I am in the corners of Malawi talking with people on matters life, matters politics, matters religion and matters everything.
I will be posting some articles of my impressions and analysis in the corners of Malawi. The experience is wonderful and I hope the articles I will write will be as wonderful. So, dear readers, I appreciate your patience.
These are exciting times.
Kind regards.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wisdom of Nature
Shire is a wonderful river, one that flows out of Lake Malawi into the Zambezi River.
The river came to me this week as I thought about the idea of end of things which I discussed months ago on this column. You remember the discussion on Nelly Furtado’s song, All good things: Why do they come to an end?
The Shire starts in Mangochi. It flows out of Lake Malawi somewhere after the well-known lodges and resorts. The river flows on past Mangochi Township to the benefit of all residents, especially those of M’baluku, a densely populated village whose people leave taps and boreholes to do domestic chores on the river.
After the township, the Shire River flows down, like a giant elephant and suddenly it swells into a lake: big, vast body of water.
The river that was small turns into a lake, a source of livelihood for thousands who patronise fishing centres of Chimwala, Mtanga and others. Just after Lake Malombe, the Shire River gets back to its old-self, just a river and the troubles start. Namasupuni chokes the river from upland Mpale down to Liwonde.
This part of the Shire is a sorry story. It is the part that receives fertile silt from upland where erosion is rampant because of deforestation. This part is also the source of trouble for power generation. We all know what namasupuni is doing or undoing to power generation in Malawi.
But the Shire—and this is the beauty of rivers—flows on. It does not stop. Never. The Shire flows on and on and on down through Matope and Zalewa in this middle part of the river that turns small through the hills of Shire Highlands.
The mighty Shire that swells into Lake Malombe turns into a small body of water, falling over high ground. Gorges are also present on this part.
After the hills and the gorges and the turns over rocks, the Shire River turns wide in an area called Shire Valley (not the mistaken Lower Shire which has bad connotations). The Shire meanders and turns into a number of streams that form fishing grounds. This lazy part of the Shire is also a source of fish, a source of potatoes and vegetables.
Finally, the Shire River flows down, slowly, gently and lazily with some hopelessness. But it ends into a larger body of water: the Zambezi River.
This is a great lesson of life. Life, every life, is like a river. It ends into some body of water, larger than the river itself. The lesson is that no matter where a river passes through, no matter what life sails through, it shall end in something big. This is the nature of life.
The stones, the rocks, the bends, the falls, the namasupuni and everything else are all part of the journey into something big. Hold on onto your vision.
Of course, I am mindful that there is a river in Botswana which ends into sand of a desert, just like that, a whole river disaapearing into sand. Call it a sea of sand.
When the Zambezi flows into the Indian Ocean we know we shall have rains in Malawi because the winds that bring rains here come from the same ocean. So, the same water that came from the Shire comes back to Malawi as rain and flows down again into Zambezi and into the Indian Shire.
Perhaps the idea of an end sung by Nelly Furtado is an illusion. Perhaps the graveyard is an illusion of the end. The river does not exactly end in a sea, and that is why it never ceases flowing on its long journey from the mountains: the river will always return to the mountains after its rest in the sea.
The sun goes to another world beyond sunset, we sleep because the day has ended but the same sun wakes us up. We always return. But I cannot count the whole wisdom of nature.
Water is wise. It knows where to go. It is never told which direction to flow into, no. It is like wind. It blows into the direction of its choice. Wind goes high and comes down. Water climbs mountains and flows down. This, too, is the wisdom of life.
My plain view is that something called an event is about to happen. My other plain view is that it is better to come down naturally like wind or water than to be pulled down shamefully. I have spoken.
The river came to me this week as I thought about the idea of end of things which I discussed months ago on this column. You remember the discussion on Nelly Furtado’s song, All good things: Why do they come to an end?
The Shire starts in Mangochi. It flows out of Lake Malawi somewhere after the well-known lodges and resorts. The river flows on past Mangochi Township to the benefit of all residents, especially those of M’baluku, a densely populated village whose people leave taps and boreholes to do domestic chores on the river.
After the township, the Shire River flows down, like a giant elephant and suddenly it swells into a lake: big, vast body of water.
The river that was small turns into a lake, a source of livelihood for thousands who patronise fishing centres of Chimwala, Mtanga and others. Just after Lake Malombe, the Shire River gets back to its old-self, just a river and the troubles start. Namasupuni chokes the river from upland Mpale down to Liwonde.
This part of the Shire is a sorry story. It is the part that receives fertile silt from upland where erosion is rampant because of deforestation. This part is also the source of trouble for power generation. We all know what namasupuni is doing or undoing to power generation in Malawi.
But the Shire—and this is the beauty of rivers—flows on. It does not stop. Never. The Shire flows on and on and on down through Matope and Zalewa in this middle part of the river that turns small through the hills of Shire Highlands.
The mighty Shire that swells into Lake Malombe turns into a small body of water, falling over high ground. Gorges are also present on this part.
After the hills and the gorges and the turns over rocks, the Shire River turns wide in an area called Shire Valley (not the mistaken Lower Shire which has bad connotations). The Shire meanders and turns into a number of streams that form fishing grounds. This lazy part of the Shire is also a source of fish, a source of potatoes and vegetables.
Finally, the Shire River flows down, slowly, gently and lazily with some hopelessness. But it ends into a larger body of water: the Zambezi River.
This is a great lesson of life. Life, every life, is like a river. It ends into some body of water, larger than the river itself. The lesson is that no matter where a river passes through, no matter what life sails through, it shall end in something big. This is the nature of life.
The stones, the rocks, the bends, the falls, the namasupuni and everything else are all part of the journey into something big. Hold on onto your vision.
Of course, I am mindful that there is a river in Botswana which ends into sand of a desert, just like that, a whole river disaapearing into sand. Call it a sea of sand.
When the Zambezi flows into the Indian Ocean we know we shall have rains in Malawi because the winds that bring rains here come from the same ocean. So, the same water that came from the Shire comes back to Malawi as rain and flows down again into Zambezi and into the Indian Shire.
Perhaps the idea of an end sung by Nelly Furtado is an illusion. Perhaps the graveyard is an illusion of the end. The river does not exactly end in a sea, and that is why it never ceases flowing on its long journey from the mountains: the river will always return to the mountains after its rest in the sea.
The sun goes to another world beyond sunset, we sleep because the day has ended but the same sun wakes us up. We always return. But I cannot count the whole wisdom of nature.
Water is wise. It knows where to go. It is never told which direction to flow into, no. It is like wind. It blows into the direction of its choice. Wind goes high and comes down. Water climbs mountains and flows down. This, too, is the wisdom of life.
My plain view is that something called an event is about to happen. My other plain view is that it is better to come down naturally like wind or water than to be pulled down shamefully. I have spoken.
Moving to TVM
Dear Visitors of the Blog,
I am moving to TVM as Controller of News and Current Affairs on April 1, 2009. This is time to face new challenges. As you know TVM, has challenges in this age of growing technology, when people can go to the internet, get entertainment from ipod etc.
I would like to be part of the team that is bringing a new life to the country's TV Station. Plans for a website are underway and you should access, I think sometime this year, pictures and sound on the net.
If you have any message for me, do not hestitate to write to the e-mail address above or mzatinews@yahoo.com
Kind regards.
I am moving to TVM as Controller of News and Current Affairs on April 1, 2009. This is time to face new challenges. As you know TVM, has challenges in this age of growing technology, when people can go to the internet, get entertainment from ipod etc.
I would like to be part of the team that is bringing a new life to the country's TV Station. Plans for a website are underway and you should access, I think sometime this year, pictures and sound on the net.
If you have any message for me, do not hestitate to write to the e-mail address above or mzatinews@yahoo.com
Kind regards.
Friday, March 27, 2009
A Beautiful Flame That Kills
Author's Note: This story appeared in The Nation on July 16, 2007, but it is still on high circulation sometimes with changes to suit people's political biases. I hereby provide the original piece for your reading. If the story engages you in any way, feedbackis welcome at the e-mail address above or mzatinews@yahoo.com
He is so attractive, an irresistible, little flame that attracts moths. But it’s a flame that suffocates and all who don’t realise early enough, die.
Big Bullets (BB) seems to be a cursed football club. It had plans to go commercial, yet it has stayed three seasons without sponsorship, the very grease to roll the club to commercial levels.
Not long ago, BB was Bakili Bullets. It was the country’s richest team and the only club in recent years to spend a month training in the United Kingdom; visiting club houses and admiring their commercial status. Bakili Bullets wanted to go the same way. Then it seemed possible. Then it really did; not now, but then.
"Those were good, old days," recalls sports journalist Garry Chirwa. "I travelled with the team to the United Kingdom and we were booked in a four-star hotel in Birmingham. Every member of the 40-or-so delegation was getting a $50 daily allowance."
Such, says Garry, was the luxury and pomp that club chair Hassam Jussab had the cheek to arrange for a friendly match against crack English Premiership side Aston Villa.
The game failed but the players had something to cherish and Garry has fond memories.
"The players went to up-market shops where the likes of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand buy expensive designer clothes. When we were returning home, the team raised eyebrows at Heathrow Airport because of our excess luggage that even British Airways staff doubted the team’s ability to pay for the baggage. The airline was surprised later on to learn that money wasn’t an issue at all. The excess baggage had been paid for in full," says Garry.
The romance between Muluzi and the Bullets started on May 25, 2003, a year before the 2004 General Elections and was meant to last five years. It was an attractive package, somehow, for a team that was desperate for a sponsor.
There was a K15 million sponsorship. This was not much but the former president also promised to construct a K15 to K25 million stadium for the club. And on the day the sponsorship was launched, BB supporters from the North used K200,000 donated by Muluzi to travel from Mzuzu to Blantyre.
The team participated in the Confederation of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) tourney and showed, for once, what good sponsorship does to anything, even football. Bakili Bullets also carried the former president’s name into the Caf Championships.
That, however, was four years ago. Today the club is, perhaps, the poorest. Today the land near Soche Technical College meant for the club’s stadium lies idle, as it has been always. Today, Kinnah Phiri, the coach the team attracted from Swaziland has returned into foreign lands in search of greener pastures. Muluzi withdrew sponsorship a year and months after the 2004 elections. Perhaps he wanted to use BB for campaign and it worked.
Since then, the club is struggling for survival, not even bare existence.
The days the club travelled from city to city in the UK are over. The days the team took supporters to cities in the region to cheer the team when it joined Cecafa and Caf Championship are no more. The days Muluzi promised players K75,000 each for a win in a game against Zambia’s Zanaco in Cecafa are gone. The days BB played teams like Enyimba of Nigeria are fast being forgotten.
On July 1, 2004, Muluzi gave BB players K100,000 each for performing well in the Caf Championships. BB was among the last eight teams. That was July 1 and on July 31, 30 days later, came a different headline: ‘Bullets in financial woes’. The team was failing to pay its coaches for six months, failing to settle transfer fee balances for nine players and failing to pay rental for using BAT ground.
Muluzi had spent K60 million and perhaps was tired. By August 2004 headlines on BB had changed from ‘BB to camp in UK’ to ‘BB fail to camp’ and this was not in UK but Mulanje. The club could not afford to lodge in Mulanje.
The former president was becoming angry with club officials and threatening to withdraw sponsorship not only from BB but from the Bakili Muluzi Super League. The club was being haunted by debt collectors that by August it was asking the then Sports Minister Henry Chimunthu Banda for money to participate in Caf champions League.
Then followed chaos. Players firing club executive committee, a meeting with sponsor—or the former sponsor, because Muluzi was no longer bank-rolling the club—failing.
Saturday 25 December, 2004, was supposed to be a happy day: end of week, Christmas and about end of year. But the headline in Weekend Nation was bad news: ‘Total chaos in BB’. January, 2005, was biting hard and BB’s patience with Muluzi was wearing out. He wanted audited accounts. He promised a starter pack but nothing came forth. It was money from player sales that was running the club.
By April, BB had a K9 million debt and in July the club cut ties with Muluzi, who claimed to have been taken by surprise. In November 2006, the club was rebuffed by President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Some months ago, two twin brothers who graduated from the University of Malawi a couple of years ago decided to take over the club in a relationship that was full of doubts and sour moments.
Those who love education wondered why the Msiska twin-brothers could not donate the K5 million they spent on Bullets to the Polytechnic Library to purchase books. The Cifu group was forced out of the deal by the club’s executive that wanted to deal with Petroda, a petroleum company that promised a K20 million sponsorship.
And just last week, the deal with Petroda flopped. The club remains poor with an uncertain future. Or, put plainly, without a future at all.
Big Bullets is now like torn curtains. Who has finished the Big Bullets? Perhaps the right question is: What is in Muluzi that finishes those who work for him (not with him) as the BB did? The club is just one example of how Muluzi appears attractive like a beautiful flame at dusk, attracting all kinds of insects longing for light soon after sunset. Yet this flame kills insects. And Muluzi has worked like that flame, killing the political or professional life of people and institutions.
Chakufwa Chihana
This late icon who fought for democracy in 1992 was a giant until he worked for Muluzi. He died politically long before his physical death in 2006.
Once Muluzi got into government in 1994, Chihana’s Alliance for Democracy (Aford) formed an alliance with the Malawi Congress party (MCP) to oppose the United Democratic Front (UDF) within and without the National Assembly. It was a scaring alliance.
"They have a hidden agenda," said Muluzi who later on invited Chihana into an alliance with UDF. Chihana was made second vice-president. (He remains the only Malawian to hold this position and it seems it was created for him and him only.) Some Aford officials, too, were offered Cabinet positions.
The whole story is that the political marriage between Aford and UDF lasted 20 months and Chihana lost some of the cream of Aford. The two parties remarried in 2002 when Muluzi was campaigning for life presidency disguised as Open Terms Bill. When this and the Third Term Bill failed, Chihana was used to campaign for President Bingu wa Mutharika.
By the end of 2004 Chihana was a spent force, forgotten and vanishing from the memory of history. He had been used and almost dumped and by the time he died, it was simply physical death, politically he had already been killed by Muluzi—the beautiful flame that burns all who carelessly fly close to it.
Gwanda Chakuamba
Once he came out of prison in 1992, he was a rising star, even when he joined the MCP to work with first president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
People had embraced multiparty democracy and forgiven the past in which Chakuamba worked. He was a revered opposition leader even as late as 2004 when he led Mgwirizano Coalition. That status changed when he formed an alliance with UDF soon after the elections.
That, then, seemed a noble cause especially when he became Minister of Agriculture in Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration.
But when Chakuamba was fired and begun to associate with Muluzi on impeachment, that became the first step on the last mile of Chakuamba’s political journey. Take note: the last mile started with associating with Muluzi, the beautiful flame that burns.
Now Chakuamba does not have political wings. They have been burnt by Muluzi. Now Chakuamba’s political mobility is on the shoulders of Muluzi.
Now Chakuamba is failing to make sense of the budget-Section 65 deadlock, two separate issues that the UDF and MCP are connecting. (It is also not wise to blame all opposition MPs as if they are talking nonsense on this: some, like Mark Katsonga, Justin Malewezi and Aleke Banda have offered sober thoughts on the impasse. These, too, are examples of people who worked with—not for—Muluzi and survived.)
The story is that once there was a politician called Gwanda Chakuamba. He worked with Kamuzu and remained strong. He worked with Mutharika and stayed above petty politics. He is working with Muluzi and has become a spent force.
Khwauli Msiska
Does anyone remember this name? He is remembered for one thing: that he moved the brazen Open Terms Bill in July 2002.
Immediately his name was in international media outlets and for a bad reason. He was, of course, rewarded with deputy minister position. But that was his end. He loved himself more than the country and Malawians know the place of such people: the political dustbin.
This is where he is now, forgotten and not remembered at all. He flew close to the beautiful flame that burns.
Lucius Banda
Malawi, like all countries, is a place of role models and bad examples. There are children born with a silver spoon in the mouth but who squandered all the money left by their parents, sold businesses and are now living on alms.
And there are those born in extreme poverty—like Lucius—who worked hard to become millionaires. (Do not be surprised, most of us are millionaires: just value your car, sofa, TV, beds and you will find they add to millions.) Lucius was a model not for people of Balaka only, but for all Malawians.
Once he joined politics, he was getting popular and Balaka had hope that one day a senior Cabinet minister will come from around Sosola.
What was wrong being a famous musician without an MSCE? He worked with Muluzi for years and later went a step ahead to work for Muluzi.
The flame had become too beautiful to be avoided. He had lost sight. There he was burnt. He needed an MSCE to contest for a parliamentary seat and the way to get it was not to sit (resit?) for the examinations, but to get a certificate with good grades.
Where is Lucius today? If he were not a musician who built a reputation for a decade, he would have been forgotten like Khwauli Msiska.
John Tembo
Fondly called JZU, Tembo is the longest serving MP in the Malawi National Assembly. This, though, seems to be the last term in Parliament for the veteran politician.
The reason is simple. He is working for Muluzi. Section 65 was there when Mutharika formed a coalition government with Republican Party. But Tembo didn’t make any noise. What has happened to Tembo that he should now want the Constitution followed?
He is working for Muluzi. Both Tembo and Muluzi are not happy with Mutharika’s performance. This is surprising because they were supposed to be happy so that they inherit a healthy economy in 2009 when they win as they claim.
The two were talking the same language at their rallies 10 days ago. This is not the first time Tembo has worked for Muluzi. The leader of opposition voted yes to the Open Term Bill. Muluzi had just bought pieces of cloth for the MCP women’s league. Now Tembo is working for Muluzi again to trouble the Mutharika administration.
It is funny because Mutharika has never had a peaceful time since he became President yet he has been performing. By fanning trouble on his government, the UDF and MCP are making Mutharika perform even better than before. Apart from the political turbulence, Mutharika had a sick wife for two years and he knew she was dying. But even then the office of the President was as functional as if everything was fine.
Does JZU believe Section 65 is the best weapon to make himself popular among Malawians? This is the faulty thinking of Muluzi.
There are those who believe Muluzi is a good public speaker. Right. But his actions scare away people. While he was president, he collided with the NGO community and Malawians. Thousands chanted against third term campaign.
The same people who were against Muluzi as president are against him as retired president. His policies remain for personal gain not for the people of Malawi. Tembo has fallen into this trap and is fast losing popularity—the end of a man who has been in politics for decades.
Conclusion
Muluzi is like a candle that is about to burn completely and he knows that; which is why he has become a beautiful flame to kill the political or professional life of hundreds before he is forgotten by the memory of history. It does not matter your profession. Be it a lawyer, journalist, football team, politician, institution—whatever, your life gets chocked once you work for Muluzi.
Big Bullets can testify. Or ask John Chikakwiya.
He is so attractive, an irresistible, little flame that attracts moths. But it’s a flame that suffocates and all who don’t realise early enough, die.
Big Bullets (BB) seems to be a cursed football club. It had plans to go commercial, yet it has stayed three seasons without sponsorship, the very grease to roll the club to commercial levels.
Not long ago, BB was Bakili Bullets. It was the country’s richest team and the only club in recent years to spend a month training in the United Kingdom; visiting club houses and admiring their commercial status. Bakili Bullets wanted to go the same way. Then it seemed possible. Then it really did; not now, but then.
"Those were good, old days," recalls sports journalist Garry Chirwa. "I travelled with the team to the United Kingdom and we were booked in a four-star hotel in Birmingham. Every member of the 40-or-so delegation was getting a $50 daily allowance."
Such, says Garry, was the luxury and pomp that club chair Hassam Jussab had the cheek to arrange for a friendly match against crack English Premiership side Aston Villa.
The game failed but the players had something to cherish and Garry has fond memories.
"The players went to up-market shops where the likes of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand buy expensive designer clothes. When we were returning home, the team raised eyebrows at Heathrow Airport because of our excess luggage that even British Airways staff doubted the team’s ability to pay for the baggage. The airline was surprised later on to learn that money wasn’t an issue at all. The excess baggage had been paid for in full," says Garry.
The romance between Muluzi and the Bullets started on May 25, 2003, a year before the 2004 General Elections and was meant to last five years. It was an attractive package, somehow, for a team that was desperate for a sponsor.
There was a K15 million sponsorship. This was not much but the former president also promised to construct a K15 to K25 million stadium for the club. And on the day the sponsorship was launched, BB supporters from the North used K200,000 donated by Muluzi to travel from Mzuzu to Blantyre.
The team participated in the Confederation of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) tourney and showed, for once, what good sponsorship does to anything, even football. Bakili Bullets also carried the former president’s name into the Caf Championships.
That, however, was four years ago. Today the club is, perhaps, the poorest. Today the land near Soche Technical College meant for the club’s stadium lies idle, as it has been always. Today, Kinnah Phiri, the coach the team attracted from Swaziland has returned into foreign lands in search of greener pastures. Muluzi withdrew sponsorship a year and months after the 2004 elections. Perhaps he wanted to use BB for campaign and it worked.
Since then, the club is struggling for survival, not even bare existence.
The days the club travelled from city to city in the UK are over. The days the team took supporters to cities in the region to cheer the team when it joined Cecafa and Caf Championship are no more. The days Muluzi promised players K75,000 each for a win in a game against Zambia’s Zanaco in Cecafa are gone. The days BB played teams like Enyimba of Nigeria are fast being forgotten.
On July 1, 2004, Muluzi gave BB players K100,000 each for performing well in the Caf Championships. BB was among the last eight teams. That was July 1 and on July 31, 30 days later, came a different headline: ‘Bullets in financial woes’. The team was failing to pay its coaches for six months, failing to settle transfer fee balances for nine players and failing to pay rental for using BAT ground.
Muluzi had spent K60 million and perhaps was tired. By August 2004 headlines on BB had changed from ‘BB to camp in UK’ to ‘BB fail to camp’ and this was not in UK but Mulanje. The club could not afford to lodge in Mulanje.
The former president was becoming angry with club officials and threatening to withdraw sponsorship not only from BB but from the Bakili Muluzi Super League. The club was being haunted by debt collectors that by August it was asking the then Sports Minister Henry Chimunthu Banda for money to participate in Caf champions League.
Then followed chaos. Players firing club executive committee, a meeting with sponsor—or the former sponsor, because Muluzi was no longer bank-rolling the club—failing.
Saturday 25 December, 2004, was supposed to be a happy day: end of week, Christmas and about end of year. But the headline in Weekend Nation was bad news: ‘Total chaos in BB’. January, 2005, was biting hard and BB’s patience with Muluzi was wearing out. He wanted audited accounts. He promised a starter pack but nothing came forth. It was money from player sales that was running the club.
By April, BB had a K9 million debt and in July the club cut ties with Muluzi, who claimed to have been taken by surprise. In November 2006, the club was rebuffed by President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Some months ago, two twin brothers who graduated from the University of Malawi a couple of years ago decided to take over the club in a relationship that was full of doubts and sour moments.
Those who love education wondered why the Msiska twin-brothers could not donate the K5 million they spent on Bullets to the Polytechnic Library to purchase books. The Cifu group was forced out of the deal by the club’s executive that wanted to deal with Petroda, a petroleum company that promised a K20 million sponsorship.
And just last week, the deal with Petroda flopped. The club remains poor with an uncertain future. Or, put plainly, without a future at all.
Big Bullets is now like torn curtains. Who has finished the Big Bullets? Perhaps the right question is: What is in Muluzi that finishes those who work for him (not with him) as the BB did? The club is just one example of how Muluzi appears attractive like a beautiful flame at dusk, attracting all kinds of insects longing for light soon after sunset. Yet this flame kills insects. And Muluzi has worked like that flame, killing the political or professional life of people and institutions.
Chakufwa Chihana
This late icon who fought for democracy in 1992 was a giant until he worked for Muluzi. He died politically long before his physical death in 2006.
Once Muluzi got into government in 1994, Chihana’s Alliance for Democracy (Aford) formed an alliance with the Malawi Congress party (MCP) to oppose the United Democratic Front (UDF) within and without the National Assembly. It was a scaring alliance.
"They have a hidden agenda," said Muluzi who later on invited Chihana into an alliance with UDF. Chihana was made second vice-president. (He remains the only Malawian to hold this position and it seems it was created for him and him only.) Some Aford officials, too, were offered Cabinet positions.
The whole story is that the political marriage between Aford and UDF lasted 20 months and Chihana lost some of the cream of Aford. The two parties remarried in 2002 when Muluzi was campaigning for life presidency disguised as Open Terms Bill. When this and the Third Term Bill failed, Chihana was used to campaign for President Bingu wa Mutharika.
By the end of 2004 Chihana was a spent force, forgotten and vanishing from the memory of history. He had been used and almost dumped and by the time he died, it was simply physical death, politically he had already been killed by Muluzi—the beautiful flame that burns all who carelessly fly close to it.
Gwanda Chakuamba
Once he came out of prison in 1992, he was a rising star, even when he joined the MCP to work with first president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
People had embraced multiparty democracy and forgiven the past in which Chakuamba worked. He was a revered opposition leader even as late as 2004 when he led Mgwirizano Coalition. That status changed when he formed an alliance with UDF soon after the elections.
That, then, seemed a noble cause especially when he became Minister of Agriculture in Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration.
But when Chakuamba was fired and begun to associate with Muluzi on impeachment, that became the first step on the last mile of Chakuamba’s political journey. Take note: the last mile started with associating with Muluzi, the beautiful flame that burns.
Now Chakuamba does not have political wings. They have been burnt by Muluzi. Now Chakuamba’s political mobility is on the shoulders of Muluzi.
Now Chakuamba is failing to make sense of the budget-Section 65 deadlock, two separate issues that the UDF and MCP are connecting. (It is also not wise to blame all opposition MPs as if they are talking nonsense on this: some, like Mark Katsonga, Justin Malewezi and Aleke Banda have offered sober thoughts on the impasse. These, too, are examples of people who worked with—not for—Muluzi and survived.)
The story is that once there was a politician called Gwanda Chakuamba. He worked with Kamuzu and remained strong. He worked with Mutharika and stayed above petty politics. He is working with Muluzi and has become a spent force.
Khwauli Msiska
Does anyone remember this name? He is remembered for one thing: that he moved the brazen Open Terms Bill in July 2002.
Immediately his name was in international media outlets and for a bad reason. He was, of course, rewarded with deputy minister position. But that was his end. He loved himself more than the country and Malawians know the place of such people: the political dustbin.
This is where he is now, forgotten and not remembered at all. He flew close to the beautiful flame that burns.
Lucius Banda
Malawi, like all countries, is a place of role models and bad examples. There are children born with a silver spoon in the mouth but who squandered all the money left by their parents, sold businesses and are now living on alms.
And there are those born in extreme poverty—like Lucius—who worked hard to become millionaires. (Do not be surprised, most of us are millionaires: just value your car, sofa, TV, beds and you will find they add to millions.) Lucius was a model not for people of Balaka only, but for all Malawians.
Once he joined politics, he was getting popular and Balaka had hope that one day a senior Cabinet minister will come from around Sosola.
What was wrong being a famous musician without an MSCE? He worked with Muluzi for years and later went a step ahead to work for Muluzi.
The flame had become too beautiful to be avoided. He had lost sight. There he was burnt. He needed an MSCE to contest for a parliamentary seat and the way to get it was not to sit (resit?) for the examinations, but to get a certificate with good grades.
Where is Lucius today? If he were not a musician who built a reputation for a decade, he would have been forgotten like Khwauli Msiska.
John Tembo
Fondly called JZU, Tembo is the longest serving MP in the Malawi National Assembly. This, though, seems to be the last term in Parliament for the veteran politician.
The reason is simple. He is working for Muluzi. Section 65 was there when Mutharika formed a coalition government with Republican Party. But Tembo didn’t make any noise. What has happened to Tembo that he should now want the Constitution followed?
He is working for Muluzi. Both Tembo and Muluzi are not happy with Mutharika’s performance. This is surprising because they were supposed to be happy so that they inherit a healthy economy in 2009 when they win as they claim.
The two were talking the same language at their rallies 10 days ago. This is not the first time Tembo has worked for Muluzi. The leader of opposition voted yes to the Open Term Bill. Muluzi had just bought pieces of cloth for the MCP women’s league. Now Tembo is working for Muluzi again to trouble the Mutharika administration.
It is funny because Mutharika has never had a peaceful time since he became President yet he has been performing. By fanning trouble on his government, the UDF and MCP are making Mutharika perform even better than before. Apart from the political turbulence, Mutharika had a sick wife for two years and he knew she was dying. But even then the office of the President was as functional as if everything was fine.
Does JZU believe Section 65 is the best weapon to make himself popular among Malawians? This is the faulty thinking of Muluzi.
There are those who believe Muluzi is a good public speaker. Right. But his actions scare away people. While he was president, he collided with the NGO community and Malawians. Thousands chanted against third term campaign.
The same people who were against Muluzi as president are against him as retired president. His policies remain for personal gain not for the people of Malawi. Tembo has fallen into this trap and is fast losing popularity—the end of a man who has been in politics for decades.
Conclusion
Muluzi is like a candle that is about to burn completely and he knows that; which is why he has become a beautiful flame to kill the political or professional life of hundreds before he is forgotten by the memory of history. It does not matter your profession. Be it a lawyer, journalist, football team, politician, institution—whatever, your life gets chocked once you work for Muluzi.
Big Bullets can testify. Or ask John Chikakwiya.
Monday, March 2, 2009
My Friends From the North
This is a sensitive topic. But we have to talk about it, anyway, especially because I bring good news. This is about the northern region of Malawi.
I have many friends from the North: Muhlabase Mughogho, James and Ephraim Nyondo, Matthews Mtumbuka, Mthusani Zungu, Albert Harawa, Khumbo and Ellen Banda, Wanangwa and Wezi Kumwenda, Rabecca Kaonga, Chikumbusyo Kaonga, Dr Gift Banda, Dr Sam Kondwani, Dr Lughano Kalongolera, Dr Wanangwa Mkandawire, Willings Botha, Ucizi Mughogho, Emmanuel Ngwira, Damazio Mfune, Chomora Mikeka Mkandawire. It is a long list.
They are aged between 25 and 35. One thing we share in common is that we belong to a generation that is insensitive to regions, districts and tribes. It is a generation that looks at merit, not place which is tribal and religious. This is a real example of great news.
I come with good news from bad news. The Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP attacked President Bingu wa Mutharika for picking Joyce Banda of Zomba as running mate. The Synod wanted a running mate from the North, meaning the Synod values place more than merit.
I have been in touch with my generation on Joyce Banda and they have not grumbled. My generation does not care that Mutharika and Banda are from the South just as we don’t mind that Sports Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda, Fam president Walter Nyamirandu, Fam CEO Charles Nyirenda, Fam administrative officer Sugzo Nyirenda and Flames coach Kinnah Phiri are from the North.
Whether they hold their meetings in Tumbuka or Tonga, my generation does not care. All we care is that they have delivered and continue to do so. They have turned the Flames from perpetual losers to winners. They are in their positions on merit, not based on place.
The leaders of the Livingstonia Synod belong to a generation that minds tribal boundaries. We need to understand this historically. Theirs is a generation that employs people on tribal and regional lines, not merit.
Now young CEOs are employing people from any region so long they are qualified. There is a positive trend going on and this is good news for Malawi. The best news is that there are people above 40 who are part of my generation in terms of ideas. So my generation is not defined by age, but ideas.
We are moving to a tribeless state, a country in which Malawi will be first. It takes time, of course, but we are going there and it is not a smooth journey, but still we are moving.
History offers hope. In the 1960s, people were arguing over whether black and white children should be going to the same schools in the US, whether African Americans and White Americans could jump into one bus or live in one area.
What was unthought-of 60 years ago, is reality today. The world can change. Things can change. It will not take us long before this country forgets regions and tribes. It is happening. The more our children go to school, the more they look at merit than regions.
In less that 20 years Malawi will host one of two great events. There is now a high likelihood that a woman may become President of Malawi. There is also a great likelihood that a person from the North will rule this country.
A star shall rise from the North and this and the coming generation—the generation of Livingstonia Synod leaders will be gone in terms of power and influence but will witness such changes—will agree that the best candidate is the one from the North.
We shall not ask where he or she comes from. We shall ask what he or she can do for Malawi. It is a change no one can think of now. But remember that not long ago, it was impossible for an African American to contest in the US, even just to think about this happening.
My plain view is that I don’t know who this President will be. May be Matthews Mtumbuka, perhaps Muhlabase Mughogho, or could be Debora Chipofya, James Nyondo. Or someone I don’t know. What I do know is that we are moving to social prosperity.
I have many friends from the North: Muhlabase Mughogho, James and Ephraim Nyondo, Matthews Mtumbuka, Mthusani Zungu, Albert Harawa, Khumbo and Ellen Banda, Wanangwa and Wezi Kumwenda, Rabecca Kaonga, Chikumbusyo Kaonga, Dr Gift Banda, Dr Sam Kondwani, Dr Lughano Kalongolera, Dr Wanangwa Mkandawire, Willings Botha, Ucizi Mughogho, Emmanuel Ngwira, Damazio Mfune, Chomora Mikeka Mkandawire. It is a long list.
They are aged between 25 and 35. One thing we share in common is that we belong to a generation that is insensitive to regions, districts and tribes. It is a generation that looks at merit, not place which is tribal and religious. This is a real example of great news.
I come with good news from bad news. The Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP attacked President Bingu wa Mutharika for picking Joyce Banda of Zomba as running mate. The Synod wanted a running mate from the North, meaning the Synod values place more than merit.
I have been in touch with my generation on Joyce Banda and they have not grumbled. My generation does not care that Mutharika and Banda are from the South just as we don’t mind that Sports Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda, Fam president Walter Nyamirandu, Fam CEO Charles Nyirenda, Fam administrative officer Sugzo Nyirenda and Flames coach Kinnah Phiri are from the North.
Whether they hold their meetings in Tumbuka or Tonga, my generation does not care. All we care is that they have delivered and continue to do so. They have turned the Flames from perpetual losers to winners. They are in their positions on merit, not based on place.
The leaders of the Livingstonia Synod belong to a generation that minds tribal boundaries. We need to understand this historically. Theirs is a generation that employs people on tribal and regional lines, not merit.
Now young CEOs are employing people from any region so long they are qualified. There is a positive trend going on and this is good news for Malawi. The best news is that there are people above 40 who are part of my generation in terms of ideas. So my generation is not defined by age, but ideas.
We are moving to a tribeless state, a country in which Malawi will be first. It takes time, of course, but we are going there and it is not a smooth journey, but still we are moving.
History offers hope. In the 1960s, people were arguing over whether black and white children should be going to the same schools in the US, whether African Americans and White Americans could jump into one bus or live in one area.
What was unthought-of 60 years ago, is reality today. The world can change. Things can change. It will not take us long before this country forgets regions and tribes. It is happening. The more our children go to school, the more they look at merit than regions.
In less that 20 years Malawi will host one of two great events. There is now a high likelihood that a woman may become President of Malawi. There is also a great likelihood that a person from the North will rule this country.
A star shall rise from the North and this and the coming generation—the generation of Livingstonia Synod leaders will be gone in terms of power and influence but will witness such changes—will agree that the best candidate is the one from the North.
We shall not ask where he or she comes from. We shall ask what he or she can do for Malawi. It is a change no one can think of now. But remember that not long ago, it was impossible for an African American to contest in the US, even just to think about this happening.
My plain view is that I don’t know who this President will be. May be Matthews Mtumbuka, perhaps Muhlabase Mughogho, or could be Debora Chipofya, James Nyondo. Or someone I don’t know. What I do know is that we are moving to social prosperity.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Counting the Years, Day and Night
Now that we are 15 years old, it is proper to jump and celebrate this all important anniversary which, in a clear way, confirms our energies and number one position on the print media market.
On a cold July, 1993 afternoon, about five people were in a studio at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)—there was one radio station, then—to record a promotion for The Nation, a new newspaper on the market.
"They are a mouthpiece of cassava growers," said one voice.
"Wrong," said another. "They are a mouthpiece of the poor."
"You are wrong," said yet another. "They are a mouthpiece of a political party."
"Wrong," said yet a fourth voice. "They are a mouthpiece of all."
There was one immediate dilemma. The promotion didn’t come to an agreeable conclusion. This, in part, meant the newspaper would be for all, which, I think, remains the case today. But there was a high mountain to climb. The market was already crowded with established media houses.
Some have suggested that there were over 30 newspapers in 1993.
Was there a market for a new newspaper? The immediate answer, perhaps the only one, was no. But the question is illegitimate.
There will never be a market for a new product, never. Every product must create a market. The counsel from a Spanish poet Antonio Machado (July 26, 1875-February 22,1939) is clear in his poem Pathwalker: "There is no path, You must make the path as you walk."
The new newspaper made its own path and walked on it; The Nation, coming out twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, made its own market that has grown and today, 15 years later, Nation Publications Limited (NPL) is a proud owner of four products: The Nation, Weekend Nation, Nation on Sunday and Nation Online. We are on the streets seven days a week and online 24/7.
We boast of the highest—though not satisfactory—circulation and an assembly of a cream of journalists in the names of Peter Kanjere, Garry Chirwa, Gracian Tukula and Mabvuto Banda. This seems great and there is a tendency in such times to forget where we have come from.
"NPL grew from an idea—a seed," recalls chief executive officer Mbumba Achuthan. "An idea to come up with a paper that would disseminate truthful information at a time when information was a highly sort-after commodity."
Thus the genesis of NPL was like a small seed, a mustard seed perhaps, too small to make an impact on anything yet when it germinates, it grows big and offers shelter to people and animals.
Three people came together. Aleke Banda, Achuthan and Ken Lipenga and discussed the idea of a newspaper. Big things, as NPL confirms, start from ideas, not money. What we lack are ideas not money, because ideas bring money while money does not necessarily bring ideas.
Later, Lipenga brought in Alfred Ntonga from Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL). Achuthan roped in Billy Mphande, our area manager for the Centre, who retires later this year. Achuthan and Mphande met at The Monitor newspaper, a daily that died an artificial death.
Alfred Ntaula joined the team. He was from The UDF news. Bertha Masiku, the MP for Blantyre Blantyre City West was heading the advertising section. Mphande brought in for Masauko Chiomba, now business manager for our Mzuzu office. Finally, a messenger was employed.
It was a team of seven people, excluding Aleke, of course, who became chair of NPL. Humble resources too: a family car, a typewriter, a computer, some furniture. Lipenga brought his personal computer. Just like that. And a journey started with the first step.
"Nothing was impossible because we worked as a team," recalls Achuthan.
They could go anywhere, at any time, and do anything. Achuthan—then managing director, now chief executive officer—went on editorial assignments. Mphande did the same. Yet the two were not part of the newsroom.
How, then, did The Nation make its own market when newspapers were dying? One project that carved a place on the market for The Nation was the 1983 Mwanza murder stories. The small team of NPL staff cracked the idea of following up. They decided that if the people who killed the three ministers and one MP were to be found, The Nation, a biweekly, should be the paper to find them.
It worked by cooperation, of course. It was the chief accountant Mphande who pledged to provide a source who worked for the Police and was sent to take pictures at the "accident" place at Thambani.
He was called Mr X by the newspaper and worked with editor-in-chief Lipenga. The two formed a team. Mr X took Lipenga to a former PMF man who actually killed the three ministers Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama, Twaibu Sangala and MP David Chiwanga for Chikwawa.
"The guy was tall, heavily built, short tampered, deeply suspicious and capable of killing a fellow human being," recalls Lipenga in a 1998, August, interview with The Nation.
Lipenga went to the killer’s home which remains anonymous up to now. The man was uncomfortable, says Lipenga, and in his drunken state, wanted to go away before the meeting was over.
Lipenga had to persuade him to stay by offering to buy Kachasu. When the illegal drink came, Lipenga had to partake to confirm the rapport between them. Now, Lipenga was not just another journalist on the street. He was editor-in-chief and a PhD, a man who would have been professor had he stayed on Chancellor College where he worked in the English Department.
This was a practical and theoretical journalism lesson: that sometimes we have to go down to the level of our sources to get information on behalf of people, information for a big story that can shake a country.
Once the story was out, The Nation became a giant of the streets. The Bakili Muluzi administration instituted a commission of inquiry and the result was the house arrest of first president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda and some of his close associates.
They were acquitted, of course, but the aim of The Nation was not to get anyone in prison. It was, as Achuthan says of the founding principle, to tell people the truth on issues of national importance.
Since then, NPL has remained the country’s number one media house. Saturday Nation (now Weekend Nation) followed, then came Nation on Line and, finally, Nation on Sunday. That is not all. NPL has a fully fledged design studio where advertisements are made. It is under
ImangiNation, a subsidiary of NPL, now becoming almost a group of companies.
Early Days
When there was Operation Bwezani, recalls Achuthan, "we all spread out into different parts of the country to get what we could [and] when it came to production time, we all worked together to put everything together. Some of us even went on delivery, served coffee and tea to people, sold adverts—did everything. It was a good training ground in writing, editing, designing, distribution—everything."
The lifeline of any private media house is advertising and even here NPL is leading the way. But it was, as usual, a humble beginning with few clients from the editorial front, most of them contacted as individual friends but in other cases contacted from a purely sales point of view. Achuthan remembers Maurice Newa well
"He was instrumental, while at Lever Brothers [now Unilever], in introducing big advertising as we know it today," says Achuthan. "He took that culture with him to BAT and then on to Sobo and it spread from those points. We also dealt mainly with Top Advertising and later organisations such as Marketpoint. Others came onto the scene."
Technology
Nation has grown technologically from one computer and one typewriter to state-of-the-art technology. We have perhaps the best machines in town.
Our computers are on local area network. We get Reuters copy electronically. This is unlike in the past when we used to go to Malawi News Agency (Mana) to get Reuters copy on paper, bring to office and typeset. Now everything has gone satellite.
Even printing has gone technology. In fact, in the early days, we used to print in Lilongwe from Blantyre for printing and distribute thereafter. Next our paper was printed at Blantyre Printing and Packaging (BP&P). But later we bought our machine, a web offset, from United Printers which we sold to Fattani Printers after acquiring a modern web printer.
In the early days, NPL developed ties with a Netherlands organisation that advises businesses in developing world.
"An elderly gentleman named Ben Romijn came thrice to work with us and help us set standards and benchmarks," says Achuttan. "He helped us with our first survey which set the direction for later surveys which we have consistently carried out to tell us our place on the market. He also helped us establish benchmarks in many areas of our operations, especially editorial."
The advantage was that NPL was able to send people to Holland to learn about newspaper operations and this helped us in setting and correcting our operations.
Process
Minutes after five in the afternoon on a Thursday, Roblee Mkamanga, the circulation manager, is busy in her office, making sure all subscribers and readers will get their paper the next day.
She is printing the circulation list, which her office does everyday, making sure it is accurate and up-to-date. Meanwhile, there is sound from the printing house, indicating work in progress.
They have just started printing the inside pages like features, business, leisure.
But the newsroom is not yet through with Friday’s newspaper, especially pages one, two, three and some sports pages, mainly the back page. Elizabeth Lisuntha Banda, the deputy editor responsible for current news, is busy reading stories and deciding with her editor Edward Chitsulo, which story leads.
By this time, most staff of NPL are at home. But as some staff get out of the gate, others are reporting for work in the print section. The newsroom is making last touches. Lizzie Lupiya, the designer of front page this evening, is receiving stories to start her work.
Aubrey Mchulu, the stonesub this evening, is waiting to read all the stories on pages one, two, three and sports pages. This is one way of making sure we have perfect text and pictures because the stories have already been read by two people.
As the newsroom finishes its work, the design studio gets busier making films that go to print. By this time, the advertising department is at home. They are through with adverts by about 3 pm. Films for advertisements were ready by five. Adverts for Weekend Nation and Friday’s The Nation have been done.
By 11 pm on Thursday night, printing of The Nation for Friday is over and it is being packed for Lilongwe and Mzuzu, so that circulation driver Charles Bonde should be in Lilongwe about dawn.
He stops over several places to leave newspapers on the way. By 3:30 am, he is in Lilongwe and some newspapers are leaving for Mzuzu, so that by 7:30 am people have the paper.
This, too, is the time some editorial staff are arriving at work on Friday for Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday production. Staff who work on The Nation are on weekend, call it early weekend, because they work Sunday to Thursday, while those on Weekend Nation work Monday to Friday with Nation on Sunday staff working Tuesday to Saturday.
Ours is a place that is busy seven days a week throughout a year, hence we are counting the years, day and night.
Independence
NPL started in a house of a politician. Aleke had been released from Mikuyu Maximum Prison and joined the United Democratic Front (UDF), the original one which everybody describes as a team of dedicated politicians who wanted political change and development in Malawi.
Just when The Nation was launched Achuthan, recalls Lipenga, told Aleke: "You do realise, chief, that even if you took up a position in the new government, this paper would not always toe your line, don’t you?"
The result was a media house that has developed a reputation of honesty and balance. It is a media house that remains number one, partly because of its independence. Even when Aleke was in government, NPL did its work thoroughly, checking both the ruling and opposition parties.
Now that he president of Progressive Peoples Movement (PPM), NPL would have been championing the party. But that is not the case.
"Pressure from outside has always been there," says Achuthan. "AKB has withstood a lot of heat right from the time that NPL was established to now. His political colleagues have not always understood the role he has played in respecting the fact that if we are to do a good job, we should remain independent of him and his politics or any other politics for that matter.
"Some of his political colleagues have thought that he drives us to write certain stories or editorials. Some have even gone as far as to think he actually writes! Far from it. Many would be surprised to know that he reads and knows about the content of the newspaper at the same time that the rest of the readers do," she says.
This is so because of our editorial policy, our code of conduct and all other policies we have and the pride that we have in doing our work.
Everything else, as Achuthan understands, rests on editorial content, hence she "can confidently say that [Aleke] has trust in me and Alfred Ntonga’s leadership of the newsroom". Ntonga is deputy CEO and editor-in-chief.
Future
What NPL does Achuthan want to leave to the next CEO, whoever he or she shall be? "A stable, strong, forward-looking and respected NPL, a platform of excellence that creates opportunities for its clients, staff and shareholders in Malawi and beyond," she says.
These are wise words that go well with what the founding editor-in-chief Ken Lipenga said in 1998 when NPL celebrated five years.
Last word? Jika Nkolokosa, then editor of NPL, asked Lipenga. "Congratulations for turning five, and hope to be there when The Nation turns a hundred, which it will."
Indeed it will. But as for now, we are 15 and that is our limit of celebration. Yet that does not stop us from hoping for a bigger future, especially when we shall hit 100 in 2093. Lipenga, now Minister of Economic Development, just like most of us, will for sure not be there, physically. But our names shall remain in the history of NPL.
The advert recorded that cold afternoon in July 1993, will be played again in 2093, perhaps. Then people will marvel at NPL: that it started with seven people in a crowded industry, employed about 200 people in 2008 and will be leading the way in 2093. Happy birthday NPL!
On a cold July, 1993 afternoon, about five people were in a studio at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)—there was one radio station, then—to record a promotion for The Nation, a new newspaper on the market.
"They are a mouthpiece of cassava growers," said one voice.
"Wrong," said another. "They are a mouthpiece of the poor."
"You are wrong," said yet another. "They are a mouthpiece of a political party."
"Wrong," said yet a fourth voice. "They are a mouthpiece of all."
There was one immediate dilemma. The promotion didn’t come to an agreeable conclusion. This, in part, meant the newspaper would be for all, which, I think, remains the case today. But there was a high mountain to climb. The market was already crowded with established media houses.
Some have suggested that there were over 30 newspapers in 1993.
Was there a market for a new newspaper? The immediate answer, perhaps the only one, was no. But the question is illegitimate.
There will never be a market for a new product, never. Every product must create a market. The counsel from a Spanish poet Antonio Machado (July 26, 1875-February 22,1939) is clear in his poem Pathwalker: "There is no path, You must make the path as you walk."
The new newspaper made its own path and walked on it; The Nation, coming out twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, made its own market that has grown and today, 15 years later, Nation Publications Limited (NPL) is a proud owner of four products: The Nation, Weekend Nation, Nation on Sunday and Nation Online. We are on the streets seven days a week and online 24/7.
We boast of the highest—though not satisfactory—circulation and an assembly of a cream of journalists in the names of Peter Kanjere, Garry Chirwa, Gracian Tukula and Mabvuto Banda. This seems great and there is a tendency in such times to forget where we have come from.
"NPL grew from an idea—a seed," recalls chief executive officer Mbumba Achuthan. "An idea to come up with a paper that would disseminate truthful information at a time when information was a highly sort-after commodity."
Thus the genesis of NPL was like a small seed, a mustard seed perhaps, too small to make an impact on anything yet when it germinates, it grows big and offers shelter to people and animals.
Three people came together. Aleke Banda, Achuthan and Ken Lipenga and discussed the idea of a newspaper. Big things, as NPL confirms, start from ideas, not money. What we lack are ideas not money, because ideas bring money while money does not necessarily bring ideas.
Later, Lipenga brought in Alfred Ntonga from Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL). Achuthan roped in Billy Mphande, our area manager for the Centre, who retires later this year. Achuthan and Mphande met at The Monitor newspaper, a daily that died an artificial death.
Alfred Ntaula joined the team. He was from The UDF news. Bertha Masiku, the MP for Blantyre Blantyre City West was heading the advertising section. Mphande brought in for Masauko Chiomba, now business manager for our Mzuzu office. Finally, a messenger was employed.
It was a team of seven people, excluding Aleke, of course, who became chair of NPL. Humble resources too: a family car, a typewriter, a computer, some furniture. Lipenga brought his personal computer. Just like that. And a journey started with the first step.
"Nothing was impossible because we worked as a team," recalls Achuthan.
They could go anywhere, at any time, and do anything. Achuthan—then managing director, now chief executive officer—went on editorial assignments. Mphande did the same. Yet the two were not part of the newsroom.
How, then, did The Nation make its own market when newspapers were dying? One project that carved a place on the market for The Nation was the 1983 Mwanza murder stories. The small team of NPL staff cracked the idea of following up. They decided that if the people who killed the three ministers and one MP were to be found, The Nation, a biweekly, should be the paper to find them.
It worked by cooperation, of course. It was the chief accountant Mphande who pledged to provide a source who worked for the Police and was sent to take pictures at the "accident" place at Thambani.
He was called Mr X by the newspaper and worked with editor-in-chief Lipenga. The two formed a team. Mr X took Lipenga to a former PMF man who actually killed the three ministers Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama, Twaibu Sangala and MP David Chiwanga for Chikwawa.
"The guy was tall, heavily built, short tampered, deeply suspicious and capable of killing a fellow human being," recalls Lipenga in a 1998, August, interview with The Nation.
Lipenga went to the killer’s home which remains anonymous up to now. The man was uncomfortable, says Lipenga, and in his drunken state, wanted to go away before the meeting was over.
Lipenga had to persuade him to stay by offering to buy Kachasu. When the illegal drink came, Lipenga had to partake to confirm the rapport between them. Now, Lipenga was not just another journalist on the street. He was editor-in-chief and a PhD, a man who would have been professor had he stayed on Chancellor College where he worked in the English Department.
This was a practical and theoretical journalism lesson: that sometimes we have to go down to the level of our sources to get information on behalf of people, information for a big story that can shake a country.
Once the story was out, The Nation became a giant of the streets. The Bakili Muluzi administration instituted a commission of inquiry and the result was the house arrest of first president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda and some of his close associates.
They were acquitted, of course, but the aim of The Nation was not to get anyone in prison. It was, as Achuthan says of the founding principle, to tell people the truth on issues of national importance.
Since then, NPL has remained the country’s number one media house. Saturday Nation (now Weekend Nation) followed, then came Nation on Line and, finally, Nation on Sunday. That is not all. NPL has a fully fledged design studio where advertisements are made. It is under
ImangiNation, a subsidiary of NPL, now becoming almost a group of companies.
Early Days
When there was Operation Bwezani, recalls Achuthan, "we all spread out into different parts of the country to get what we could [and] when it came to production time, we all worked together to put everything together. Some of us even went on delivery, served coffee and tea to people, sold adverts—did everything. It was a good training ground in writing, editing, designing, distribution—everything."
The lifeline of any private media house is advertising and even here NPL is leading the way. But it was, as usual, a humble beginning with few clients from the editorial front, most of them contacted as individual friends but in other cases contacted from a purely sales point of view. Achuthan remembers Maurice Newa well
"He was instrumental, while at Lever Brothers [now Unilever], in introducing big advertising as we know it today," says Achuthan. "He took that culture with him to BAT and then on to Sobo and it spread from those points. We also dealt mainly with Top Advertising and later organisations such as Marketpoint. Others came onto the scene."
Technology
Nation has grown technologically from one computer and one typewriter to state-of-the-art technology. We have perhaps the best machines in town.
Our computers are on local area network. We get Reuters copy electronically. This is unlike in the past when we used to go to Malawi News Agency (Mana) to get Reuters copy on paper, bring to office and typeset. Now everything has gone satellite.
Even printing has gone technology. In fact, in the early days, we used to print in Lilongwe from Blantyre for printing and distribute thereafter. Next our paper was printed at Blantyre Printing and Packaging (BP&P). But later we bought our machine, a web offset, from United Printers which we sold to Fattani Printers after acquiring a modern web printer.
In the early days, NPL developed ties with a Netherlands organisation that advises businesses in developing world.
"An elderly gentleman named Ben Romijn came thrice to work with us and help us set standards and benchmarks," says Achuttan. "He helped us with our first survey which set the direction for later surveys which we have consistently carried out to tell us our place on the market. He also helped us establish benchmarks in many areas of our operations, especially editorial."
The advantage was that NPL was able to send people to Holland to learn about newspaper operations and this helped us in setting and correcting our operations.
Process
Minutes after five in the afternoon on a Thursday, Roblee Mkamanga, the circulation manager, is busy in her office, making sure all subscribers and readers will get their paper the next day.
She is printing the circulation list, which her office does everyday, making sure it is accurate and up-to-date. Meanwhile, there is sound from the printing house, indicating work in progress.
They have just started printing the inside pages like features, business, leisure.
But the newsroom is not yet through with Friday’s newspaper, especially pages one, two, three and some sports pages, mainly the back page. Elizabeth Lisuntha Banda, the deputy editor responsible for current news, is busy reading stories and deciding with her editor Edward Chitsulo, which story leads.
By this time, most staff of NPL are at home. But as some staff get out of the gate, others are reporting for work in the print section. The newsroom is making last touches. Lizzie Lupiya, the designer of front page this evening, is receiving stories to start her work.
Aubrey Mchulu, the stonesub this evening, is waiting to read all the stories on pages one, two, three and sports pages. This is one way of making sure we have perfect text and pictures because the stories have already been read by two people.
As the newsroom finishes its work, the design studio gets busier making films that go to print. By this time, the advertising department is at home. They are through with adverts by about 3 pm. Films for advertisements were ready by five. Adverts for Weekend Nation and Friday’s The Nation have been done.
By 11 pm on Thursday night, printing of The Nation for Friday is over and it is being packed for Lilongwe and Mzuzu, so that circulation driver Charles Bonde should be in Lilongwe about dawn.
He stops over several places to leave newspapers on the way. By 3:30 am, he is in Lilongwe and some newspapers are leaving for Mzuzu, so that by 7:30 am people have the paper.
This, too, is the time some editorial staff are arriving at work on Friday for Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday production. Staff who work on The Nation are on weekend, call it early weekend, because they work Sunday to Thursday, while those on Weekend Nation work Monday to Friday with Nation on Sunday staff working Tuesday to Saturday.
Ours is a place that is busy seven days a week throughout a year, hence we are counting the years, day and night.
Independence
NPL started in a house of a politician. Aleke had been released from Mikuyu Maximum Prison and joined the United Democratic Front (UDF), the original one which everybody describes as a team of dedicated politicians who wanted political change and development in Malawi.
Just when The Nation was launched Achuthan, recalls Lipenga, told Aleke: "You do realise, chief, that even if you took up a position in the new government, this paper would not always toe your line, don’t you?"
The result was a media house that has developed a reputation of honesty and balance. It is a media house that remains number one, partly because of its independence. Even when Aleke was in government, NPL did its work thoroughly, checking both the ruling and opposition parties.
Now that he president of Progressive Peoples Movement (PPM), NPL would have been championing the party. But that is not the case.
"Pressure from outside has always been there," says Achuthan. "AKB has withstood a lot of heat right from the time that NPL was established to now. His political colleagues have not always understood the role he has played in respecting the fact that if we are to do a good job, we should remain independent of him and his politics or any other politics for that matter.
"Some of his political colleagues have thought that he drives us to write certain stories or editorials. Some have even gone as far as to think he actually writes! Far from it. Many would be surprised to know that he reads and knows about the content of the newspaper at the same time that the rest of the readers do," she says.
This is so because of our editorial policy, our code of conduct and all other policies we have and the pride that we have in doing our work.
Everything else, as Achuthan understands, rests on editorial content, hence she "can confidently say that [Aleke] has trust in me and Alfred Ntonga’s leadership of the newsroom". Ntonga is deputy CEO and editor-in-chief.
Future
What NPL does Achuthan want to leave to the next CEO, whoever he or she shall be? "A stable, strong, forward-looking and respected NPL, a platform of excellence that creates opportunities for its clients, staff and shareholders in Malawi and beyond," she says.
These are wise words that go well with what the founding editor-in-chief Ken Lipenga said in 1998 when NPL celebrated five years.
Last word? Jika Nkolokosa, then editor of NPL, asked Lipenga. "Congratulations for turning five, and hope to be there when The Nation turns a hundred, which it will."
Indeed it will. But as for now, we are 15 and that is our limit of celebration. Yet that does not stop us from hoping for a bigger future, especially when we shall hit 100 in 2093. Lipenga, now Minister of Economic Development, just like most of us, will for sure not be there, physically. But our names shall remain in the history of NPL.
The advert recorded that cold afternoon in July 1993, will be played again in 2093, perhaps. Then people will marvel at NPL: that it started with seven people in a crowded industry, employed about 200 people in 2008 and will be leading the way in 2093. Happy birthday NPL!
Friday, February 20, 2009
One Foot Ahead of Another
I don’t know why these thoughts have been coming to me lately, since four weeks ago to be precise. I was on a mental journey on the Masauko Chipembere Highway, the new double lane road.
I was walking, not riding any metal. I realised several truths or assumptions. One, that walking is the best means of transport. No tyre puncture, no engine jerks, no traffic police. You are sure of reaching your destination so long you are well.
Walking makes you meet people and see things, issues on the road. In a car, you are detached from the real world. You see a distant world.
On the ground, while walking, you meet people. You see magicians doing their work outside Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. You see people seeking help from the magicians or just passing time by watching them help or cheat people, often those desperate for a relief from some kind of pain.
Distance, I also realised, is best measured by time, not kilometres. It will take 20 minutes of walking from point A to point B. That gives a sense of distance in kilometres.
If it were not for the rocks, you would walk for 10 minutes. Thus we know the distance is short in length but there are so many obstacles on the road which is part of life. One can live briefly but suffer a lot during such times. I have seen children born with diseases that cause a lot of pain; children who live six or seven years of pain and die at eight.
These are lessons from life, journey of life in which we meet people on the via, on the way. All such thoughts came to me during my mental journey. But I still don’t know why these thoughts were puzzling me.
But one fundamental lesson I got during the walk is courage and being adventurous. We must never be afraid of changing lanes. Whether you are on the left or right, the journey remains one to Limbe or Blantyre. Life is bigger than one lane. Come on! Move from one lane to another.
That is life. To stick to one lane, one thing, one place, one destination, is not practical and not part of the journey to better life. The idea of sticking to one whatever is for those who are afraid of new destination.
All roads lead to one destination. Only that some roads are long, others short. Clever people, those who know what they are doing, walk on the possible short route, yet walking all journey, in its fullness. And fullness can be in turns, a circle kind of.
Another lesson is that it is not harmful to go back. It is a question of what you want to do when you go back that matters. An American man was saved from a hospital that was on fire and upon remembering that he had kept $1,000 in his pillow on the hospital bed, he went back to get the money. (This amount, in 1902, was a lot of money.) Now hear this: he became the only one to die in the fire accident.
A boy in Liberia once joined his friends running away from a rebel attack on their village. After about a 100 metres, he remembered he had forgotten his Bible. He went back home to carry it. Just then, all his friends who were running away were shot. He became the only one to survive and tell the story. He was left to tell.
Both the man and the boy went back. But one went back to salvation while the other went back to destruction. These choices are part of the journey of life, on whatever road you are walking.
You can go back and forward. Nothing wrong. But have a meaningful aim for going back. You can change lanes, nothing wrong but have a meaningful goal for doing so. You can run or jump.
Nothing wrong. But have a good goal for doing so. You can stop and talk to others on the way, the via. Nothing wrong, so long you are in a profitable talk. You can jump over a space. Nothing wrong, so long it is a necessary step on the journey towards your goal.
Such is life, a journey of questions and answers. Those who find answers to their questions move on, and they proceed. Those who don’t, well, I don’t know what happens to them. You can guess.
My plain view is that I don’t know why I am writing about these issues. I don’t know. May be they touch your soul, but still I don’t know why I am writing about these issues. I don’t know.
I was walking, not riding any metal. I realised several truths or assumptions. One, that walking is the best means of transport. No tyre puncture, no engine jerks, no traffic police. You are sure of reaching your destination so long you are well.
Walking makes you meet people and see things, issues on the road. In a car, you are detached from the real world. You see a distant world.
On the ground, while walking, you meet people. You see magicians doing their work outside Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. You see people seeking help from the magicians or just passing time by watching them help or cheat people, often those desperate for a relief from some kind of pain.
Distance, I also realised, is best measured by time, not kilometres. It will take 20 minutes of walking from point A to point B. That gives a sense of distance in kilometres.
If it were not for the rocks, you would walk for 10 minutes. Thus we know the distance is short in length but there are so many obstacles on the road which is part of life. One can live briefly but suffer a lot during such times. I have seen children born with diseases that cause a lot of pain; children who live six or seven years of pain and die at eight.
These are lessons from life, journey of life in which we meet people on the via, on the way. All such thoughts came to me during my mental journey. But I still don’t know why these thoughts were puzzling me.
But one fundamental lesson I got during the walk is courage and being adventurous. We must never be afraid of changing lanes. Whether you are on the left or right, the journey remains one to Limbe or Blantyre. Life is bigger than one lane. Come on! Move from one lane to another.
That is life. To stick to one lane, one thing, one place, one destination, is not practical and not part of the journey to better life. The idea of sticking to one whatever is for those who are afraid of new destination.
All roads lead to one destination. Only that some roads are long, others short. Clever people, those who know what they are doing, walk on the possible short route, yet walking all journey, in its fullness. And fullness can be in turns, a circle kind of.
Another lesson is that it is not harmful to go back. It is a question of what you want to do when you go back that matters. An American man was saved from a hospital that was on fire and upon remembering that he had kept $1,000 in his pillow on the hospital bed, he went back to get the money. (This amount, in 1902, was a lot of money.) Now hear this: he became the only one to die in the fire accident.
A boy in Liberia once joined his friends running away from a rebel attack on their village. After about a 100 metres, he remembered he had forgotten his Bible. He went back home to carry it. Just then, all his friends who were running away were shot. He became the only one to survive and tell the story. He was left to tell.
Both the man and the boy went back. But one went back to salvation while the other went back to destruction. These choices are part of the journey of life, on whatever road you are walking.
You can go back and forward. Nothing wrong. But have a meaningful aim for going back. You can change lanes, nothing wrong but have a meaningful goal for doing so. You can run or jump.
Nothing wrong. But have a good goal for doing so. You can stop and talk to others on the way, the via. Nothing wrong, so long you are in a profitable talk. You can jump over a space. Nothing wrong, so long it is a necessary step on the journey towards your goal.
Such is life, a journey of questions and answers. Those who find answers to their questions move on, and they proceed. Those who don’t, well, I don’t know what happens to them. You can guess.
My plain view is that I don’t know why I am writing about these issues. I don’t know. May be they touch your soul, but still I don’t know why I am writing about these issues. I don’t know.
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