Tsiku lina mwana wina akusewera
Ndi anzake adawauza, ine makolo anga nditawafunsa za sukulu
Akuti ukayambabe chaka cha mawa
Tsiku lina mwana wina akusewera
Ndi anzake adawauza ati ine mayi anga ndikawauza za sukulu
Akuti ukayambabe chaka chammawa
Chakudya amandipatsira pa ndekha
Chakudya amandipatsira ine pa ndekha
Kuwafunsa akuti palibe chifukwa
Nanga ndi chifukwa chiyani
Amandisiyanitsa ine ndi anzanga?
Anzake anamuuza si mayi ako
Mayi ako anamwalira
Pompo anayamba kulira
Anakauza atate ake
Mukanditule kwa mayi anga
Ndikakhale nawo.
It is a powerful song, beautiful and creative, too.
The four minute, 54 second song is titled Mwana wa Masiye. But throughout the three stanzas, Robert Fumulani does not mention the term mwana wa masiye (orphan). Yet even if one were listening to the song without knowing its title, they would still conclude that the persona is an orphan, lamenting lack of motherly care.
This kind of composition is creative and scarce. It makes music a journey of thoughts, at mental and physical levels. Fumulani sings through a child playing with friends who go to school and, most likely, ask him to join them at the nearest primary school as it is the beginning of a school year.
One day the child, not named in the song, reports back to friends that on asking parents about school, they say ‘wait until next year’. Fumulani does not say what the child’s friends say in response to the parents’ answer. But the child goes on to say he or she eats alone. When he or she asks the parents why this is so, they down play the discrimination.
Yet a question lingers on in the child’s mind: Why am I separated from my siblings?
It is a question whose answers the child can search and not find any time soon. The question raises a number of issues, too. One, that eating is a social event; people eat while talking and food earns its real meaning of sustaining life from dialogue and friendship.
Two, that food is one area that separates care given to different people. It happens all over, even at church and mosques where pastors and sheiks eat the best while ordinary members, whose contributions buy the best food, eat the least quality of food.
This is also a lesson that children, even the youngest, notice what goes on in families, hence they discuss the treatment experienced by one of their playmates. These are children under the age of 10 who have to go to school in Standard One.
One day, the persona gets an answer to his questions. Some of the playmates say something about the woman: She is not your mother, they say. Your mother died. There, the child cries and goes its father and asks to be guided to the mother to stay with her. This is where the song ends.
"It is a powerful song," says Pierson Ntata, a sociologist at Chancellor College in Zomba.
The song, he says, is probing the question of motherly love: Is it the biological mother only who can care for a child the way they should be treated? This is where Fumulani manages to set the agenda, which is what music is supposed to achieve.
Some songs are predictable. Listeners are told the whole story, even the conclusion. Such songs are closed and there is no room for deep thought. Fumulani and Alan Namoko and some musicians of their time, avoided such compositions. They treated music as poetry, not prose. Namoko, for example, has a song on orphans.
Ana amasiyewo,
Ana osiyidwa,
Opanda mayi awo,
Kodi kwalera kwake amatero?
Namoko does not say how they are being raised or not being raised but listeners are left to suggest that the child is in trouble following the death of a mother. "This is one strength of these musicians," says Ntata.
Asamaleni ana amasiye,
Musatemere mmanja ana amasiye.
This is almost the whole song. Namoko does not say much. He simply gives an example on food and asks a question: Is this the way to raise orphans? Namoko is not judgmental; he does not prescribe how children without parents should be treated. That is for listeners’ thought.
Both Fumulani and Namoko understand orphanhood as death of a mother, that even where a father is available, such children are orphans. This is a question of the value of a mother in the musicians’ societies.
Back to Robert Fumulani’s song. The child asks to be taken to its mother for it wants to stay with her. The child does not understand death, that the mother is no more. It is too small to understand death, the end of life which starts at birth. The child does not know really where the mother is gone to, that she is rotten in some grave within the area or far away and that the father married another woman.
This is where the song ends, with a request—to be taken to the mother, wherever. Fumulani does not tell his listeners the answer; the child is not told ‘no’, he is not told ‘yes’. Listeners sympathise with the lad but do not know what happens next.
Fumulani’s orphan does not know where the dead go: that at death they become cargo without value in terms of customs and immigration; that in real sense it is the vacuum they leave that becomes valueless in the lives of the young left alone without motherly love.
Fumulani’s orphan lacks parents who can bond with him; instead, the child finds bonding at the play ground. Fumulani’s persona is one who asks to be taken to its mother because the child is confused; it does not understand fate; it is asking itself ‘why me?’ as if there is someone it wanted it to be. The child does not see any better place than where the mother is gone.
A careful reading of the song reveals brilliant composition. The child asks to be taken to its mother—perhaps beyond the hills, across the river, or behind the forests—which is an impossibility. But this is a climax of a desire and Fumulani does not tamper with it. He leaves it as such; he leaves room for deep thought.
Anzake anamuuza si mayi ako
Mayi ako anamwalira
Pompo anayamba kulira
Anakauza atate ake
Mukanditule kwa mayi anga
Ndikakhale nawo.
The final image of the song is not an action but a request from the child to be guided to the mother. The child, practically, is waiting for an answer. The father is speechless. The listener is in deep thought—and there is a sense of a good future, room for the father to influence the stepmother to reconsider the child’s position in the family.
The conclusion is ambivalent, and holds out a bit of hope, just some hope, however faint. Little wonder such skills at composition are needed in the modern Malawi characterised by hopelessness resulting from puzzling challenges like poverty, violence and HIV.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Eyes Into Africa’s Bright Future
The first wave of partnership in Africa was in the 1960s. But it was not for long. Coups, disease, hunger and wars became part of life. Now there is hope and Africa is moving forward to realise meaningful independence.
March 6, 1957, was a defining day in Africa’s history. Gold Coast, Ghana from this date, attained independence from Britain. The country’s founding President Kwame Nkrumah, speaking without a prepared speech or notes, was an inspiration to all Africa.
"The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of Africa," he declared. It was a speech from the heart. And Nkrumah meant it, because a year later, he called African liberation leaders to Ghana to strategise the continent’s independence struggle.
The fruits were soon to be seen. Twenty African countries were independent by 1960. Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda was in Ghana and admired Nkrumah’s success. It was from Ghana that Banda flew to Malawi to lead the struggle for independence.
Why did Orton Chirwa and others invite Banda when there were other Malawians outside the country? The answer is simple. Banda—and other educated Africans—was motivated by Nkrumah and supported the struggle in Malawi.
Namibia’s founding President Sam Nujoma describes Nkrumah as a "progressive president, an accomplished academic, an incisive thinker, analyst and writer, and a legendary pan-African revolutionary." Indeed he was, at least seen with an understanding mind and smelled by scholarly nostrils.
Nkrumah knew the importance of industrialisation. In nine years, he established 68 state-owned factories. He listed some of them in his 1963 book, Africa Must Unite: a distillery, a coconut oil factory, a brewery, a milk-processing plant and a lorry and bicycle plant. There were agreements for a large, modern oil refinery, an iron and steel works, a flour mill, sugar, textile and cement factories.
The New African editor Baffour Ankomah says Nkrumah forgot factories for shoes, glass, meat, gold, fruit and tomato, chocolate and a radio and television assembly plant. This, says Ankomah, was in addition to building a huge hydroelectric plant at Akasombo—that major source of electricity studied in Malawi’s primary school geography, a motorway from Accra to Tema and free educational and medical services "that made Ghana a showcase for Africa."
Further, Ghana had a continental radio station broadcasting beyond Africa. The radio, say analysts, helped the African liberation struggle.
"For unless we attain economic freedom, our struggle for independence would have been in vain, and our plans for social and cultural advancement frustrated," says Nkrumah in his book.
But this progress did not last. Nkrumah was overthrown on February 24, 1966, while in Peking (now Beijing) on his way to Vietnam with plans to end the American war.
"It is difficult to imagine the greatly improved condition of the African people today if Nkrumah had continued in power in Ghana to lead the pan-African movement," says June Milne, Nkrumah’s research and editorial assistant.
"One of the most shocking incidents in Africa was the overthrow, in February 1966, of that great man. I don’t think we will ever recover from those events," writes Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda in the New African of February, 2006.
Nkrumah wanted and fought for a united Africa, one that could progress together. He thought a united Africa should have a one-word-name: Africa. "There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish," said Nkrumah at the historic OAU meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1963.
"Kwame Nkrumah was [Ghana’s] leader, but he was our leader too, for he was an African leader," said Tanzania’s founding President Julius Nyerere in Accra in 1997 when Ghana celebrated 40 years of independence.
Scholars—and all critical minds—can only reflect at history with wonder. Major-General Henry Templer Alexander, the last British Chief of Defence Staff in Ghana dismissed by Nkrumah, had no kind words for the architect of one Africa. Nkrumah "is not a brave man...nowadays he keeps himself very much confined," says Alexander in his book Africa Tightrope.
Colonel Afrifa, who was part of the coup, says in The Ghana Coup, Nkrumah could have been a great man.
"He started well...and became...the symbol of emergent Africa. Somewhere down the line, however, he became ambitious... and ruthlessly used powers invested in him by his own constitution. He developed a strange love for absolute power," says Afrifa.
What went wrong in Ghana between 1957 and 1966? "It is likely that historians will be asking that question for many years to come," says The New Africans, a Reuters guide to the history of Africa’s founding leaders.
Indeed it’s a question that needs an answer because the link between Nkrumah’s end and the rise of dictatorships in Africa is becoming clear. Why did, for example, leaders like Banda and Kaunda, who were close to Nkrumah, turn to one-party politics? Nkrumah established a one party state and controlled his Convention People’s Party (CPP) and all the organs of state; dismissed security chiefs and judges at will.
Was Nkrumah just that bad to enjoy absolute power? Perhaps the challenges and the world of his presidency can help explain. He faced at least seven assassination attempts. But one was most apparent. On August 1, 1962, a grenade was thrown at a village of Kulungugu, in Northern Ghana, where he stopped on his way from meeting President Maurice Yameogo of Upper Volta.
Four people died, 56 injured, most of them seriously. Nkrumah escaped without any injuries but saw everything that happened. It was a dehumanising experience. He later wrote of how a cheering crowd turned into "a screaming mass of people, blood stained, limping [and] disfigured".
The incident was followed by others. But the Kulungugu attack disturbed him. He lost confidence in Ghana Police and organised a private army with Russian help on January 2, 1964. On this date, a constable named Ametewee chased Nkrumah, fired five shots at him, missed, but killed the chief presidential guard, Salifu Dagarti.
It was another disturbing and dehumanising incident but not the first, not the last. He had endured a lot which his friends—Kamuzu, Kaunda, Nyerere and others—heard. This is perhaps the reason Nkrumah turned into a dictator. He was pushed into a corner and had no choice but to protect his life and the interests of his people.
Some African leaders like Kamuzu, perhaps, became dictators, dealing with every opposition immediately, for fear of being the next Nkrumah, Africa’s model. Or they were afraid of being Nkrumaised.
The military coup that ended Nkrumah’s rule was organised by the CIA with support from London and carried out by local collaborators in Ghana, according to information released in recent years by the West. It is easy to blame the US and Britain. But the major culprits were Africans who collaborated with the West.
Since then Africa has mainly been a sad story. Portugal handed over power to Africans in Angola and Mozambique but civil wars followed immediately. Malawi was host to over a million Mozambican refugees in the 1980s until mid 1990s.
Some remained and have become Malawians just like that confirming perhaps one of Nkrumah’s dream that Africans must be one, have one passport and move freely in their continent which was to become a country.
There was war in Liberia, Burundi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Burundi, and trouble in Zaire. South Africa was struggling with apartheid. There was no peace in Ethiopia. People are still fighting in Somalia, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Uganda and many other counties. It has largely been a hopeless Africa, perhaps traced from Nkrumah’s troubles and fall.
But all that is changing now. Of course, Nkrumah’s fall was a setback because all African leaders were affected. And Kaunda was not exaggerating the effects when he suggested that Africa would not recover from the coup and its effects.
Yet there is light. Slowly Africa is moving and into the right direction. The wars in Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are over.
Mozambique and Angola are prospering. Liberia has a highly educated President, Ellen-Johnston Sirleaf, who is a symbol of a bright future for the war-torn country. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has made significant changes to bring lasting peace and economic boom to his country.
He was at the White House three years ago, talking to President George Bush, sharing a vision while their ministers were signing treaties to boost trade. Rwanda, with 50 percent women representation in Parliament and high positions, remains the world’s best example on women representation in decision making positions.
There are serious peace efforts in DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan and attempts at normalising Somalia. Nigeria, a country of coups and assassinations, has been at peace with a civilian president for close to a decade. That is an achievement and a pointer to a brighter future.
Africa shares its fears and hopes. Most countries have held elections yet that is not democracy. The main challenge facing emerging democracies is rushed elections assumed to bring liberty and, therefore, liberal democracy. The good news is that now there is willingness, even pressure from within, for liberation and that starts with liberalising the economy which leads to political liberalisation because liberalised economy leads to modernisation.
Dictatorships were brought down in the 1990s. The IMF, World Bank and donors were able to do this in Africa and elsewhere bringing hope that soon vanished because there was no meaningful replacement and countries were plundered in a way that is very difficult to reconstruct.
Still there is a real chance for Africa to move forward. British Chancellor of the Exchequer writing in The Guardian in January, 2006, challenged Africa, saying it is the continent’s time to move forward.
"A century ago," he said, "people talked of ‘what we could do to Africa’. Last century, it was ‘what can we do for Africa’. Now, in 2006, we must ask what the developing world, empowered, can do for itself."
Nkrumah, born September 21 in 1909, had a vision for Africa, for a big country to be called Africa, one that could take advantage of its natural resources—land, forests, fresh water and hard working people—to develop. Sadly he died on April 27, 1972, in exile in Guinea, without seeing that vision. Instead, Ghana and Africa had become a land of coups, wars, hunger and disease.
In Nkrumah’s words, these problems, coming after independence, forced Africa to make one step backward. Now, he said in a visionary statement in 1966, "we shall take two forward".
It is happening now. Africa is moving forward and it’s good news, sweet news. The sweeter news is that Malawi, with President Bingu wa Mutharika, is moving along with eyes fixed into Africa’s bright future. It is time to join Mutharika in serious, visionary thoughts about Malawi, a country in which we live, not for ourselves, but for our children and their children—from whom we have borrowed Malawi, a piece of land which we are expected to return better than we found it.
March 6, 1957, was a defining day in Africa’s history. Gold Coast, Ghana from this date, attained independence from Britain. The country’s founding President Kwame Nkrumah, speaking without a prepared speech or notes, was an inspiration to all Africa.
"The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of Africa," he declared. It was a speech from the heart. And Nkrumah meant it, because a year later, he called African liberation leaders to Ghana to strategise the continent’s independence struggle.
The fruits were soon to be seen. Twenty African countries were independent by 1960. Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda was in Ghana and admired Nkrumah’s success. It was from Ghana that Banda flew to Malawi to lead the struggle for independence.
Why did Orton Chirwa and others invite Banda when there were other Malawians outside the country? The answer is simple. Banda—and other educated Africans—was motivated by Nkrumah and supported the struggle in Malawi.
Namibia’s founding President Sam Nujoma describes Nkrumah as a "progressive president, an accomplished academic, an incisive thinker, analyst and writer, and a legendary pan-African revolutionary." Indeed he was, at least seen with an understanding mind and smelled by scholarly nostrils.
Nkrumah knew the importance of industrialisation. In nine years, he established 68 state-owned factories. He listed some of them in his 1963 book, Africa Must Unite: a distillery, a coconut oil factory, a brewery, a milk-processing plant and a lorry and bicycle plant. There were agreements for a large, modern oil refinery, an iron and steel works, a flour mill, sugar, textile and cement factories.
The New African editor Baffour Ankomah says Nkrumah forgot factories for shoes, glass, meat, gold, fruit and tomato, chocolate and a radio and television assembly plant. This, says Ankomah, was in addition to building a huge hydroelectric plant at Akasombo—that major source of electricity studied in Malawi’s primary school geography, a motorway from Accra to Tema and free educational and medical services "that made Ghana a showcase for Africa."
Further, Ghana had a continental radio station broadcasting beyond Africa. The radio, say analysts, helped the African liberation struggle.
"For unless we attain economic freedom, our struggle for independence would have been in vain, and our plans for social and cultural advancement frustrated," says Nkrumah in his book.
But this progress did not last. Nkrumah was overthrown on February 24, 1966, while in Peking (now Beijing) on his way to Vietnam with plans to end the American war.
"It is difficult to imagine the greatly improved condition of the African people today if Nkrumah had continued in power in Ghana to lead the pan-African movement," says June Milne, Nkrumah’s research and editorial assistant.
"One of the most shocking incidents in Africa was the overthrow, in February 1966, of that great man. I don’t think we will ever recover from those events," writes Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda in the New African of February, 2006.
Nkrumah wanted and fought for a united Africa, one that could progress together. He thought a united Africa should have a one-word-name: Africa. "There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish," said Nkrumah at the historic OAU meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1963.
"Kwame Nkrumah was [Ghana’s] leader, but he was our leader too, for he was an African leader," said Tanzania’s founding President Julius Nyerere in Accra in 1997 when Ghana celebrated 40 years of independence.
Scholars—and all critical minds—can only reflect at history with wonder. Major-General Henry Templer Alexander, the last British Chief of Defence Staff in Ghana dismissed by Nkrumah, had no kind words for the architect of one Africa. Nkrumah "is not a brave man...nowadays he keeps himself very much confined," says Alexander in his book Africa Tightrope.
Colonel Afrifa, who was part of the coup, says in The Ghana Coup, Nkrumah could have been a great man.
"He started well...and became...the symbol of emergent Africa. Somewhere down the line, however, he became ambitious... and ruthlessly used powers invested in him by his own constitution. He developed a strange love for absolute power," says Afrifa.
What went wrong in Ghana between 1957 and 1966? "It is likely that historians will be asking that question for many years to come," says The New Africans, a Reuters guide to the history of Africa’s founding leaders.
Indeed it’s a question that needs an answer because the link between Nkrumah’s end and the rise of dictatorships in Africa is becoming clear. Why did, for example, leaders like Banda and Kaunda, who were close to Nkrumah, turn to one-party politics? Nkrumah established a one party state and controlled his Convention People’s Party (CPP) and all the organs of state; dismissed security chiefs and judges at will.
Was Nkrumah just that bad to enjoy absolute power? Perhaps the challenges and the world of his presidency can help explain. He faced at least seven assassination attempts. But one was most apparent. On August 1, 1962, a grenade was thrown at a village of Kulungugu, in Northern Ghana, where he stopped on his way from meeting President Maurice Yameogo of Upper Volta.
Four people died, 56 injured, most of them seriously. Nkrumah escaped without any injuries but saw everything that happened. It was a dehumanising experience. He later wrote of how a cheering crowd turned into "a screaming mass of people, blood stained, limping [and] disfigured".
The incident was followed by others. But the Kulungugu attack disturbed him. He lost confidence in Ghana Police and organised a private army with Russian help on January 2, 1964. On this date, a constable named Ametewee chased Nkrumah, fired five shots at him, missed, but killed the chief presidential guard, Salifu Dagarti.
It was another disturbing and dehumanising incident but not the first, not the last. He had endured a lot which his friends—Kamuzu, Kaunda, Nyerere and others—heard. This is perhaps the reason Nkrumah turned into a dictator. He was pushed into a corner and had no choice but to protect his life and the interests of his people.
Some African leaders like Kamuzu, perhaps, became dictators, dealing with every opposition immediately, for fear of being the next Nkrumah, Africa’s model. Or they were afraid of being Nkrumaised.
The military coup that ended Nkrumah’s rule was organised by the CIA with support from London and carried out by local collaborators in Ghana, according to information released in recent years by the West. It is easy to blame the US and Britain. But the major culprits were Africans who collaborated with the West.
Since then Africa has mainly been a sad story. Portugal handed over power to Africans in Angola and Mozambique but civil wars followed immediately. Malawi was host to over a million Mozambican refugees in the 1980s until mid 1990s.
Some remained and have become Malawians just like that confirming perhaps one of Nkrumah’s dream that Africans must be one, have one passport and move freely in their continent which was to become a country.
There was war in Liberia, Burundi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Burundi, and trouble in Zaire. South Africa was struggling with apartheid. There was no peace in Ethiopia. People are still fighting in Somalia, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Uganda and many other counties. It has largely been a hopeless Africa, perhaps traced from Nkrumah’s troubles and fall.
But all that is changing now. Of course, Nkrumah’s fall was a setback because all African leaders were affected. And Kaunda was not exaggerating the effects when he suggested that Africa would not recover from the coup and its effects.
Yet there is light. Slowly Africa is moving and into the right direction. The wars in Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are over.
Mozambique and Angola are prospering. Liberia has a highly educated President, Ellen-Johnston Sirleaf, who is a symbol of a bright future for the war-torn country. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has made significant changes to bring lasting peace and economic boom to his country.
He was at the White House three years ago, talking to President George Bush, sharing a vision while their ministers were signing treaties to boost trade. Rwanda, with 50 percent women representation in Parliament and high positions, remains the world’s best example on women representation in decision making positions.
There are serious peace efforts in DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan and attempts at normalising Somalia. Nigeria, a country of coups and assassinations, has been at peace with a civilian president for close to a decade. That is an achievement and a pointer to a brighter future.
Africa shares its fears and hopes. Most countries have held elections yet that is not democracy. The main challenge facing emerging democracies is rushed elections assumed to bring liberty and, therefore, liberal democracy. The good news is that now there is willingness, even pressure from within, for liberation and that starts with liberalising the economy which leads to political liberalisation because liberalised economy leads to modernisation.
Dictatorships were brought down in the 1990s. The IMF, World Bank and donors were able to do this in Africa and elsewhere bringing hope that soon vanished because there was no meaningful replacement and countries were plundered in a way that is very difficult to reconstruct.
Still there is a real chance for Africa to move forward. British Chancellor of the Exchequer writing in The Guardian in January, 2006, challenged Africa, saying it is the continent’s time to move forward.
"A century ago," he said, "people talked of ‘what we could do to Africa’. Last century, it was ‘what can we do for Africa’. Now, in 2006, we must ask what the developing world, empowered, can do for itself."
Nkrumah, born September 21 in 1909, had a vision for Africa, for a big country to be called Africa, one that could take advantage of its natural resources—land, forests, fresh water and hard working people—to develop. Sadly he died on April 27, 1972, in exile in Guinea, without seeing that vision. Instead, Ghana and Africa had become a land of coups, wars, hunger and disease.
In Nkrumah’s words, these problems, coming after independence, forced Africa to make one step backward. Now, he said in a visionary statement in 1966, "we shall take two forward".
It is happening now. Africa is moving forward and it’s good news, sweet news. The sweeter news is that Malawi, with President Bingu wa Mutharika, is moving along with eyes fixed into Africa’s bright future. It is time to join Mutharika in serious, visionary thoughts about Malawi, a country in which we live, not for ourselves, but for our children and their children—from whom we have borrowed Malawi, a piece of land which we are expected to return better than we found it.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Why Endorse Candidates?
It was a loooooong year. Yet 366 days of a leap year, as usual. What made the year long and eventful? The answer is yours. I cannot tell. But it is nice to be in the New Year, to be part of those who celebrated the New Year.
It was the year I learned that I need not symapthise with opposition leaders who usually survive on our sympathy. Muluzi did so when he was leading UDF as a pressure group. Gwanda Chakuamba survived on our sympathy when UDF Young Democrats burned an MCP Land Rover in Chiradzulu. Brown Mpinganjira appealed to our sympathy when he formed NDA. Now Bakili Muluzi wants our sympathy because he is leading an opposition party.
Is our work to sympathise with opposition parties? No. Our work is to do for Malawi what will develop our country. Opposition parties which have a majority in Parliament should not seek to buy our sympathy but make laws that are good for all of us.
But they will not because they want to abuse the state machinery when they get into power. Which is why you and me must never support politicians who work towards their personal benefit over national benefit. Let us make the year 2009 the year for Malawi.
One old question that has come from 2008 is on the media and endorsements of presidential candidates. Some media practioners have suggested that we should endorse candidates because—they have one reason only—it happens in the US. This to me sounds like Muluzi’s joke that he wants to contest the elections for one reason: to remove Bingu wa Mutharika from the State House.
Should we do something because it happens in the US? This sounds like the ban of matola in Malawi simply because we copied our laws from Britain where matola is banned but they have an effective public transport system which we don’t have here. We copy the spirit and leave the body.
There are questions that must be asked regarding endorsement of presidential candidates. They are questions of citizenship and professionalism. And this is where theory comes in because it answers the whys and the hows. The reality is that most journalists in Malawi value practice more than theory, yet there is no practice without theory. Without theory all one does are experiments and accidents.
What was the historical reasons for endorsing candidates in the US? Newspapers were owned by politicians or people with political connections, hence it was necessary and in their interest to endorse candidates. Why should we do the same in Malawi today?
Again there are issues of citizenship. This—citizenship—is the highest office in the country. We often think the highest office is that of a President. But it is not. The office of a citizen is the highest. Which is why we must leave citizens to make private decisions on who they want to hire for President. Voting is one of the most private duties. Let the citizens assess the candidates and make a private choice.
The issue of professionalism comes in as well. How can I be impartial in reporting about John Tembo on page two when I have endorsed Muluzi on page one? What we have to do is to report and write critically and leave citizens to make a choice; we need to assess the candidates and say on education, X says so which is better than what Y says. At the end of the day people will see who, in their judgment scores highest.
Endorsing candidates is not the call of journalism in the new century. Journalism in Malawi has challenges that need thorough debate, not talking about endorsing candidates. We have poor analytical skills, hence we describe every album as a bomb. We lack tools (theories) for meaning generation out of events, ideas, and issues. We lack writing skills. We lack education which is our greatest requirement.
People talk about media freedom. I don’t need freedom from laws really. I need from that comes from education. Freedom is the power to do what is right and this comes from education.
Above all our greatest need is to raise circulation whose low figures are not inspiring. If you buy a newspaper everyday at K100, you need K3,000 to buy a paper everyday for a month. And there are over a 100,000 Malawians who can afford this amount. Why do we sell a lot less than 100,000 copies? The reason is more in us journalists than it is with readers.
My plain view is that it is time to work on journalism, not waste time discussing whether or not we should be endorsing presidential candidates.
It was the year I learned that I need not symapthise with opposition leaders who usually survive on our sympathy. Muluzi did so when he was leading UDF as a pressure group. Gwanda Chakuamba survived on our sympathy when UDF Young Democrats burned an MCP Land Rover in Chiradzulu. Brown Mpinganjira appealed to our sympathy when he formed NDA. Now Bakili Muluzi wants our sympathy because he is leading an opposition party.
Is our work to sympathise with opposition parties? No. Our work is to do for Malawi what will develop our country. Opposition parties which have a majority in Parliament should not seek to buy our sympathy but make laws that are good for all of us.
But they will not because they want to abuse the state machinery when they get into power. Which is why you and me must never support politicians who work towards their personal benefit over national benefit. Let us make the year 2009 the year for Malawi.
One old question that has come from 2008 is on the media and endorsements of presidential candidates. Some media practioners have suggested that we should endorse candidates because—they have one reason only—it happens in the US. This to me sounds like Muluzi’s joke that he wants to contest the elections for one reason: to remove Bingu wa Mutharika from the State House.
Should we do something because it happens in the US? This sounds like the ban of matola in Malawi simply because we copied our laws from Britain where matola is banned but they have an effective public transport system which we don’t have here. We copy the spirit and leave the body.
There are questions that must be asked regarding endorsement of presidential candidates. They are questions of citizenship and professionalism. And this is where theory comes in because it answers the whys and the hows. The reality is that most journalists in Malawi value practice more than theory, yet there is no practice without theory. Without theory all one does are experiments and accidents.
What was the historical reasons for endorsing candidates in the US? Newspapers were owned by politicians or people with political connections, hence it was necessary and in their interest to endorse candidates. Why should we do the same in Malawi today?
Again there are issues of citizenship. This—citizenship—is the highest office in the country. We often think the highest office is that of a President. But it is not. The office of a citizen is the highest. Which is why we must leave citizens to make private decisions on who they want to hire for President. Voting is one of the most private duties. Let the citizens assess the candidates and make a private choice.
The issue of professionalism comes in as well. How can I be impartial in reporting about John Tembo on page two when I have endorsed Muluzi on page one? What we have to do is to report and write critically and leave citizens to make a choice; we need to assess the candidates and say on education, X says so which is better than what Y says. At the end of the day people will see who, in their judgment scores highest.
Endorsing candidates is not the call of journalism in the new century. Journalism in Malawi has challenges that need thorough debate, not talking about endorsing candidates. We have poor analytical skills, hence we describe every album as a bomb. We lack tools (theories) for meaning generation out of events, ideas, and issues. We lack writing skills. We lack education which is our greatest requirement.
People talk about media freedom. I don’t need freedom from laws really. I need from that comes from education. Freedom is the power to do what is right and this comes from education.
Above all our greatest need is to raise circulation whose low figures are not inspiring. If you buy a newspaper everyday at K100, you need K3,000 to buy a paper everyday for a month. And there are over a 100,000 Malawians who can afford this amount. Why do we sell a lot less than 100,000 copies? The reason is more in us journalists than it is with readers.
My plain view is that it is time to work on journalism, not waste time discussing whether or not we should be endorsing presidential candidates.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year
There is not much sweeter than seeing the year 2008 come to an end and welcome the New Year of 2009. It has been a busy year at several levels.
Personally, I have grown to appreciate that my work is not to sympathise with anyone but to work for the good of Malawi and the world. I have grown to love the environment and want to see people care for our country. I do believe in the proverb that “We do not inherit the earth from our forefathers, we borrow it from our grandchildren.” This means we must leave the world better than we found it.
This is crucial because he who returns exactly what he got is cursed. Remember the parable of talents given to servants? It is our duty to use the environment to optimum productivity without degrading the environment. The environment, I am sure, is the biggest story of our time.
This blog will continue to serve you in the best way possible. This being an election year, I will do my professional best to give you great writing. I am committed to synthesis, analysis and reporting beyond imagination.
Thank you for visiting this blog. Thank you for your comments. Keep them coming. I need your comments. Let us walk into the New Year together. Happy New Year, dearest.
Personally, I have grown to appreciate that my work is not to sympathise with anyone but to work for the good of Malawi and the world. I have grown to love the environment and want to see people care for our country. I do believe in the proverb that “We do not inherit the earth from our forefathers, we borrow it from our grandchildren.” This means we must leave the world better than we found it.
This is crucial because he who returns exactly what he got is cursed. Remember the parable of talents given to servants? It is our duty to use the environment to optimum productivity without degrading the environment. The environment, I am sure, is the biggest story of our time.
This blog will continue to serve you in the best way possible. This being an election year, I will do my professional best to give you great writing. I am committed to synthesis, analysis and reporting beyond imagination.
Thank you for visiting this blog. Thank you for your comments. Keep them coming. I need your comments. Let us walk into the New Year together. Happy New Year, dearest.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
I Have Turned 32
I have turned 32 today. Just remembered that I was born on December 22, 1976. So, for me it is not just end of year. It is also a birthday anniversary. Now averages. The average life expectancy for men in Malawi is at 37, meaning I have five more years to live. But this is just an average and I hope I am above average because I have 60 more years to live and 60 more years of writing.
Polytechnic Has a Casual Approach?
I am happy Peter Mitunda, until December 4, Dr Peter Mitunda, did not teach me at any stage of my academic life. Mitunda left Malawi for University of Salford in Manchester where he was supposed to study for a PhD in journalism and something related to journalism but, according to an enquiry at Poly, his registration was cancelled because of nonpayment of fees.
So, the conclusion of the principal of Polytechnic, Dr Charles Mataya and his team, was that Mitunda did not complete his PhD. Now, this is a faulty conclusion. You cannot register before paying fees or at best the two happen together. Universities in the UK are not like in Malawi where you can negotiate. If he did not pay fees, it means he did not register and if he did not register he did not study an inch. So, there is no question of not completing his studies because he did not start the studies.
This means during the about 15 months he was away, which is too short for a credible PhD, Mitunda was absconding from work, yet he was being paid as if he was on study leave. I pay tax every month and almost everyday I pay surtax and this money, part of it, was used to pay Mitunda while he was absconding from work. His case is different from a person who attempts a PhD and does not complete successfully.
It is not for sure the reason for Mitunda’s failure to study was nonpayment of fees. One cannot tell until we are really sure. But all this raises serious questions about the Polytechnic in particular and the University of Malawi in general.
How come an academic institution like Poly accepted that he had a PhD before seeing his papers? Chancellor College does not recognise one as Dr or as holding an MA, MSc or M Phil before seeing the paper. Why was the case different at Poly? Beyond this, how did he get a job at Malawi Institute of Journalism on the basis of his PhD yet he did not have one? Every interview, even within the university system, requires one to bring their papers. Academic staff who want to become directors of centres within the University of Malawi bring their papers to interviews whose panel is full of colleagues. What happened to Mitunda and Poly?
Once Mitunda was back, he became president of Polytechnic academic staff committee on welfare (Pascaw). By then Pascaw was working towards a 200 percent salary increment that resulted into a long strike at a time government was working hard to keep students in college.
Of course, Mitunda was by then at MIJ but one thing is clear here: a person who returns with a PhD cannot rush into labour politics, instead a PhD holder rushes into academic politics, taking over crucial courses like research methods and being a departmental anchor. In case of Mitunda this was crucial because then he was supposed to be the only PhD in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) at Polytechnic.
I have no reason to doubt that he has an MA in journalism but with the PhD saga, why should I believe he has an MA before I see one? The Polytechnic runs on tax money and the institution must be as transparent as it must be academic.
The Polytechnic made professional bodies like Media Council of Malawi to consult Mitunda on the basis of his PhD. What happens to all that work? Did it have to take The Story Workshop, an NGO, to discover Mitunda did not have a PhD? This means apparently the NGO is more serious than the University of Malawians in so far as academic qualifications are concerned! No wonder The Story Workshop has always impressed me.
The other day President Bingu wa Mutharika was castigating academic staff for demanding a 200 percent pay rise and we all sympathised with the men and women who teach and research. Mutharika said some of them are not qualified and we questioned the President for saying so when these men and women spend years learning and researching to become academics. Now one might begin to see the President had a point.
My plain view is that Dr Mataya has work to do. One fair assumption is that Mitunda’s issues is being treated with kid gloves because he is not the only one. As we say, if you live in a glass house don’t throw a stone.
So, the conclusion of the principal of Polytechnic, Dr Charles Mataya and his team, was that Mitunda did not complete his PhD. Now, this is a faulty conclusion. You cannot register before paying fees or at best the two happen together. Universities in the UK are not like in Malawi where you can negotiate. If he did not pay fees, it means he did not register and if he did not register he did not study an inch. So, there is no question of not completing his studies because he did not start the studies.
This means during the about 15 months he was away, which is too short for a credible PhD, Mitunda was absconding from work, yet he was being paid as if he was on study leave. I pay tax every month and almost everyday I pay surtax and this money, part of it, was used to pay Mitunda while he was absconding from work. His case is different from a person who attempts a PhD and does not complete successfully.
It is not for sure the reason for Mitunda’s failure to study was nonpayment of fees. One cannot tell until we are really sure. But all this raises serious questions about the Polytechnic in particular and the University of Malawi in general.
How come an academic institution like Poly accepted that he had a PhD before seeing his papers? Chancellor College does not recognise one as Dr or as holding an MA, MSc or M Phil before seeing the paper. Why was the case different at Poly? Beyond this, how did he get a job at Malawi Institute of Journalism on the basis of his PhD yet he did not have one? Every interview, even within the university system, requires one to bring their papers. Academic staff who want to become directors of centres within the University of Malawi bring their papers to interviews whose panel is full of colleagues. What happened to Mitunda and Poly?
Once Mitunda was back, he became president of Polytechnic academic staff committee on welfare (Pascaw). By then Pascaw was working towards a 200 percent salary increment that resulted into a long strike at a time government was working hard to keep students in college.
Of course, Mitunda was by then at MIJ but one thing is clear here: a person who returns with a PhD cannot rush into labour politics, instead a PhD holder rushes into academic politics, taking over crucial courses like research methods and being a departmental anchor. In case of Mitunda this was crucial because then he was supposed to be the only PhD in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) at Polytechnic.
I have no reason to doubt that he has an MA in journalism but with the PhD saga, why should I believe he has an MA before I see one? The Polytechnic runs on tax money and the institution must be as transparent as it must be academic.
The Polytechnic made professional bodies like Media Council of Malawi to consult Mitunda on the basis of his PhD. What happens to all that work? Did it have to take The Story Workshop, an NGO, to discover Mitunda did not have a PhD? This means apparently the NGO is more serious than the University of Malawians in so far as academic qualifications are concerned! No wonder The Story Workshop has always impressed me.
The other day President Bingu wa Mutharika was castigating academic staff for demanding a 200 percent pay rise and we all sympathised with the men and women who teach and research. Mutharika said some of them are not qualified and we questioned the President for saying so when these men and women spend years learning and researching to become academics. Now one might begin to see the President had a point.
My plain view is that Dr Mataya has work to do. One fair assumption is that Mitunda’s issues is being treated with kid gloves because he is not the only one. As we say, if you live in a glass house don’t throw a stone.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Aleke Banda: His Seven Lessons of Leadership
The first time I spoke with Aleke Banda was in August, 2007. I called him from Chancellor College in Zomba and expressed my fears that not so much of our history is being written.
In a minute, he was telling me his worries, too, and he graciously did so, knowing pretty well that I meant that his history too is fading with time and may be reclaimed but never reconstructed which is what most people with historical concern worry about.
Aleke, as he is popularly known, has been in politics from 1953 at the age of 14. Months before presidential and parliamentary elections on May 19, 2009, I think there is much that Aleke can teach political leaders in Malawi and beyond, and of course, all of us. I have thought of what you are about to read as Aleke’s Rules of Leadership and they are assembled together from his speeches, leadership and life—which has been and continues to be a struggle to make Malawi a better place.
If this story makes you want to know more about Aleke, then wait a bit more because his biography, belated though, will come out someday, according to Aleke himself. My speculation is that it may come out next year.
No. 1
Childhood lessons matter
Aleke is a politician who has proved that leadership does not really depend on age. He started politics in 1953, at a tender age of 14, as secretary of the Kwe Kwe branch of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) when the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was imposed by the British Government. How did such a boy handle a political job that needed competence and speed in communication?
"When asked who has inspired and influenced me in life I was ready with an answer," he says. "First and foremost Mr. James Mayendesa Dick Manyika and the Rev. Kenneth Maltus Smith, my headmasters at primary and secondary schools respectively."
The story is interesting. While in primary school, Mr Manyika asked Aleke’s parents for permission to live with the young boy. Here, recalls Aleke, he worked from dawn to early night—and remember that he was just a primary school boy! Mr Manyika gave Aleke a lot of work that people thought his father was careless by allowing the little boy suffer at the hands of his headmaster.
But in the course of that hard work and organised life, Aleke developed attributes that will never cease to amaze people who know his work ethic and love for decorum.
He remains a hard worker, people in every ministry he has headed say so. He was once Minister of Health and worked from 5 am to 9 pm in his office at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre where he spent days studying the ministry. "His work culture puzzled most of us," says Dr Lughano Kalongolera. "As students we learned a lot just by watching him from a distance."
Every ministry he has headed made a difference in his days. While Minister of Finance, Aleke introduced Cash Budget System. And finally in Agriculture, he started agricultural production investment programme (Apip), which was the starting point of bumper harvests after years of poor harvests.
It is this hard work culture that made Aleke a reasonably successful politician and businessman. He still commands a lot of respect which has almost doubled following his retirement in a country where politicians never retire.
"Working with Kamuzu was challenging and [an experience of] character building," says Aleke. "He taught me discipline, organisation, thoroughness and leadership. The whole experience broadened my vision, maturity and outlook."
All true. But Kamuzu worked with hundreds and some are lazy. The life of Aleke confirms that childhood lessons matter so much.
No. 2
Nothing replaces education
Aleke’s education life was just like of any other child of his time, yet different. He grew up in Zimbabwe where he started primary school and was fortunate to have a good headmaster who saw potential in him and taught him hard work, discipline and the love of books and also instilled in him leadership skills.
"When I went to Inyati, my secondary school, I was active in school activities and had the opportunity to develop myself in many ways. I was a prefect, secretary of the Debating Society, a Sunday school teacher, editor of the school magazine and secretary-general of the Southern Rhodesia African Students Association which I helped found," recalls Aleke.
But it is his story from prison that puts this rule in perspective. At Inyati, Aleke organised students from Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia into a political team disguised as the Bwafano (Unity) Photographic Club. Soon after the State of Emergency was declared in Nyasaland in March 1959, Aleke was detained at Khami Prison in Bulawayo. "I was the youngest detainee at 19 and the only student," he says.
Here, at Khami, he met men from Nyasaland; these were prominent Nyasas: Orton Chirwa, David Rubadiri, Willie Chokani, Augustine Bwanausi, Dr. Harry Bwanausi and Vincent Gondwe.
The men, as Rubadiri recalls, were in different rooms and knocking on walls was a means of communication. One night, there was a knock on Rubadiri’s door and he was surprised what message would come at such an odd hour, if at all prisons have odd hours. "Here is a young man, a student, for you," said a prison officer. "You are teachers, set up a school for him."
"That is how I prepared for my secondary school examinations [in prison not at home]," recalls Aleke.
Secondary school done, Aleke was deep into politics and did not go on for university education. In 1961, he accompanied Dr. Kamuzu Banda to Harvard University in the United States of America.
The professors at Harvard, including Prof. Robert Rotberg, offered Aleke a full scholarship to study any discipline of his choice "because they believed that I was suitable material for university education." But Dr Banda refused to let him go because the founding father and founder of Malawi felt that he could not afford to lose Aleke’s services at such a critical stage of nationalism.
"The scholarship was left open for me for four years but each time Dr. Banda would not release me. I, therefore, sacrificed my education in the interest of the liberation of our country," says Aleke.
The choice of the word sacrifice is not by accident. It means letting up something go, not out of will but for the sake of something else of equal importance. For Dr Banda, independence was important and he needed all the brilliant young people like Aleke. For Aleke, independence was crucial that, for the sake of the greater good of Malawi, he sacrificed his education which was also for the greater good of Malawi.
His use of the word sacrifice shows it was a question of time, not importance. If it were any other time apart from the climax of nationalism, Aleke would have gone to Harvard University to become, perhaps, the first Malawian to study there.
This feeling of sacrifice that haunts Aleke confirms his deeper conviction that education is all important and should only be missed for legitimate reasons. It is also important to note that rich as he is—Aleke is a multi-millionaire—he still misses university education, feeling it as an opportunity lost, the way the tongue feels space where a tooth has been removed.
No. 3
Every storm—no matter how strong—is temporary
After independence in 1964, Aleke rose steadily until the 1970s when he became almost Dr Banda’s number two.
The mistake was to be seen as such by people to the extent that in 1973, a Zambian newspaper, in Aleke’s words, "dared to report that I was a likely successor to Kamuzu." He was expelled from the party and sent to his home village in Tukombo, Nkhata Bay, where he spent a whole year out of circulation, to use media vocabulary.
But this was temporary because during the out-of-circulation period, he planned his future, hence he spent six years in business later. He was appointed to head Press Holdings Ltd, which has now grown into Press Corporation Ltd, the biggest conglomerate in Malawi.
These years of success were followed by detention without trial. He was at the usual suspected camp, Mikuyu. "Looking back," Aleke says, "I see how my training in early life served and saved me. At the time when I was arrested and put into detention, my conscience was clear. Having worked honestly and with integrity there was nothing negative that could be pinned on me."
The 12-and-a-half years in detention were a heavy storm but, as always, temporary. When Aleke got back his freedom, he rose again politically, becoming the first Finance Minister in the multiparty administration of Bakili Muluzi and going back into business, owning Nation Publications Limited (NPL) which has become the country’s number one print media house.
His success has now overshadowed the storms that could have drowned him. He is now a happy family man, a successful businessman and a retired politician.
"When asked about my attitude towards problems and adversaries I say that life is full of ups and downs and the character of a person is determined by his or her ability to survive in the face of adversity. I have been able to overcome all that has come my way because of the resilience developed over the years," he says.
No 4
Always aim high
How has Aleke been able to overcome storms in his life? And the storms seem to be in plenty. "My motto," he says, "comes from my early mentor, Mr Manyika: always aim high (AAH) and from a lesson that he taught me about humility and modesty."
This great teacher in Zimbabwe taught Aleke that the Zambezi River lies low, down in the valley, yet all rivers from the mountain flow into Zambezi making it the biggest among many.
Beyond the education from Mr Manyika, years in detention at Mikuyu and Mpyupyu strengthened his faith in God. The idea of sending people to detention was to break them, but Aleke took the attitude that there is God, and believed that no matter how long it takes, he would come out. "I never broke down, I never got despondent," he says.
"In those twelve-and-a-half-years, I got the opportunity to read the Bible thoroughly and to think about life," says Aleke. "It made me more resilient. The period was difficult but useful. With God’s grace, I came out of prison healthy—in spirit, mind and body. I came out with no bitterness."
He ended up joining the United Democratic Front (UDF) which he helped in its formative years, became its first vice president and once in government first Finance Minister after the 1994 general elections.
But the most visible AAH was his setting of NPL at a time the market was full of newspapers that had carved their place. Three people came together: Aleke Banda, his daughter Mbumba Achuthan and journalist 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, NPL’s Area Manager for the Centre who retired mid 2008. Alfred Ntaula joined the team. He was from The UDF news. Bertha Masiku, the MP for Blantyre City West was heading the Advertising Department. Mphande brought Masauko Chiomba, NPL’s former business manager for Mzuzu Bureau. 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. Yet Aleke aimed high and hired the best editors: Lipenga, Ntonga, Jika Nkolokosa and Jonathan Kuntambira. If anyone doubts that names sell, the early years of NPL are evidence.
Now NPL is a giant employing over 200 people with about 50 university products. It is easy to forget that it was a small company of seven people. "NPL grew from an idea—a seed," recalls chief executive officer Achuthan. "An idea to come up with a paper that would disseminate truthful information at a time when information was a highly sought-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. That was AAH at its best.
No. 5
Greatness is not fixed
There is a tendency—and a wrong one—in the media to classify political parties with some being called briefcase type, meaning they do not command large following.
Aleke was in UDF, a party that had majority support in Malawi. Here he grew and became a successful politician but one who lost in his constituency two times. Yet this was hidden by his success at national level until when Muluzi became a visible dictator. Aleke was once again in for rocky times with a President and had to re-develop a thick skin (yet again) to "weather all the ups and downs leading to my resignation in March, 2003."
The next step was that he joined PPM where he became party president. This is one of the parties journalists describe as the briefcase type. But Aleke has demonstrated that greatness is not fixed; his success was not fixed in UDF because he won Nkhata Bay South constituency on PPM ticket.
He was not in the Cabinet. He was not Leader of Opposition in Parliament as this position was for John Tembo, president of the Malawi Congress, a party that had majority in Parliament after the 2004 elections. Yet Aleke offered excellent contribution from the opposition benches at a time Parliament was rocked with trivia. During the most part of the budget talk in 2008, Aleke was in South Africa for treatment and people yearned for his sober voice when Parliament didn’t seem to make progress.
"If Aleke were here," said Devi Chitenje, "some of the stupid things would not have been happening in Parliament."
When he announced his retirement towards the end of this year, there was a lot of praise on him in the media. Greatness has followed Aleke everywhere. It is not static. Greatness is mobile.
No. 6
Appearances matter, substance too
Aleke, as all testify, is a smart man both in style and substance. He is the type that wakes up, takes a shower and puts on a suit and sit at home or do the day’s job.
He seems to understand that appearances matter. Of course, he is a Tonga and they are known for smartness. But I know some Tongas who are not as smart as Aleke. He is in a class of his own. He demonstrates that smartness of the body, the outward looks, represent the smartness of the mind. In the years I have followed his life, he has never appeared in public with unpleasant dressing, unshaven beard or uncombed hair.
But he also understands that substance matters. Aleke has been a man of substance everywhere. In Parliament, he was one of the few who were listened to with respect.
In fact, we can count people who command respect in Parliament: Louis Chimango, Goodall Gondwe and Aleke who has a rare kind of balance between style and substance which is what today’s politicians should learn.
No. 7
Quitting is leading too
In the history of Malawi, there have been only a handful of MPs who willingly stood down from office. Aleke is determined to set an example, a precedent for all to follow.
The Letters to the Editor that came after the retirement announcement were testimony that quitting is leading too. Honour does not come from being in office only, it also comes from leaving office at the best possible time. There are those who believe Aleke has not served this country to his best because he was supposed to be President of Malawi.
That is understandable. He, too, wanted to have influence from the presidency of vice presidency, hence he was Gwanda Chakuamba’s running mate in 2004.
But having failed to get the vice presidency because Chakuamba did not win, he served the country well by making meaningful contributions in Parliament. Now he has retired—and with honour. "I look forward to working on new projects, far away from hardcore politics, and [I] hope that I will have your support just like I have always had. I feel that after 50 solid years of public service, I have the experience to now put my hand to something different and give some of what I have been blessed with."
Ultimately, the key to understanding Aleke is the years he spent in prison. One question I wanted to ask Aleke was how different is the Aleke who started politics at 13 from the Aleke who retires at 69 after over 50 years in public service? But I need not ask the question because the answer is clear from his writings.
"In those twelve-and-a-half-years, I got the opportunity to read the Bible thoroughly and to think about life," says Aleke. "It made me more resilient. The period was difficult but useful. With God’s grace, I came out of prison healthy—in spirit, mind and body. I came out with no bitterness."
There is nothing so rare—or so valuable—for Malawi and the world, as a healthy person. Happy retirement Aleke.
In a minute, he was telling me his worries, too, and he graciously did so, knowing pretty well that I meant that his history too is fading with time and may be reclaimed but never reconstructed which is what most people with historical concern worry about.
Aleke, as he is popularly known, has been in politics from 1953 at the age of 14. Months before presidential and parliamentary elections on May 19, 2009, I think there is much that Aleke can teach political leaders in Malawi and beyond, and of course, all of us. I have thought of what you are about to read as Aleke’s Rules of Leadership and they are assembled together from his speeches, leadership and life—which has been and continues to be a struggle to make Malawi a better place.
If this story makes you want to know more about Aleke, then wait a bit more because his biography, belated though, will come out someday, according to Aleke himself. My speculation is that it may come out next year.
No. 1
Childhood lessons matter
Aleke is a politician who has proved that leadership does not really depend on age. He started politics in 1953, at a tender age of 14, as secretary of the Kwe Kwe branch of the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) when the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was imposed by the British Government. How did such a boy handle a political job that needed competence and speed in communication?
"When asked who has inspired and influenced me in life I was ready with an answer," he says. "First and foremost Mr. James Mayendesa Dick Manyika and the Rev. Kenneth Maltus Smith, my headmasters at primary and secondary schools respectively."
The story is interesting. While in primary school, Mr Manyika asked Aleke’s parents for permission to live with the young boy. Here, recalls Aleke, he worked from dawn to early night—and remember that he was just a primary school boy! Mr Manyika gave Aleke a lot of work that people thought his father was careless by allowing the little boy suffer at the hands of his headmaster.
But in the course of that hard work and organised life, Aleke developed attributes that will never cease to amaze people who know his work ethic and love for decorum.
He remains a hard worker, people in every ministry he has headed say so. He was once Minister of Health and worked from 5 am to 9 pm in his office at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre where he spent days studying the ministry. "His work culture puzzled most of us," says Dr Lughano Kalongolera. "As students we learned a lot just by watching him from a distance."
Every ministry he has headed made a difference in his days. While Minister of Finance, Aleke introduced Cash Budget System. And finally in Agriculture, he started agricultural production investment programme (Apip), which was the starting point of bumper harvests after years of poor harvests.
It is this hard work culture that made Aleke a reasonably successful politician and businessman. He still commands a lot of respect which has almost doubled following his retirement in a country where politicians never retire.
"Working with Kamuzu was challenging and [an experience of] character building," says Aleke. "He taught me discipline, organisation, thoroughness and leadership. The whole experience broadened my vision, maturity and outlook."
All true. But Kamuzu worked with hundreds and some are lazy. The life of Aleke confirms that childhood lessons matter so much.
No. 2
Nothing replaces education
Aleke’s education life was just like of any other child of his time, yet different. He grew up in Zimbabwe where he started primary school and was fortunate to have a good headmaster who saw potential in him and taught him hard work, discipline and the love of books and also instilled in him leadership skills.
"When I went to Inyati, my secondary school, I was active in school activities and had the opportunity to develop myself in many ways. I was a prefect, secretary of the Debating Society, a Sunday school teacher, editor of the school magazine and secretary-general of the Southern Rhodesia African Students Association which I helped found," recalls Aleke.
But it is his story from prison that puts this rule in perspective. At Inyati, Aleke organised students from Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia into a political team disguised as the Bwafano (Unity) Photographic Club. Soon after the State of Emergency was declared in Nyasaland in March 1959, Aleke was detained at Khami Prison in Bulawayo. "I was the youngest detainee at 19 and the only student," he says.
Here, at Khami, he met men from Nyasaland; these were prominent Nyasas: Orton Chirwa, David Rubadiri, Willie Chokani, Augustine Bwanausi, Dr. Harry Bwanausi and Vincent Gondwe.
The men, as Rubadiri recalls, were in different rooms and knocking on walls was a means of communication. One night, there was a knock on Rubadiri’s door and he was surprised what message would come at such an odd hour, if at all prisons have odd hours. "Here is a young man, a student, for you," said a prison officer. "You are teachers, set up a school for him."
"That is how I prepared for my secondary school examinations [in prison not at home]," recalls Aleke.
Secondary school done, Aleke was deep into politics and did not go on for university education. In 1961, he accompanied Dr. Kamuzu Banda to Harvard University in the United States of America.
The professors at Harvard, including Prof. Robert Rotberg, offered Aleke a full scholarship to study any discipline of his choice "because they believed that I was suitable material for university education." But Dr Banda refused to let him go because the founding father and founder of Malawi felt that he could not afford to lose Aleke’s services at such a critical stage of nationalism.
"The scholarship was left open for me for four years but each time Dr. Banda would not release me. I, therefore, sacrificed my education in the interest of the liberation of our country," says Aleke.
The choice of the word sacrifice is not by accident. It means letting up something go, not out of will but for the sake of something else of equal importance. For Dr Banda, independence was important and he needed all the brilliant young people like Aleke. For Aleke, independence was crucial that, for the sake of the greater good of Malawi, he sacrificed his education which was also for the greater good of Malawi.
His use of the word sacrifice shows it was a question of time, not importance. If it were any other time apart from the climax of nationalism, Aleke would have gone to Harvard University to become, perhaps, the first Malawian to study there.
This feeling of sacrifice that haunts Aleke confirms his deeper conviction that education is all important and should only be missed for legitimate reasons. It is also important to note that rich as he is—Aleke is a multi-millionaire—he still misses university education, feeling it as an opportunity lost, the way the tongue feels space where a tooth has been removed.
No. 3
Every storm—no matter how strong—is temporary
After independence in 1964, Aleke rose steadily until the 1970s when he became almost Dr Banda’s number two.
The mistake was to be seen as such by people to the extent that in 1973, a Zambian newspaper, in Aleke’s words, "dared to report that I was a likely successor to Kamuzu." He was expelled from the party and sent to his home village in Tukombo, Nkhata Bay, where he spent a whole year out of circulation, to use media vocabulary.
But this was temporary because during the out-of-circulation period, he planned his future, hence he spent six years in business later. He was appointed to head Press Holdings Ltd, which has now grown into Press Corporation Ltd, the biggest conglomerate in Malawi.
These years of success were followed by detention without trial. He was at the usual suspected camp, Mikuyu. "Looking back," Aleke says, "I see how my training in early life served and saved me. At the time when I was arrested and put into detention, my conscience was clear. Having worked honestly and with integrity there was nothing negative that could be pinned on me."
The 12-and-a-half years in detention were a heavy storm but, as always, temporary. When Aleke got back his freedom, he rose again politically, becoming the first Finance Minister in the multiparty administration of Bakili Muluzi and going back into business, owning Nation Publications Limited (NPL) which has become the country’s number one print media house.
His success has now overshadowed the storms that could have drowned him. He is now a happy family man, a successful businessman and a retired politician.
"When asked about my attitude towards problems and adversaries I say that life is full of ups and downs and the character of a person is determined by his or her ability to survive in the face of adversity. I have been able to overcome all that has come my way because of the resilience developed over the years," he says.
No 4
Always aim high
How has Aleke been able to overcome storms in his life? And the storms seem to be in plenty. "My motto," he says, "comes from my early mentor, Mr Manyika: always aim high (AAH) and from a lesson that he taught me about humility and modesty."
This great teacher in Zimbabwe taught Aleke that the Zambezi River lies low, down in the valley, yet all rivers from the mountain flow into Zambezi making it the biggest among many.
Beyond the education from Mr Manyika, years in detention at Mikuyu and Mpyupyu strengthened his faith in God. The idea of sending people to detention was to break them, but Aleke took the attitude that there is God, and believed that no matter how long it takes, he would come out. "I never broke down, I never got despondent," he says.
"In those twelve-and-a-half-years, I got the opportunity to read the Bible thoroughly and to think about life," says Aleke. "It made me more resilient. The period was difficult but useful. With God’s grace, I came out of prison healthy—in spirit, mind and body. I came out with no bitterness."
He ended up joining the United Democratic Front (UDF) which he helped in its formative years, became its first vice president and once in government first Finance Minister after the 1994 general elections.
But the most visible AAH was his setting of NPL at a time the market was full of newspapers that had carved their place. Three people came together: Aleke Banda, his daughter Mbumba Achuthan and journalist 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, NPL’s Area Manager for the Centre who retired mid 2008. Alfred Ntaula joined the team. He was from The UDF news. Bertha Masiku, the MP for Blantyre City West was heading the Advertising Department. Mphande brought Masauko Chiomba, NPL’s former business manager for Mzuzu Bureau. 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. Yet Aleke aimed high and hired the best editors: Lipenga, Ntonga, Jika Nkolokosa and Jonathan Kuntambira. If anyone doubts that names sell, the early years of NPL are evidence.
Now NPL is a giant employing over 200 people with about 50 university products. It is easy to forget that it was a small company of seven people. "NPL grew from an idea—a seed," recalls chief executive officer Achuthan. "An idea to come up with a paper that would disseminate truthful information at a time when information was a highly sought-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. That was AAH at its best.
No. 5
Greatness is not fixed
There is a tendency—and a wrong one—in the media to classify political parties with some being called briefcase type, meaning they do not command large following.
Aleke was in UDF, a party that had majority support in Malawi. Here he grew and became a successful politician but one who lost in his constituency two times. Yet this was hidden by his success at national level until when Muluzi became a visible dictator. Aleke was once again in for rocky times with a President and had to re-develop a thick skin (yet again) to "weather all the ups and downs leading to my resignation in March, 2003."
The next step was that he joined PPM where he became party president. This is one of the parties journalists describe as the briefcase type. But Aleke has demonstrated that greatness is not fixed; his success was not fixed in UDF because he won Nkhata Bay South constituency on PPM ticket.
He was not in the Cabinet. He was not Leader of Opposition in Parliament as this position was for John Tembo, president of the Malawi Congress, a party that had majority in Parliament after the 2004 elections. Yet Aleke offered excellent contribution from the opposition benches at a time Parliament was rocked with trivia. During the most part of the budget talk in 2008, Aleke was in South Africa for treatment and people yearned for his sober voice when Parliament didn’t seem to make progress.
"If Aleke were here," said Devi Chitenje, "some of the stupid things would not have been happening in Parliament."
When he announced his retirement towards the end of this year, there was a lot of praise on him in the media. Greatness has followed Aleke everywhere. It is not static. Greatness is mobile.
No. 6
Appearances matter, substance too
Aleke, as all testify, is a smart man both in style and substance. He is the type that wakes up, takes a shower and puts on a suit and sit at home or do the day’s job.
He seems to understand that appearances matter. Of course, he is a Tonga and they are known for smartness. But I know some Tongas who are not as smart as Aleke. He is in a class of his own. He demonstrates that smartness of the body, the outward looks, represent the smartness of the mind. In the years I have followed his life, he has never appeared in public with unpleasant dressing, unshaven beard or uncombed hair.
But he also understands that substance matters. Aleke has been a man of substance everywhere. In Parliament, he was one of the few who were listened to with respect.
In fact, we can count people who command respect in Parliament: Louis Chimango, Goodall Gondwe and Aleke who has a rare kind of balance between style and substance which is what today’s politicians should learn.
No. 7
Quitting is leading too
In the history of Malawi, there have been only a handful of MPs who willingly stood down from office. Aleke is determined to set an example, a precedent for all to follow.
The Letters to the Editor that came after the retirement announcement were testimony that quitting is leading too. Honour does not come from being in office only, it also comes from leaving office at the best possible time. There are those who believe Aleke has not served this country to his best because he was supposed to be President of Malawi.
That is understandable. He, too, wanted to have influence from the presidency of vice presidency, hence he was Gwanda Chakuamba’s running mate in 2004.
But having failed to get the vice presidency because Chakuamba did not win, he served the country well by making meaningful contributions in Parliament. Now he has retired—and with honour. "I look forward to working on new projects, far away from hardcore politics, and [I] hope that I will have your support just like I have always had. I feel that after 50 solid years of public service, I have the experience to now put my hand to something different and give some of what I have been blessed with."
Ultimately, the key to understanding Aleke is the years he spent in prison. One question I wanted to ask Aleke was how different is the Aleke who started politics at 13 from the Aleke who retires at 69 after over 50 years in public service? But I need not ask the question because the answer is clear from his writings.
"In those twelve-and-a-half-years, I got the opportunity to read the Bible thoroughly and to think about life," says Aleke. "It made me more resilient. The period was difficult but useful. With God’s grace, I came out of prison healthy—in spirit, mind and body. I came out with no bitterness."
There is nothing so rare—or so valuable—for Malawi and the world, as a healthy person. Happy retirement Aleke.
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