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POLITICS-MALAWI: ''Two Elephants Trampling the Grass''
By Pilirani Semu-Banda
BLANTYRE, Mar 20 (IPS) - The African adage that ‘‘when two elephants
fight, it is the grass that suffers'' is currently particularly apt in
Malawian politics.
The fall-out and subsequent power struggle between the country's two
foremost leadersùPresident Bingu wa Mutharika and his predecessor Bakili
Muluziùhas been detrimental to one specific group of people:
poverty-stricken citizens who make up over 65 percent of the population.
The country is staggering under abject poverty, an issue that is of great
concern to small-holder farmer Ulemu Kaziputa. ‘‘With all the economic
hardships in this country, we need proper leadership. We can no longer do
with political games that are costing us our human rights,'' Kaziputa
insists.
Since February 2005, when the conflict between the two leaders emerged,
Malawi has experienced political tension which has spilt over into
parliamentary proceedings and the court system.
The quarrel between Muluzi and Mutharika reached a crescendo after the
latter took office under the banner of the United Democratic Front
(UDF)ùwhich he then left to form a new political party. Mutharika has
subsequently failed to gain support within opposition ranks and has a
minority in parliament.
The wrangle between the two leaders possibly contributed to the speaker of
parliament Rodwell Munyenyembe suffering a severe stroke and cardiac
arrest in June 2005. He collapsed while attempting to douse an intense
verbal battle that had erupted between supporters of the warring forces
during a parliamentary debate.
This was just after he had ruled that a motion to impeach Mutharika could
not be heard in the national assembly. The speaker never recovered
consciousness. He died four days later in a South African hospital and the
parliamentary session was suspended for an indefinite time.
This unexpected recess ended up delaying a vital budget vote which would
have unlocked aid money to address the starvation afflicting an estimated
5 million of the country's 12 million people. A United Nations report
indicated that hospitals were over-flowing with patients suffering from
malnutrition-related illnesses.
The ongoing hostility between the two leaders has also led to numerous
legal cases. These political cases take precedence over other cases
because they involve the country's director of public prosecutions, the
attorney general or the official Anti-Corruption Bureauùas opposed to
cases handled by ordinary lawyers.
One political case that is dominating the courts is where the government
is accusing the country's vice president Cassim Chilumpha and
businessperson Yusuf Matumula of treason and conspiracy to assassinate
Mutharika.
Chilumpha was arrested last April together with 10 others for allegedly
hiring men to kill his senior. The state has since dropped the charges
against most of those arrested, except the vice president and
Matumulaùboth close allies of Muluzi.
Squabbles were prominent between Mutharika and his deputy ever since the
split between the president and Muluzi. Several senior officials of the
UDF followed him when the president left the party that put him into power
but Chilumpha remained loyal to the former president.
Just before the government accused Chilumpha of conspiracy to murder the
president, Mutharika announced that his deputy had ‘‘constructively''
resigned from his position by failing to attend several cabinet meetings.
The president also accused his deputy of insubordination and running a
parallel government.
This issue created another long court battle which eventually saw
Chilumpha being reinstated as Malawi's vice president.
Malawians believe that these perpetual court battles have contributed to
the backlog in court cases. Malawi's prisons are packed beyond capacity.
According to Penal Reform International, the country is among those in
Africa experiencing the worst levels of overcrowding.
One of the many people affected by delayed court procedures is Glady
Zolima (45). Her husband was arrested over a year ago on suspicion that he
murdered his niece. She has to walk about 20 km everyday to provide food
to her husband because the prisons only supplies one meal per day to those
in custody.
‘‘I know that my husband is innocent but he was denied bail because of the
gravity of the charge against him," says Zolima. The case is failing to go
to court because the courts are flooded with ‘‘more important cases''.
‘‘Government would rather take its petty cases involving politicians to
court than try murder cases. A lot of innocent people are languishing in
the country's prisons and are denied justice,'' worries Zolima.
A civil rights group, the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, has
condemned the court wrangle between the leaders as it is costing the
Malawian tax payer dearly. The centre has also alerted Malawians to the
dangers of reviving political animosity.
The fight between Muluzi's and Mutharika's camps does not augur well for
the country's democracy. Tension reigns among supporters of the two
leaders, with all sorts of threats flying around every time either of the
leaders addresses a rally.
In his presidential new year's address to the nation, Mutharika unleashed
his wrath on members of the judiciary and journalists and accused them of
conniving with the opposition to pull down his government. The president
has also warned that he would take unspecified action against Muluzi to
silence him.
Political analyst Noel Mbowela contends that the political fights between
the president and his predecessor are bad for the country's democracy and
detrimental to its development agenda.
‘‘These two are promoting hatred among Malawians instead of working
towards democratic values such as unity. The country is slowly being
divided because of these two leaders,'' Mbowela points out.
The Public Affairs Committee, a grouping of religious bodies, has been
working to reconcile Mutharika and Muluzi. This seems not to be working as
neither of the two wants to compromise.
(END/2007)
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