Embedding Democracy
“The protests and riots of July 20 are fundamentally about governance and development, the enduring desire among Malawians for the establishment of a sustainable democratic developmental state.” Paul Zeleza in Zeleza Post “Malawi on the Brink” July 21
A number of people have asked me about the current situation in Malawi with questions and concerns about the safety of foreign visitors to the country. To understand the roots of today’s unrest, it is useful to review recent Malawi history. The brutal dictatorship of Dr. Banda and the subsequent, imperfect democratic dispensation have set the scene for today’s unrest. On the one hand, Malawi is cursed by its lack of valuable mineral resources like coltan, diamonds and gold. On the other hand, their absence is a blessing in that there is little incentive for the rise of warlords and ethnic conflict which has been so destructive in other parts of the continent. For visitors, it is re-assuring to note that the problems are largely urban based and that both sides of the leadership have promoted dialogue as a solution to avoid further bloodshed and violent confrontation. The unhappiness remains and the problems that caused it have not been solved, but it is a tribute to a desire to make democracy work that Malawi’s leaders in and out of government are committed to a peaceful resolution.
The 30 years of the Banda dictatorship, hugely frustrated the promises that were evoked during the nationalist freedom struggle. The president’s personal paranoia was reflected in an intolerance of criticism, the creation of a complex multilayered security apparatus, a totally obsequious and fawning media, as well as large numbers of political prisoners and citizens driven into exile. The tourist slogan “The Warm Heart of Africa” belied the daily brutality of midnight arrests and repression that created a climate of fear and enforced silence.
The churches, a few courageous individuals inside the country, and external pressure from opposition groups and international governments and institutions finally led to the end of the dictatorship with the 1994 multiparty referendum. The people conclusively renounced the Banda system and were inspired by the very hopeful appearance of a model constitution, multi-party elections, many new and outspoken newspapers and the complete disappearance of the state security apparatus. Human rights organisations sprang up like mushrooms and monitored all aspects of political life in Malawi. People from all walks of life agreed that they could never go back again to those bad old days.
Unfortunately democracy’s promise was betrayed by the crass venality and corruption of the first set of new rulers. People who had stepped out of prison without a tambala to their name entered government and were suddenly buying estates, flying to shop in fancy stores in Europe and sending their children to exotic, foreign, private schools. Things seemed to be improving with the arrival of the second democratically elected president, Bingu wa Mutharika. His controversial first term made him appear to be a straight shooting, honest and hard-working leader, who could unite the country. In the last election, people turned out in large numbers across the ethnic and regional divides to give him a massive majority in Parliament.
However, soon after the election, the real Mutharika began to show himself as he quickly alienated large sectors of the population with signs that he favoured a return to the bad old days of Kamuzu Banda. Intolerant of criticism, he admired and rehabilitated the image of the late dictator and acted like him by calling his detractors ‘stupid’. He told his party militants to ‘deal with’ his enemies giving rise to fears that the concept of the old dictator’s youth wing hoodlums was being revived. The university closing, the egregious deportation of the British High Commissioner, the changing of the flag and the foolhardy promotion of his brother to be his successor added to the resentment at the arrogance of the leadership. Economic woes accumulated as electricity blackouts have become common, fuel shortages an everyday reality, and government spending on wasteful items like a presidential jet and ministerial limousines aggravated the unhappiness of the majority of the people facing unemployment, low wages and rising prices.
Paul Zeleza, a Malawian historian and commentator maintains that:
Indeed, of Malawi's three presidents to date, he is arguably the worst. He combines President Banda's authoritarianism without the competence of his government, and President Muluzi's corruption without his government's tolerance for democracy. The way President Mutharika has bungled the country's economy and politics boggles the mind. He badly mishandled the July 20 protests, first banning them and making threats, then allowing them to go ahead, before orchestrating a court injunction to stop them on the night of July 19, which only inflamed the crowds that gathered the next morning and ensured the violence that ensued….” Zeleza Post “Malawi on the Brink” July 21
The protests of July 20 follow more than 2 years of discontent and warning that the new direction was unacceptable. The widest read newspapers are privately owned and have consistently spoke out against the authoritarian tendencies and mismanagement. Their online versions along with numerous blogs have been denouncing the government’s democratic and economic backsliding. The concerns are widespread to all layers of the population, but to date the protests have been largely limited to the urban middle classes and township dwellers. The government and its police and army were unprepared for the level of anger and the widespread support represented by the call for protests on July 20. The heavy-handed response shocked and upset Malawians as well as close observers of the country unaccustomed to this kind of violence in the Warm Heart of Africa.
In classic Malawi fashion the response has been to try to talk the problem through. A committee was set up with representatives of the President and civil society discussing their way through a set of problem issues they want to settle. There are no warlords or caches of weapons or easily exploited mineral resources such as what fuelled the crisis in many other places (diamonds in Sierra Leone, coltran and tin in Eastern Congo). Family members in town and in the village indicate that they are unconcerned about safety or security. Violence has not become the norm. There are still political meetings and rallies of the opposition parties and everyone is planning for the next elections in 2014. An article in the Malawi News On-line, is titled “Dialogue teams tackles two points only” and the writer, Caroline Somanje, (8 September 2011) typical of the opposition press in Malawi tries to sensationalise how little has been accomplished through the talks. However, what is going on is rather interesting in that parties on both sides of the dispute are discussing not fighting. Rather than being viewed with trepidation, the protest, debate and political movements in Malawi should be seen as totally normal and relatively peaceful components of the growth and embedding of democracy.
