Remembering Ngwazi Dr H. Kamuzu Banda - 14th May

In the Republic of Malawi every year on this day the 14th of May, Malawians take to the streets in celebration of Kamuzu 's birthday as the father and founder of the Malawi nation.
To me on a day like this, I have my own reservations not because I dont agree that Kamuzu was the founder of the republic and deserve to be remembered but  because over the years so many questions have been asked as to what extent can this go. Should he be remembered as the destroyer of the stupid (as he called it)  federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland or for being the only leader who ruled Malawi for over 30 years and could not see any eligible candidate to replace him as the next leader of the country.


Well some people in Malawi do not look further than the former and they assert that  he should be remembered for attaining that freedom the country enjoys today from the colonial masters, precisely the Great Britain, despite the fact that his tenure is all tainted and there is nothing good people can remember apart from his oratorical prowess.
This excuse has dragged so many Malawians to hold Kamuzu high to an extent that some Malawians never believed that Kamuzu will one day be defeated and humiliated in a General Election by those democratic pioneers who could not take any more from him and his party, the Malawi Congress (MCP).

Kamuzu should be remembered, I agree, but not as a defender of our human rights but as a dictator who had no respect towards humankind and Malawians should be given an opportunity to reflect and contrast whether freedom from the colonial masters that Kamuzu fought for is the real freedom that every Malawian would have wished for. In my view Kamuzu fought for freedom of self rule and sovereighty, we needed that, but he never rendered any freedom as in the Geneva Rights for Malawians and the country.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s,Malawi was the most dangerous place to live not in terms of security but in terms of  individual liberties where every word you say was censored by the very people you are having a conversation with. People were suspicious at all times and the good way of getting attention was to sing and talk about Kamuzu.
I remember a black american guy who moved to our home town in the 80s, skinhead and always in shorts,his name was Shiuata, whatever that means. He was suspected of being a secret agent for Kamuzu, seen as  causing troubles in town after he made a comment in one of the pubs regarding Kamuzu in a famous statement "who that wanted guy is" pointing at Kamuzu's portrait. Although this was an honest question as he did not know that it was a requirement by law at the time to business places and offices to hang such a portrait but to people around him, this just send a wrong message holding him as such.

I remember we did not have local media houses nor the local television and the only paper in circulation at the time people read was Boma lathu (our government), a free newspaper that carried all praises for Kamuzu and government propagandas.
Kamuzu built hospitals but on the official opening day Kamuzu went away with hundreds of Kwachas forcibly contributed by poor people in the recipient district.
Agriculture was the only subject a pupil would not pass 100 percent as this was saved for Kamuzu, Mchikumbe Number One.(number one Farmer). Besides, he imposed on Malawians his mother tongue dialect which until now is being taught in schools and spoken as a national language. This at inception appeared to be a unification tool for the whole nation but its effect is painfully being felt today, most Malawians speak Chichewa better than they do with their own mother tongue and in the younger generation is even worse.
Politicians and human rights campaigners went missing with no questions asked,therefore, in as much as we remember him, we also remember those who lost their lives in the struggle.
To remember Kamuzu indeed is to remember people like Adolf Hitler and many dictators who once lived this world, my father if he were alive would have conquered with me today because he was also the victim of Kamuzu as he spent part of his life in a maximum security jail, ZALEKA, held as a dissident for standing up against the president.
While we do remember him for showing courage towards the colonial masters but we should also not forget the relief we had on the day Kamuzu was finally deposed and his party members torn to nothing, the defunct Malawi Young Pioneers who terrorised people in the country.

I have no problem with those Malawians who see good in Kamuzu but I cannot be asked, because of him Malawi is where it is politically, people fear the government instead of being part of it as stakeholders. It is very hard to hold politicians accountable because they think they just as untouchable as the way Kamuzu was, every opportunity given to them to govern the nation  is taken for granted.
Let us remember those who died in the real struggle against Kamuzu and the colonial masters instead of remembering someone who led their lives to misery before they died for what they believed in and what they stood for. What do we want be, LAUGHING STOCKS???????????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvA-vIYMlYI&feature=related

PRIVACY LAW RULING AS OF 10 MAY 2011 BY ECHR

Briefly the main important issue to know here is that pre notification issued by the press does not not infringe or violate article 8.
View full ruling below on the link http://tinyurl.com/5s6rbfu

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MINI DEMOCRACY

Some may wonder why I have chosen to write my blog today under the above title of Mini Democracy. Indeed it is in our English language that everytime the word Mini is used will stand for something distinctively small of its kind or something distinctively smaller than other members of its type or class.
In this article I would like to explore whether those so called democratic countries do offer full and meanigful democracy or they are just a mini democracy of a type.
I would expect that in a democratic and open society, people should have all the freedom guaranteed by their Constitutions whether written or Unwritten. The availability of a constitution in the country manifest conducive environment of a meaningful democracy where people have a right to decide their destiny and feel incorporated in the affairs of the country. Besides, leaders having expected to reasonably uphold the rule of law and being aware that noone is above the law.
Having said this every democratic country ensures that human rights are respected and that people are given wider choices to choose  and say whatever they want.
Beginning with Aristotle the great ,the following words summarises the above:
"If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost."
It depends on how one would enterpret and take the above quote as to whether it is enough that people should decide who is to govern them and how or whether the governement should ensure that every citizen has a share in the affairs of the country. This could easily lead us to argue that Aristotle was also pointing out practices and the dangers of Nepotism and keeping ones tribe on the feet as long as you remain in that position of control.
If the above quote really give us the real meaning of democracy then I may not wrong to think that anything falls short of that falls in the category of mini democracy. And Liberty and freedom are very important in any democracy.
Charles Evan Hughes also reported to have said that "While democracy must have its organizations and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty." The usurpation of individual liberty is the essence of mini democracy to my view, people living in fear of reprisal from the government they chose at the end of day will only damage the relationship that people enjoy in a full democracy with their own governement.
In the United Kingdom of recent as an example, the citizens were asked in a referendum to decide the way they want leaders and members of the government be elected. The initial stage of doing so is an element of democracy and having them to decide in a poll is constitutional at best. The majority as a result decided to keep the old system of voting and also premonished the leaders that there will be repercussions if they do not live up to their promises. Leaders who do not live up to their promises are just proponents of mini democracy. Other examples are where the government supports and enacts laws that restrict the media and freedom of speech, providing a situation where people are seem not even to trust one another. Indeed it is arguably, a fact that media is the main source of information in this century and their freedom of speech in an open society is vital.
It is true that information is the currency of democracy and without information or censored information is always dangerous in an open soiciety.People deserve to know the truth that is why they elect people who they can trust and to be trusted is having nothing to hide and ensuring that people are rewarded for their allegiance. Not only that there is nothing important in ones life than having to have freedom of saying whatever and whenever they want.
 Therefore every person should at least look around in any country they may be as to whether they get full package of democracy or just a Mini type of it. I will finish this blog with the words said by Lyndon Baines Johnson as follows;
"It is the common failing of totalitarian regimes that they cannot really understand the nature of our democracy. They mistake dissent for disloyalty. They mistake restlessness for a rejection of policy. They mistake a few committees for a country. They misjudge individual speeches for public policy"
Remember freedom of specch is the birthright of all.