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Mutharika faces huge challenge

by Raphael Mweninguwe

 

President Bingu wa Mutharika has been sworn in for his second and final five-year term in office after a landslide victory in the general elections that were held on May 19.

 

The swearing in ceremony took place on Friday, May 22 at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi's commercial capital.

 

Presidend Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Rupia Banda of Zambia were among the regional leaders who attended the function.

 

Mutharika's Democratic Progresive Party (DPP) has won about 120 Parliamentary seats out of the 193 seats.

 

The main opposition Malawi Congres Party (MCP) which was represented in the presidential race by John Tembo lost miserably getting around 15 seats in the Parliament. The MCP leader lost to Mutharika who got 2.7 million votes while Tembo got 1.3 million votes. There were 5.9 million registered voters.

 

Tembo who was in an electoral alliance with the United Democratic Front (UDF) has refused to accept the results saying the ruling party has rigged.

 

Ironically, Muluzi of UDF attended the swearing in ceremony and conceeded defeat though he was not standing but his party was in alliance with MCP.

 

PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS

 

Malawians are expecting a lot from the president whose first five years in office faced a lot of opposition MPs in Parliament who were in majority.

 

Voters protested against opposition members of parliament who rejected most of the bills put forward by government.

 

"Mutharika will have no excuse this time. We want him to deliver on his promises," said Jane Phiri, a nurse at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city.

 

Phiri said Mutharika faces tough times ahead and that the country expects a lot from him.

 

"I voted him because he said he would build houses for the youth and  create jobs," said a 26 year-old unemployed school leaver, Jef Mwale.

 

Mwale said government should live by its promises and that it should not take people for a ride.

 

In his inaugural speech Mutharika said his government will implement all its promises. Among them are food security, youth loan of US$1.4 million, free adult literacy education, clean portable water and

quality education.

 

He also called on the opposition parties to work with him for the good of the nation. He said his  administion would work with anyone regardless of political affiliation.

 

"May I ask all opposition parties to forget about the past and work together for the good of the nation. This country belongs to us all," said Mutharika.

 

Mutharika is aware that failure to implement the promises his government will be voted out of power come 2014.

Nordic funds consider Zimbabwe investments

A TECHNICAL team from the four Nordic Development Finance Institutions arrived in Zimbabwe this week to scout for investment opportunities.

The visit by the technical team from development funds in Demark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, is a follow up to the March tour by the two ministers from Norway and Denmark.

Norway's Environment and International Development Minister Erik Solheim. Solheim's visit was on how Norway could help the new administration find a better footing.

Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tornaeas came in March on how Copenhagen would assist Harare in paying its civil service.

The Nordic Development Finance Institution-that is government owned investment funds-invest in private sector in developing countries.

Head of the delegation Kjartan Stigen told Bistandsaktuelt that: "The motivation of the visit is that the private sector development creates development. There is growing evidence of a business business environment emerging in Zimbabwe."

The team comprises Mr Jaakko Kangasniemi from Finnfund, Ms Lena Algerin from Swedfund in Stockholm, Mr Kim Gredsted from IFU of Denmark, he is based in South Africa, and Stigen, from Norfund, based in Oslo. 

Together these 4 development finance institutions at year end 2008 had a portfolio of 2.2 billion US dollars.

"This is a fact finding mission from the funds to assess the economic situation and the environment for investments, including the level of reforms being implemented and the durability of these changes," Stigen said.

Delegations started arriving last Sunday and some jetted in on Monday and the team immdediately looked at possible investments into Zimbabwe and meet bankers and executives of some Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed blue -chip companies.

The team held meetings with Finance Minister,Tendai Biti; Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister,Elton Mangoma; and Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube.

The team leaves Zimbabwe on Saturday and will write recommendations to their respective governments.

Norfund has two joint ventures: one to work with the energy sector in developing countries and the other to establish and manage local and regional development funds.

Norfund structures joint ventures with struggling firms in the developing countries. It exits when the firms are on a sound footing.

Norfund commenced operations in 1998 and receives its investment capital from the Norwegian government on an annual basis. 

It was created to become a leading investment fund for emerging markets by combining a strong financial position with high-quality investment management skills and extensive international experience.

The Norwegian Embassy in Harare said: "The team came on their own and we have nothing to do with them. But I can confirm that we know they are here."

 

By John Mokwetsi

Malawians vote in hard fought elections

By Raphael Mweninguwe

Malawians from all walks of life are on Tuesday, May 19, choosing the next president and 193 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the fourth multiparty General Elections since 1994.

There are six presidential candidates with one little known independent candidate, James Nyondo who has just joined politics. But the main contest is between the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Bingu wa Mutharika.

 

Former president Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) has been barred by the Electoral Commission (EC) from standing as president on the ground that "he already served his two consecutive five-year terms since 1994 as required by Section 83 of the Constitution".

Muluzi's decision to run for the presidency was aimed at removing Mutharika from his position. In 2004 Mutharika won the presidency on the UDF ticket but he resigned from the party two months later and formed his DPP party. Muluzi and his UDF party felt cheated and went into opposition in the National Assembly for the past five years.

"I know Mutharika has agreed with the Electoral Commission to bar me from standing as president of this country. But since he has done this I am telling the nation that Mutharika will be the first president in Africa to rule for one term and lose the elections," challenged Muluzi at a political rally he organized jointly with Tembo in Lilongwe, Malawi's Capital City.

 

Muluzi has since formed an electoral alliance with Tembo to unseat Mutharika and the two opposition leaders are urging their supporters to vote for Tembo in the presidential race. On the seat of an MP, the parties are urging their supporters to vote for their own MPs to Parliament. UDF supporters are voting for UDF MPs so, too, is the MCP since the UDF presidency candidate, Muluzi, is not standing.

But Mutharika dismissed Muluzi's accusations saying it was the Constitution that bars his mentor from standing and not him and the EC.

 

With Tembo and Muluzi teaming up against Mutharika analysts say the alliance is likely to defeat the DPP "provided that the elections are free and fair and without any rigging on the part of the ruling party."

"If Mutharika is going to rule out the alliance between UDF and MCP it is doing so at its own peril," said Anthony Ngwira, a political commentator.

During the 2004 General Elections the MCP had over 60 MPs, all from the Central Region of Malawi where the party has strong support. The UDF had about 52 MPs mainly from the Southern Region of the country. While the Northern Region, which has 33 MPs distributed the seats to other political parties with the Republican Party winning about 17 seats. The Republican Party which came third in the elections in 2004 is now being headed by another presidential candidate Stanley Masauli.

 

Ruling DPP has never participated in any General Elections but Mutharika has campaigned heavily on the subsidy program, which is considered to have reduced hunger in Malawi. The party has in the past five years garnered support mainly from people in the cities and towns, which puts him at a disadvantage. The president said since taking office he has reduced hunger in Malawi, the economy has improved and there are "some development programs in place."

President Mutharika comes from Thyolo District in the Southern Region and Muluzi also comes from the same region but from Machinga District. The two politicians have their main support base from the South and the votes are likely to split but districts where Muluzi comes from have many people compared to the districts that supports Mutharika.

 

Mutharika, however, has more support in the Northern Region where the whole population combined could equal the population of just three districts in the Southern Region. There are 27 districts in Malawi with the North having only six and 12 from the Southern Region.

Since 1994 Malawians have been voting on regional lines. Voters choose their leaders from the regions where they come from. In the past three elections voters picked leaders according to their regions and if this trend will happen on Tuesday, Tembo is likely to win the presidency because in the Southern Region the votes are likely to be split between those voting for Tembo due to the alliance and Mutharika.

However, it is too early to call.

 

President Mutharika has admitted that it will be tough for him to sail through against Tembo. But he has told all his supporters to vote for him. He has accused Tembo of killing people during the 30-year one party rule of the MCP under former head of state the late Dr. Kamuzu Banda.

Tembo denies the allegations and he has since called on Mutharika to take him to court if he was involved in the disappearance of political opponents when MCP was power. Tembo was one of the powerful men in the MCP government and was close to the late former president.

Mutharika uses government controlled radio and TV stations for campaigning while the opposition uses private ratio stations. The opposition has been given total black out on the public radio stations but their supporters rely on private media for any information from their leaders.

 

All the presidential candidates are aware of what the people want: safe drinking water, quality education, food, clean energy, quality health services and many others. An estimated 60% of the 13.6 million people are living below the poverty line.

With all these people living in poverty, they now stand a chance to decide who should lead them in the next five years hoping that their poverty will end. Politicians are now kneeling down asking for people's votes but once elected into office Malawians will be forgotten again until the next voting period.

Norway joins UN Human Rights Council

After intense diplomatic activity the last year, Norway has secured a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

On Tuesday Norway was elected as one of 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council together with the USA, Belgium and 15 other countries.

“The aim of our engagement is clear. It is to ensure that individuals are better protected against abuse and have better access to the rights set out in existing standards and conventions in the field of human rights. As a member Norway aims to make a difference,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

His diplomats have a big job ahead of them. Among the re-elected members of the council are China, Saudi-Arabia and Cuba - not countries known for their respect for human rights.

The Norwegian minister has already spoken to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton about cooperation the Human Rights Council.

- We agree that womens health and child hearl are also part of the human rights perspective, says Støre to Blade.

Jan Speed

Opposition ultimatum in Zimbabwe

By John Mokwetsi
for bistandsaktuel.no/bladet

The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, the MDC-T has given an ultimatum to President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara to resolve outstanding issues of the global political agreement (GPA) by Monday 11 May.

The ultimatum signalled growing frustration with the inclusive government, which is struggling to deal with the country’s economic and social problems.

The outstanding issues that remain unresolved include the reappointment of provincial governors, permanent secretaries, ambassadors, Reserve Bank  governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara met on Tuesday for the sixth time in two weeks to try to deal with the sticking points.

D-day 17 May
Addressing a press conference in Harare on Wednesday, MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti said if the issues were not resolved by Monday, the matter would be referred to the party’s national council, which will meet on May 17, to decide the way forward.
“The delay in settling outstanding issues is an assault on the integrity and health of the all-inclusive government,” Biti said. “It is hoped that these issues will be brought to finality when the three principals meet on Monday... which should be the last meeting… and failure of which we will convene a national council meeting to chart the way forward.”
He, however, said that his party would not pull out of the unity government saying doing so “will be a betrayal of the long suffering people of the MDC and Zimbabwe”.
Biti said the reappointments of Gono and Tomana were unprocedural in that they were executive appointments done after the signing of the GPA, which states that such appointments must be done following agreement by the principals.
Also of concern to the MDC-T, Biti said, was the refusal by Mugabe to swear in its treasurer-general Roy Bennett as the deputy Minister of Agriculture.

Attack on security bosses
Mugabe has cited what he calls “serious charges” against Bennett. Biti said Bennett was innocent until proven guilty. He said according to the GPA, which was now part of the constitution, Mugabe had no powers to refuse to swear-in Bennett after he was nominated by his party. Biti urged the deputy-minister-designate to go to his office and start work.

The MDC-T secretary-general also lashed out at the service chiefs for failing to respect “the new authority in town, which is the office of the Prime Minister”.
He said the service chiefs had shown reluctance to respect Tsvangirai during the Independence Day celebrations and at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

“The delay in finding a lasting solution to outstanding issues is of great concern to the MDC,” Biti said. “In our view these issues should have been concluded soon after the formation of the inclusive government in February.”
He said the party was worried that some elements in government, Zanu PF, the security forces and public media continued to disregard provisions of the GPA.

“There are a number of toxic and poisonous attitudes that some of these institutions are showing. Their attitude is as if they are in a war situation,” Biti said.
Biti also raised concerns over the disregard of human rights by state security agents in light of the re-arrests of Zimbabwe Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko, former personal aide to the Prime Minister, Ghandi Mudzingwa, journalist Shadreck Manyere, and 15 other MDC and civil society activists.

Tanzania faces humanitarian crisis after explosions

 President Jakaya Kikwete consoles a child Mariam Isihaka after suffering from shock. Foto: Kizito Makoye

A serious humanitarian crisis is looming in the wake of bomb explosions which rocked Dar es Salaam killing 22 people leaving thousands homeless when their houses were reduced to rubbles.

A series of bomb explosions left behind a trail of casualties and shockwaves across the city when explosives ignited at the army base at Mbagala Kizuiani on the outskirts of the city.

Human rights activists and observers say the number of the dead and the injured are high due to what they termed as poor disaster preparedness mechanism, adding that the district hospitals were unable to meet the demand for treatment.Over 2000 people are displaced as they were ordered to leave the area where their houses were destroyed. The Government set a temporary camp to help the victims.

President Jakaya Kikwete made a tour to examine the scale of the destruction as well as consoling the victims who are hospitalized.Speaking to this reporter the victims who sustained injuries  expressed concern that they did not receive proper treatment apparently due to lack of trained personnel and supplies.

The Temeke hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Aisha Mahita admitted that the district hospital where hundreds of victims flocked was overwhelmed. She adding that   the death toll is bound to rise as some of the injured were still in critical conditions. The Temeke Municipal Red Cross chairman, Mr Amir Mgaya, told a local newspaper here : "We have so far  been able to  assist the hospitals with some medical supplies and equipment when we realized that they did not have enough of them"Hundreds of residents, some carrying children and injured relatives on their backs, were forced to flee their homes on foot, and walk several kilometres in search of relative safety.

Khadija Saidi a resident of Mbagala Kiburugwa told this reporter that her house was completely destroyed when a missile landed in the bedroom.

“I am very lucky to be alive, thank God I was not in the room when the bloody thing fell, I am still in a terrible shock;” she said. She observed that “we have been ordered to vacate this area,   the danger is still imminent; I am homeless and I have no idea if the government will compensate me”

 Sources told this reporter it is unlikely that the victims will be compensated since they erected their houses in an invaded military area. A victim of the blast, Mr James Msowoya, who was at the military base when the explosion occurred, said the incident sent everyone at the base running for their lives. “When I heard it the first time, I thought it was a transformer blast, but the second explosion was a big one … so I immediately knew it was a bomb and lay on the ground.

“When I woke up, I just begun running … and everyone was running for their lives … behind me were four soldiers also running,” said the uninjured victim.

The Red Cross has errected about  700 make-shift tents to help people who lost their homes at a time when the city has regular torrential rain. 

Some victims  are yet to recieve any humaniterian aid ever since the disaster happened, they have accused ward leaders of taking advantage of the disaster to enrich themselves instead of assisting the wounded.

 

According to the investigation conducted by this reporter, the affected people are living in areas with poor sanitation due to absence of toilets making an outbreak of cholera possible.

There are still dead bodies trapped in River Kizinga yet to be recovered due to poor logistics  
 By Kizito Makoye. He is a Tanzanian Journalist based in Dar es Salaam