Road to 2014: Accountability and Responsibility of Muslim Politicians

Are Malawians Muslims being served politically? Do politicians deliver their promises to the Muslims after they have helped to get them into power? These are two very pertinent and crucial questions that we as a Muslim community in Malawi must be asking after almost 20 years of multiparty democracy, thus 4 general elections. In all of the 4 general elections beginning with the one in 1994, Malawian Muslims have played a very decisive role in electing the winning Government either through voting or bankrolling of the parties. In the general elections of 1994,1999,2004, it was the muslim vote which swung the pendulum to the winning party, while in 2009, it was mainly the Malawi Asian muslims who bankrolled the then winning party through both financial and material contributions. In 2014, the equation will not change much, and one can foresee that both Malawi Asian Muslim money and the indigenous Malawi muslim votes will be pivotal in deciding which party carries the day and forms the next Government.  While courting the Muslim vote and financial assistance, politicians, both Muslims and non-Muslims alike, have always promised the community heaven on earth in terms of social-economic development. The indigenous Malawians have been promised improved access to tertiary education and equal and fair participation in Government and the civil service. Some have even promised to provide an enabling environment for us Muslims to establish our own University that will cater for our future generations as the University of Malawi does not offer us the same opportunities as our non-Muslim counterparts. Those of us who are in business, both indigenous and Asian, have always been promised equal and fair awarding of Government business and contracts and access to markets. However, after 4 general elections, the Muslim is still waiting to be served. After 20 years of democracy, the Muslim is languishing on the peripheral of society both socially and economically. Access for Muslims to UNIMA is still a big challenge despite our students attaining the required grades. It is laughable and despicable at the same time to note that despite Muslims making atleast 40% of the general population, our access to UNIMA is less than 0.05%. Please don’t listen to the propaganda that Muslim students are not good enough as this has been disproved by those excelling in tough and competitive educational environments such as Asia and the West.  The enabling environment to establish our own university as promised by some politicians is still nonexistent. Government businesses and contracts are still never awarded to us, our people, despite attaining the education and qualifications, are still scarce in the Civil Service and statutory corporations and the future for our kids still is murky.

A thriving political system must hold politicians and leaders accountable and responsible  for their conduct and promises after they have gone into power. Accountability and responsibility in Islam thus are very important facets since Islam and Politics are intertwined.  Just as Islam teaches us how to say Salah, observe Sawm, pay Zakah and undertake Hajj, so does it teach us how to run a state, form a government, elect councillors and members of parliament, make treaties and conduct business and commerce. The choices we make in supporting a political party is also legislated by the Quran. Therefore, accountability to God and the community at large for all activities is paramount to a Muslim’s faith, and in turn the Muslims expect the politicians having made promises to be accountable and responsible in ensuring delivery.

Sharia defines clearly what is true, fair and just. Furthermore, it outlines what are society's preferences and priorities, what are corporate roles and responsibilities. Thus it is no surprise that Allah mentions repeatedly in the Holy Qur'an, the word hisaab more than eight times in different verses. Hisaab or 'account' is the root of accounting, and the references in the Holy Qur'an are to 'account' in its generic sense, relating to one's obligation to 'account' to God on all matters pertaining to human endeavour for which every Muslim is 'accountable'. All resources made available to individuals are made so in the form of a trust. Individuals are trustees for what they have been given by God in the form of goods, property and less tangible 'assets'. By the same definition, leadership in any form is also given to individuals as trust. Hence the extent to which individuals must use what is being entrusted to them is specified in the shari'a, and the success of individuals in the hereafter depends upon their performance in this world.

In this sense, every Muslim has an 'account' with Allah, in which is 'recorded' all good and all bad actions, an account which will continue until death, for Allah will show all people their accounts on judgement day. Hence one of the most important aspects of Islam is the belief in a Day of Judgment. It is one of the six articles of faith and is central to the Islamic concept of accountability. For Muslims, the present life is not the goal; rather, it is the life after death that must always be the focus. This does not mean that Muslims should not enjoy their lives, but it does mean that they have to be conscious of God in all aspects of their life knowing that they will be asked about their decisions.

The Day of Judgment is mentioned repeatedly in the Qur’an. Moreover, it has more than one name, including the Day of Accountability. Allah says:

On the day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it has done, it will wish there were a great distance between it and its evil. But Allah cautions you (to fear) Him. And Allah is full of kindness to those that serve Him.

And in another chapter:

Every soul will taste of death. And ye will be paid on the Day of Resurrection only that which ye have fairly earned. Whoso is removed from the Fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. The life of this world is but comfort of illusion.

As these two verses illustrate, on this day, Muslims believe that they will be resurrected both physically and spiritually and will be asked by God about their lives, after which their final destination will be determined.

Another aspect of accountability is taking to consultation with the community. It plays a role of putting into effect national interest. Islam teaches us to run a government, to make legislation and decisions by the process of Shura. Shura is "to take decisions by consultation and participation" (3:159, 42:38). A ruler is a servant of the people. Both the ruler and the ruled will appear before Allah and account for their actions on the Day of Judgment. The responsibility of the ruler is heavier than the ruled. It entails that any ordinary citizen should have the right to ask any question on any matter to the ruler and the government. In the Islamic political system the head of the state or any government minister could be called to account if necessary and not to be treated differently from other citizens.

Of course we do not expect this issue of accountability in Malawi politics to have a conclusion any times soon, or do we expect the politicians to comprehend it, especially so when it entails the Muslim community. Nor are we suggesting that Malawi should have an Islamic political system to remedy the situation for that would be a dream far fetched, as Malawi is a secular state. However, our argument is that this issue is fueled by a fundamental tension between claims derived from “promises” and claims derived from “participation” in national economic development of one section of the society. Attending to the ways in which these claims can and should be accommodated and balanced differently with respect to various politicians and political parties in Malawi can unlock new avenues for improving accountability that can lead to a stop in abuse of the Muslim community before and after general elections.  Distinguishing new possibilities for accountability requires abandoning the belief that political accountability at the moment in Malawi towards the Muslims is genuine as it conforms to conceptual and ultimate principles of democratic participation and dispensation. Such a belief prevents us from recognizing specific prospects for limiting unfairness and injustice to our community. Thus we as Muslims should be seeking to create processes for checking such unfairness in the system with the full recognition that for the past 20 years we have always been on the mercy of politicians be them Muslims or non-Muslims. This should make us hopeful that in 2014 we will play our cards right and no politician will abuse our vote. Whoever comes to us to seek support in 2014 politically, we must ask them the pertinent question; how will you be accountable to us after we have voted you into power since history in the past 20 years has taught us a bitter lesson?

Road to 2014 and the Disunited Malawi Muslims

The Road to 2014 appears to be getting shorter, with less than 20 months remaining. The great Sheikhs who preserved our beautiful Deen for 70 years from the jaws of the colonials and missionaries and the MCP regime for 30 years would never have dreamt of what we Muslims have today in terms of knowledge, political influence and material prosperity. Alhamdulillah for the past few decades Muslims in Malawi have made progress as we have had a president, vice president and several ministers in various Governments, a feat our ancestral fathers could never imagined or even dreamed of. In addition to this, we have very well educated sheikhs from various Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia itself and professionals in various fields such as law, accountancy, business administration, banking and finance just a few qualified in countries as far as Europe and Asia.

Unfortunately, while we celebrate advancement in knowledge, social and economic well being, it appears that this progress has come at a very great cost as we have become disunited and disillusion. Greed has plagued us and we have become a people without direction and proper unity. This is more so evident now when we are approaching the 2014 General Elections where squabbles among the community are emerging and there is no uniting front. Everyone is for himself and we are hell bent on outdoing each other. Our so called Muslim leaders have started to fight for the pulpit in order to spread political propaganda and serve the interests of their political ambitions. Lies, divide and rule and desires of the material world negative attributes which go against our beloved religion of Islam are becoming more prevalent.

It is always expected of our leaders to lead and live by example and principles set by the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Being the representatives of the Prophet today it’s incomprehensible that a Muslim would give up everything he stands for to petty and worldly materials. In our Islamic History Evil politics which is distinguished from the politics that is embedded in our religion of Islam since the time of the prophet Muhammad (SAW) leaves a lot to be desired and should not be tolerated. It is the main source of our disunity and division in the religion of Islam today.

Disunity and division have fragmented the Islamic world into small weak segments and divided us here in Malawi into different groups. Consequently, it is our duty to purify our society from this disease no so long as we understand the causes of the illness. Fortunately, it is not hard for Muslims who read the Holy Qur’an to know the reasons, because the Qur’an mentions them explicitly in many verses.

Of course every Muslim in Malawi has a right to associate themselves to any political party of their choice but this must be done as prescribed by Islam alone. This entails bearing in mind that the religion (din) is the same thing as politics and politics is the same thing as religion. Since Islam includes a system of government, it necessarily comprises of politics as well. Those who due to alien influence claim that religion and politics must be separated are in face stripping religion of the strength it gains by providing a system of government. We do therefore believe that those Muslims who are immensely dug into corruption, divide and rule, self aggrandizement, are nothing but misleading us as a community and themselves as individuals. Through many Qur’anic verses Allah (S.W.T.) laid down the most important basis for the Muslim ummah, to conduct their affairs, especially for those vital issues related to the Muslim ummah  and the causes of division and disputes.

Allah (S.W.T.) says in surat Al-Imran, (Verses 102 & 103), what can be translated as,
"O you who believe! Obtain taqwah of Allah as His taqwah should be obtained, and do not die except in a state of Islam. And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favor on you, for you were enemies and He joined your hearts together, so that by His Grace, you became brethren and you were on the brink of a Pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided."
And in the same surah, (Verses 105-107), Allah (S.W.T.) also says, what can be translated as,
 "And do not be as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment. On the Day (Day of Judgment) when some faces will become bright and some faces will become dark; as for those whose faces will become dark (to them will be said): "Did you reject faith after accepting it? Then taste the torment for rejecting faith. And for those whose faces will become Bright, they will be in Allah’s Mercy, therein they shall dwell forever."

In the above verses, Allah lays down the basis of unity among Muslims, because disunity and division are characteristics of the disbelievers. Before the spread of Islam came to Malawi, the Muslim ummah was scattered among tribes such as Chewa, Yao, Sena Tumbuka and many more. However, Allah (S.W.T.) connected our hearts through Islam and we became loving brothers and sisters, all worshiping the same Allah, and all fearing the same Allah. Indeed Allah (S.W.T.) joined our hearts and moulded our differences into one united ummah, and Allah warns us from breaking down this unity that He created. And in the Day of Judgment, Allah (S.W.T.) will address those who fall into divisions and disputes saying, "Did you reject faith after accepting it?". Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said in his last sermon to the Muslims, reported by Imam Muslim thus: "After my death, don’t turn into kuffar infidels fighting and killing each other."

We as Malawian Muslims must free our Islamic faith from siyasat (politics) of a perilous nature .The evil politics referred above is the form of politics that from the first century of Islam and throughout the history of Islam has obstructed the path to unity. We do not need political leaders to be using our community for their ulterior and selfish motives. The tendency of dividing and ruling our community by people who profess to be Muslims must be done away with. Worse still, there are others among us who cohabit with those of other faiths and use the Muslim community as bait to achieve their political mileage. All this is done without properly rewarding the Muslims in sharing of the national economic cake. When the Muslims have helped such individuals into power, they are dumped as if they were rice husks with no reward at all. Therefore 2014 insha Allah is a different year and we warn such greedy individuals who want to use Muslims willy-nilly.

Changes to Family Migration in UK

It is now official that with effect from 9 July 2012 certain rules governing family migration in this country will change. Obviously this change will have an adverse impact on those migrants who had a legitimate expectation of benefiting from the current immigration rules.

It's worth remembering that this is the 18th statement of changes in the immigration rules since the Coalition government ascended to power. The latest changes will attempt to consolidate consideration under the immigration rules and article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights

This will mean that in the near future the cases based on private life and family life will be defined by and determined according to the immigration rules.The changes as one can understand them are meant to cull the numbers of family migration in the United Kingdom. Although one can easily argue that the changes targets low income earners in the United Kingdom who are originally from outside the European Union.

The Home Office believes that the immigration rules are deficient in balancing between the rivalry of individual rights and the greater public interest in article 8 because rules are not debated in Parliament
The Governement thinks therefore that in bringing about these changes the UK will be protected from foreign criminals who disregard the law and this will work to prevent them from using article 8 private and family life in defeating deportation.

Following this, the function of the courts will be to assess proportionality of the rules case by case rather reviewing the proportionality of individual administrative decisions. Effectively, the government is asking the judges to give deference to the rules emanated from a democratic legislature.

The most important issue not to be overlooked here is that of children and minors present and settled in the United Kingdom. The best interest of a child is paramount and it is that interest alone which gives effect to the need of the child and the decision made as a result. The home office has incorporated this principle above in the new regime of  immigartion rules.

They state that the test will be whether it is reasonable to expect the child to live in another country abroad and in removal cases there are clear framework in balancing the child's interest and those of a wider public interests.
Therefore the best interest remains intact as long as the child remains with the parents to be removed subject to exceptional factors and long residence. Long residence is currently at seven years although the rule governing this period is no longer in use.

The 14 year rule is to be withdrawn and to be replaced by 20 year continuous residence rule subject to criminality and English requirement under the rules. A 10 year rule remains unammended and still in practice people lawfully in the UK can apply based on theis rule.

New provision to be introduced for people under the age of 18, lived here half of their life and they are between 18 to 24 years of age and those with less thatn 20 years but have no family and  ties with their country of origin.

Finally in the rules deportation will not be proportionate where someone is in a genuine and subsisting relationship with a British national or someone settled here in the UK and they have live here for the last 15 years and there are insumountable obstacles to the family life with the partner to continue to live abroad. This in addition to those applicants with children who are british cizens or settled and lived here for the last seven years and it is unreasonable to expect that child to adapt easily with the life abroad.

For more on the changes please contact Liberty Immigration services Limited in Leicester. Their advisors will be happy to help in anything you may want to knwo regarding these changes.

Lies and Manipulation of the Honorable Minister

Debating issues partaining to Ministers who lie and mislead the nation in the execution of their duties is very complex and unyielding. Most ministers in most of the countries are appointed to their portfolios not on merit but as a reward for a job well done during a general election campaign.

The constitution empowers the prime minister or the president to appoint whoever he wishes from a group of his political cohorts or members of parliament to become ministers. It is undemocratic and complicated exercise mandated by our constitution. The prime minister would exercise same mandate and power as the head of government  to appoint his executive arm. No election is required to appoint ministers who will take to oversee the performance of the government bodies which includes pertinent issue to our economy.

Ministers would therefore lie, mislead the nation and manipulate the truth in order to protect their positions and the humiliation directed to the head of state.

It is normal now that alot of ministers lie, mislead and manipulate the truth. The destruction of integrity is the legacy that most governments leave behind. Obviously ministers have codes of conduct they follow in the way they hold themselves as such but the nation keeps wondering of the consequencies of these lies.

The majority of people think that if the Minister lies to mislead the nation,  he/she is then criminally liable for such a conduct. Ministers and members of parliament are always bound by their oath of office and it is therefore profoundly shocking that the minister would deliberately lie and mislead the nation with impunity.

 In the United Kingdom, ministerial codes demand that ministers must not mislead Parliament and if they do so unwittingly, they must return to the House and correct.

While I took to write this blog, with all the good things we have heard in Malawi, smooth transistion, government of national unity, the head of state retaining former ministers from the former ruling party.

This has not paid off though or prevented  a government scandal as some of  those ministers from the former government stil have skeletons in ther closets.

The Malawi Finance Minister admitted that he lied to the nation that Bingu's Zero Deficit was working and Malawi Revenue Authority had made profits in revenues. He said the truth of the Matter is that MRA borrowed money to cover this up. He was ultimately painting a wrong impression of the whole thing in order to manipulate the truth. It was a pack of lies that was intended to mislead the whole nation.

It is surprising to hearing that Ken Lipenga had no intention of doing what he did or did not know that he was making a false statement in Parliament. I cannot help but agree with those who demand his resigantion, the Honorable Minister should do the right thing and resign honorably.

After this revelation, the nation should be concerned of his integrity and credibility now. How is he going to be trusted when at the end of the day the he is just another DPP guy who helped his late president to enrich himself and amass so much wealth at the expense of this nation. Zero deficit led to the suffering of poor Malawians who committed no crime by electing them in the government.

Supporting Zero Deficit is another thing but lying to cover it up is indeed just attrocius, I just think that he has alot of explanation to make before he goes away.

Real Change

We hear and talk about change but none of us talk about real change. Real change that saw the American history re written when Obama became the first Black President.  Each one of us at some stage wishes to have lived longer and witnessed change, to repeat change because real change is rare.

I think I just witnessed real change not just change although I may stand to be disagreed. I was born and raised in Malawi. People who matter to me, all of them, live in this small country of Africa.

Malawi has witnessed three leaderships in a space of 40 years, Ngwazi the dictator, who reminded us all the time that Colonial Masters were control freaks and that he destroyed what he called stupid federation, Bakili Muluzi, a business man, I cant just find anything to say about him, good or bad, depending which side of the coin you are and the late Bingu Mutharika who emulated Kamuzu's leadesrship to the point that he even inherited his name. 

Today Malawi's clocks seem to have stopped ticking, no hope and promising future for the young and the elderly.Dreams shuttered and everything went back to basics, shortages of basic items, fuel, power cuts and many more while the president enjoyed extravagant life.

 This is why it appears to me that my time to witness real change arrived on 5 March 2012 when Malawi President Bingu Wa Mutharika suddenly died at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.

He was a man who ruled Malawi with iron fist and spat fire all the time to his imaginary enemies, well, to say the truth, he had absolutely none. He was afraid of his own shadow and made friends with those that people loathe and shun away those that we loved. He did not take a good advice and hated to be advised, to him it was an external force that he could not bear to take.

This is why when his death was unofficially announced, Malawians never thought that they will have a smooth transition, things were going to be hard and may have civil unrest, as the force of the monsters created by Bingu himself remained and was still out there. They thought that handing over power to Joyce Banda was something that Bingu's monsters would never do without a fight. They never thought that one day the small printed words of the booklet called Constitution will prevail and those monsters will be dissipated in the dark as if they never existed.

I believe that there a lot more surprises to be learnt following his death in terms of the skeletons he has left in his closet. He was callous and a ruthless leader Malawi has ever had and noone apart from his wife and kids will ever miss Bingu.

We knew the word constitution will be mentioned time and again but who was going to give a damn considering the history and Bingu's government demeanour. " I am god and you are satan" he said, " tell them that now I am responding to their Pastoral letter, I will be here to 2014 and beyond" we were challenged. He was a messiah, today's Moses and so on. Constitution was only followed where it suited him best and that's what life had been with Bingu.

But sometimes, you just tell that change is coming and no single man can prevent it from happening. We waited and waited, there was no official announcement of the president's death and finally the unforgettable last nice try of the so called "coup gang" led by Patricia Kaliati, the red lipstick woman was held. To be honest, the whole press conference did not make any sense to me and boggled me the whole night trying to make sense of it. I had waited for an analysis of why the gang held that press conference and what purpose did it serve to the eager Malawians who deserved to know the truth.

Not telling the the truth was not enough to upset Malawians but convening a press conference that will work to tell Malawians that Madam Joyce Banda cannot be the successor of Bingu Wa Mutharika, just made things even worse.  We were informed of Rwandan and the Nigerian Constitution that could persuade the Courts in Malawi to follow in the event that the vice president did seek recourse. Who were they kidding?

Dejavu; African leaders tend to make a stand where it is obvious that they are loosing ground; Gadaffi of Libya, Bagbo in Ivory Coast, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and many others did the same thing. I had anticipated the worst and so the whole world but in the morning, thank God, there was calm and instead of just change our patience paid off with real change.

Malawi did not just let the Constitution prevail but it gave itself a second chance of dusting itself off, unity among Malawians was out of question. Manifestation of tiredness and implicit attitude of showing Patricia Kaliati that they have enough of the government that takes them for granted and trampled on their human rights with impunity.

This is not just a change but real change, I always believe that those who witnessed this have witnessed something they had waited to occur for a long time. 

God bless Madam Joyce Banda and the people of Malawi.

Are we there yet?

“If we think that we can secure our country by just talking tough without acting tough and smart, then we will misunderstand this moment and miss its opportunities. If we think that we can use the same partisan playbook where we just challenge our opponent’s patriotism to win an election, then the nation will lose. The times are too serious for this kind of politics”. Barack Obama

Indeed as a people we wake up every morning with various expectations from a country we live in.  Having a job should mean that almost basic needs are met with the income that’s earned and so is starting a business.

But most importantly there should be progress; people should have their vision fulfilled and have time to reflect the past and hope for a better future. History should always be told of the generation that missed the opportunities created by their struggle. Visitors should go away with life time memories and frequent visitors should be able to witness prosperity.

The world has witnessed the defunct communism, dictatorial rule of all sorts and democracies. Democracy triumphed over and above all the systems of governing. Its victory is characterised by its strictness of having a constitution that is followed to the letter and begs its leaders to upholding the rule of law. Respect and due regard to basic human rights and realise that human beings are equal.

Giving its real meaning of collective involvement and even distribution of wealth and opportunities; destroying all elements of favouritisms and nepotism which are inimical to its mission.

In the words of Barack Obama, “The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose”.

We will only be there if laws of the land are applied indiscriminately, respect for and due regard to human rights, wealth and opportunities evenly distributed. Political opponents encouraged and not silenced, freedoms safeguarded, life without trumped up cases and arbitrary arrests of adversaries.

Senior Ministers held responsible for their actions and held accountable regardless of their background because they are appointed in service of a greater purpose.

Citizens should be given an opportunity of being heard through free protest and demonstrations as is required by the constitution. The question should not be what is expected of the people but what is expected of those elected to represent them. Blaming culture should not be tolerated and independence of the judiciary high on the agenda. Due process and full independence of the judges are fundamental to our democracy.

The powers that may be should provide for an environment for academic freedom, this should be of right not of privilege and never discourage youngsters who are keen to join the race for leadership. Young people have a role to play and therefore should be made to feel useful in order to invest their potentials. To manipulate them is to discount what the future holds for them and the nation at large.

 One even wonders why we say “future leaders” when we cannot give a meaning to it, how can they become future leaders when we are not prepared to pass on the baton and there is nothing to prepare them for its challenges. To deprive the young of this right is just a disincentive to their success in the near future.

In my world and that of Robert F. Kennedy; “A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. Give me a place to stand, said Archimedes and I will move the world. These men moved the world and so we can all”

The times are too serious for this kind of politics indeed, and until we live up to it and bring about real change I will never feel that we are there yet, are you?

Special dedication to my friend the late Abdul Karim Bosco Mwalabu who died on 11^th February 2012