aus den Erfahrungen anderer. Am bescheidensten sind diejenigen, die Kraft zum 266

them873. All important decisions are to be made by consensus and only then can s/he rule and lead his/her subjects well. Ferdinand Chukwuagozie Ezekwonna says that “the consensus is not reached by majority but through the fact that emerged during the palaver”874. Joe Teffo adds that “(a)ny system that gives such priority to consensus is quite clearly democratic in a far deeper sense than any system in which decision-making proceeds on the principle that the majority carries the day”875. In agreeing with Joe Teffo Mike Boon adds that “consensus is an extremely advanced and sophisticated system that goes beyond simple majority rule and looks for a broader inclusiveness. It carefully listens to and considers everyone’s views, and always bears in mind that the group is trying to do what is right”876. A Yoruba proverb supports this thinking by saying that “(w)isdom comes from reasoning together”877. African wisdom is consensual and communal. The ECM says this referring to the present political situation that in a country and in this case in Malawi “all citizens have the right to be involved in the good government of the nation. It is also their right to provide constructive criticism in the political dialogue and the life of the nation. When this is not accepted every citizen has the right and duty to change the government at the next general election”878. This says that when leaders are not ready to listen to the people they have to be deposed at the next general election. As pointed already, why not to impeach them even before the end of their term in office? Only if there are varied reasons to do so and not based on the everlasting

Zuhören besitzen, denn sie kennen die Macht des Schweigens. Bewusstes und unparteiisches Zuhören versetzt eine Person in die Lage, die Meinungen anderer unmittelbar und vollständig zu verstehen. Dies befähigt einen Menschen, eine Vision zu entwickeln, die er mit anderen teilen kann; denn durch Zuhören wird man sich der emotionalen und materiellen Belange anderer im eigenen sozialen Umfeld bewusst.“ Cf. Koslowski, Peter: Wirtschaft als Kultur. Wirtschaftskultur und Wirtschaftsethik in der Postmoderne. Dt. Erstausg., Wien: Passagen-Verl. 1987 (= Edition Passagen Bd. 27), 74: „Jeder Souverän kann nicht nur das hören wollen, was ihm gefällt. Wenn er nur hört, was ihm gefällt, hört er nur, was er ohnehin schon unbewußt weiß. Jeder Souverän muß jedoch darauf aus sein, mehr zu erfahren, als er schon dunkel weiß. Jeder Souverän muß lernen wollen“. 873 Wiredu, Demokratie und Konsensus, 235: „Entgegen einem bewusst geförderten Anschein gilt das persönliche Wort des Chief nicht als Gesetz. Vielmehr entspricht sein offizielles Wort dem Konsens seines Rates, und nur in dieser Eigenschaft kann es als Gesetz gelten“. 874874 Ezekwonna, African, 156. 875 Teffo, Democracy, 446. 876 Boon, African Way, 84. 877 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 81. Cf. Ezekwonna, African, 151: “That is why when it concerns law, the Igbos say obodo or umunna tiri iwu (the village or kindred community made a law). They do not say one or two people made the law; it is always the community that is responsible, which involves everybody. Here we mean that the whole process involves people from the grassroots right from the beginning.” 878 ECM, Building Our Future, 6. 267

baseless accusations and denunciations. Why must people keep on looking idly as the things are not going on well? The ECM further says that “(t)he importance of truthfulness cannot be over stated. Freedom of expression is a democratic right which must be balanced by the duty to accept the dignity and good name of every person. Failure to speak the truth leads to mistruth and suspicion among people. Only a society which is built on truth can flourish and grow strong”879. This goes both to the side of the government and the opposition that they are supposed to be guided by the truth in their dialogues and speeches.

Further on Bénézet Bujo says that “(t)he fact that the King or Chief was not an absolute ruler is proven by the fact that he was supported by a council of elders. On all decisions of public importance he had to consult this council. The council of elders consisted of sages, who were known and recognized by the village community and shared similar living conditions”880. The Bantu says that “wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one person can embrace it alone”. One needs to join hands with others in order to embrace it. Edward Wamala confirms this by saying that “(t)he dedication to consensus seems to have been rooted in the firm epistemological belief that knowledge is ultimately dialogical or social, and in the ethical belief in the collective responsibility of all for the welfare of the community”881. That is also what is expected of any leader who leads according to the African Bantu democracy that one has to be open to discuss national issues with different stakeholders and also to take positive criticisms and work on them. The SECAM encourages the political leaders “to develop a vision of mobilizing Africa, driven by the quest for the common good, jealous of her sovereignty and resolutely focused on her unity. It will therefore be up to the public leaders to consider political action as requiring openness and dialogue to create or reinforce social cohesion. This means the involvement, without discrimination, of the citizenry in the definition and the implementation of a social pact that translates the general will, guarantees the stability and improvement of living conditions for all, and promotes justice and equity. They should be helped therefore by intellectuals, economic operators, the private sectors and all other partners of Africa, each making their contribution according to their

879 ECM, Building Our Future, 8. 880 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 158. 881 Wamala, Government, 437. 268

area of specialization and through mutual respect”882. One does not have to see as negative everything that comes outside one’s own cycle. This has also to start in the inner cycle of the different political parties. If one takes her/himself as a “big-man” and is filled with pride that one does not need any person or group for help, then one misses the chance of becoming wise. “Nzeru za yekha anadya phula” - meaning “the one who thinks he knows everything and can do everything alone, ate local glue which is obtained from trees thinking that it was honey”. Edward Wamala confirms also thinking among the Baganda of Uganda who say that “magezi gomu, galesa Magambo ku kubo (Belief in his intellectual self-sufficiency resulted in Magambo’s failure to reach home. Magambo, a blind man, failed to reach home because of his arrogance and unwillingness to consult others)”883. For the Bantu wisdom is a community wealth, it comes and grow only in interaction with others. The Baganda proverb says: “Ndi mugezi nga muburile (I am wise, only if others have informed me)”884.

Bénézet Bujo sees a danger with the present foreign democracy that it does not at all pass to the African Bantu democracy by saying that “modern democracy in Africa can lead to the misuse of the power of the word. Where everybody has the freedom of expression on the right or wrong occasion and in one’s own competence with no consideration for the community, the community can be tyrannized and the individual ‘democratically’ crowned dictator. Traditional African politics refuses both, because both Western forms, i.e., dictatorship and democracy, do not consider the sage-oriented character of the word. A chief’s statement has to be thoroughly discussed by the sages of the community, the elders’ council885. What Bénézet Bujo is saying is something worth to give a thought in the African politics. Why do we have the chiefs meet occasionally in order to discuss the issues of the national interest? The chiefs are representatives of the people, when not corrupted with gifts by the politicians. So in order to let them free the politicians should take their hands off from the chiefs and let them truly represent the views of their people without being biased. They can help the running of the country besides and even better than the MPs who are usually biased because of their political affiliations and sometimes

882 SECAM, no. 28. 883 Wamala, Government, 438. 884 Wamala, Government, 438. 885 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 72. 269

they do not tell the truth to their bosses or support some things only for the sake of their party and not for the common good of the country and its citizens. Kwasi Wiredu poses a good question which needs serious reflection on African continent: “The question is whether there might not be a non-party form of democracy based on consensus, which is more in harmony with most African indigenous traditions, and more suited to Africa’s contemporary conditions. Indeed, it is a legitimate question, of interest to all humankind, whether a non-party, consensual system of democracy would not be a better form of democracy than the multiparty variety”886. One can argue that but also the opposition is under certain circumstances good for development. That is very true but one must remember that in African palaver one is free to bring also constructive criticisms. In the present democracy the politicians criticise for the sake of making the plans of the ruling party fail (abusus non tollit usum). Do African countries like Malawi really need MPs to have a true democracy according to the Bantu principles? Does the present MPs structure help them to have feed-backs and discussions with their people or do they remain like the “little bosses” who command the people around? Looking at the traditional of African system Bénézet Bujo questions also this fact of MPs if they are true representatives of the people by saying that “Palaver is by no means superfluous talk or useless negotiation but an efficient institutionalization of communicative action. If an important decision is to be arrived at over matters that affect the people as a community, the wisest representatives of the people are called together for a palaver. … They are ones who share daily life with the people, so that their argumentation is concerned with the people’s existential interests, often to the smallest detail. In order to find a solution for a problem, they share their experiences, refer to the entire history of the clan community, and consider the interests of both the living and the dead. The whole procedure can be time consuming because it is carried on and on until a consensus is reached. An effort is made to discuss the matter not by manoeuvring or by trickery or force and taking into consideration the well-being not just of the participants but much more that all affected people - the clan community and its living dead”887. The whole community in African sense is involved in the process of palaver. Claude Kabemba explains the reason why it is necessary to involve the

886 Wiredu, Introduction, 21. 887 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 36. 270

whole community in the palaver by saying that “(o)ften the difficult issues faced by a community are too complex and involve too many divergent interests”888. That is why he is against the idea that only a few people should meet far from the community in order to discuss the problems affecting the whole community. In Africa one needs time to find lasting solutions. Most of the decisions which are made in a hurry have little effect and often do not last.

Bénézet Bujo says that, “we have to ask whether Africans sometimes, indeed more and more, do not accept Western practices uncritically. To what extent, for instance, are democracy and Western style dictatorship useful for Africa? With regard to the latter especially, it is a well-known fact that in many ethnic communities, the chief depended on a council of elders. In everything he was not allowed just to follow his own will but had to pass on life ... If he disregarded the welfare of the community and thus suffocated life, the people could gather in the name of the ancestors and depose him as their chief. This is a lesson which today’s African politicians should take to heart”889. This shows that in African democracy there was no such a thing as “term in office”. (One can introduce also the time limit for the chief to be in power, but this has to be done according to the principles of “Umunthu”. Only those who can promote the welfare of the community have to be given this responsibility). When the leader was good and was promoting life among his/her subjects, he was to rule as long as possible. But when he was not doing what he was supposed to do in and for the community, his/her subjects had the power to dispose him and have another person take his/her place. In this democracy stability and continuity were granted and with the current system the politicians know that their terms are limited so they do everything possible so that they can profit from the situation as much as possible as long as they are in power. Once out of the government they have no or little possibilities to empty the coffers of the state. There is lack of control for those in power because they monopolize all the powers and political positions.

Every person is given equal chance to speak and every saying is taken as valuable for even what might be considered stupid can help others to think deeper. This shows that in the community dialogue one respects the individuality and particularity of

888 Kabemba, Impact of Democracy, 13. 889 Bujo, Ethical Dimension, 19-20. 271

each person present. In the political arena where there are many different political parties and ethnic groups one has to encourage inter- and intra-party dialogues as well as inter-ethnical dialogue. This demands time and patience as Yale Richmond and Phyllis say that “in Africa, decisions are not made on the spot but rather take some time to reach through consensus”890. As seen above this is not a waste time but it is a time to creative interrelationship and to let the community as well as its individual members to have a human face.

Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin say that “consensus is crucial in decision making. Africans must be consulted on almost everything … The need to reach consensus helps to explain why it may appear so difficult to get things done. But, as Africans point out, reaching a decision through consensus has the advantage of taking into account all dissenting opinions, whereas majority rule does not. Reflecting all differences of opinion within a group is a key African value”891. Later they say that “consensus indicates a joint decision acceptable to all”892. Consensus is not compromise but an agreement on what is good for the community and it is not always the majority which has good ideas that can help the community and its members of achieve a full personhood.

5.4 CONCLUSION Leaders with umunthu unlike the more self-serving and following individual paradigm, emphasise on people and their dignity. S/he respects the dignity of others, emphasises on groups solidarity since s/he knows that injury to one is injury to all, s/he promotes team-work knowing that no person is greater than all the rest or the community, s/he renders service to others in the spirit of harmony and realizes that every person needs others. In a democracy there is need for interdependence and collaboration. This means also that the differences which are there among people should not make them enemies but should help them to enrich each other and to learn from one another. What one has, has to complement others who do not have what one has and for sure one will be also completed by the others by what others have.

890 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 81. 891 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 82 892 Richmond/Gestrin, Into Africa, 83. 272

This has always been practiced in African communities but at the same time the “SECAM invites all African people to adopt a new look at the stranger who remains a brother or a sister beyond the State, political, tribal or religious borders”893. That is what African politicians and African communities must take into consideration and put into practice. There has always been an emphasis on the interdependence and collaboration in African communities but these have most of the times been practiced only in the limited and closed groups like ethnic groups and political parties. Now it is time that African nations live these values beyond their closed groups. It is high time that all the people are seen as valuable and that they all influence one another in different ways. When one disregards one group one has to be aware that this removes from his/her for attaining the full personhood. Every person one meets has to contribute something to one’s personhood. Solidarity recognizes that “all should work together for the full development of others: ‘development of the whole human being and of all people’”894. Not only are we responsible for the safety and well-being of our family and our next-door neighbour, but Bantu solidarity demands that we work for justice beyond our boundaries. Solidarity calls us to insist on responsibility and seek alternatives that heal and restore. Like in old good days when strangers were welcomed and given what was needed for their life as they were among them. “Mlendo amadza ndi kalomo kakuthwa” which means that “a visitor comes with a sharp razor-blade”. That means that a visitor can bring something very important for the community and its members that can help them in their life and also to attain a full personhood. The ECM takes this point further that “(d)emocracy flows from the fact that all citizens are sons and daughters of God. As such they enjoy the same rights and duties. These can only be fully exercised in a democratic system”895. It is important to note that this living together has also two important things with it that all the citizens of the country must hold hands in order to bring this democracy to a reality. Every person can bring in what one can according to one’s possibilities and talents. As already said nobody is too poor to the extent that s/he cannot contribute anything to the community. This invites also the political leaders to give room for all the citizens regardless of their political or ethnic affiliations to make their contribution to the development of the

893 SECAM, no. 47. 894 SRS, no. 30. 895 ECM, Building Our Future, 5. 273

country and to the achievement of the full personhood. Every little contribution from the citizens must be valued as it is said in Malawi “pang’ono pang’ono ndi mtolo” which means “little by little it becomes a bundle”. Even though these contributions might seem insignificant, but when put together they can move things which can bring improvement to the country. To have a true lasting democracy one needs time to listen to different views of those interested. Pope John Paul II says that “development demands that the needy countries have a spirit of initiative, favouring the self-affirmation of each citizen and helping themselves in such areas as literacy, basic education, adequate food production, and reformation of political institutions”896. In order to help people to make a good contribution the government must help the people to realize their talents and develop them.

Another side of the coin is what concerns the rights of all the people also regardless of their affiliations. Pope John Paul II as the Bantu underlines that every person has “a right to life at every stage of its existence; the rights of the family as the basic social community, justice in labour relations, political rights, and religious freedom”897. In short here we see that life is a gift from God which must be valued and respected and nobody is permitted to take away one’s own life or that of others for any reason since a human being is at the centre of the creation and there is nothing which is supposed to be put in his/her place. In “Ecclesia in Africa” the synod bishops stated that “(i)n African culture and tradition the role of the family is everywhere held to be fundamental. Open to this sense of the family, of love and respect for life, the African loves children, who are joyfully welcomed as gifts of God. ‘The sons and daughters of Africa love life’898. Pope John Paul II from the above quotation underlines that it is not enough to protect it but it must be also promoted so as to help each person and community to become what God intended it to be.

Umunthu also challenges Malawi and African in general to revise the way they choose their leaders. In traditional African societies leaders are chosen according to the way they live their umunthu and the talents they have in bringing the people together in unity and promoting their lives in order to reach a full personhood. They

896 SRS, no. 44. 897 SRS, no. 33. 898 EA, no. 43. 274

choose people who are not selfish and greedy and only those who have the interest of the people at their heart. Malawians have to reflect how they choose their leaders and what do they wait from these leaders. Are leaders chosen based on affiliations like ethnic and do the people wait for these leaders to profit only their ethnic group? Are we looking for the people who can provide for them everything on a golden plate without dirtying their hands or the ones who can motivate the people to contribute to the development of their lives and that of the country?

This takes us to another important point of umunthu that of empowerment of the people. In the collaboration and interdependence of the people of the community there is mutual receiving and giving. Every person receives something from the community and its members and this demands also that every person is expected to contribute to the good of others and that of the community. “Free riders” are not encouraged in the community and they are not entrusted with responsibilities in the community and neither are they respected. This empowerment has two-sides like a coin. On one hand it encourages the government to open up rooms where the people have the possibility to bring themselves in the affairs of the country starting from the decision-making process till its implementation. The political parties and politicians should not give the people the impression that they are “big-people” who can answer to all the needs of the people without their participation and contribution. This does not only spoil the people by making them lazy but also it removes the dignity of people which comes in man’s participation in one’s own life and that of others. In this way the person in the community finds his/her status and attains the fullest of personhood. The other side is what has been underlined above that every person must take one’s responsibility in one’s own hands to develop oneself and the others. People have to know that democracy does not mean laziness and that one becomes everything free of charge from the government or from the politicians. The ECM adds that “(u)nfortunately laziness is often evident among our people. We firmly state that laziness is both a personal and social evil”899 because it blocks the attainment of the full personhood of the individual in question as well as that of the community.

899 ECM, Building Our Future, 9. 275

If Africans countries are to have a true democracy they must encourage and promote the palaver in order that the people can know each other and also that they can work hand in hand in the promoting their personhood as individual members as well as a community. These palavers should take place at different levels of the society up to the national level and should be open and include all the people and all ethnical groups and political parties in the country. The issues which are of interest to the nation are not to be decided on by one person or just a few people. There should be a wide consultation which demands patience and a lot of time. The matters are to be discussed thoroughly until a consensus is reached and here it is not always that the majority has right but one looks for the reasons given for or against the matter being discussed. The minorities be it ethnic groups or political parties are to be heard also in the palaver like all the other groups. These dialogues should be seen a mutual enrichment and help between the ruling party and those in opposition. The criticisms and remarks should always aim at improve the life of the people and that of the country. Another thing to reflect upon is whether the MPs that the country has really represented the people and their needs in the parliament discussions. Maybe it is high time that the country has to leave the chiefs free so that they can regain their respect and responsibility as representatives of their people. Chiefs are to remain non- partisan and serve their people with diligence to ensure that development projects are distributed equitably. These would then be the true representatives of the people who are not ruled by the egoistic and selfish-interest as seen in Malawi and in many African countries. Instead of discussing the issues of national interest why don’t the country let the chiefs do it instead of the MPs who are most of the times are conditioned by their political affiliation. The ECM advises the people of Malawi that “(a) good start can be made by electing only people of high integrity, men and women motivated by a desire to serve rather than by a hunger for power”900. This must the country reflect if the MPs are really there to serve the people.

Bénézet Bujo states that “if attention were genuinely paid to the innovative elements in African tradition, it would scarcely be possible for dictatorship - so common in black continent to exist, since oppression in all its forms is incompatible with the anamnestic solidarity”901. If that which is said above is respected by our politicians

900 ECM, Building Our Future, 10. 901 Bujo, Foundations, 44. 276

and the people Africa will no longer have dictators or one party which controls the whole country. Umuntu can easily bring together different cultural groups of people with same values. People are supposed to open themselves up and recognize their common factor of which is umunthu.

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6 WHAT CAN HELP BRINGING BANTU DEMOCRACY

6.1 INTRODUCTION As indicated in the previous chapter there is need of a great change in the political system of Malawi, if the country is to have a true African Bantu democracy. A Malawian proverb says: “fodya ndi ku nazare” - meaning “if one wants to have a good harvest of tobacco, one must take care of it properly when it is still in the nursery”. Another proverb says: “munthu amakolola zomwe anabzala”- meaning “one can only harvest what one has sown”. These two proverbs mean that if true African democracy is to be established in Malawi, one must start with children when still young and one has to start with the “fundamentals”. The country will only harvest from what it is teaching the children now. To make this a reality there is need for the revision of the school syllabus to include umunthu classes and to practice it in the daily lives of the pupils. The second point to take into account is to look seriously in the way the citizens are represented in the government. It is high time that Malawians have true representatives, who have the interest of the people at their heart. Seeing that the MPs have not always represented the interests of the people and that they often abandon their territory once elected, it would be good now to return to the traditional rulers. These are always with their people in their territory, they know all the people in their territory and most of their activities are done through palaver which aims at bringing unity and prosperity among the people. Lastly it is good also to look into the problem of private property. In the present democratic system most of the problems are there because people take the things which do not belong to them as their private property or the property of their party. The people are not encouraged to stand on their own and work hard for their lives and of those who depend on them. People wait to receive everything on a golden plate, without dirtying their hands.

6.2 EDUCATION OF THE YOUTH A Malawian proverb says: “Kuongola mtengo ndiulikadali waung’ono” or “kuongola mtengo poyamba” - meaning that “the best time to straighten a tree is when it is still tender and young” or “you have to straighten a tree in the beginning”. Education starts when one is still young. In traditional African culture there are no classes for the education to umunthu. Every grown-up person is supposed to be a teacher to the

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youth in the community. The children are taught the principles of umunthu from childhood and according to their ages. This education is life orientated. This education is aimed at success in daily life within the community. They are told how to prepare themselves to be responsible people and how to live harmoniously with others in the community. This Bantu education is a human phenomenon aimed at the complete development and growth of the children within the country.

The Western type of education offered in the schools in the present Malawi is based on intellectual formation and very little, if any, about umunthu principles and daily life. The two systems of education are not going together. It would be better to find a system which has both African traditional education based on umunthu and the Western intellectual formation which has also to be life oriented. Traditional education in Africa is continuous and life oriented. Therefore, is not good if the students do not continue with the traditional education or receive the education which is not life oriented. A Malawian proverb says: “Nkhwanga sithwera ku chipala” - meaning that “the axe does not get sharp at the workshop”. This means that no one is born with knowledge needed. Experience and knowledge must go hand in hand. The education that the pupils receive in their communities about umunthu principles should also continue when they are at school. These two institutions should not teach the pupils two different value systems. Otherwise they confuse the pupils and they grow up without having true cultural values. To reach this continuous umunthu education the parents and teachers must work hand in hand so that the pupils receive the same formation both at home and at school. This is a challenge also to both the elders in the community and the teachers; they must live by the principles of umunthu. The pupils must see that the elders live what they tell them.

The pupils must be taught to be responsible in their daily lives. There should be classes to discuss with the pupils about being responsible people. They must be helped to take good care of the school and all things they use. They must be made aware that the school and all the things in the school belong to the community to which they also belong. These facilities are for their own good and the good of the community as well as the coming generation. This should remove in their minds the idea that what belongs to the community or country belongs to nobody, therefore they can vandalise it as they want. The teachers as well as the pupils should realise that whatever belongs to the community or the country belongs to all the people, they

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themselves included. Democracy is freedom with responsibility for one self as well as for the whole community. The school community must learn to respect and protect the property of others and that of the community.

Umunthu syllabus must encourage the students also to be hard workers both intellectually and physically. They should be made aware that hard-work is the key to a good and successful life for both the individual as well as the community. A Malawian proverb says “Sikadza kokha kaopa kulaula” which means “good things do not come out of the blue”. That is what in English people say “sweet comes after sweat not only alphabetically”. In German one says: “Ohne Fleiß kein Preis” - meaning “no pain no gain”. People should be encouraged to do their class exercises seriously and to participate actively in the manual work organized in the school or in their communities. The learners should realize that they are not to be rewarded for any service rendered, especially when it concerns their own lives and their communities. Both the educators and the learners can take also initiatives to help the needy people who are outside the school. The learners should know that they are not only responsible to those close to them but also to those who might be far from them but they are in need. Both learners and educators should shun laziness. The teachers also should give their time and energy to the education and development of the pupils; they should not only be interested in asking for the increase in the salary without executing their duties seriously.

In these days there is indiscipline in almost all the schools starting from primary school up to university. The pupils and students claim that they are free to do whatever they want but they forget that freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. There is a great need that the teachers and the community collaborate in educating and disciplining the pupils or students. In traditional Africa the child belonged to the community and every adult had the responsibility of correcting every child, when it misbehaved and later report to its parents what happened and how s/he corrected the child. There must be a constant dialogue between the teachers and the elders for the good of the child. The youth must be educated and encouraged to be responsible citizens.

As already seen above, a Malawian proverb says “wayenda wapenga” which means “the one who goes away deliberately while others are having a meal, with the intention of eating later alone, is mad”. That child receives no special treatment and 280

will miss that meal. Right from childhood the Bantu are taught to share the little they have with others. This should also be encouraged in the school environment. The pupils should learn to share both material and intellectual goods with their friends. They can share the food which they take to eat at break or they can put and eat it together. They have to be enlightened that among the Bantu nobody is supposed to go with full stomach while the other is dying of hunger. They can also be encouraged to share their intellectual gifts. They can be organized in small groups in which people with different talents can come together and help each other in different subjects that are offered. This is very important for the social learning. This is the way in which we can see progress in the education of Malawi. They should be helped to work for a group success not only individual success. The pupils and students must be made aware that nobody is everything and also that nobody is useless. One develops and grows as they depend on each other.

To educate the students in the life of true umunthu there has also to be an intensive interaction between the educators and the learners based on trust, respect and understanding. They have to interact on the level of human beings not of functions as teachers and learners. The Bantu see all the people to be equal in spite of their different roles they play in the community. Both teachers and learners can contribute to the development of their personhood and the development of the school as well as of the community. There should be a true dialogue between them; the educators are not to impose their ideas always on the learners, since the learners have also a responsibility to say something concerning their lives. The positive contributions of the learners must be valued and they must also be made feel they are important. This will bring a collective decision and a joint responsibility between the educators and the learners in the school.

Also when there are problems or misunderstandings among the students the educators should not rush to give punishment to the one on the wrong. The educators must facilitate the reconciliation and peace between the parties involved and if punishment should follow that comes only on the second place. This will teach the learners to discuss their differences and to respect others, when they speak. They can also invite the wise elders who are respected in the community to come a help to reconcile the learners. In African community the child belongs to the whole

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community and every adult was supposed to help the youth in their formation to umunthu. But everybody also belongs to himself.

6.3 TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE The traditional chiefs are a symbol of unity and well-being of their people. Their function was to protect the lives and property of the people in their territory. They were to maintain law and order, and to make laws with the help of councillors and elders. They live the same area as well as same reality as their people. Together they all share the same joys and hardships. These chiefs can be called African traditional politicians as they direct and moderate the daily politics of their people with their people also. They are the guardians of the culture and the unity and peace in their territory as well as with their neighbours. They are the representatives of the people in their territory.

Then one can ask why Malawi does not continue with these representatives of the people at local level to represent them at a higher level. Why does Malawi, which is one of the poor countries, have to pay both the local chiefs and the MPs, who often do not represent the people but their political parties? The traditional system would be better for Malawi as the current democratic system based on political parties and MPs. The mixture of the two systems, traditional rulers and MPs, is not possible and that will bring only confusion as the two follow different principles. The MPs follow the principles of their parties while the traditional chiefs follow the traditional principles of umunthu.

In Malawi there are chiefs who head about 100 to 150 families. These are helped by the elders and councillors in their service. When need be also the whole community is invited to a palaver in order to discuss the pertinent issues that affect their lives. These chiefs are accountable to the G.V.H. These have 7 to 10 chiefs under them. They are also responsible indirectly over the places where the chiefs are. These V.H. are also under the Traditional Authority (T.A.). These Traditional Authorities have several G.V.H. under them. So the chiefs have councillors and elders who help them in their services. In their turn the chiefs and some elders act also as advisors of the G.V.H. and these, too, together with some elders act as advisors of the T.A. In this system it would be easier that the interests of the people, who are represented by the elders and the councillors who share the daily life of the people, would be discussed

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seriously with the chief. This is so because they all share the same joys and difficulties in the community. Then what is discussed and agreed upon in different villages would be taken to the G.V.H., where the different views from different villages would be discussed. Here also with the help of some elders who are respected and are considered wise in this territory. They, too, share the daily life of the people. What is discussed and agreed upon here would be taken to the T.A. The T.A., the G.V.H. and some elders would discuss the different issues considering what has come out from the lowest level, that of the chief. In the end the Traditional Authorities would act like the present MPs. They would meet and discuss the issues at national level. This would be the better way of practising democracy in Malawi. That would be a rule of the people, by the people and for the people.

This system can help that all the interests of different people from different regions as well as ethnic groups are heard through their representatives, who are the Traditional Authorities. These have the interest of the people at their heart because they, too, share the life of their people. They do not abandon their people like the MPs after they had been elected into office. They remain always in their territory. The people, especially through the elders and councillors, can also depose them when they are not respecting what was agreed upon in the discussion. They are also chosen because of the signs of umunthu which are present in their lives, as we have seen above.

Maybe some people can say that this process takes a lot of time. It is true that it takes a lot of time because it deals with the life of the people. So it is useless to rush into decisions which have nothing to do with the daily life of the people. The people themselves need to be heard to know their true pertinent issues and together with them to try to find solutions to the problems. A Malawian proverb says: “Kufulumira sikufika” - meaning that “going in a hurry does not mean that one will reach one’s destination”. Malawians are convinced that it is useless to make rush judgement which will not help the citizens to grow and develop their lives and that of the community. The other proverb, which encourages the people to be patient in decision-making and in doing things, says: “Kuona maso ankhono nkudekha” - meaning “if you want to see the eyes of the snail you have to be very patient”. If one wants to see wonders in one’s life and that of the community, one has to be very patient.

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6.4 PRIVATE PROPERTY In African one owns and uses private property always in consideration of community life and common good. This private property is always owned within the community systems. This private property belongs to the individual or the nuclear family and they were free to determine how to use them in a proximate way but not ultimate way. What one owns belongs to the family and to the whole community because every person is tied to the community in an intrinsic way. People have the right to use their private property but this is subordinated to the common good of the community. The right and interest of others in the community put limits on individual rights. That means it is used basing on the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. The individual, who owns the property, acts only as a steward of the goods. Private property is to be shared and used for caring for one another.

The community recognizes the private ownership of material possession, also unique thoughts, ideas, characteristics and accomplishments. This encourages people to develop their potentials and use their creativity in order to acquire property. People are encouraged to work hard so that they can support themselves and their immediate dependants. To improve one’s life and that of the community one has to work hard. The community does not condone “free riders” who look only on others for their substance. The private property is necessary for the security, life and survival of the person and one’s family. On top of that it helps one also to contribute to the common good of the community by assisting those in need.

The members of the community control how this property is acquired and how it is used. Looking it from the other side, the community protects the private property of individuals. First of all it is to be acquired in a just way. The community does not approve that one acquires it through magic or in a crooked way. The private property is for the good of the one who acquires it as well for the good of the needy. The goods are used for the substance and the improvement of life of the one who possesses them as well as other members of the community.

Lazy people can never be considered for leadership roles. They are considered to have failed in life and therefore they can also not help others to lead a successful life and improve their lives. One gives only what one has. These lazy people can never also be considered as ancestors after their death because they never led a successful

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and prosperous life here on earth. To be considered as an ancestor after this life one has to live the umunthu principles to the fullest. One of the conditions is hard work and contributing to the development and survival of one’s life, one’s family and community.

This poses a question to see first of all how do people in Malawi get their private property and secondly also how they use it. For example, corrupt means of getting property are not approved. How do politicians get their property? How do civil servants get them? Do they get according to the work done? Do they work hard in order to get their wages? If one gets money for the services not rendered that is cheating or stealing. With the coming of democracy most civil servants became lazy and at the same time asking for more money. The second question is how they use their property even if they could get it in a just way. Do they use it for the common good of the country or in a way, that the cliff between the rich and poor becomes bigger? In African community one is not supposed to go with full stomach while the other dies of hunger.

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7. GENERAL CONCLUSION This project aims at provoking a discussion in Malawi. As already seen before, among the Bantu there is no monopoly of decisions. All proposals are subject to discussion in the community and a consensus must be arrived at by the community according to the reasons given. It aims also at showing that not all countries and cultures can have only one type of democracy, the one fabricated in Europe or North America according to their history and mentality.

There are many players contributing to what is going on in Malawi. Surely the donor nations have their part in the suffering and poverty of Malawians, especially the simple people. The colonialist imposed their culture and political system on Malawi902. In this thesis attention was given to how Malawians elite, especially the politicians, dominate and oppress the simple citizens and how the ruling party suppress and mistreat the opposition political parties. Enrique Dussel is convinced that these elites have forgotten their traditional roots and they copy the foreign system903 which does not fit in the thinking of the local people. If Malawi is to have a true democracy, where all the people are valued and heard, the elites together with all the citizens have to liberate themselves from the foreign political system which oppresses the poor and the opposition parties, and in the end dominates also the whole country. Enrique Dussel is convinced that “the others, the poor in their extreme exteriority to the system, provoke justice – that is, they call (-voke) from ahead (pro-). For the unjust system, “the other is hell” (if by hell is understood the end of the system, chaos). On the contrary, for the just person, the other is the utopian order without contradictions; the other is the beginning of the advent of a new world that is distinct and more just”904. In case of Malawi we can say that the

902 Cf. Graneß, Anke: Die (post-)koloniale Situation in Afrika, in: Gmainer-Pranzl, Franz/Noartangar, Rodrigue: Christlicher Glaube im heutigen Afrika. Beiträge zu einer theologischen Standortbestimmung, Innsbruck: Tyrolia-Verlag 2013 (= Salzburger Theologische Studien Band 49), 103-124, 110: „Kolonialismus bedeutet neben der Zerstörung der ökonomischen und politischen Strukturen des kolonisierten Gebietes und deren Ersetzen durch Strukturen kolonialer Verwaltung immer auch eine Infragestellung, eine Beeinträchtigung oder gar eine Zerstörung historisch gewachsener kultureller und religiöser Werte, Regeln, Institutionen und Tradition und zwar auf zweierlei Weise: zum einen durch Zerstörung der sozialen (politische-ökonomischen) Wurzeln einer Kultur, zum anderen durch den Versuch des Kolonisators, dem Unterworfenen seine eigenen, als höherwertig betrachteten, kulturellen Errungenschaften aufzuzwingen“. 903 Dussel, Enrique: Philosophy of Liberation, trans. from Spanish by Aquilina Martinez and Christine Morkovsky, New York: Orbis Books 1985, 12. 904 Dussel, Philosophy, 43. 286

simple people are outside the present political system and they are being oppressed as well as used by the elite. The opposition politicians are also eliminated from the system. Enrique Dussel says that “for the system (like the present socio-political system of Malawi), the other appears as something different. As such the other threatens the unity of ‘the same’ … Whoever resists (the ruling system) is kidnapped, jailed, expelled, or killed”905.

In Umunthu thinking the others, that is the simple citizens and the opposition politicians, are valued per se as human beings. They too have something to contribute to the running of the country, especially on the things that concern their daily lives. In this democracy everyone has a say and not only the majority as the situation is at present. That is the beginning of the new political system and world where justice and peace would be practiced in the country. The political system based on Umunthu can help Malawians to live together peacefully among people of different political affiliations and ethnic groups. Each and every group will be part of the decision of what is taking place in the country. In this democracy there is no opposition parties but everybody is free to express one’s mind even against the propose theme. The aim of this is to find organizing structures that would be for the benefit of the community as well as all the individual members of the community. The chiefs together with their councils and elders rule by the power given to them by the people; they are no absolute rulers. The people have power to keep the chief in power if he is ruling according to the principles of Umunthu; they have also power to remove a chief if s/he happens to be bad.

The second point to consider is that the MPs claim to represent the people in their constituents, but experience has proved that soon after winning the seats they abandon their constituents and the people who voted for them in power. Why does Malawi not use the chiefs as true representatives of the people? These remain always in their villages with their people and they rule with the help of their counsellors and the elders, who represent their clans. In some matters the whole village is involved in the discussion directly. Secondly they are different levels of chieftaincy: V.H, G.V.H. and finally T.A. Why does Malawi not use T.A.s, who are found all-over the country and represent all ethnic groups, in place of the present MPs? Both the chiefs

905 Dussel, Philosophy, 51. 287

and MPs are paid by the government, and this would see the cut of cost in the running of the country and on top of that people will be represented by the people who have the concern of the people at heart. T.A.s are also concerned with the life of the people since they share the daily lives with them. What affects simple citizens affects them also. The thing to improve would be how these chiefs are chosen; it would be better that the whole village gets involved in the choice of their rulers starting from V.H. till T.A.s and should not be left only in the hands of the loyal families.

Another important point for the development of the Umunthu politics is to see how the youth are being educated in different institutions. This thesis regrets together with Enrique Dussel that “(t)he African, Asiatic, and Latin American cultures have their own validity, which has not been understood by or incorporated into the hegemonic school or university systems… because they are scorned as non-culture, barbarism, illiteracy, witchcraft”906. He continues that “(t)he culture of the oppressed groups and classes of these three continents - popular culture - is the one that preserves the best of the Third world and is the one whence new alternatives will emerge for future world culture”907. This is the culture which has the person at the centre; where the human being counts more than time, power, profit and production. Where all the people have their right share in the resources of their land and also all are encouraged to participate in their life and production of resources according to one’s capabilities.

906 Dussel, Philosophy, 89. 907 Dussel, Philosophy, 89-90. 288

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