"Like playing catch when only one player wants to throw the ball..."
At just over ten years old Malawi’s democracy is still in its infancy, but its key protagonists have been around for a long time. Many of them are in their 60s and 70s, and this in a country where the average life expectancy does not reach 40.
So for those of you not up to date on Malawi’s political situation (for shame): The previous president of Malawi was a man called Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF) party. Bakili and his buddies had a grand old time in power, amassing extraordinary wealth, much of it of dubious provenance. But the fun had to end some time, and so it came to pass, with the constitution denying Bakili the opportunity to serve a third term. According to one school of thought, Bakili was wary of promoting one of his UDF henchmen to the top post, and instead fished around for an easily controlled stooge to install and rule through. He came up with Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, who duly won the election on a UDF ticket.
Once he was in power, however, it quickly became apparent that Bingu was no mere stooge. He left the UDF, forming his own Democratic Progress Party (DPP), and launched a stinging attack on corrupt officials, through the snappily titled Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Unsurprisingly, the bulldog he unleashed starting sniffing around the UDF, finding something fishy about Bakili and friends. This was the first set of enemies that Bingu made.
The second brings us to Kamuzu Banda’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP), now led by John Tembo, who initially threw their weight behind Bingu’s DPP. Their support enabled Bingu to pass the budget through parliament, but was conditional on one thing: that the proposed subsidy on fertilizer that Bingu wished to provide for small holder and subsistence farmers be made universal, so that fertilizer would be available on the cheap to all. (A completely incidental aside: John Tembo and his MCP cronies are among the largest landowners in Malawi. A universal subsidy would be a considerable boon to the personal fortunes of these men). Bingu, needing to pass a budget to govern the country, not to mention feed the hungry, duly agreed despite the massive cost of such an undertaking.
Now, this being politics, once the budget was passed, Bingu dropped plans for a universal subsidy, citing expense, and accordingly John Tembo realigned his MCP with the UDF, who had been busy drafting guidelines for the impeachment of the President. No sooner had these guidelines been pushed through the house, than specific impeachment procedures were brought against Bingu (for no good reason that can easily be discerned), much to the dismay of the donor community. They have taken an unsurprisingly dim view of the time spent on impeachment debates when a maize shortage is threatening the lives of many of the country’s poor.
And, with the timing a pure coincidence... this week senior UDF figures, including Bakili, found themselves at the centre of an ACB probe.
It’s enough to make one’s head spin. I’ll explain the title next week, it’s getting late, and Lille are beating Man U.
So for those of you not up to date on Malawi’s political situation (for shame): The previous president of Malawi was a man called Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF) party. Bakili and his buddies had a grand old time in power, amassing extraordinary wealth, much of it of dubious provenance. But the fun had to end some time, and so it came to pass, with the constitution denying Bakili the opportunity to serve a third term. According to one school of thought, Bakili was wary of promoting one of his UDF henchmen to the top post, and instead fished around for an easily controlled stooge to install and rule through. He came up with Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, who duly won the election on a UDF ticket.
Once he was in power, however, it quickly became apparent that Bingu was no mere stooge. He left the UDF, forming his own Democratic Progress Party (DPP), and launched a stinging attack on corrupt officials, through the snappily titled Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Unsurprisingly, the bulldog he unleashed starting sniffing around the UDF, finding something fishy about Bakili and friends. This was the first set of enemies that Bingu made.
The second brings us to Kamuzu Banda’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP), now led by John Tembo, who initially threw their weight behind Bingu’s DPP. Their support enabled Bingu to pass the budget through parliament, but was conditional on one thing: that the proposed subsidy on fertilizer that Bingu wished to provide for small holder and subsistence farmers be made universal, so that fertilizer would be available on the cheap to all. (A completely incidental aside: John Tembo and his MCP cronies are among the largest landowners in Malawi. A universal subsidy would be a considerable boon to the personal fortunes of these men). Bingu, needing to pass a budget to govern the country, not to mention feed the hungry, duly agreed despite the massive cost of such an undertaking.
Now, this being politics, once the budget was passed, Bingu dropped plans for a universal subsidy, citing expense, and accordingly John Tembo realigned his MCP with the UDF, who had been busy drafting guidelines for the impeachment of the President. No sooner had these guidelines been pushed through the house, than specific impeachment procedures were brought against Bingu (for no good reason that can easily be discerned), much to the dismay of the donor community. They have taken an unsurprisingly dim view of the time spent on impeachment debates when a maize shortage is threatening the lives of many of the country’s poor.
And, with the timing a pure coincidence... this week senior UDF figures, including Bakili, found themselves at the centre of an ACB probe.
It’s enough to make one’s head spin. I’ll explain the title next week, it’s getting late, and Lille are beating Man U.
posted by the Maradona of Malawi at 11:01 PM
