CfSC Press Review – August 2014 C F S C P R E AUGUST S 2014 S News clippings with analysis From the R Major newspapers E in Malawi V Compiled by the Centre for Social Concern I (CFSC) Box 40049 Lilongwe 4 E Area 25 W Next to St. Francis Parish Tel: 01 715 632 www.cfscmalawi.org LIST OF NEWSPAPERS REVIEWED CfSC Press Review – August 2014 Daily Times The Weekend Nation The Sunday Times Malawi News The Guardian Nation on Sunday The Nation CfSC Press Review – August 2014 PREVIEW The ruling Democratic Progressive Party DPP refused People’s Party’s Zikhale Ng’oma to join the DPP. Among other things Ng’oma is said to be a man who is lacking principles. This is a man who has been a member of almost of the major parties in Malawi. The DPP feels Ng’oma will not bring anything new to the party and therefore should not be allowed to join. It all does not seem rosy for the economic sector at least going by press reports. It shows there is not going to be any budgetary support from the donors. This scenario gives Malawi a chance to think on ways of weaning itself from donor dependency. Fifty years after independence it remains unacceptable to be relying for support from donors. Furthermore if the 30% of money that is alleged to be siphoned off into private bank accounts were used for public needs little aid would be needed. It is very encouraging to learn that some traditional leaders are advocating for the use of manure in order to safeguard a household’s food security. It will compliment the ‘Farm Input Subsidy Programme’ (FISP), which is not enough to reach out to every household because it is a targeted programme. The calls by the traditional leaders make sense and should be heeded. The 20 May Tripartite elections continued to be evaluated by various stakeholders with some saying the same things as the previous speakers on the issue. In August the National Initiative Civic Education NICE came up with a totally different view saying the elections were not credible. Much as Malawians want to follow and keep some of the traditions, the police are against the use of force. While initiation ceremonies may be good for the youths, the use of force to impose participation in them is an infringement on people’s rights. The story of University of Malawi’s proposal to increase fees continued to dominate the press in august. University of Malawi’s fees is still on a lower side and is not in line with the cost of operations at present. The environment sector continues to face a lot of challenges each passing day. The cost of energy is said to be very high. Bothe electricity and the use of charcoal carry a high cost. It remains a challenge if at all the cutting down of trees will be minimised. CfSC Press Review – August 2014 POLITICS There still is some doubt coming from some quarters over the government’s new reforms in the civil service. After making so much noise and gaining praise from both the local and international observers for the reforms, the Mutharika administration proved they are just like the other ruling parties we have had. They are very good at preaching good policies and putting them on paper but they fail to implement them. This is what the ruling Democratic Progressive Party DPP has proved by having more than ten ministers at a presidential function. Vice president Saulos Chilima who himself is a champion of these reforms as head of the civil service also followed the president on his trip to the north. While the statement clearly said that cabinet ministers, chief executives in public institutions and public servants should not unnecessarily patronise the presidential functions, we saw the same order being defied by these ten ministers. Just when people expected the Peter Mutharika administration to at least stick to its own policies we saw it doing the opposite. Cabinet ministers in August shocked the nation with their demands for a salary increase that is very unjustifiable and does not match with government’s austerity measures. The ministers were asking for a K3.5 million pay packet per month. One does not begin to understand where in the world leaders would demand such hefty salaries when the majority of Malawians wallowing in poverty. Already Malawi is said to be the country in southern Africa where the gap between salaries of the chief executives and junior staff is the highest. This only shows that there is too much greed among leaders. They became leaders because all they want is to get money and lots of it. But president Mutharika has refused to grant their wishes at least for the moment. They are not the only ones that are looking for a salary increase in the name of the sky rocketing cost of living. Our Members of Parliament are in the same boat. The Members of Parliament in August also asked for a similar increase, while most Malawians are still living on meagre salaries and being hit hard by the same high cost of living. One wonders why our honourable fellows who going by Malawian standards receive a lot of money are demanding a salary increase. It still raises questions as to when our leaders will put the needs and welfare of the people before their own needs. Former Vice President Khumbo Kachali seems to be fading away in political circles. Here is a man who after he fell out of grace in the Joyce Banda administration immediately endorsed Peter Mutharika in the May 20 tripartite elections. But the latest reports show that Kachali is reacting bitterly because he is eyeing a government appointment. Despite showing support to the incumbent president, Kachali has so far not been given any position in the government. But the former vice president has denied such intentions. It goes without saying that a number of politicians would do whatever it takes just to make sure they get a position in the government. In Malawi politics is a quick gateway to riches. President Peter Mutharika handed over the chairmanship of SADC to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and to head its secretariat. All that did not seem to be news to most Malawians, but CfSC Press Review – August 2014 the fact that Mutharika on his way back was on the same plane with outspoken spokesperson for the MCP, Jessie Kabwila hit the news waves. For many Malawians Kabwila as a critic of Mutharika was not supposed to be on the same plane with Mutharika. But Kabwila defended herself saying she is a citizen of Malawi and the plane that carried Mutharika also carried Malawians. To many Malawians Kabwila and Mutharika are the last people to be seen together. The Democratic Progressive Party publicly denied politician Ken Zikhale Ng’oma a chance to rejoin the party for his lack of principles. It is not a strange thing to hear of politicians ditching one party for the other. In fact some parties declare that they have an open door policy where anyone wishing to join is free to do so and so are those that want to join. Zikhale Ng’oma who was in the former ruling People’s Party was previously a DPP member who has also been to the UDF and Gwanda Chakuwamba’s New Republican Party. It is Zikhale’s track record that has contributed to the DPP’s denial of his entry into the party. CfSC Press Review – August 2014 ECONOMY Although there is plenty of fuel in Malawi some people are still involved in black market activities. The black market traders are selling fuel all over Malawi at very low prices, Press reports have shown that there are some people who are buying it in Mozambique, have besieged the filling stations and are selling the liquid in broad day light. It is against this background that the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority MERA is warning the black market traders to stop doing this at once. With just some weeks to the close of the tobacco-marketing season there are reports that the Malawi nation leads in tobacco exports in the COMESA region. Surprisingly even with so much exports of tobacco the people who are at the frontline in producing the gold leaf are still very poor. One would have expected that with these exports the people in the tobacco industry would be the happiest lot in Malawi. But alas this is not the case. In fact it is the tobacco farmers that are among the poorest members of the society. As the civil society continues to lobby the government for the tabling and passing of the Tenancy Labour Bill, there is hope that there may be at least some improvements in the lives of the tenants and tobacco farmers. After exploring and having a poor showing in the mining sector, the government announced it is willing to learn from other countries on the same. Things have not been that easy in the mining sector for Malawi. For some reason this is an industry that has not been given enough attention because every other Malawian was made to believe Malawi is not a mining nation. Now the coming in of Paladin Uranium mines at Kayerekera in Karonga meant the beginning of a new chapter. This could mean that Malawi does not have the much-needed experience in the mining industry. It is therefore for the same reason that the Malawi government is planning on gaining experience from other countries in the same industry.