Just a few years ago, Malawi and its first-term president, Bingu wa Mutharika, were the darlings of the international community and held up as beacons of democracy and good governance in southern Africa. Praised for their commitment to economic reform and the fight against corruption, they could also point to a huge improvement in food security and soaring economic growth. Although this economic success had not begun to trickle down to the majority of Malawians who still live below the poverty line, the country seemed to be on the right track.
However, hopes that the president’s landslide victory in the 2009 elections would be a springboard for further progress have been dashed. Instead, the polls marked the point when Malawi began plunging rapidly back towards the bad old days of one-party dictatorship.
Over the past two years, the President has systematically concentrated almost all power in his own hands and has launched a concerted – and often chilling – campaign to silence any potential critics and to close Malawi’s once-vibrant democratic space in a blatantly anti-constitutional fashion.
Almost every constitutionally-guaranteed freedom is under attack – from free speech to free association to academic freedom. Court rulings are regularly ignored, while critical constitutional bodies are deliberately sabotaged. Local elections have been postponed until 2014. Corruption is soaring, while an ethnic clique around the president consolidates its grip on key organs of state. Meanwhile, the authorities desperately blame all and sundry – rather than their own poor performance – for the fuel and forex crises that have taken the shine off the country’s economic ‘miracle’.
The adoption and implementation of various bills without meaningful debate and consultation poses a big threat to the hard won democracy in Malawi. The amendment to Section 46 of the Penal Code that grants the Minister of Information the power to close print media houses publishing material he deems “contrary to the public interest” is a profound departure from the spirit of the Constitution of Malawi, which grants freedom of expression, but also free flow of information.
Public utterances by President Bingu wa Mutharika during public rallies inciting violence against those opposing his views or criticising the Malawi Government, and the unconstitutional requirement for those wishing to stage peaceful protests to make a deposit of Mk2 million (about US$15,000) with the police are violations of the right to freedom of expression and assembly provided for in constitution.
The failure to hold local government elections since 2002 and the temporary closure of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) raise novel and important human rights issues regarding the right to participate in a political activity intended to influence the composition and policies of government as enshrined in the Constitution. Closing the MEC meant that local government elections could not be held as planned on 20 April, 2011. Subsequently, the president unilaterally postponed the polls until 2014.
The developing stand off with development partners and the donor community also presents a grim picture for Malawi, whose budget is 40% donor dependent. Increasingly donors are raising concerns about press freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and respect for minority rights. After the British High Commissioner was expelled, the UK government cut a substantial portion of its funds - something the German government had already done. In addition, Malawi has been refused US$561 million, which it had asked for from Round 10 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria partly due to discrimination against risk populations in HIV response.
After 15 years of piecemeal progress, Malawi’s hard fought democratic gains are being reversed at a rapid rate. Civil society and foreign embassies have spoken out but recent events - from amending the law that criminalises homosexual sex to include the criminalisation of sex between lesbians, to changing the national flag despite opposition from all corners of society, from the public stigmatisation and intimidation of human rights defenders to the passage of the anti-injunctions bill - indicate that the situation is continuing to deteriorate.
Clearly, Malawi is heading in the wrong direction – towards another authoritarian era, when the will of the people is subordinated to the dictatorial whims of one man.
OSISA in Lesotho
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) works with a wide network of partners in Malawi working on issues of human rights, democracy-building and good governance. Among many critical projects in recent years, OSISA has provided a grant to the Malawi Electoral Support Commission to promote civic and voter education, train election monitors and advocate for the government to hold credible, local elections. OSISA has also supported initiatives around law reform, monitoring resource allocation and community radio stations.
OSISA closely monitors the situation in Malawi and recently undertook a week-long mission in mid-2011 to meet key stakeholders – including politicians, donors and a broad cross-section of civil society – to discuss current trends and build up a clearer picture of the realities on the ground – and what could be done to avert the looming threat of authoritarianism.
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