MALAWI PRESS REVIEW March 2004
From Centre For Social Concern (see our house)

PREVIEW

During the month of March, reports on politics focused on preparations for the May general elections as well as on issues of democracy and governance. It was observed that the President wields a lot of power, which if left unchecked would lead to abuse of power.

Reports on the economy expressed dismay at government's excessive expenditure and warned of further bloated expenditure in the run up to the general elections. The recent hike in fuel prices has had a major impact on the consumer, and will likely upset economic growth due to increased commodity prices.

According to findings of the first round crop estimates, the country is likely to face another hunger crisis due to erratic rains. The recent Presidential directive ordering Admarc to make maize available in its depots points to the fact that Admarc's social functions cannot be compromised.

The month of March saw the launch of the Civil Society Manifesto, a document that seeks to help people take into account important social and economic issues when voting for a new government. Civil society and churches also commented on governance issues as well as problems with the electoral process.

It was observed that despite rigorous campaigns on behavior change as the main weapon in the fight against the HIV/AIDS, most people are still not willing to change their behavior.

The problem of poor quality education looms large making it necessary to engage various stakeholders in the fight against low quality education.

HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are some of the main diseases posing a threat to the health of the population as well as the well-being of the economy. It was observed that the problem is further exacerbated by the fact that people are buying the wrong drugs from vendors, which leads to the development of drug resistant germs.

.

POLITICS

During the month of March, reports on politics continued to focus on the preparations for the May General Elections. However, it has been alleged that the much-awaited Parliamentary and Presidential elections could be shifted to a later date because the Malawi Electoral Commission has a deficit of about 14 million US Dollars to run the elections. Nevertheless, Political party Manifestos have been launched with pledges to offer Malawians better social and economic policies being high on the agendas of political parties.

The Electoral Commission has come under fire from election stakeholders for not examining compaints and evidence on the snatching of voter certificates by the ruling UDF party. Civil society groups and political parties have also expressed concern on recent trends of police interference and UDF stalking of opposition political rallies.

The 2003 Malawi State of Governance Report has observed that despite the fact that the concept of separation of powers is enshrined in the country's constitution, in practise, the President wields a lot of power which should be checked in order to avoid abuse of power. The fact that the President is awarded too much power is made worse because Malawi has an inbuilt culture of respect for people in authority hence people simply accept whatever the president and other authoritative figures may say.

The month of March saw a few incidents where Presidential Directives or orders proved to be disastrous as they resulted in either human rights abuse, intimidation of authoritative figures or a break down of rules and procedures. Presidental Directives which also served as a campaign tool have been viewed by critics as an abuse of power. A point in case is the recent Presidential order to sweep the streets off prostitutes in order to reduce cases of immorality and HIV/AIDS spread. This directive violated principles of administrative law which requires those with legal powers such as the police not to exercise them under dictation, but to use discretion in carrying out their duties. Similarly, Muluzi's directive that maize should be made available in Admarc depots within five days proved to disastrous because maize was simply drawn from the Strategic Grain Reserves against laid out procedures. Apart from upsetting donors, this move is likely to have far-reaching financial and social consequences in terms of food security.

The Malawi 2003 State of governance report argued that the practice in Malawi of MPs simultaneously serving as ministers in government while still in Parliament is questionable in as far as separation of powers is concerned. The report also indicated that the public has a negative image of Parliament due to, among other things huge monthly tax-exempt allowances given to MPs.

There is little doubt that communication is the life blood of democracy. As Toby Mendel put it "information is not just a necessity for people, it is an essential part of good governance". However, despite attaining democracy ten years ago, the country still faces incidents of victimisation of journalists as well as unequal access to broadcasting for opposition political parties. In the run up to the elections, the bias in the media has been obvious, and has led to repeated criticism of the Malawi Broadcasting Co-operation, Television Malawi and the Electoral Commission. However, there is need for all parties to have access to broadcasting and media in order to help voters to make informed choices in the elections. It is hoped that the draft Bill on Freedom of Information would be a move towards government transparency and accountability in the provision of unbiased information to the public.

ECONOMY

Reports on the economy expressed dismay at the fact that government's excessive expenditure continues unabated. A case in point is the unjustifiable expenditure of up to K16 million on a luxury vehicle for the Vice President when people in the country have no food, especially when the economy is reliant on donor funding. Such examples clearly expose government's lack of political will to execute economic policies that would reduce poverty.

On a similar note, economic stakeholders have also warned that the mixing up of party and government activities in the run up to the general elections will be a recipe for bloated government expenditure. However, the problem lies in the fact that in Malawi there is a thin line between party and government activities. Opposition Members of Parliament expressed fear that the approved K11,399 billion supplementary budget would be used for UDF campaign because of huge allocations to non-priority areas such as the Office of President and Cabinet and the Police.

Media reports revealed a drop in international Reserves to 1.36 months of import cover in February from 2.9 months in December 2003. The low reserves present a challenge to the current budget which seeks to achieve a three months import cover by December 2004. The Reserve Bank seeks to loosen its grip on the forex market operations in the hope that it would bring efficiency in the economy and invigorate foreign direct investment.The low reserves have been attributed to inconsistent flow of foreign aid and seasonal demand for hard currency. However, analysts are wary that the foreign currency shortage would raise commodity prices and further accelerate inflation. It is hoped that tobacco sales and the IMF impending aid resumption would help in the recovery of import cover.

During the opening of the floors, Tobacco growers in the country expressed dissatisfaction with tobacco prices that proved lower that expected. It is a growing trend that buyers would normally promise higher prices when encouraging farmers to grow more crops but fail to keep their promise when it comes to actual buying. This in turn discourages farmers from growing more tobacco, which remains the backbone of the country's economy.

The recent hike in fuel prices has had a major impact on consumers who have had to face transport and food price increases that have not been matched by an increase in their wages. The government has for some time failed to heed the call by stakeholders to remove some of the fuel levies. It is therefore surprising to learn that government has not been remitting most of the funds it collects as levies to beneficiary organizations, Masaf and The National Roads Authority. The recent hike in fuel prices is likely to upset the much- needed economic growth due to increased commodity prices.

However, there is no doubt that the present economic situation in the country is unbearable for the consumer who is unable to meet the basic daily needs. A close look at the Centre for Social Concern's Basic Needs Basket, which is a summary of the basic necessities in food and non-food items for an average family, reveals that the majority of the population can not afford the basic items because their earnings are much lower than the cost of basic needs.

It is now common knowledge that good governance has become a necessary condition for aid disbursement. As the US Ambassador to Malawi George Brown put it : 'putting money in a country where corruption is not controlled is a waste'. The Millenium challenge initiative is an example of aid programmes seeking to provide aid to countries that practise good governance, in other words, governments should be free of corruption, human rights abuses and be prudent with financial expenditure.

For decades, developed countries have pumped a lot of money into underdeveloped countries most of which has ended up into the pockets of politicians and government officials. It is perhaps high time that poor countries realised that failure to control corruption is simply a cost they cannot afford. However, in practise it appears that poor governments lack the will to fight corruption, a case in point is government's recent refusal to bow down to donor pressure to remove the Director of Public Prosecution's consent in the new Corrupt Practices Act.

Media reports on the economy provided some insight on why we as a nation are poor and hungry. This should certainly be a crucial question for each and every Malawian, and perhaps a good starting point before endeavouring to introduce policies and aspirations that may only look good on paper, but fail to achieve desired results. It seems that Malawians have very hard lessons to learn. Our ailing economy needs a government that is more accountable and only spends money on agreed priority areas; a government that does not borrow too much, but allows small businesses to borrow and invest. There is no doubt that self knowledge and questioning will result in improved national performance for the simple reason that we will desist from repeating old mistakes.

FOOD SECURITY

During the month of March, reports on food security revealed that the country is likely to face yet another hunger crisis. Initial findings of the first round crop estimates predicted a decrease in the yield of maize by a drop close to 600,000 metric tonnes due to erratic rains. Agriculture experts have also attributed low harvests this year on over dependency on rain-fed Agriculture; lack of political will to fight hunger as well as distortions of people's hardworking spirit because of government's tendency to provide people with handouts.

However, perhaps what is more distressing is the the fact that food shortage in the country started a long way before the actual harvesting period. Indeed, the Agriculture Development and Marketing Board (Admarc) has been at the centre of a maize distribution controversy which forced President Muluzi to issue a directive ordering Admarc to make maize available in its depots within five days. Although records showed that up to 100,000 metric tonnes of maize had been drawn from the National Strategic Grain Reserves Agency (NFRA), Admarc was unable to account for this maize. It is alleged that politicians and business tycoons took advantage of Admarc's maize loading authority procedures to buy maize in bulk and divert it to commercial traders and fellow politicians. It is also to be noted that the condition of maize that was released for sale following the President's Directive proved to be rotten and discoloured, and according to the consumer Association of Malawi ' not fit for human consumption'.

The role of Admarc following the commercialisation of the entity remains problematic as it becomes evident that Admarc's social functions cannot be compromised. Experts have argued that Admarc is breaching its commercialization Memorandum of Understanding by selling and distributing on behalf of government. This also begs many questions so to why there was such a rush to privatise; what are the states social obligations and who should carry them out.

Indeed, media reports observed that hunger has reached critical levels in some districts such as Karonga and Chitipa where people in rural areas are relying on food for work development programmes. It was also reported that UDF officials allegedly ordered ADMARC to sell maize only to their respective members.

As the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to rob the nation of its economic potential, it was revealed that the Agriculture Ministry is losing 28 members of staff per day to HIV/AIDS. This is a sad development considering that Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, and that the country needs the active leadership of government and the civil service in the fight against hunger.

Agriculture experts from the International Institute of Agriculture are of the opinion that Malawi can escape from perennial hunger and poverty if farmers in the country could take Banana plantation seriously. The advantages of Bananas are that they are easy to manage, and apart from being used as food, they are also a viable source of income. It is high time that people take food diversification seriously for experience has shown that it is unrealistic to rely on rain-dependent maize. Other food alternatives such as cassava, and millet have already been identity, what is remaining is a firm government policy and adequate resources to fund the necessary education and changes in the country's Agriculture

CIVIL SOCIETY AND CHURCHES

There is no doubt that civil society and religious groups play a major role in the development of the country. However, their role as development partners has to some extent not been appreciated within government circles where they have been viewed as an opposition wing. It is with this background that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Norwegian government have asked government to abolish the NGO Act, saying that it was designed to marginalize NGOs from democratic processes. In defense of the Act, government has argued that the Law was initially established to ensure that there is accountability among NGOs.

Women activists and legal experts criticized President Muluzi's directive to arrest all sex workers in streets and bars at night in the whole country, arguing that it is unconstitutional and a violation of human rights. However, in reality, the President's directive is rather problematic. At a practical level, there is no way of differentiating which women are out at night for prostitution from those who are simply out to have a nice time. Women activists have also argued that we should instead tackle the root cause of prostitution. However, it is sad to learn that in light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic even children of 12 years or younger were practicing prostitution. This development exposes the presence of major social problems in the country. This incident also exposes the problem with 'the traditional culture of respect' that prevails in the country, with the effect that authoritative figures such as the Police simply act on orders of the President. It is also to be noted that previous attempts to sweep prostitutes off the streets failed due to legal implications.

The month of March saw the launch of a significant 'elections manifesto' by civil society organisations. The manifesto is an attempt by civil society to engage all politial parties in debate on issues and policies in the run-up to the elections. It is premised on the idea that every citizen has the right to make informed and critical judgements on the proposals of all competing political parties, and the government is duty bound to assist all citizens to attain their basic rights in development, education, health, and food security. Civil society is telling people what they are entitled to receive from government, and where the government cannot meet the requirements, it must give plausible and well reasoned arguments to the people, rather than simple excuses. The proposed approach will require a major change in the mindset of both government and the people of Malawi.

On a similar note, Human Rights bodies have said that despite their growing efforts to promote and protect democracy, bad governance has prevailed in the country. There is need to mobilise the citizens to actively engage the parliamentarians for proper redress of human rights issues affecting them.

Civil society groups have observed that the problem of snatching voters certificates has worsened in most parts of the country and feared that the malpractice will disturb the smooth running of the elections. Commenting on events leading to the May election, Catholic clergy in Blantyre bemoaned what they described as widespread voter confusion on who to elect in the May elections hence the need for the church community to guide the electorate. On a similar note, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) warned that the use of foul language by politicians and in particular the President could also have a negative impact on the forthcoming general elections.

Civil society groups have criticised the appointment of Hetherwick Ntaba as Minister of Energy and Mining as an appeasement and a deliberate move by President Muluzi to divide the opposition. Ntaba was appointed Minister a week after announcing that he had joined the UDF. Such appeasement is only wasteful considering the country's ailing economy.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE

Since the advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, government and NGOs have worked relentlessly on behaviour change as the only plausible way to contain the spread of the pandemic. It is therefore surprising to note that a large number of people are still unwilling to change their promiscuous behaviour. Most beer drinking places continue to be havens for commercial sex workers and men in search of them. It is sad to note that people continue to engage in casual sex without any thought to the devastation of the Aids pandemic. This raises the question whether the information on behaviour change is disseminated in the right manner or whether advocating for behaviour change is the right tool in the fight against the pandemic.

Media reports observed that young adolescent girls are at a high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS due to lack of access to traditional counselling services. As many adolescents lose parents to HIV/AIDS and take over the responsibility of looking after the family, they also lose the chance of receiving information on sexuality and HIV/AIDS through projects that target them in places such as schools. It was also observed that the traditional teaching partern in which girls learn from their aunts has been affected by the pandemic as many aunts have either become sick themselves or are busy of taking care of sick families.

The oncoming general elections have reawakened the issue of national identity cards. The lack of a national identification system has resulted in problems such as under age registration, registration of foreigners and double legistration. According to UNICEF, there is currently no operational civil registration system as well as limited demand for birth and death registration certificates. However, one of the disincentives for passport applications in the country is that it proves to be an expensive and almost impossible task where one has to wait a long time to get a passport. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the registration system is useful when it comes to development planning.

EDUCATION

During the month of March media reports on education featured trends of Secondary education in the country since 1994, reiterating both strengths and weaknesses faced by secondary school education. Secondary education can be seen as a basis for gainful employment in various sectors of the economy, however, due to the high levels of unemployment in the country, most secondary school leavers fail to get absorbed in the employment sector thereby rendering their qualifications worthless. This has prompted some to argue that there is need to tailor the curriculum to suit the current employment needs in Malawi, in other words, secondary education should reflect the requirements of the job market. Various stakeholders have also deplored the poor quality of secondary education in recent years.

It is becoming more evident that problems facing the education sector cannot be solved by parents, teachers and government alone but require the participation of various stakeholders. According to Civil Involvement in Primary Education (CIPE) officials, various sections of the society have an important role to play in the delivery of quality education. For instance, Health Surveillance Assistants can play a role by teaching students hygiene so that pupils do not fail to attend school due to illness. Therefore, much as the government has the ultimate responsibility in the provision of quality education in the country, there is ample room for others to contribute towards improvement in this sector.

Reports that some school committees in the country have started imposing a fine on parents who fail to send their children to school, may be the answer to the problem of absentism facing most schools in the country. There is little doubt that there ought to be some coercive measures to ensure that the policy of free Primary education benefits more children in the country.

Shortage of teachers remains one of the main factors contributing to poor quality education in the country. Indeed, some communities have been forced to accommodate volunteer teachers who may not be qualified to teach. Dedza district was reported to have 1,500 qualified teachers against 150,000 pupils in Primary Schools. It was also revealed that in Dedza, Primary school girls are facing a major challenge of achieving quality education following rampant allegations of teachers forcing them into sexual relationships.

Media reports on education highlighted the regrettable incident where Polytechnic students went on a rampage victimising lecturers and destroying property worth more than K2 million. There is no doubt that such behaviour is not appropriate for University students who ought to act as role models. Destroying property worth millions smacks of pure 'stupidity' considering the fact that the University is currently facing dire financial hardships. It also highlights the frustrations of students who feel that their complaints are not adequately addressed. This point out a deficiency in the education system, whereby authorities fail to communicate well with students, and there appears to be a break down in conflict resolution mechanisms in our University system

HEALTH

During the month of March, Health officials continued to warn people against buying Tuberculosis (TB) drugs from vendors inorder to reduce germ resistance and curb drug theft. Government has embarked on a campaign to institute physical barriers to the drug stores and increase awareness of drug usage to the communities to ensure that they know the dangers of purchasing drugs from vendors.

Tuberculosis continues to pose a major health challenge in the country. Statics reveal that everyday, 22 people die of TB related deaths in the country, and among them 77 percent are HIV positive. TB experts also estimate that cities in the country contribute 50 percent of TB patients in the country thereby making activities such as travelling in crowded minibuses prone to TB transmission. Health officials have also revealed an increase in cases of multi-drug resistant TB. 10 cases of the strain were recorded, four cases up from a similar period last year. The drug resistant TB has been described as more dangerous than HIV/AIDS. Some Health officials have suggested that introducing a TB programme in which Health workers would visit villages to identify cases would reduce transmission.

Apart from TB, Malaria is another threat to the health of the population and the wellbeing of the national economy. Health experts revealed that Malawians spend about 28 per cent of their monthly income to treat Malaria.

The problem of finance looms large in the Health sector due to an increase in demand for drugs within the hospitals. The Parliamentary Committee on Health and Population said it would lobby government to increase the annual drug budget from US1$ per capita to at least US$3. The Committee's visits to five district hospitals in all regions revealed drug shortages in hospitals and lack of efficiency on the part of district officials. The Health and Population Minister Yusuf Mwawa concurred with this argument saying that the K1.3 Billion budget allocated to the Ministry of Health and Population to buy drugs is not enough to meet the country's growing demand.

The gravity of the drug shortage problem renders the recent Presidential directive ordering the Ministry of Health to supply drugs to all hospitals and send nurses to all health centres nothing less than wishful thinking. As the Malawi Health Equity Network put it; "shortage of drugs and medical staff cannot end with presidential orders".
It is sad to note that corruption has found its way into hospitals where some hospital staff are taking advantage of patients to achieve monetary gains. Media reports revealed that some laboratory assistants are demanding cash from needy patients awaiting blood transfusion. This is a deplorable development considering the fact that it is difficult to find people who are willing enough to donate blood.

ENVIRONMENT

Media reports on the environment featured the commendable efforts by Leopald Matches Company and Wood Industries (WICO) to venture into a reforesting programme in Michiru Mountain in a bid to create a good and steady supply wood and replace the amount of wood that is consumed in the industry. Charcoal burners have contributed to the problem of environmental degradation because they either lack capacity, or are unwilling to replace the wood used in their business. Nevertheless, since the demand for charcoal in the country still remains high, it may be more worthwhile to develop the charcoal industry so as to have big companies as opposed to individuals running the business, in the belief that it is easier for government to make the companies accountable and responsible in order to avoid environmental damage.

Although it is common knowledge that water is life, it is sad to note that water continues to be a scarce resource for most people in country. This points to the fact that scarcity of water and poverty are inter-linked. The country suffer from water scarcity partly due to environmental damage. Most developments int the country take place without any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) measures that could prevent some catastrophes such as the washing away of bridges and some other water-related problems. Careless cutting down of trees is also the main cause of water-related disasters as it leads to degradation of catchment areas.

Wildlife conservationists in the country have deplored weak legislation to prevent elephant poaching as the time for the sell-off of ivory stocks in Southern Africa approaches. There is also need to change people's attitudes towards conservation so that people start valuing wildlife and the environment in general.

GENDER

The recent months leading to the May General elections saw a growing campaign by civil society groups to encourage women to contest in the general elections. The reason for this is the need to achieve the 30 per cent representation in Parliament as stipulated under the 1997 SADC Protocol. However, although some districts such as Mulanje have recorded some success, the final outcome is likely to fall short of the proposed 30 per cent representation. It was observed that in some rural districts, the chances of women making it in local government or parliamentary elections are very slim simply because unlike men, women do not have money with which to woe the electorate to vote for them. Some gender and human rights activists have blamed this shortfall on the electoral system in the country, arguing that an 'equal representation' system where it is required that parties field a particular number of women would be a step in the right direction in closing the gender gap.

There is little doubt that the President's Directive to round up prostitutes received mixed reactions from various sections of the society. To begin with, most people would agree that the fact that 12 year old girls are involved in prostitution is deplorable, and indeed, a social problem worth rectifying especially in light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Nevertheless, experience has shown that arresting prostitutes is only a short term solution because the prostitutes are out on the streets due to a larger more complex problem which needs to be rectified if we are to achieve long lasting results. Indeed, most of those young girls are coming from poor, broken families, or orphans lacking parental care and guidance. Perhaps the best way to help these women is to offer them alternative businesses and later integrate them into society. What is also worrying is the gender bias implied within the directive. Reports revealed that out of 149 people arrested, only two were men, yet it is men who are the clients for the prostitutes.

Media reports on gender observed the gender disparity when it comes to voluntary HIV testing. It was observed that women bear the blunt of testing positive alone because culturally, it is more acceptable for a man to test positive than the woman who would be accused to infidelity and thus would eventually end up in a marriage breakup. For this reason, couple counseling and testing is encouraged in order to reduce the blame and conflict that follow positive HIV/AIDS diagnosis.

It was also revealed that despite government donor efforts to enhance girl's education, not much improvement has been achieved. 22 percent of Primary school going girls was not in school while 60 percent of those who enrolled in primary schools did not attend regularly. The problem has been attributed to gender discrimination, traditional barriers, poor school environment and lack of quality education. UNICEF argued that the cost of not educating girls is greater than the cost of education. Educating girls is the single most effective tool for raising economic productivity, lowering infant mortality, improving nutrition and health, reducing poverty, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Recent research findings revealed gender disparities in the media industry. According to the Malawi Gender and Media Baseline study, women's views and voices are grossly under represented in the media. It was also revealed that views of women politicians specifically are often under-represented and misrepresented in the media.

Jos Kuppens - Missionary of Africa
jkuppens@malawi.net
Jim Greene-Missionary of Africa
jgreene@malawi.net
Centre For Social Concern
P.O. Box 40049, Kanengo, Lilongwe
Malawi
Tel (265) 1 716 138 and (265) 9 957 669