Marshal Kandodo Madise

A COMMUNICATION BRIEF FOR AN HIV/AIDS AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ENTER-EDUCATIVE PROGRAM FOR THE YOUTH IN MALAWI

2010-11-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

1.0 INTRODUCTION
It is now common knowledge that the HIV/AIDS scourge has decimated the lives of many people in the world more especially in the Sub-Saharan African region where Malawi falls in and the youths being the most hit group. As noted by the United Nations Development Assistance Framework of Malawi, “most of the HIV infections are occurring among the youth aged 15-24 years with the infection rate among young girls being six times higher than that of boys in the same group.” The continuous rise in HIV infection rates among young people and particular among girls is due to several factors among them socio-economic factors which render them unable to negotiate for safe sex, cultural factors such as initiation ceremonies which expose them to HIV, and most importantly, unprotected sex with multiple partners among the youth in general (ibid). These problems have also been exacerbated by the fact that most youths in Malawi, in both urban and rural areas shun Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services as revealed by the Malawi Demographic and Household Survey of 2004. In order to curtail the further spread of this HIV virus, there is need, therefore, for an effective communication strategy so as to communicate effectively the messages of HIV/AIDS in Malawi.

It is against this background that this organization has developed and designed a communication brief for an enter-educative program for HIV/AIDS and reproductive health for the youth in Malawi. Specifically, this communication brief provides a detailed view of the plan of the program, its objectives and goals, communication vehicles to be used, the core messages, the target audience, the program format and ways of how it is going to be implemented, monitored and evaluated.

1.2 WHAT IS ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION
Entertainment Education (EE) which is also referred to as enter-educate, edutainment, or infotainment, refers to a way of informing a public about a social issue or concern. The entertainment education (E-E) strategy involves incorporating an educational message into popular entertainment content in order to raise awareness, increase knowledge, create favorable attitudes, and ultimately motivate people to take socially responsible action in their own lives.
E-E uses drama, music, or other communication formats that engage the emotions to inform audiences and change attitudes, behavior, and social norms. Worldwide, several hundred major projects have used E-E to improve health. The strength of EE is that it is audience research-based, theory-driven, and that it requires pre-testing of the message before being presented to the audience.

1.3 IDENTIFICATION OF A COMMUNICATION NEED/ISSUE
At first, it is important to determine the problems that want to be addressed. As outlined in the introduction, most problems that the youth in Malawi face as regards the issue of HIV/AIDS are initiation ceremonies that help the spread of HIV/AIDS among young girls, poor socio-economic status of most youths, the shun of VCT services and the engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple partners. However, after the identification of these problems and needs, there will be a formative research that will be done to find out the particular problems and needs of the youths in Malawi in order to see if they match with the issues identified. Formative-evaluative research is evidence-based type of research that gives you all the demographics information of your audience since E-E products require thorough knowledge of the audience.

1.4 OBJECTIVES AND GOALS OF THE PROGRAM
The objectives and goals of this enter-edutainment program are the following:
• To raise awareness, knowledge and understanding about the dangers of HIV/AIDS among young people aged 15-24. This will be done by December 2011
• Increase knowledge on the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and pregnancy among the youths aged 15-24 by December 2011.
• Improve skills on how to use a condom for STIs, HIV and pregnancy preventions and improve negotiations for safer sex skills among the youths aged 15-24 by December 2011.
• Sustain positive behavior among the youths aged 15-24
• Encourage the youths aged 15-24 in Malawi to be accessing VCT services.
• To halt all initiation ceremonies that put young girls at risk of HIV/AIDS by December 2011.

1.5 CORE MESSAGES
The following will be the core messages:
• Multiple sexual partners increases the risk of getting infected with HIV/AIDS and other STIs
• Unprotected sexual intercourse increases the risk of getting infected with HIV/AIDS and other STIs, including unwanted pregnancies.
• Abstinence
• Where abstinence has failed, Condoms should be used
• Youths should not be pressurized by their peers and low socio-economic status youths should not get into unpromiscous behavior that may lead them getting infected.
• Knowing your HIV status makes you plan your life better.
• Initiation ceremonies that put girls at risk of getting infected should be halted.
The messages outlined above will be intertwined with other messages that will address misunderstandings, myths and areas of knowledge deficit on HIV/AIDS and it will also address negative altitudes on HIV/AIDS. It will also state where to access the services that are being promoted like condoms and VCT.

1.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The communication program will use a synergy/combination of human behaviour and behavioural change theories. However, the main ones will be:
• Social Learning Theory—a theory which emphasizes how people learn by observing others. Thus the theory supports the use of dramas with characters who model healthy behavior.
• Diffusion of Innovation—a theory which focuses on how a critical mass of people must adopt a behavior for it to become the new social norm. This will be used for the adoption of condom use as a means of preventing the infection of HIV/AIDS

1.7 TARGET AUDIENCE AND OTHER PERTINENT GROUPS
The target audience for this communication program will be determined through audience segmentation. Audience segmentation is a detailed analysis of the target audience in terms of locality, age, gender, education level and many other attributes that contribute to or are affected by the problem or issue. It also involves the division of your audience into two groups: Primary target audience and secondary target audience. Primary target audience means those people who are most affected by the problem and are likely to benefit from the interventions. In this case the youths aged 15-24. The secondary audience are those people who influence the primary audience. They include people who can help identify ways to influence the primary audience and/or allies such as community leaders, health authorities and parents. This exercise has the following advantages:
(1) It helps the organization to identify other factors from the primary audience, which influence behavior change
(2) It provides additional information on the difference among groups. This is the key to understand which factors influence your audience behavior before adopting new practices. It is possible, for example to find out that youths who have gone for VCT services before are more educated, confident and are prepared to disclose their status than those who have never gone for VCT.
The primary audience, who are the youths, aged 15-24, will be divided into the following:
(1) Youths in high risk-situations—including youths using injecting drugs, sex workers, and youths who are clients of sex workers.
(2) Vulnerable youths—because of their education and employment
(3)Mainstream youth such as youth living with parents who may currently be at low risk, but whose status can be protected and strengthened

1.8 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS TO BE USED
Due to the seriousness of the problem of HIV/AIDS among the youth in the country, the program will explore various channels of communications in order to pass the message to the target group (the youth). Below are the communication channels to be used:
Radio
Television
Facebook
Theatre
1.8 FORMAT OF THE PROGRAMS
Radio Drama soaps: This will be a long-running 30 minute radio drama series that will talk about issues of love and relationships, having multiple sexual partners, and VCT. It will be aired once a week. The radio drama soap will be called Tisanthulilane which will be aired on MBC Radio One and 2 and Zodiac Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and Power 101 FM. ZBS and MBC Radio 1 radio stations have been chosen because they have the widest coverage and they reach the remotest areas of Malawi and therefore they can help in assisting the messages to reach the rural youths. Radio 2 and Power 101 have been selected because they enjoy massive listenership among the urban youths. Radio has been chosen because a majority of many Malawians have an easy access to radio. However, the programs will be aired in Chichewa on all radio stations. The use of Chichewa is important so that the messages reach effectively to the youth.

TV Talk show: A long running 30 minute TV talk show which will be called Straight Youth Talk will also be aired on MBC TV. This talk show will explore the lives of today’s Malawian youths in different settings. The talk show will discuss a variety of social and emotional issues affecting the youths including love, relationships, drug use, sexuality, families, VCT, stigma and discrimination, gender and HIV/AIDS. The talk show has been chosen mainly to cater for the needs of urban youths who like to be glued on television.

Facebook: The rise of new media has led to the advance of several social networking sites such as Facebook, MXIT, Twitter and Hi5. These social networks are largely accessed by urban youths. The most popular social networking site is Facebook which has got millions and millions of users worldwide mainly the youths. Urban Malawian youths have, with both hands, embraced this latest state of the art technological advancement. Cognizant of this, a Facebook page will be established which will highlight the dangers of contracting the deadly virus, the dangers of having multiple partners and the benefits of VCT. Facebook is also advantageous due to its instant connectivity with the person and that this where one gets how the language is used among the youth to get the message through

A web site: A website provides youth with a confidential source of information on HIV/AIDS. A creative, entertaining and interactive site includes a moderated forum, blog, question and answer sections, competitions and real–time chat. Youth can view and download video clips of the TV drama, TV and radio spots and other Project outputs

Theatre: For the rural based youths, they will access the HIV/AIDS messages through theatre. Theatre has been chosen because it a mobile type of communication that can reach many youths even in rural settings. It reaches people without access to radio and television. This form of interaction is likely to provoke discussions on HIV/AIDS and sexual reproductive health issues where issues of HIV/AIDS are likely to be discussed in a more interactive manner unlike the other channels of communication.
1.9 PRE-TESTING OF THE PROGRAMS
The term pre-testing is used to describe the process of systematically gathering target audiences reactions, comprehension, personal relevance, believability and acceptability of the communication program. Pre-testing is one type of formative evaluation research that is conducted in the early formative stages of programme development. It is also one way of involving the target audience in programme development and ensures ownership of the product. Pre-testing on its own does not guarantee success, but it can help reduce some of uncertainties and the risk of producing materials that may be misunderstood or misinterpreted. It is precisely from this background that the communication programs will all be pre-tested before the actual rolling out of the project.

2.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Monitoring and evaluation will be required to establish effectiveness and impact of actions of the strategy. Use of standardized core indicators for monitoring will be closely followed in order to achieve the goal and objectives of the strategy. Ultimately, there shall be participatory communication appraisal and a baseline survey to see what impact the strategy may have made in response to HIV/AIDS.

2.1.1 METHODS OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION
There will be qualitative and quantitative methods:
(a) Qualitative methods will include case studies, stories, opinions and feelings.
(b) quantitative methods will include statistics, baseline surveys and numbers

2.1.2 HOW WILL THEY BE USED?
• Keeping records or stories and conversations with the target audience
• Tracking when the youth or other people are using our arguments or wording in their conversations
• Keeping significant records of the activities that have been implemented
• Documenting and filing the messages that the programs have produced
• Monitoring the media for coverage of our work
• Carrying out surveys and interviews to determine the impact that our actions have made.
• Through other forms of feedback like letters and telephone calls

A DISCUSSION ON THE ASSERTION THAT MARKET THESIS IS A MISPLACED POLICY PRESCRIPTION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

2010-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION
For over many decades now, many developing nations and countries have passionately pursued different types of policies and programmes in their quest to attain development. Many panaceas to underdevelopment have been suggested and implemented. These panaceas have all inspired hope and enthusiasm to developing countries. However, many of these panaceas have apparently been rendered inadequate, irrelevant and inefficient to the needs of developing countries since many of them have been bulldozed by the developed world on Third World countries without adequately looking at the economic, political, and geographical realities of these Third World nations.

One of the development approaches that have wrongly been bulldozed by the developed countries on developing countries through agents like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the market thesis approach. According to Chilowa (1997:124) “market thesis approach rests on the belief that the unfettered operation of the market,” does the greatest good in spurring a country’s economic growth and development. The market thesis approach, sometimes known as the “free market economy” is mainly of the view that the state is not supposed to interfere or play a leading role in development but the market should because the market can achieve allocative efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to explain, using clear case studies of Malawi and Zimbabwe, how the pursuance of market thesis approaches to development can be inappropriate, detrimental and a misplaced policy prescription to developing countries. In what follows, I argue that for a country striving for economic development and a better position in the international economy in the long run, the state-led approach or the mixed economy approach seems more advisable than the market thesis approach. Admittedly, the state-led approach does also present risks in many ways, but the prudent implementation of state-led policies presents a rapid, more stable, and effective way to qualitatively change the economic position of a country, marking the transition from a “developing” to a “middle-income” or to a “newly industrialized” state than the market thesis. The argument is built upon three observations. First, developing countries face many challenges which cannot be settled through voluntary transactions. Second, even in mature market economies, state interventions are indispensable for remedying market irrationalities and for organizing efficient markets. Third, market institutions cannot be properly installed without the support of the state. As for the justification of case studies selection, Malawi and Zimbabwe have been chosen because, for one thing, they are both significant developing countries and for another, they have both been involved in the implementation of the market based policy prescriptions in the form the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) that were highly advocated by IMF and the World Bank as a prerequisite of getting aid from these institutions.

THE MARKET THESIS APPROACH
At the outset, it is important to look at the elements of the free-market economy before analyzing how it is a misplaced policy prescription for developing countries. According to Harrigan (2001:28), “the market oriented strategy to development is characterized by greater reliance on markets…in providing signals for allocation…with industrial and manufacturing growth determined by undistorted market forces...” Market thesis proponents argue that by “permitting free markets to flourish, privatizing State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), promoting free trade and export expansion, welcoming investors from developed countries, and eliminating the plethora of government regulations and price distortions…,both economic efficiency and growth will be stimulated” (Todaro, 1994:85). Essentially, their argument is that the markets are supposed to be turned by the forces of demand and supply. These free market proponents further take a swipe at various government subsidies on goods and services in the sense that they bring market inefficiencies. Furthermore, according to them, the state is not supposed to be involved in development because of capital flights. They say the state can frustrate the operations of the market if it is heavily involved in it. In their own words, they say the state can create a “rent seeking” society. These rent seeking societies influence the state policies in order to benefit themselves at the expense of public goals. Market thesis advocates, therefore, claim that the free-market economy, “leads to higher export and GDP growth rates, a healthy balance of payments, more rapid expansion of labour-intensive industrial sector resulting from forward and backward linkages with the agricultural sector” (Harrigan, 2001:28)

ASSESSING APPLICABILITY
However, while the free market economy, in curricula development literature looks good on paper, in practice and more especially to developing countries like Malawi and Zimbabwe, the problems of economic conversion to private markets are serious and very often intractable. In fact, Todaro (1994:586) notes that “although some economists may blithely assume an easy transition to fully fledged market economies, the fact remains that a well functioning market system requires special social, institutional, legal and cultural preconditions often absent in Third World nations.” Developing countries are characterized by fraud, corruption and monopoly which do not disappear by the wave of a magic neoclassical wand (ibid). Furthermore, for an economy to be market based, and to grow successfully to that effect, it needs perfect market economic conditions such as law and order, free flow of information, security of persons and property, separation of powers, rule of law, accountability and transparency and numerous others. Many developing countries, to say the least, are devoid of these conditions and therefore, market-thesis approaches cannot be the best policy prescription. In Zimbabwe, for example, the legal and political environments are in shambles (BBC News, 2009). The country is suffering from a serious political instability coupled with the continuous suppression of democracy and human rights, corruption, the muzzling of the press and the media, and the gagging of the civil society—the providers of checks and balances to government. Economically, macroeconomic instability has reached a critical point, with the country having the highest inflation rate in the world. Zimbabwe has also high interest rates, serious foreign exchange shortages, increasing government debt, an overvalued and unstable national currency and higher levels of unemployment (Lee, 2003:64). There can surely never be economic development in a country where there is this political and economic instability even when this country can be forced to liberalize its economy.

Furthermore, it should be noted that “markets in developing countries are permeated by imperfections of structure and operation” (Todaro, 1994:568). Commodity and factor markets are often badly organized, and the existence of distorted prices often means that producers and consumers are responding to economic signals and incentives that are a poor reflection of the real cost to society of these goods, services and resources. Governments, therefore, have an important role to play integrating markets and modifying prices (ibid). Todaro (1994:568) also notes that “the failure of the market to price factors of production correctly sometimes leads to gross disparities between social and private valuations of alternative investment projects. Therefore, in the absence of governmental interference, the market is said to lead to a misallocation of present and future resources or to an allocation that may not be in the best long-run social interests. This is sometimes known as market failure. Market failures here refer to situations in which voluntary transactions do not result in allocative efficiency (Shaoguang, 1994: 3).

Perhaps the most common failure of the market that exists in developing countries is the information failure and uncertainty that most producers and consumers face. It should perhaps be noted here that market efficiency requires that information be made accessible to all who want it. However, private producers of information have interest in keeping the information for their own exclusive consumption. For this reason, the private market is unlikely to provide an adequate supply of information (Shaoguang, 1994: 3 quoting Stiglitz, 1986). This is especially true in most developing countries where a majority of people do not know how to read and write and there is lack of equal access to education, credit, land, positions of decision making and economic opportunities due to information failure. Thus in many developing countries, producers are often unsure about the size of local markets, the presence of other producers, the availability of inputs, both domestic and imported (Todaro, 1994:588). Under such circumstances, which obviously are prevalent in developing countries, profit and utility maximizing behavior may be based on wrong assumption and hence not lead to an efficient allocation of resources (ibid).

In Malawi, for example, in 2008 it was estimated that 58 per cent of females and 28 per cent of males are illiterate (CIDA, 2008:7). This low educational standard not only makes Malawians ill-suited for manufacturing employment but also put them at a disadvantage for agriculture. Surveys have found that the little educated poor are not well-equipped to grow crops needing intensive education like tobacco. These intensive education barriers prevent rural poorer farmers, largely women, from accessing economic opportunities which might be brought by liberalizations in the agriculture sector. The government intervention is therefore needed in remedying these information failures. Given the asymmetric distribution of information between the producers and consumers, for instance, the state may use regulations to protect farmers’ interests. In addition, the state may offset externalities in the area of information by collecting, processing and disseminating crucial information (e. g information about foreign markets) to those who need it in the national economies of developing countries (Shaoguang, 1994: 3).

A second imperfection in the market is the lack of effective competition. Todaro (1994:589) observes that “in most developing countries, the existence of imperfect competition is widespread, particularly in the industrial sector, where heavy concentrations of monopoly power are usually found.” He further notes that “this situation results from the economies of scale that often characterize modern industries coupled with the relatively small market for manufactured goods that limits the number of films that can compete” (ibid). The result is an inefficient allocation of resources, with output lower and prices higher than under perfect competition. The government must therefore often intervene to limit monopoly power by regulating the size of firms or controlling prices. In Malawi, for example, the industrial sector is only dominated by a few firms more evidently in the telecommunication sector where ZAIN MALAWI (now Bharti Airtel) and TNM Malawi have enjoyed monopolistic markets which has resulted into these companies changing and charging their tariffs at will. Such a structure, like this one, hides inefficiency and limits the ability to compete both locally and globally.

Another major imperfection in Third World markets is the presence of substantial externalities. Many goods may have a high social value that is not reflected in their market price (Todaro, 1994589). Because such goods, such as education and health services, may be provided at a price below their cost or even free, the private sector has no incentive to produce them. Thus the government must often be responsible for providing these goods in order to ensure a minimum of welfare. Government also has a role in developing countries to provide infrastructure for rapid economic maneuvers. An economy is unlikely to take off unless its infrastructure is sound. However, in most developing countries, the level of infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired. It is therefore detrimental for this responsibility of building infrastructure to be left in the hands of the private sector, for they may find the provision of infrastructure not profitable. The government must also assist in the creation of human capital through education and training of labour force so that labour productivity will increase.

The calling for the abolition of subsidies in developing countries—where many people die of hunger every year— is to say the least, ridiculous and at worst “suicidal” and it defeats the whole purpose of development. Development should not be defined in economic terms only, but should encompass all human needs and increase human choices. Generally speaking, a successful program of development has to aim at strengthening a country’s agriculture, alleviating poverty, improving income distribution and building capabilities that enable individuals and groups to live meaningful and happy lives. In Malawi, for example, high fertilizer prices are mainly due to high transportation costs and frequent exchange rate adjustments, hence the argument for government subsidy. Lessons can be drawn from the 1987 case where Malawi was forced to abolish its fertilizer subsidy program by IMF/WB and this resulted in the maize price ratio to skyrocket rapidly and made the country to suffer from food insecurity and eventually the government revamped the program two years later after noting the withdraw ramifications (Chilowa, 1997, quoting Lele, 1990).

STRUCURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES: LESSONS LEARNT
As it was said in the introduction, Malawi and Zimbabwe are among a group of developing countries that implemented the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in an attempt to revamp their ailing economies. SAPs, broadly speaking, were a group of market thesis prescriptions as they demanded developing countries to remove governmental subsidies, privatize public entities, opening up to foreign investment, devaluation of currencies, liberalization of trade, elimination of price controls and many other prescriptions. All these were done with an aim of resolving balance of payments problems of developing countries and eventually spurring economic growth and development.

However, lessons learnt from many developing countries, especially these countries in question is that, far from helping to resolve the balance of payments problems, SAPs have actually worsened the debt problems and have had little impact in accelerating economic growth and development. In Malawi, for example, a major failure of SAPs is that to date Malawi’s export base has not diversified as the country is still dependent on tobacco for its foreign exchange earnings (Chilowa, 1997:59). Notably, the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 3.3 %, 7.9% and 12.4% in 1988, 1991 and 1994 respectively (Chilowa, 1997:43). Zimbabwe’s experience under SAP between the same periods as above conforms to the above pattern. As noted by Mlambo (1997:53), “during this period, Zimbabwe’s external debt increased from $2 billion in 1991 to $4 billion in 1992.” By beginning of 1995, the debt had risen to over $5 billion and amounted to 94% of the country’s GDP as compared to only 45% in 1989 (ibid). The above examples show quite clearly that SAPS do not help resolve borrowing countries balance of payments on debt problems but actually worsen them.

SAPS, in the name of privatization, also led many people to lose their jobs thereby raising the cost of living in these countries in question. In Malawi, for example, the privatization of Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) led to the massive job losses of about 300 workers in 2002 (Bamusi, 2002:4). Mafumu Textiles and David Whitehead and Sons nullified over 10, 000 jobs between them in 2001 (ibid). However, it should be noted that employment plays a vital role in social and human development as it empowers people economically by giving them the purchasing power over goods and services, and socially by offering a productive role that enhances people’s dignity and self-esteem.

The problems that SAPS brought could be summarized as follows: They brought price instability, they led to macro-economic instability, decline in manufacturing sectors, food insecurity, unemployment, increased economic hardships and increased poverty and inequality (Chilowa, 1997; Mlambo, 1997; Harrigan, 2001, Kohli, 2007).

The poor performance of Malawi and Zimbabwe and other developing countries’ economies under SAPs casts serious doubts on the efficacy of market based reforms and reinforces 1989 findings of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) which showed that, between 1980 and 1987, non-adjusting sub-Saharan Africa countries grew, while those of strong adjusters actually declined (Mlambo, 1997:4).

FINAL REMARKS
Finally, it should be noted that a market economy cannot take place in a vacuum. Market transactions take place within the framework of rules and require some authority to enforce them. This authority is to say without fear of contradiction, the government. Furthermore, this essay has shown, as demonstrated by the cited examples, that the market is not a panacea for all socio-economic problems that developing countries are facing neither is it an immediate turn on for economic development. Developing countries face numerous challenges which cannot be settled through voluntary market transactions. Moreover, the market is not an end in itself. Rather, it is just a means to promote social and individual welfare. For this reason, the potential role of non-market means, including state intervention, should neither be dismissed nor underestimated. Finally, the take home proposition that this essay puts forward is that the state and market mechanism should be in tandem in developing countries and should play complementary roles to development.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bamusi, M (2002). A Sober Look at Privatization. Opinion, Malawi News. Feb23-1 March 2002, p4
BBC News (2009). IMF Projects Zimbabwe Economy’s Growth. The Daily Times, Friday,
October2,2009.
BBC News (2009). ZIM’s Unity Government Stalls. The Daily Times, Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
Chilowa, W (1997). Sustainable Social and Human Development in Malawi: Towards Poverty Alleviation in Bwalo: A Forum for Social Development, Issue 1
CIDA (2008). Country Program Delivery Strategy 1998-2008 Malawi.
Harrigan, J. (2001). From Dictatorship to Democracy: Economic Policy in Malawi 1964-2000 (TheMakingofAfrica).London:Abdicate
Kohli, A (2007). State-Directed Development. Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. New York: CUP
Lee, M (2003). The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa. UCT Press
Mlambo, As (1997). The Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes. The Case of Zimbabwe 1990-1995. Harare: University of Zimbabwe
Shaoguang, W (1994). The State, Market Economy and Transition. Hong Kong: YUP
Todaro, MP (1994). Economic Development. (5th Ed). New York: Longman

Ngongole ya YEDF Yithandizadi Koma?

2010-05-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Nkhani yomwe yamveka kuti pali mpungwepungwe ndi chinyengo pakayendetsedwe ka ngongole yomwe boma linakhazikitsa, ya Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), yomwe cholinga chake ndikutukula achinyamata m’dziko lino powapatsa ngongole yoyambira mabizinesi osiyanasiyana, ndiyomvetsa chisoni kwambiri.
Poyamba, tidamva mtsogoleri wa dziko lino pomwe ankakhazikitsa ngongoleyi kuti omwe alandire ngongoleyi ndi achinyamata okhaokhawo omwe ndi a chipani chawo, chomwe ndicholamula boma, cha Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Kenako, tikumva kuti Mafumu akumauza achinyamata omwe akufuna kupindula nawo ndi ngongoleyi kuti aziwapatsa ndalama kuti awasayinire mapepala ofunsira ngongoleyi.
Pano, tikumva kuti nduna ya achinyamata ndi zamasewero, a Lucius Kanyumba, akumanka nayendayenda m’maboma a dziko lino kukumana ndi aphungu a kunyumba ya malamulo omwe ndi a DPP okhaokha, nkumawafotokozera momwe achinyamata a m’madera mwawo angapindule ndi ngongoleyi. Izi n’zokhumudwitsa kwambiri kwa wina aliyense amene amalifunira dziko lino zabwino.
Kwa nthawi yayitali achinyamata a m’dziko lino, omwe ndi atsogoleri amawa, akhala akulira kuti boma ndi makampani osiyanasiyana sakukhazikitsa mwayi woti achinyamata azipeza nchito akamaliza sukulu. Mwachitsanzo, boma ndi makampaniwa pamodzi ndi mabungwe omwe siaboma, amapempha kuti munthu amene akufuna kumulemba nchito akhale atagwirapo nchito yangati yomweyo kwa zaka zina zambiri. Izi zikupangitsa kuti achinyamata ambiri akhale paulova wa dzaoneni m’dziko lino chifukwa choti achinyamatawa amakhala kuti angochoka kusukulu kumene ndipo amakhala alibe mbiri yina yiri yonse yanchito. Pamapeto pake, achinyamata ambiri sakupeza mwayi wa nchito m’dziko lino. Izi n’zochita kuonekeratu.
Kotero, anthu ambiri m’dziko lino amaona kuti m’mene boma lakhazikitsa ngongole ya achinyamatayi, yithandiza achinyamata omwe ali paulova wadzaoneniyu kuti ayambe timabizinesi tosiyanasiyana ndi kumapeza zofuna zamoyo wawo watsikunditsiku.
Koma chokhumudwitsa n’chakuti pali anthu ena monga mafumu ena adyera ndi anthu andale makamaka achipani cholamula m’dziko lino cha DPP, akufuna kupondereza achinyamata ena kuti asakhale ndi mwayi olandila nawo ngongoleyi. Zachisoni ndithu.
Kodi mafumuwa popempha kuti achinyamatawa azipereka ndalama kwa iwowa akuona ngati achinyamatawa aziyipeza kuti ndalamayo? Kodi m’chitidweyu sichinyengo chomwe boma limaletsa m’dziko lino? Mesa iwowo mafumuwa ndi nchito yawo ndipo amalandira malipiro anchitoyi kuchokera kuboma? Ndiye chowapatsira kangachepe ndi chiyani? M’chitidwe onyasawu utha kupangitsa kuti achinyamata amene alibe ndalama yomwe mafumuwa amafuna, asalandile nawo ngongoleyi.
Zomwenso boma likuchita pomakumana ndi aphungu a DPP okhaokha kumawauza m’mene achinyanyamata am’madera mwawo angapezere mwayi olandila nawo ngongoleyi, zikuyenera kudzudzulidwa kwambiri.
Angangakhale izi sizikubwera ngati zodabwitsa, pokumbukira mawu omwe mtsogoleri wa dziko lino adanena tsiku limene ankakhazikitsa ngongoleyi, kuti achinyamata okhaokhawo omwe ndi otsatira awo ndiamene alandire ngongoleyi, tiyenera kukambapo kuti izi zikutsutsana ndi mfundo za demokalase zomwe chipani cha DPP chimalalika kuti ndingodya zake.
Chomwe boma liyenera kudziwa ndichakuti siachinyamata okhawo omwe ndi otsatira achipani cha DPP, amene ali paumphawi wadzaoneni.
Komanso, kukondera anthu achipani cholamula boma chokhachokha ndikosayenera chifukwa ngongoleyi ndi ya boma ndipo ndalama yake yinachokera kumsonkho omwe anthu amapereka m’dziko lino. Siotsatira chipani cha DPP okha omwe amapereka msonkho kuboma. Boma liyenera kugawa ngongoleyi mwachilungamo ndimosakondera kuti yipindulire achinyamata ovutikadi m’dziko lino. Komanso mafumu omwe akufuna kumadyera achinyamata ovutikawa pomawapempha ndalama ayenera kunjatidwa kuti aone polekera ndi m’chitidwe waumvewu.

Let's Restore the Reading Culture

2010-05-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

Late last year, when National Library Service (NLS) boss, Gray Nyali, graced Parliament deliberations to avail himself to the MPs on information regarding his institution’s drive to distribute books throughout the country using the MPs constituencies, he bemoaned the downward trend in the country’s reading culture.
Admittedly, reading habits are indeed changing in Malawi. Nowadays, many Malawians are not reading for the simple reason that they do not care enough to take time to concentrate on reading. By reading here, I mean reading any kind of literature whether books, newspapers, novels, magazines or anything of this sort. Gone are the days when people could go into a bookshop and order for a book or a novel. Indeed, the number of people visiting the national libraries for the of reading has plummeted over the years. Those who read spend a smaller part of their leisure time doing so as compared to many years ago.
And for the younger generation? They are even reading less. More laughable to note is also the fact that many of them are reading for the purposes of passing examinations and not for leisure. Many of them even abandon books after they have succeeded in their studies.
The advent and proliferation of the new media such as the internet, cell phones, I-pods and I-phones, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MXit, has even exacerbated the problem.
Nowadays, the younger generations are busy toying with their phones for whatever purposes among them listening to music, playing games and interacting with their peers.
The dwindling reading culture can also be attributed to the fact that nowadays people lead a busy life combining work with social and cultural interests like music, television, games and other entertainments.
But, one can also safely argue that the downward trend in reading culture is also because of the fact that several institutions which are key role players in the promotion of reading such as the National Library Service (NLS) and school libraries, are nowadays swimming in financial hiccups. For example, several books available in these institutions are old and in poor conditions and therefore not inviting enough to stimulate additional reading.
However, it’s a shame that all these observations point to the fact that the downward trend in reading culture, is not because of illiteracy problems in Malawi.
The paradox is that although many people are attaining a considerable higher level of education nowadays, it hasn’t brought about an upsurge in the time spent on reading by majority of people. Very unfortunate indeed!
However, there are many benefits people can reap from mere reading. For one thing, reading adds quality to life as it makes one know a number of things. Reading also develops creative thinking by ensuring that people think and make good decisions for themselves. Unlike in movies, where everything is determined by the producer, writer and director, books allows one to create on their minds, how a particular character looks like or imagine how a scene plays out.
But this is not all.
Reading also helps one improve fluency in language and communication skills—it increases vocabulary, spelling and writing skills. Reading also emancipates citizens and brings people together. Moreover, reading provides access to culture and cultural heritage. And to clinch it all, reading is a reliable source of information. Sure!
In fact, one can safely fear that the negative trend in reading culture can eventually lead to a split in the population between those who do have access to information and those who do not. This could seriously affect participation in cultural issues and society and might eventually pose a threat to democracy and national culture. For example, how can people make carefully informed political decisions if they do not have free access to information?
It is precisely against this background that I strongly feel that there is a need to restore the reading culture in Malawi. But, how can we do this?
Firstly, reading should be part of cultural and educational policy. The government needs to encourage and sensitize people and the youth in particular on the importance of reading. This is why we applaud the government for the re-introduction of literature subjects and making them compulsory in secondary education. Perhaps, this has to extend to primary level of education. Furthermore, parents and teachers should also instill in students a real love for reading and groom them into becoming lifelong readers. Children should also have access to books, newspapers and magazines so that they may be turned into readers for life.
More resources also need to be drawn for the support of institutions which promote reading such as the National Library Service (NLS) and school libraries as it is undeniable that these institutions are in dire straits.
There is also need for public and private partnership for the promotion of reading in the country. This should be between the government, which is the major player, and booksellers, librarians, writers including publishers.
Finally, it should be noted that reading can not only be fun but that it is also a great way to spend ones leisure time apart from being valuable and enriching. Books are the key to the world. So, let’s love reading.

A DISCUSSION OF TERRY EAGLETON’S CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CULTURE

2010-05-19T08:13:00.001-07:00

INTRODUCTION
The history of the concept of culture is complex and tantalizingly ambiguous. Intellectuals from various fields have attempted to disentangle the manifold meanings which have become implicit in the term. These scholars have sought to find a basis for one unambiguous concept of culture that either resolves the differences between the existing meanings or replaces these with an entirely new definition of the term. Yet no satisfactory solution has evolved. In his well-known book called The Idea of Culture (2000), Terry Eagleton offered various important insights into the understanding of the concept of culture. He introduced several notions that are related and have very slight differences namely; culture, nature and civilization and highlighted the contrasts between them, more especially, between culture and nature but offered an important relationship between the two. More importantly, he linked the idea of culture to liberation. Eagleton’s work therefore, forms a rich set of reflections about culture, and its methods, and the ethics of liberation.

This essay critically discusses and responds to Terry Eagleton’s conceptualization of culture as presented in his book called “The Idea of Culture (2000).” It also outlines, some of the critical problems in the foundations of Eagleton’s view on culture, and suggests ways, in which some of his conclusions can better be improved, better supported or better applied. It is to the interest of this essay to start by defining what culture is, and then discussion shall follow before drawing the conclusion.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Eagleton (2000) starts by providing different versions of culture while setting the background. He suggests that “culture” as a word has evolved and keeps on changing its meaning with time. He then agrees with many scholars by saying culture is the way of life of a particular group of people. Culture, according to Barker (2004:7) refers to “the actual grounded terrain of practices, representations, languages and customs of any specific society and the contradictory forms of common sense which have taken root in and shape popular life.” Culture therefore is concerned with questions of shared social meanings, that is, the various ways we make sense of the world.

Looking at Eagleton’s arguments on the conceptualization of culture as presented in the aforementioned book, his arguments could be summarized into four key philosophical issues: Culture and nature, culture and liberation, culture and identity, and finally culture and civilization. On culture and nature, Eagleton gives the view that culture is both which is natural and that which is socially constructed. According to him, culture “suggests both regulation and spontaneous growth” (Eagleton, 2000:4). He further notes that it contains a tension between the making and being made (ibid). Eagleton also sees culture as a tool for liberation and autonomy. He says in the post colonial era, culture emphasizes the issue of liberation than oppression thus it refers to what is inside and outside a person rendering it difficulties in defining (Eagleton, 2000). He also says in the contemporary world, culture is seen as identity, a tool for socialization, a populist and tradition way of life characterized by quality that pervades everything and makes a person feel rooted or at home(Eagleton,2000:26). In other words, it gives people their identity.

DISCUSSION
Reaching this far, this paper finds it that it is ripe time to embark on a critical but precise discussion by providing some examples. At the outset, the biggest challenge of Eagleton’s writing has been to separate the two terms: culture and nature. According to Eagleton (2000:3), “nature produces culture which changes nature.” This is an important point of departure since it shows how the two terms are related and it also shows their inseparability. By asserting that nature produces culture which changes nature, it means that culture has got two dimensions. Culture is that which is naturally given and that which is humanly constructed.

That nature produces culture which changes nature does not need to be overemphasized here. There are several points to buttress this argument. For example, MacCormarck (1980:1) notes that “to exist as a species we must eat, copulate and meet other basic animal needs.” These things are natural in that they are necessary for all animals to live. In other words natural things are the ones people cannot do without them for example drinking, eating, elimination and sleeping. MacCormarck (1980:6) further notes that “the natural is that which is innate on our primate heritage and the cultural is that which is arbitrary and artificial.” For example, nature produces children; both male and female who procreate, eat, defecate and satisfy other survival needs (ibid). All these things come naturally from nature and form our different cultures.

On the other hand, this paper also supports the idea that culture is also socially constructed. This is so because much as there are certain things like eating, copulating and defecating which are natural, the society formulates rules and regulations which define how individuals ought to do these things in a society. For example, “societies create etiquettes of eating, the time, place and position for ejaculation”, what is moral or immoral, and all these things are cultural (MacCormarck, 1980:2). Culture therefore “is not programmed into the individual’s genetic structure but it is learned and most intensively in the early years of life” (Mead, 1994:11). It is precisely from this reason that Eagleton notes that culture is not separated from institutions which are mitochondria or powerhouses for “production, dissemination and regulation” (2000:21).

These institutions can imply political structures in society, media, educational institutions, religious institutions, family as nucleus of the society so on and so forth. For example, Ngugi wa Thiong’o argues that African schools or education teach western cultures to the Black people (Ngugi, 1986:14-15). By doing so, children acquire new meanings and values through especially language. Therefore, language is regarded as the machinery for constructing culture since language is a symbol and it is through language that people perceive and articulate their self awareness (Ngugi, 1986:13). Religious institutions also assist in constructing culture in many societies. For example, religious institutions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or African traditional religion, have certain values or practices that their followers follow to the letter. Each and every religion, for example, has got its dressing code, symbols and meanings. All these things are not natural but agreed upon in these religions.

The media are also not an exception as far as construction of culture is concerned. Television, for example, gives people a certain “symbolic environment—an environment that cultivates a specific world view” (Mc quail, 2002:100). For instance, some people after watching a certain western film, they try to be identified with certain actors or actresses in areas of articulation of language especially English, walking style, dressing and many more. In this case, such people acquire new ways of life that they did not have before. Eagleton (2000:6) also notes that the state “inculcate in its citizens the proper sorts of spiritual disposition.” This means that the state is another institution that helps to construct culture.

But they are not only these institutions that create culture. Society also helps in constructing culture. For example, in some Malawian tribes, they practice initiation ceremonies which are actually based on agreed premises in the society. According to them that is their culture and they cannot live without it. It is also interesting to note that even marriages are culturally constructed. It is the society which counts what should be regarded as marriage. In some areas of the world cohabitation is not regarded as marriage whilst others affirm it. One is also to find out that even some countries, Malawi for example, have created new culture of minority such as homosexuality which calls for members of the same sex to be marrying each other. This was not there in the past but it has been socially constructed.

Terry Eagleton has also linked the idea of culture to liberation and identity. On this, he says culture is a “kind of ethical pedagogy which fit us for political citizenship by liberating the ideal of collective self buried within each of us” (Eagleton, 2000:7). He also says culture embodies our common humanity and it plucks unity from diversity (ibid). This point deserves more attention. Indeed, one cannot agree more. For example, Ngugi (1986:13) notes that “language—any language has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture.” It is not only language that gives people an identity but also cultural expressions such as food, music, paintings, poems, dressing and so forth. Moreover, culture also acts as a valuation concept which has a sense of approving or disapproving what is the best and what is not (Hebdige, 1993:361).In this sense, culture carries a differentiation factor between us and them which is a source of identity. It precisely from this reason that Terry Eagleton views culture as located in particular places and specific boundaries (2000:3).

However, what should be noted here, and perhaps what Eagleton losses sight of, is the fact that with the coming in of modernization which has been reinforced through globalization, the idea of culture as that which is located in particular places and boundaries, is to a large extent problematic. As Barker (2004:40) has observed, “nowadays place is socially constructed site or location in space marked by identification or emotional investment.” It is now forged globally by virtue of the movement of cultural elements from one location to another. This therefore requires the redefinition of the meaning of place. In particular, it involves the dislodging of long standing authenticity claims whereby a place is considered to be solely local, natural, true and pure (ibid). Gone are the days when cultural practices could be claimed as authentic, pure and locally bounded because culture has been contaminated by globalization. There is need to escape from a model of culture as a locally bounded ‘whole of life.’ Therefore, the processes of globalization suggest that we need to rethink our concept of culture. Culture is not best understood in terms of locations and roots but more as hybrid and creolized cultural routes in global space (ibid).

CONCLUSION
This essay has discussed Terry Eagleton’s conceptualization of culture as expressed in his book called The Idea of Culture (2000). The essay has thrown weight behind Eagleton’s idea that culture is both what is humanly constructed and naturally given. The paper has also showed how people construct what is moral and immoral according to their society’s agreed values and through various institutions such as the media, religions, education and society. Finally, it has looked at how culture gives people identity and liberation and the contemporary challenges that globalization is posing on culture. In summary, although a broad chorus of praise echoes a wide range of criticisms on Eagleton’s conceptualization of culture, it should be borne in mind that his ideas have a particular significance and provide thought-stimulating insights into the understanding and conceptualization of culture.

REFERENCES
Barker, C. (2004). Cultural studies: Theory and Practice. 2nd Ed. New Delhi. Sage Publications Inc.
Eagleton. T. (2000). The idea of Culture. Oxford: Blackwell

Hebdige, D. (1993). “From Culture to Hegemony”. In During, S. (Ed). The Cultural Studies: Reader. New York. Routledge. Pp 357-367.

MacCormarck C. and Strathern M. (1980). Nature, Culture and Gender. Cambridge University Press.
Mc Quail, D (2002). McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Mead, R (1994). International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions. Cambridge: Blackwell

Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1986). Decolonizing the Mind: Politics of Language in African
Literature. London: James Currey.

RESPONDING TO MARC RABOY’S DISCUSSION OF PROSPECTIVES OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING (PSB)

2010-05-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

Marc Raboy, in his book called “Public Service Broadcasting for the 21st Century,” offered an important exploration on the prospectives of public service broadcasting (PSB). He presented several enlightening arguments about the challenges that have dogged public service broadcasting since time immemorial, some which are still the cause of much debate in and around the world. More importantly, he provided several suggestions that could help redefine the concept of PSB in many countries including Malawi.

The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to respond, in a critical way, to Raboy’s arguments on the prospectives of public service broadcasting. In its analysis, this paper shall use the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM) as case studies. Of particular interest to note, for the purposes of this discussion, is that this paper shall accomplish this discussion by responding to Raboy’s arguments from a political economy perspective. It is to the interest of this essay to start by defining what public service broadcasting is, and then a discussion shall follow before drawing the conclusion.

Mpofu (1996:6) notes that “different definitions of PSB exits and the definition of PSB lacks precision, marked by a certain absence of clarity.” However, public service broadcasting has been defined as any broadcasting system whose first duty is to a public within a democracy, serving to inform, educate and entertain, and not serving to fulfill the requirements of commercial interests (Watson and Hill, 1989:142 quoted in Fourie 2001:119). In other words, this broadcasting is supposed to be impartial in serving the welfare of the people without discriminating any group in the country. According to Fourie (2001:119) it is asserted that British broadcasting served as a model for the establishment and functioning of public broadcasting in almost all the rest of world in general and Malawi in particular. Furthermore, there are a number of principles of this broadcasting and some are: universality, provision of minorities especially for the disadvantaged by physical or social circumstances, encourages competition in good programming rather competition for audience numbers and liberates rather than restricts programme-makers (Tracey, 1998:26-27 cited in Fourie, 2001:120). It has been agreed that public broadcasters can enhance governance and development by achieving national reach, providing quality programs and journalism, articulating diversity views and promoting broad public debates (Buckeley, et al 2007:38 cited in Fourie, 2001:121).

However, it is important to note that PSB is undergoing major metamorphoses, which is as a result of a number of factors mainly those concerning the political and economic trends such as concentration, legitimacy, commercialization, liberalization, privatization amongst the others (Fourie, 2001:119). There is also a great concern that these economic trends are leading to decline of PSB. It is precisely from this reason that Raboy was prompted to make a discussion on the prospectives of PSB.

The first argument that Raboy makes is that PSB should be de-linked from both political authority of the state and the economic arbitrage of the market since PSB are linked to the notion of citizenship (Raboy, 2000:4). This is a very good proposition. Indeed any definition of a public service broadcaster should be underscored by the need for independence from the paymaster—whoever is it. However this is very difficult in practice. In fact, it is a far-fetched idea in many counties where democracy is in embryonic stage and even in countries where democracy has taken deep roots. The history of public broadcasting since time immemorial is one of constant political interference from ruling parties and media owners (Mpofu, 1996:12). This is so because politicians, from a political economic perspective, have got vested interests in the public broadcasters since they use them to advance their different ideologies. In Malawi, for example, the public broadcasters are in the hands of the ruling government of day and they try as much as possible to use it for their survival since they have that financial muscle to control them. Furthermore, to propose that PSBs should be de-linked from economic arbitrage of the market since they are linked to the notion of citizenship is also somewhat confusing. Conceptualization of a public as a citizen also requires a view that the same citizens are consumers. This means that the content of any media is sold as a commodity to the consumers who are also citizens (Mc Quail, 2002:10).

Perhaps it is because of this reason that Raboy makes another proposition that “public broadcasters should be allowed to engage in commercially lucrative activities--without being obliged to compete with their own programmes in order to make ends meet” (Raboy). He says due to multi channel environment, PSB should encompass both consumer choice and citizenship programmes. This is very true because in this day and age, no broadcasting unit can function without the power of commercials. In Malawi, for example, when parliament gave the two public broadcasters K1 each, they relied heavily on commercial advertising for their survival.

Raboy also says for public broadcasters to function effectively, there is need for a clear broadcasting policy. He says this can be done “by placing responsibility for the regulation and supervision of broadcasting in the hands of an independent public body.” Indeed, without a clear broadcasting policy, public broadcasting is always in shambles—a case in point being Malawi. The broadcasting policy in Malawi leaves much room to be desired and this has led the two public broadcasters to be used as political pawns. For example, both the Communication Sector Policy Statement and the Communications Act of 1998 are not clear and have so many loopholes to be abused by the state (Manda, 2007:259). In addition, MACRA has failed in its responsibilities because it has not enforced the law against the MBC when the latter has failed to provide impartial broadcasting as required by its public service broadcasting obligations. This may be because MACRA itself is as vulnerable to political interference as is the MBC, since its board of directors and director general are appointed by the executive branch of Government thanks to the loopholes that are in the Communications Act.

Another argument that Raboy puts forward is that of decentralization of public service broadcasting. He says PSB should be decentralized at community, regional other that at centrally national level. This, he says, is important because PSBs tend to abandon local and regional needs as they concentrate around high-profile prestigious services. One cannot agree more. In fact, this is in practice in many countries in the world except Malawi. According to Manyozo and Mwale (2009:3), “decentralization of PSBs into regional broadcasters helps the broadcasters to know and understand cultural, linguistic, economic and political background of the areas. This is important for broadcasting since it allows the audience to share the meanings of broadcasting with the broadcasters.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in Raboy’s writing is to separate public service broadcasting and private broadcasting nowadays since, as he says, private broadcasting, today, also fulfill public service goals. And more interestingly, he says, nowadays, PSBs have integrated objectives of private broadcasting. To this, he proposes that all broadcasting, regardless of being public or private should be considered in a public service framework comprising of different elements each with specific structural arrangements and purposes. However, what Raboy looses sight of is the fact that much as PSB looks to have integrated much with the objectives of private broadcasting, a private broadcaster cannot fulfill to a greater extent the goals of a PSB but they can complement each other. It is a crude fact that PSB is policy driven whilst private broadcasting is profit oriented—and these are two different motives altogether, period. When a PSB has been faced with the dilemma of identity crisis, it may begin to loose touch with the mass of the population to whom it is accountable for funding. (Mpofu, 1996:9).

In conclusion, this essay has looked at and responded to some of Marc Raboy’s arguments on the prospectives of public service broadcasting as presented in the book he edited called Public Broadcasting for the 21st Century. The assertion that this essay makes here is that Marc Raboy’s arguments on the prospectives of public service broadcasting are relevant to the understanding and application of public service broadcasting around the world.

REFERENCES
Fourie, P. (2001). “Characteristics, Trends and the Political Economy of the media,” in P. Fourie, (Ed.). Media Studies: institutions, Theories and issues, Lansdowne, Juta Education.
Fourie, P. (2001). Media Studies: institutions, Theories and issues, Lansdowne, Juta Education
Malawi Communications Act, 1998.
Malawi Communications Sector Policy Statement, 1998
Manda, L.Z (2007). Media in Patel, N and Lsvasand, B, Government and Politics in Malawi. Zomba: Kachere Book Series
Manyozo, L.P and Mwale, P. (2009). Reforming Malawi’s Public Service Broadcasters. Retrieved on Nyasa Times.
McQuail, D. (2002). McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Mpofu, A, (1996). The Role of the Public Broadcaster in a future South Africa Broadcasting Policy Research; The Framework Project in Mpofu, A, Manhando, S and Tomaselli, K, Public Service Broadcasting: Policy Directions Towards 2000.Johannesburg: Anthropos Publishers
Raboy, M. Public Broadcasting for the 21st Century. John Dibbey Publishers

Bail Out Nursing Students!

2010-05-19T07:58:00.001-07:00

Events that have surrounded the admission of students into their respective Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) nursing colleges and Malawi College of Health Sciences are deplorable, disheartening, and at worst bloodcurdling.
As a background, it all started when the media broke the news that the government was no longer interested in funding the training of these students in Malawi. No sooner did these reports fly, than we heard that these institutions had hiked their fees from K210, 000 to K310, 000 per year. What this meant was that each student was mandated to dig deeper into their pockets for one to be admitted into these institutions. Then the directive was extended to those studying various health courses at the state-run Malawi College of Health Sciences. The result? We gather, only 15 per cent of these students have managed to pay the minimum installment for the first term. But this is not all, for this decision has far-reaching ramifications for this country.
For a country like Malawi, grappling amidst many development challenges, many of them in the health sector, one cannot help but offer a clarion call for the reversal of this back peddling decision by government. For instance, diseases such as Tuberculosis, Malaria, and HIV/AIDS are still decimating a lot of Malawian lives. The HIV prevalence rate, we are told, is hovering somewhere around 12 per cent, Malaria claims many a Malawian child life a day and maternal mortality rate is still in skyscraping percentage. Surely, these nurses are much needed in our hospitals and the training of one nurse can go a long way in reducing some of these challenges that have dogged the health statuses of many Malawians.
Of even more laughable to note is the fact that Malawi has already an acute shortage of health personnel. Doctors, we hear, time and again migrate to western countries for greener pastures after they have graduated from our single training institution for doctors—the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine which has a single campus in Blantyre. Nurses, as far as migration to foreign countries is concerned, have not been spared either.
I surely find the argument that government does not have monies in its coffers to fund these students not to be plausible. One might be tempted to wonder: why of all cost-cutting measures could government decide to cease the training of nurses from these institutions?
One Godfrey Kamanya, Member of Parliament for Lilongwe Msozi North, sent me in stitches when he reasoned with government to find monies of funding these students by putting levies on fuel, beer and cigarettes. Surely, Kamanya wanted to sympathize with these students—and it is in order. But, I strongly feel that putting more levies on products like beer and cigarettes let alone on fuel might not be the best solution. One does not need to be an economist to know that by putting a levy on fuel, it will obviously lead to the escalation of prices for many products and services. Furthermore, as already argued by a certain writer that Malawians are already overtaxed and putting more levies on Malawians will be like straining their pockets.
The government needs to find other means of sourcing money for the training of these students other than putting more taxes on Malawians. For instance, the government might source the monies by asking for donors to intervene in this predicament. I think it is not in order to execute desperate measures of sourcing money when as a country; we haven’t even exhausted all the means of solving this problem.
Malawians who also evade the already existing taxes that the government put in place should also know that the taxes that they run away from go a long way in helping government execute various functions and responsibilities. This, being a case in point. The government has for a long time bemoaned the tendency of some people who evade tax by thinking that the government is overburdening them. This surely has to stop.
However, when all is said and done, impoverished CHAM and MCHS students need to go back to school and the government needs to play a leading role in ensuring that they are back to their respective school premises.

The Role of Malawian Media in Fighting Climate Change

2010-05-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

The role of the media in society cannot be overstated. Apart from their role in examining government actions and holding policy makers to account, the media are the main source of information on critical issues for the general public and climate change is one of them. Given the immense importance of the issues at stake for people and planet, this is the role that carries great responsibility. It is against this background that I am writing a thesis on the role of media in Malawi in fighting climate change.

Since many of these issues that concern the environment in general and climate change in particular are enormously complex and scientifically difficult to communicate, this study, therefore, seeks to provide perhaps one of the first analyses of media coverage of climate change in Malawi. In general terms, the study focuses on the framing of climate change and the sources of such frames in the Malawian media, specifically in newspapers. Specifically, it aims at assessing critically the extent to which the print media in Malawi have covered and framed the issue of climate change and how have they (the print media) assisted people understand this bloodcurdling issue.

From an analytical perspective, Malawi– as a developing country – is an ideal scenario to study climate change policy. This is because of the paradoxical context in which the country is situated, being one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, but also a country with an economy highly dependent on its natural resources and agriculture. Since the study will take a qualitative and analytical approach, it will draw heavily on desk research which involves a review of articles from the Malawi’s major newspapers namely The Nation, Daily Times, Weekend Nation, Malawi News, Sunday Times and Nation on Sunday of between January and June 2009.

SPECIFIC OBECTIVES
Specifically, the study aims at achieving the following objectives:
• Finding out if Malawians have been properly conscientized about the environment in general and climate change issues, problems and solutions in particular by the print media in Malawi.
• To analyze the content, style, language, pictures/illustrations used by the print media in Malawi.
• To make recommendations on how best information on climate change can be communicated to people in Malawi through the print media.
So I need different kinds of views from the general public. To what extent do you think and feel the Malawian media have assisted people understand the issue of climate change? Where do you think they have fallen short of and where do they need to polish up and focus on? Please forward the feedback to madise07@yahoo.com or marshalmadise@gmail.com or call me on +265995361882.

Chanco Students Plan to Oust Registrar

2010-05-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

University of Malawi’s Chancellor College students are planning to remove their Registrar for Social Welfare, Mr. Elius G. Chizimba, citing failure by him to handle students’ welfare properly as a major reason behind the plot.
According to a memo, sourced by this reporter, which circulated on Monday around Chirunga campus, as it is popularly known, and signed by some very concerned students, Mr. Chizimba is being accused of mishandling of transport, accommodation, and sports issues for the students. The highly-emotively charged memo further says the registrar has failed to consult students on critical issues as he has made unilateral decisions on many important issues that have affected the student’s body.
President-elect for Students Union of Chancellor College (SUCC), Lonjezo Sithole, confirmed this development in an exclusive interview with this reporter.
“It’s indeed true that some students are planning to remove Mr. Chizimba, from the office of Registrar for Social Welfare following the memo that circulated on Monday around the campus,” he said.
“But this issue hasn’t come to my office yet for the practice here is that if students have got grievances, they have to call for a general assembly so that the whole student body should agree on the course of action to take,” he added.
Quizzed on whether he supports this motion or not, Sithole said as a union’s president, he will follow what the students will agree in the general assembly.
Dean of Students for Chancellor College, Ms Jubilee Tizifa, was not immediately available for comment.
But a fourth year student, who spoke on strict condition of anonymity, observed that it was indeed high time that the registrar was booted out of office.
“Mr. Chizimba has taken us for granted for quite some time. Imagine, he has banned the Sports Complex Bar from showing football matches while other students televisions are down and have not been repaired,” he lamented.
“He hasn’t given us our Chancellor Trophy medals that we won last year up to now. An encounter with him in office is a nightmare, he shouts for no apparent reason. And recently he has started walking around with a camera photographing students without permission for whatever use. In fact, the list goes on and on,” he added.
“Mr. Chizimba has been tried and found wanting. We cannot continue watching him, fellow intellectuals, corrupting our intellectualism. There is but one thing that ought to be done to him if we are to regain our pride…we all know that thing: Mr. Chizimba must be shown the exit door through any means imaginable and possible” reads part of the memo.

Give Us a break, Government

2010-05-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

Recent media reports that government would like to introduce many bills among them the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill and the HIV and AIDS Bill need to be welcomed with caution tinged with critical thoughts.
The highlight of the former bill, we gather, is to criminalize polygamy in this country whilst that of the later proposes that there should be mandatory HIV tests for expectant women and their spouses, sex workers, recruits for the army, police and immigration, and polygamous unions among others. According to this bill, those who fail to take these mandatory tests will face the wrath of the law—which is a five-year jail term or a fine.
While the government intention is to reduce the spread of HIV in the country, which is an innocent ambition, a sober look at these bills will greatly help and government has to tread carefully.
For one thing, if government introduces these mandatory HIV tests, it will be like trampling on people’s rights and furthermore, it will be like a contradiction to some of the government laws such as labour laws. For example, forcing army officers, the police and immigration workers, for crying out loud, will be discrimination at work place. And what benefit will the test on these officers bring if one may ask?
Furthermore, the HIV and AIDS Bill will bring a lot of confusion in this country. As per proposed in this bill, people will be required to disclose their statuses before they engage in sex and if someone has infected another person deliberately with the virus, he/she will be incarcerated. Well, well, well, how will a person exactly pinpoint that this or that person infected me with the virus? And how will the courts prove this beyond reasonable doubt? This will just make the country’s judiciary to be flooded with too many cases that will delay judicial dispensation in this country. And does this bill intend to make people who have the virus not to enjoy their conjugal rights? Isn’t this stigma and discrimination of people living the virus?
And on banning polygamy? I think the government has now gone too far. What the government should know is that Malawi is a multi cultural multi-lingual and a multi-religious country. Therefore, formulating laws that are in favour of one group of people makes others feel out of place. Already, those religions that support polygamy like the Muslim community and those cultures that tolerate it like the Ngoni people, see that this bill is targeting them.
Furthermore, this bill will be in total contradiction with the freedom of association and worship that are enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The last time I also checked the country’s statistics, they registered that women make up 52 per cent of Malawi’s total population against 48 per cent of men. This means that women are in large numbers than men. And where will other women go if government criminalizes polygamy? Ask these women, every woman would like to be loved by a man. Will this not make the other women start prostitution? Or does the government want women to be marrying their fellow women? Won’t this promote homosexuality that government, our culture and religious bodies loathe? And, if truth be told, women enter into polygamy on their will and no one forces them to do so.
So what am I saying? Formulating policies and changing laws for the fun of it will just put this country into division and disturbance. Already, the government has introduced the quota system as procedure of selecting students into the country’s public universities, under the guise of equitable sharing of resources, which some quarters of the society like the northerners have expressed misgivings.
Then we hear government would like to change the innocent national flag. As this is not pleasing enough, last year we saw the passing of the Police Bill which gives powers to the police service to conduct a search without warrant and the Local Government Bill which saw the president acquiring powers to decide the date for the local government polls which up to now we don’t know whether they will be conducted or not. We also gather that the government intends to come up with the Sex Workers Bill that will allow commercial sex workers do their business in their homes. We are also hearing, from the media, that the government would also like to formulate a policy to regulate child bearing in Malawian families. We wonder now, what is next?
Much as some of these measures are intended to bring sanity in this country, I think they are being fast-tracked and being implemented without wider consultations with people. Let the government consult with all stakeholders and engage people in a debate first before formulating some of these bills.

A DISCUSSION OF HOW LEADERSHIP DETERMINES THE SUCCESS OF ANY PROJECT

2010-04-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

In this day and age, many organizations and various governmental departments are becoming increasingly aware that the success of any project lies in leadership skills of project managers in addition to the tradition managerial skills that they learn. Even though these two notions “leadership” and “management” have often times been confused and used interchangeably, it is important, at the outset, that the two be clearly distinguished. There are in fact, many authors who have made a distinction between leading and managing. Beach and Reinhartz [(2000:75,) quoting Kotter 1990] say that “leaders create the essence or mission of an organization—its reason for being—while managers are responsible for helping achieve the mission or vision.” Bennis (1989: 18) actually say that “leaders…do the right thing while managers…do things right. Covey (1989: 101) adds that, “leadership is not management.” Before one can manage, one has to lead because leadership comes first. ASCD (1988:6) describes management as handling tasks, analyzing data, weighing alternatives and making decisions by applying established principles or doing it by the book.” Leadership, on the other hand, “involves reaching the emotions of people through effective communication and making one’s presence felt through example” (ibid). It is a process that involves obtaining cooperation from others to achieve shared goals and objectives.

Bennis and Nanus (1997) also view managers differently from leaders. Managers are in charge of things, solve problems, use procedures for finding solutions, and make sure that things are done properly. They know how to get the job done using a process orientation and tend to continue or maintain what is already in place. Leaders, on the other hand, have a vision of what can be, and what the organization can become. They have the ability to analyze and synthesize information, to see the whole rather than the parts, and to build commitment to the shared vision or mission. Dzimbiri (2009:169) succinctly puts it that “leading involves providing vision, direction, coordination, control, motivation, energizing and inspiring. On the other hand, managing is about planning for the achievement of per-set goals.”
Despite all these given distinctions, it is, however, important to appreciate the fact that leadership is inextricably linked to management. As noted by Dzimbiri (2009:169), “there is a strong relationship between leadership and managerial functions.” Admittedly, leading and managing are two sides of the same coin. In fact, many of the roles associated with a manager are similar to those expected of a leader. Cohen et al (1995:288) admits that the two roles are hard to separate, “since most managers have some responsibility for setting direction, and few get to just carry routine work”. It means therefore that leadership is part of management and management is one part of leadership (ibid).

With this introductory observation at the back of our minds, this paper sets off to discuss the crucial role of leadership for the success of any project. The argument presented in this paper is that for projects and project managers to be effective and successful, they must not only demonstrate administrative skills and technical know how, but must also practice an appropriate style of leadership and must also contain an aura of leadership qualities. The crux of project management or any management job lies in the job-holder’s capacity to obtain the commitment of people to the objectives of the organization, which is another way of saying to exercise appropriate leadership (Cole, 1996:50). This forms the basis of this paper’s discussion.

But what is leadership? Leadership as observed by Beach and Reinhartz (2000:73) “has many definitions based on historical circumstances and the views of theorists and researchers.” Cohen et al (1995:288) say that, “the purpose of a universal definition of effective leadership is still intriguing but elusive.” However, Dzimbiri (2009:170) notes that “for many theorists, leadership is the art of influencing individual and group efforts towards the optimum achievement of organizational goals.” For Greenberg and Baron (1997:433).” Leadership resembles love: It is something most people believe they can recognize but often find difficult to define.” Jewell (1998), however, suggests that leadership involves the art of inducing compliance through the use of influence or persuasion. Leadership has also been viewed in terms of personal traits and behaviour, influence and interaction patterns, roles and positions, and the perceptions of others (Yukl, 1994:59). Bennis and Nanus (1997:19) have written that leadership is “the most studied and least understood topic.” Wiles and Bondi (1986) have noted that there are over 130 definitions of leadership found in educational literature. Terry (1993: 14-15) cautions that leadership is not “techniques, quick fixes, or heroics” but rather a “mode of engagement with life, requiring a lifelong commitment to growing toward human fulfillment.” Lambert (1998: 5-6) says that leadership involves:

Learning together and constructing meaning and knowledge collectively and collaboratively— to reflect on and make sense of work in the light of shared beliefs and create actions that grow out of these new understandings.

Cole (1996:51) defines leadership as a “dynamic process in a group whereby one individual influences the others to contribute voluntarily to the achievement of group tasks in a given situation.”

As all of the above definitions demonstrate, leadership is a complex, multifaceted concept with many nuances involved in the application of the process (Rudnistski, 1996). A comprehensive, people-oriented definition of leadership is provided by Knezevich (1994:60), who says:

Leadership is a process of stimulating, developing, and working with people within an organization.
It is a human-oriented process and focuses upon personnel motivation, human relationships or social
Interactions, interpersonal communications, organizational climate, interpersonal conflicts, personal
growth and development, and enhancement of the productivity of human factors in general.

Putting all of these definitions together, a common thread that suggests action emerges from these definitions. Leaders, therefore, are individuals who inspire other people to do things, to take action, or to respond in some way. The role of a leader therefore is to direct the group towards group goals (Cole, 1996:51). But the question still begged is: How and why is leadership the major determining factor of a project success?

The answers to this mind-boggling question still lie in the roles that leaders do in project. For the purposes of this discussion, the terms ‘leader’ and ‘manager’ will be used interchangeably, even though customarily there is a distinction. As already alluded to, all managers and supervisors are leaders, because they need to motivate their team to achieve agreed objectives. Obviously, there are other factors that determine the success of a project like concept, objectives, time and available resources. Keeling (2000:54) says that “occasionally a project might fail or be abandoned because of external circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen like changes in government policy or sometimes physical security.” However, what is being contended in this paper is that of all these factors, leadership is the major determining factor of a project success since most of these other factors that can choke the success of a project can be ironed out through effective leadership. Here are the answers how and why this is so.

Firstly, it should be noted that any project requires human resource. According to the Association of Business Executive Handbook (2000: 78), “people are an organization’s most valuable and expensive resource, but they are the most difficult element of an organization to manage.” As already pointed out in this discussion, management could be defined as “getting things done through people.” However, this is more easily said than done. People possess a variety of talents and they will react differently in different circumstances. In fact, in many ways people are unpredictable (ibid). This means that unlike machines, they are not interchangeable, which creates problems for organizations. For example, a person may work well one day but not the next, or may cope well with pressures one day but fail to cope another day. Workers therefore need to be constantly motivated to do the work. This is where the importance of effective leadership comes in.

According to Burke (2003:312), “motivation is an inner force that causes someone to be inspired to do something.” However, an important point to note is that what inspires one person may not inspire another. And what inspires an individual in one set of circumstances may not inspire him in another (ibid). The leader’s task is to influence the work situation in such a way as to encourage the individuals to inspire and motivate themselves to achieve the project’s goal. Motivation is concerned with why people do or refrain from doing things. According to ABE (2000: 78) a motive “is a need or a driving force within a person.” For a project to be successful, the project leader needs to be prepared to be the motivator and the cheerleader, so as to generate enthusiasm for the project and continually obtain, buy-in support, commitment and participation from individual project team members and various stakeholders. According to NYS Project Management Handbook, “a project leader’s role is to try to determine what motivates individual project team members” (32). This may include the desire for challenging work, professional development recognition, possibility for promotion or collaboration with other team members (ibid). All these require effective leadership skills in projects.

Related to the issue of motivation is commitment. According to Burke (2003:309), “the performance of an individual also depends on their willingness and drive to complete the tasks, in other words their commitment.” Commitment is not a fixed commodity. It may change in response to conditions and situations the individual encounters. To this extent, the leader’s role is to use an appropriate style of leadership to control the working environment in such a manner that the workforce will be committed to the task and so inspire and motivate themselves to achieve the objectives of the project (ibid).It is therefore disingenuous to say that workers can be committed to work, in projects where its leadership is lifeless.

Furthermore, for projects to be conducted effectively project stakeholders must trust project leaders and this essentially requires effective leadership. According to NYS Project Management Handbook, trust is developed overtime and is “most easily inspired when the project leader exhibits a willingness and ability to share information, discuss personal feelings, listen to and understand others’ perspective, admit mistakes, encourage others, confront others, keep promises, be credible and sincere and be responsible and accountable for actions”(P.33). Dzimbiri (2009:170) says that “managing trust is the emotional glue that binds followers and leaders together.” The role of leaders therefore is to build trust among project stakeholders.

Equally important in any project is the ability of leaders to be creative. According to Robbins (2003:35) “creativity means finding new or better ways of doing old things or finding new things that are useful and profitable to do.” Surely, this is an essential and indispensable ingredient in a competitive organization or in any project. The leader’s function calls for initiating and designing changes in the way the project operates (Cohen et al, 1995:319). In carrying out this task, the leader diagnoses trends, envisions possibilities, plans improvements, invents programs and other solutions and in general promotes innovation (ibid). It is mainly from such innovation that material progress towards better living.

Another important leadership skill that has an overwhelming contribution to the success of a project is organizing. According to David (2009:145), “organizing means determining who does what and who reports to whom.” The purpose of organizing is to achieve coordinated effort by defining task and authority relationships. A well-organized project generally has motivated managers and employees who are committed to seeing the project succeed. Resources are allocated more effectively and used more efficiently in a well-organized project than in a disorganized project (ibid).

Further to organizing is another significant job of a leader in a project, which is proper planning. According to David (2009:143), “planning is the essential bridge between the present and the future that increases the likelihood of achieving desired results.” Planning is the process by which one determines whether to attempt a task, works out the effective way of reaching desired objectives, and prepares to overcome unexpected difficulties with adequate resources. Planning enables one to avoid the trap of working extremely hard but achieve little in a project. It helps a project achieve maximum effect from a given effort. David (2009:144) has given several advantages of planning to a project. He says planning “enables a project to take into account relevant factors and focus on the critical ones.” He also says planning “helps ensure that the project can be prepared for all reasonable eventualities and for all changes that will be needed.” Planning enables an organization to gather all resources needed and carry out tasks in the most efficient way possible. Planning enables a project to “conserve its own resources, avoid wasting ecological resources, make a fair profit, and be seen as an effective, useful” project (ibid). Planning enables a project “to identify precisely what is to be achieved and to detail precisely the who, what, when, where, why, and how to achieve the desired objectives” (ibid). If truth be told, planning is the cornerstone of every effective strategy formulation. This is so largely because organizing, motivating, controlling and other managerial activities depend upon good planning.

Perhaps mention must also be made here that communication in a project is also very crucial in effective project leadership. According to the NYS Project Management Handbook, “communication is a very critical component of every project management process” so it is required that the project leader or manager develop skills that ensure that messages are appropriately transmitted and correctly received (23). The role of a project leader is to build and nurture all relationships with all identified key project stakeholders. These include the project sponsor(s), project team members, customer representatives, beneficiaries and other stakeholders that may influence the project’s progress and success (ibid). It is up to the project leader to provide appropriate communication opportunities for each stakeholder. The project manager should ensure that there are mechanisms—formal or informal—for obtaining stakeholders’ feedback. The project manager should also be cognizant of the role played by informal communications. A conversation in the hallway, a chance meeting outside the office with the stakeholder, even overhead conversations, may have a potential impact on the project. Since the project manager is responsible for setting and managing the “mood” of the project, he/she must pay attention to communication undercurrents, and be prepared to bring relevant issues to more formal communication venues when appropriate.

It would be also very inappropriate if this essay is blind to the fact that in projects there can be some forms of skirmishes. Robbins (2003:29) notes that “conflict comes to expression in its various forms such as illogical disagreement, win-lose arguments, or even open-fighting.” He further says, “in one way or another, all constitute evidences of emotional tension and disturbance between individuals or groups” (ibid). Furthermore, conflict smacks of lack of authority in an organization. Therefore conflict cannot be allowed to permeate the work situation. In any case, it has to be brought under control before it becomes unmanageable. Since a project is by definition temporary, the project manager cannot afford the luxury of waiting until a conflict ‘blows over’ but must work to create a setting where the conflict can be resolved quickly and with as little damage as possible. The role of a leader therefore is to develop an effective negotiating style.

The last role of a leader in a project that this essay puts forward is that of good decision making. According to Dzimbiri (2009:154), “decision making is the process of locating and defining the problem, weighing the various alternative solutions in terms of their possible consequences, choosing the best solution from among them and ensuring that the decision has been implemented effectively.” Good decision-making is an essential skill of a leader that is needed in any project. If one makes timely and well-considered decisions, then one can lead ones project team to spectacular and well-deserved success (ibid). If one makes poor decisions, the project team risks failure and one’s time as a leader will most likely be short. A decision situation involves either the presence of a problem or an opportunity which can be exploited. As a matter of fact, one can safely say that decision-making is at the heart of management as every managerial function requires making a decision.

In conclusion, this paper has looked at how leadership determines the success of any project. The assertion that this essay makes, in a summary, is that leadership plays a vital role in a project since it helps in such issues as motivation of project team members, commitment, building trust, being creative, planning, organizing, communication, solving conflicts and good decision making.

REFERENCES
Association of Business Executives (ABE) (2000). A Handbook for Business Managers
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (1988). Educational Administrator Effectiveness Profile: Self-Development Guide. Plymouth, MI: Human Synergists.
Beach, D. and Reinhertz, J. (2000). Supervisory Leadership: Focus on Instruction. Massachusetts. Allyyn and Bacon.
Bennis, W. (1980). Why Leaders can’t lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers
Bennis, W and Nanus, B (1997). Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Burke, R. (2003). Project Management, Planning and Control Techniques. (4th Ed). England. John Wesley: Sussex
Cole, G.A (1996). Management, theory and Practice (5th Ed). London: Continuum
Cohen F (1995) Effective Behavior in Organization. Cases, concepts and Student Experience (6th ED) Library of Congress Cataloging-in –Publication Data

Covey, S.K. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon and Schuster

David F. (2009). Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. (12th Ed). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pearson Education Inc.

Dzimbiri, L.B (2009). Organization and Management Theories: An African Focus. Integrating Structure, People, Processes and the Environment for Happiness. International Scientific Publisher.
Greenberg, J and Baron, R.A (1997). Behaviour in Organizations. (6th ED). Upplesaddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall
Jewell, L.N (1998). Contemporary Industrial/ Organizational Psychology. (3rd Ed). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co
Keeling, R. (2000). Project Management. An International Perspective. London. Macmillan Press Limited
Knezevich, S.J (1984). Administration of Public Education. (4th Ed). New York: Harper and Row
Lambert, L (1998). Building Leadership capacity in Schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
NYS Project Management Guidebook. Leadership. A Handbook for Project Leaders
Robbins, S (2003). Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Rudnistski, R.A. (1996). Global Leadership Theory: Theoretical Roots, Principles and Possibilities for the future. Gifted education International, 11, 80-85
Terry, R.W. (1993). Authentic Leadership: Courage in Action. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass Publishers
Wiles, J and Bondi, J. (1986). Supervision: A Guide to Practice. (2nd Ed). Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill
Yukl, G.A. (1994). Leadership in Organizations. (3rd Ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Neglecting the Mentally Challenged?

2009-12-13T23:56:00.001-08:00

In every society, it is unavoidable to have people who are mentally retarded. In fact, mental illness is the commonest ailment in the world, just as it is defined.
However, of disheartening to note is the fact that many people never take into consideration the plight of the mentally challenged. This is so because they are considered a threat and a nuisance to people and some even wish they are gotten rid of by society.
People with mental problems are left to their fate while the unlucky ones are left to roam the streets, scampering for their survival.
In Malawi, the case is no different. Over the years, there have been an increasing number of suspected mentally ill persons roaming in and around the country’s streets and cities.
These mentally ill people are seen hunting for unhealthy food in the country’s rubbish dumps, gutters and some very disgusting places. Sad to note is also the fact some people pelt stones at these patients while they pour all sorts of substances on them. Of even hard to fathom is also the painful truth that some weak-minded individuals rape and molest these mentally challenged persons.
As this is not bad enough, some mentally challenged people are ridiculed at and looked down upon with disdain and contempt. It thus appears that many of their inalienable rights are violated and taken for granted.
But why has this been the case in Malawi? Good question. I think there are more factors than one, but chief among the reason is that the government has for many years ignored the plight and welfare of the mentally challenged. Evidenced by lack of strong policies on the mental problem, the government shoulders much blame for overlooking the sufferings of the mentally challenged.
For example, it appears Malawi is still using the Mental Treatment Act of 1989 which I think is archaic and retrogressive. Many things have changed now and the law definitely requires some reviews and amendments so that it suits modern times.
But this is not all.
I think there should also be some complementary policies that should govern the conduct of mental health personnel and also the conduct and responsibility of the general public to the mentally ill. It is clear and loud that the mentally ill are looked at with ridicule and resentment by most people. So the government should come up with means of sensitizing the public on the importance of caring for the mentally challenged.
Another reason why there has been an upsurge of mentally retarded people in the country’s cities and towns is perhaps because the country has one major public mental hospital in Zomba which definitely does not cater for all mental patients in the country. The other major mental hospital is St John of God in Mzuzu, which we gather, is private and definitely not for everyone. What is even more worrisome to note is also the fact that the country has short medical personnel supply and this has aggravated the already worsened situation as this means that many mental patients are not well taken care of.
All these problems point to the fact that the welfare of the mentally challenged is not being well considered and this has led to the rise of mentally challenged to be roaming around the streets.
But, it should be borne in mind that the mentally retarded deserve some form of rights because they being vulnerable and incapacitated do not exempt them from enjoying the rights they deserve. They need more rights and a better environment to leave just like any other normal human being.
More and better mental hospitals and with better facilities, are therefore needed to make their life better. Furthermore, the government should formulate strict laws to safeguard their rights and additionally, it should also put in place policies to ensure that the mentally challenged are given the care and treatment they deserve.
It is also the duty of the Ministry of Information and Civic Education to sensitize the general public on the importance of respecting the rights of the mentally challenged. Good health is of vital importance to the development of any country and the present plight of the mentally challenged is not something the country should be proud of. It sucks.

Fighting HIV/AIDS amid Myths

2009-12-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

Last week, Malawi joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Aids Day which falls on December 1 every year. And speaking at the launch of the commemorations at Dowa Secondary School ground, President Bingu wa Mutharika said, and it is true, that Malawi is winning the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“We are winning the fight because the number of infections is declining…I expect this pandemic to end,” Mutharika said with an aura of conviction.
From the president’s speech, one could notice the desire, hope and zeal simmering in a leader wanting to catapult the nation into the world’s most comfortable zone. Surely, every well meaning Malawian would like to see Malawi winning the battle against HIV/AIDS.
But, it appears despite the commitments from government to put this deadly pandemic to a grinding halt, some people are still putting spanners in the war against HIV/AIDS.
For example, it is very sad and unfortunate that some people up to now still believe that HIV/AIDS can be transmitted and cured through some superstitious ways. Ever since the first case of HIV infection was reported in Malawi in 1985, some Malawians have struggled to shake off some myths on HIV/AIDS.
For instance, some people still believe that they can be cured of AIDS if they sleep with their blood relatives and more shameful with their children. This has resulted in the spread of HIV/AIDS to innocent lives and it is actually derailing the fight against the pandemic.
Even more moving to learn is also that some people are deluded into thinking that they are going to be cleansed of the virus if they use concoctions made from bodies of the challenged people like albinos and the mentally retarded. They thus end up harming the bodies of these people in a desperate attempt to save their lives.
Another shocking myth is that of engaging in bestiality to get rid of the deadly virus. The Malawian media has on several occasions reported on bestiality acts by some people across the country. When quizzed to explain their motives, these people, without batting an eyelid, say they wanted to get cured of HIV/AIDS. What a pity. What is the connection between getting cleansed of the virus and sleeping with animals? One would really be tempted to ask.
It appears therefore that some Malawians don’t want to believe that up until today there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and the only drugs that are available for Aids are the anti-retro viral drugs which unfortunately cannot cure Aids but just prolong the lives of those people living with the virus.
Obviously, this is why we hear time and again some herbalists claiming that they have found some concoctions, which they say, can cure Aids. In Machinga, for example, there was one Mr. Chisupe who drew much hullabaloo and popularity in the 90s with his famous ‘Mchape’ drug. Memories are still fresh of how people drove from far-flung corners of Malawi to be given a dosage of the concoction.
Then came Mr. George Kumbuyo from Mulanje with his Chambe drug and just recently we have heard a certain woman in Mangochi also claiming that she has found a cure for Aids. And sad to note is also the fact that many people are trekking to this woman hoping to get cured of the disease despite authorities proving that the drug does not cure Aids, as people given the drug are still HIV positive. Very sad indeed!
But, who is to blame? Obviously, the
herbalists are to blame for wanting to make money by cheating people that they have found the Aids cure. But I also think it boils down to the question of acceptance of ones HIV status. Many Malawians, it seems, don’t want to accept their HIV status after testing positive. They thus end up believing some senseless myths that result in the spread of the disease thereby undermining the government’s effort of reducing HIV transmission.
Perhaps it is now time that Malawians realized that being HIV positive does not mean the end of ones life. Elsewhere, in South Africa, for example, which has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, many people after testing positive, accept their results and continue to live positively with their lives and end up living longer than expected. These HIV/AIDS myths will lead us nowhere!

Is the Government justified to formulate a Sex Worker’s Bill?

2009-11-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Recent media reports pointing that the government intends to come up with a Sex Worker’s Bill with an aim of protecting sex workers in the country, shocked quite a few of us. Already, many questions have been raised than answers.
At the outset, to say that prostitution is not happening in the country is to be disingenuous. Nowadays, it is commonplace to find sex workers in many country’s roads and entertainment centres. Of even more painful to note is that a majority of sex workers who ply their trade in these places are girls who are in their adolescent stage. This paints a gloomy picture of this country’s future.
At a time when the HIV/AIDS scourge is ravaging a lot of Malawians, it is sad that many women are still selling their bodies at the expense of their lives. However, as old wisdom holds that it takes two to tango, it is also very unfortunate that while HIV/AIDS messages are now on the lips of almost every Malawian, many men are shoving their precious lives to fate by hooking up with these sex workers.
Granted, there are protective measures of avoiding the contraction of the deadly virus such as the use of condoms, but if other recent reports coming from the National Aids Commission (Nac) are anything to go by, Malawians should shudder to come to terms with these facts.
According to Bernard Malango, NAC Board Chairperson, condom use in Malawi is just only about 50 per cent. What this essentially means is that half the population of Malawians, who engage in sexual behaviour, do not use condoms. Surely, one can safely argue that many sex workers also throw condoms to the wind.
So, while the government plans to come up with a Sex Worker’s Bill with an aim of removing sex workers out of the streets sound a good idea on face value, it will not arrest the problem of HIV infection and transmission among sex workers. In fact, there are huge problems associated with the whole sound of the intended Bill.
Firstly, remarks coming from Minister of Gender, Child and Community Development, Patricia Kaliati that this Bill plans to make these sex workers operate from homes in stead of streets, begs the question; how is this different from legalizing prostitution?
It does not actually make sense for government to come up with a Bill to allow sex workers to ply their trade in homes, while prohibiting them to operate in the streets. In fact, by allowing them to operate in homes, is the same as legalizing prostitution.
It should also be noted that many sex workers operate in the streets and other entertainment centres largely because they are cognizant of the fact that these are the places that their clients often loiter and harbour. So, saying that they should operate from their homes is almost impossible and in the end they will still be coming back to the streets for their markets.
Remember the issue of street vending which is refusing to be brought to a halt in the country’s cities and towns.
So, one wonders how the government is going to regulate sex work which is mainly a nocturnal activity when it has arguably failed to curb street vending in broad day lights?
Furthermore, while the government innocuously intends to protect the rights of sex workers who are oftentimes abused by their clients, it, at the same time, blinks the fact that sex workers sometimes also infringe the rights of their clients. For example, they violate the right to life of their clients if they conduct their business with the full knowledge of their HIV positive status.
Of course, Malawi is a democratic country, where the enjoyment of inalienable rights is the hallmark, but by protecting the rights of the sex workers, it is like the government is contradicting itself since the Penal Code is clear on all those people who transmit dangerous diseases intentionally to others.
And, it appears HIV infection rates are appallingly higher among sex workers. Recently, Secretary for HIV/AIDS and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr. Mary Shawa, was quoted in one of the local papers as saying that the infection rates of HIV among sex workers are as high as 70 and 80 per cent. Surely, one can argue that it is therefore activities like prostitution that are reversing the fight against HIV/AIDS.
So, coming up with a Bill to protect these sex workers will have devastating consequences on many Malawians. It will mean that government has approved this illegal and immoral activity to be taking place in underground and hidden places. And many sex workers will be doing their activities without looking over their shoulders thereby opening the floodgates to prostitution. Actually, by approving underground prostitution, the government is giving a nod for sex workers to go on rampage and spread HIV/AIDS.
Moreover, it should be noted that prostitution is on the increase mainly because of poverty. Sex workers indulge in this illicit activity largely because they want to escape from the life of penury that is constantly on their backs. For example, HIV/AIDS has claimed a lot of Malawian lives and as a consequence, this has made a lot of children to be orphans. This has therefore resulted in the increase of young sex workers who have taken prostitution as their means of survival.
So, it is going to be difficult to arrest the problem of prostitution in the streets since many sex workers sell their bodies because they want to earn a living out of it.
All these problems point to the fact that coming up with a Sex Workers Bill with an aim of making prostitution to be done in homes in stead of streets, will not be a solution to the problem of prostitution. To the contrary, this will aggravate the already worsen situation of prostitution in the country since sex workers will be engaging in their activities without fearing to be caught on the wrong side of the law.
It should also be noted that protecting sex workers from different sorts of abuse, can only be possible if the government legalise prostitution. Let’s be more reasonable here; how is the government going to be protecting sex workers when there is clause in the country’s laws that stipulate that prostitution, in every sense of the word, is illegal? Simply put, formulating a Sex Workers Bill will be a great stride towards the legalisation of prostitution in the country.
In my view, the solution to prostitution in the country does not lie in making them perform their unfathomable activities in homes instead of streets but strengthening the already existing laws by arresting and bringing to book all sex workers who are found loitering in every corner of this country. It is therefore unfortunate and disheartening to learn that some police officers when they find these sex workers in the streets, demand sex as a bribe instead of arresting them. Surely, this should change if prostitution is to be brought to a grinding halt .Rooting out prostitution in the country will require a holistic approach not just quick fix solutions.

This article appeared in the Sunday Times as an OP-Ed. I wrote the Opinion Debate with my friend and classmate Fletcher Bokelukamba Simwaka. However, I have posted my article only because I couldnt find Fletcher's article.

AN APPRAISAL OF ZIMBABWE’S ECONOMIC PERFOMANCE: ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

2009-11-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, has passed through peaks and troughs of performance and effectiveness since the dawn of colonialism and provides an interesting case study for the Southern African region. The country, once described as the breadbasket of Africa, is now passing through a critical economic malaise largely due to poor economic policies and bad political leadership. Zimbabwe’s economy is in ruins with hyperinflation and unemployment at around 80 per cent (BBC, 2009). Millions of Zimbabweans are in dire need of food and the country’s infrastructures and institutions are in shambles. This is not all; a majority of adult population is unemployed and owing to this, many Zimbabweans have fled Zimbabwe in search for a new lease of life. Zimbabwe’s children are blighted by the highest mortality, malnourishment and stunted growth of all sub-Saharan region countries (ibid). Cases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases are not uncommon. Over and above, poverty in Zimbabwe remains considerably high and pervasive and millions of Zimbabweans continue to live lives of deprivation and hardship just to clinch it all.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economic performance of Zimbabwe. However, it is important to appreciate the fact that any attempt to grasp the economic performance of Zimbabwe has to be situated and analysed within the overall history of the country’s economy since independence and even beyond. However, for the purposes of this discussion, this essay, among other things, offers a brief political and economic history of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, it outlines the rationale for the economic policies Zimbabwe has pursued over the years and the peculiarity about this country’s economic policies. Additionally, the essay compares Zimbabwe’s economic performance with other few countries in the Southern Africa region. Finally, this essay points out the general challenges and opportunities Zimbabwe is currently facing.

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
According to World Book Encyclopedia (2001:596), “Zimbabwe has had a troubled political history.” Zimbabwe, formerly called Southern Rhodesia was the former British colony which became an independent Republic on 18th April 1980 after a prolonged war of liberation. The head of state since independence has been Robert Mugabe, leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party (Sichone, 2003:1). However, the political history of Zimbabwe dates back to the 1400s when there was a branch of the Shona called the Karanga which established the Mwanamutapa Empire which included most land of what is now called Zimbabwe. Since Zimbabwe is endowed with vast amount of minerals such as gold, many Europeans especially the British came to occupy Zimbabwe hence that was the beginning of colonialism. In 1897, the Britain recognized Southern and Northern Rhodesia as separate entities.

In 1953, the Britain set up the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was later dissolved in 1963 (Hazzlewood, 1967:228). In 1964, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia became independent while Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) did not. As a consequence, a prolonged fighting between black Zimbabweans and white rulers broke up as many black Zimbabweans started clamouring for independence. In 1979, due to outside and internal pressure, the then prime minister of Zimbabwe Ian Smith began to cede some level of authority to the blacks. Finally, the whites succumbed to calls of independence and an election was held in 1979 which resulted in a government with a majority of black leaders and Abel Muzorewa became the first black Prime Minister (WBE, 2001:597).

However, there were some misunderstanding with the way these elections were held and as a result another election was held in 1980 which saw the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) claiming a landslide victory (Mandoza, 1986:84). Since the ZANU-PF accumulated many parliamentary seats, its leader, Robert Mugabe, was automatically elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. And as already stated, Britain granted independence to Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980 and because of this many whites returned home. After five years, another set of elections were also held and Mugabe returned his position. However, in 1987, the office of the Prime Minister was replaced by the office of the president as the highest government post (ibid).

Since 1980, Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe but his reign has been marred by many political bickering, violence and tension coupled with a dwindling economic performance. For example, the opposition parties have always disputed the elections that happen in the Zimbabwe as undemocratic. This has especially been true as evidenced by the disputed elections in March 2002 and the recently conducted elections. Led by main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition has always taken a swipe at Mugabe’s leadership but this has yielded no fruitful results. Perhaps, after seeing that Mugabe is taking more time to retire than expected and wanted, Tsvangirai has now joined a government of national unity with Mugabe with an aim of restoring the old glory that Zimbabwe used to take delight. However, the problems faced by Zimbabwe still remain large and growing.

THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
The economic history of Zimbabwe is as old as the country’s history itself. As already mentioned, many whites started to trek to Zimbabwe after discovering that it offered an enormous potential for economic development with her minerals. Zimbabwe is an important producer of coal, gold, nickel and other valuable minerals. Perhaps mention must be made here that Zimbabwe was also used as an administrative capital for the federation. This offered Zimbabwe a huge opportunity to prosper since other countries were being used as labour reserves for her. Since time immemorial, commercial agriculture has been the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy. Furthermore, the agriculture sector is the largest employer in Zimbabwe. The country’s chief agricultural exports include beef, coffee, tea, flower, vegetables, fruits, corn and tobacco. It should also be noted that the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe is amongst Africa’s largest (Gibbon, 1995: 18).

The economic history of Zimbabwe began with the transition to majority rule in 1980 and Britain's ceremonial granting of independence. The new government under Prime Minister Robert Mugabe promoted socialism, partially relying on international aid. The new regime inherited one of the most structurally developed economies and effective state systems in Africa (Hazzlewood, 1967:284). Initially the government followed a corporatist model with government management of the economy maintaining policies first instituted by the previous government to deal with UN-sanctions imposed in 1965. The state already had ownership of utilities and agricultural marketing agencies. The new government added to this by buying out more private companies. The government also extended existing protectionist policies. Throughout the 1980s, the economy performed extremely well which led the Central government expenditure to triple and increase its share from 32.5 percent of GDP in 1979 to 44.6% in 1989 (ibid).
However, this did not last long because the economy nosedived after 1989 due to a number of reasons and this led to the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP). Generally, these measures were inter alia intended to improve resource allocation, increase efficiency, expand growth potential and enhance resilience shocks (World Bank, 1994:267). However, despite these reforms, the Zimbabwe’s economic blues continued during the 1990s. Perhaps, this was due to (1992, 1993, and 1995) droughts which heavily impacted on agriculture. Other factors such as the 1998 Mugabe's intervention in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)—purportedly to protect his personal investments—resulted in suspension of international economic aid for Zimbabwe. This suspension of aid and the millions of dollars spent to intervene in the war further weakened Zimbabwe's already troubled economy.
Zimbabwe's economy continued to consistently shrink upon entering the new millennium, in an atmosphere of political turmoil coupled with capital flight and mismanagement. Inflation had spiraled out of control and the underpinnings of the economy in agriculture and industry had been dissipated. Furthermore, the law which was passed in may 2000 to allow the seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms without compensation further aggravated the situation. To date, the economy has continued to plunge largely due to poor political and economic leadership.

THE ECONOMIC POLICIES ZIMBABWE HAS PURSUED OVER THE YEARS
According to Gibbon (1995:7), “Zimbabwe’s social and economic policies can be grouped into four main phases in post-colonial era.” The first, from independence to 1982 was accompanied by an economic boom and characterized by twin phenomena of the adoption of redistributive policies and a high level of mutual suspicion between government and capital (ibid). A second phase, from 1982 to around 1986, contained two major economic recessions, a check on redistributive policies and continuing cool relations between government and capital. The third, dating from 1986 to 1990 involved the resumption of a degree of economic growth and the downplaying of redistribution. The fourth, that of structural adjustment began in 1990 and has been marked by a very severe drought and economic contraction, an implicit rejection of redistributivism and liberal economic policies. The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) included among other things, removal of price and wage controls, reduction of government expenditure, a 40 per cent devaluation of Zimbabwean Dollar, removal of subsidies on basic consumer goods, a radical restructuring of various parastatals and other public enterprises (Sichone, 2003:1). The aim of SAPS was to correct unsustainable disequilibrium in the balance of payments.

However, with these economic policies, Zimbabwe is still characterized by a restrictive trade regime, particularly on the capital account (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf). Furthermore, the economy has continued to slump mainly because of Zimbabwe’s unique policies. Firstly, it should be noted that the government in Zimbabwe espoused a socialist ideology, similar to the African socialism which had been adopted by majority governments in most of the continent's ex-colonies. As a result of adopting this ideology, the two major aims of the ZANU-PF's economic policies were growth and redistribution of resources. In attempting to spur growth of the economy, the plan was to redistribute wealth, both public and private, from the minority of whites controlling the economy to majority of blacks that made up the population. In theory the policies made sense. However, these policies had serious implications as several white settlers started to walk out of Zimbabwe and their enterprises collapsed.

ECONOMIC PERFOMANCE FROM 1995 TO PRESENT
This section reviews Zimbabwe’s macro-economic performance and its economic structure since 1995. This essay uses two neighbouring countries, South Africa and Zambia, as comparators of Zimbabwe. Zambia provides a direct comparison while South Africa represents a regional standard that Zimbabwe should aspire to achieve. In addition, Zimbabwe’s economic performance has been compared with other low-income countries in the SADC region.

It is important to note that the economy of Zimbabwe has plummeted over the past years. The crisis has been largely attributed to economic mismanagement, poor governance, and loss of support from the international community, all compounded by periods of drought. The collapse was triggered by the government’s decision in 1997 to ignore fiscal constraints in making large payments to veterans of the Independence struggle. Then, in the wake of political setbacks in 1998, the government announced the seizure of white-owned farms, which exacerbated the instability .Another pivotal event, was the controversial Fast Track Land Reform scheme for involuntary land redistribution in 2000, which led to a precipitous decline in productivity and output in agriculture, formerly the mainstay of the economy.

Using the purchasing power parity (PPP) method of calculating the GDP, Zimbabwe’s per capita income in 2006 was $2, 437—a drop of more than 23 per cent since 1998. Furthermore, the GDP declined by 30% from 1998 through 2003, and fell another 5.2% in 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:1). In an economy characterized by declining per capita income, hyperinflation, high unemployment, shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, it is not a surprise that poverty levels are extremely alarming. For example, the 2003 Zimbabwe’s Poverty Assessment estimated that 72 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. This is 17 per cent point higher than the figure of 1995 which was at 55 per cent. As a point of interest, this was worse than the extremely highest rate of Zambia which was at 68.0 in 2004.

The economic crisis has brought with it severe shortages in food and other necessities. Between 2002 and 2004, an average of 47.0 per cent of the population could not fill their minimum dietary consumption needs. This is due to a combination of an adverse weather conditions, deteriorating irrigation system, and the loss of service sector support in rural areas due to the closure of large-scale commercial farms. According to World Food Programme, more than 4 million Zimbabweans face food shortages today (http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716).

In summary, the economy of Zimbabwe is in shambles. The harbinger of all the problems has been retrogressive economic and social policies, hyperinflation, and political distress.

ZIMBABWE’S CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
That Zimbabwe is in the middle of large and growing challenges cannot be overemphasized. The challenges are serious and many. However, there is a flicker of hope that sooner or later Zimbabwe will be back to its impressive performance. However, this requires a concerted effort on the part of the Zimbabwean government and the donor community.

Perhaps, one major challenge crippling Zimbabwe is political instability. It does not need deep knowledge to sense the link between political stability and economic development. There can never be development in a country where there is political unrest. Sadly, in Zimbabwe, there has been political instability in the country marked by political violence, arrest of opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists and university students. Furthermore, the elections that have happened in Zimbabwe in recent years have always been disputed as the opposition parties have claimed that they have been rigged. A case in point being the recently conducted elections where the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to contest arguing that the elections were marred by violence and intimidation (BBC News, 2009).

In summary, there is no democracy in Zimbabwe and this has been evidenced by the muzzling of the press and the media in general, suppression of Non-Governmental Organisations and the arrest of opposition politicians and supporters. For example, the Zimbabwean government passed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) in 2002 and 2003 respectively, which have been used by ZANU-PF to suppress freedom of speech (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). AIPPA requires that all media services be licensed by the government, and that all journalists, including foreign correspondents, to be officially accredited while POSA prohibits any “abusive, indecent, obscene, or false statement” about the president, and prohibits false statements prejudicial to the state. An interesting case in point being the arrest of opposition politician Roy Bennet who is also the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the new government of national unity formed by Tsvangirai and Mugabe (BBC News, 2009).

There is also another undemocratic legislation called the Non Governmental Organisation Bill which was passed in July 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:4). The bill prohibits foreign non governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating in Zimbabwe if their principal objectives include issues of governance, which in turn include the promotion and protection of human rights. Domestic NGOs are prohibited from accepting foreign funds for carrying out activities involving issues of governance. All NGOs are required to register with the government, and a council is established with wide powers to investigate and regulate NGOs.

Another major challenge being faced by Zimbabwe is the suspension of foreign developmental aid by the international community. Several international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and major donors such as United States of America and the United Kingdom suspended their aid as a result of poor governance and Zimbabwe’s disrespectful of human rights.

Furthermore, HIV/AIDS is also another serious and growing challenge that has beset Zimbabwe. For example, almost 25 per cent of the Zimbabwean adult population is HIV positive (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). This has resulted in the reduction of life expectancy as several Zimbabweans have been shoved to the grave. Other challenges as already stated in this essay include macro-economic instability, hyperinflation, shortage of fuel and growing poverty and increased inequality.

However, all is not lost. Despite these challenges, the prospects for an economic recovery seem to be there. The economy has recently stabilized perhaps thanks to the formation of the government of national unity between two political rivals, Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Furthermore, it should also be noted that while several governments have been moving to isolate Zimbabwe, Harare has recently found a new lease of life thanks to the strengthening of diplomatic ties with Mainland China. Additionally, the pursuance of other new economic policies, such as the withdrawal of the worthless Zimbabwean Dollar from circulation early this year, is also breathing a new life into the economy which had battled the world’s record beating inflation (use of foreign currency was also legalized) (BBC News, 2009).

Finally, it should be noted that recently the Zimbabwean economy has been projected to grow by 3.7 per cent this year, according to the IMF in its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook published in September 2009 (BBC News, 2009). The report forecast that growth in the Southern African nation’s GDP would accelerate to 6 per cent in 2010 (ibid). Furthermore, consumer inflation would average 9 per cent this year alone and rise to an average of 12 per cent in 2010. The fund further estimates that the country’s current account deficit which is at 21.4 per cent would narrow to 19.9 per cent come next year (ibid).

CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, this essay has analysed the economy of Zimbabwe. It started off by looking at the political and economic history of Zimbabwe and it offered the rationale for the economic policies which were adopted. It further analysed the economic performance from 1995 to the present. This was done by comparing with other countries in the SADC region. Finally, the essay has provided the general challenges and opportunities that Zimbabwe is facing.

REFERENCES
BBC News (2009). South Africa will not Appeal for Mission to Zimbabwe. The Daily Times, Thursday October 22, 2009
BBC News (2009). IMF Projects Zimbabwe Economy’s Growth. The Daily Times, Friday, October 2, 2009.
BBC News (2009). ZIM’s Unity Government Stalls. The Daily Times, Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
Gibbon, P (1995). Structural Adjustment and the Working Poor in Zimbabwe. Nordiska
Afrikainstituet, Uppsala.
Hazzlewood, A (1967). The Formation of Federation and Dissolution in Central Africa.
in African Integration and Disintegration. Case Studies in Economic and Political Union. London: OUP
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf
http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716
Mandoza, I (1986). Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition 1980-1986. Dakar: Codesria.
Sichone, O. (2003). Zimbabwe’s Economic Policies 1980-2002. DPMN Bulletin: Volume X, Number 2, April 2003
Townsend, J and Copson, W.R (2005). CRS Report for Congress. Zimbabwe: Current Issues. New York: CRS.
World Book Encyclopedia (2001). Vol 21. Chicago: World Book Inc

Regional Integration in Southern Africa

2009-11-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

In response to changing global economic and political trends, the worlds regions are moving towards greater cooperation and integration. African countries, and in particular, Southern African countries are no exception. As in the rest of the world, regional integration has over the years been viewed as an indispensable part of development strategy in Southern Africa (Schiff and Winters 2003: xii). As Soka (2008: 56) notes, “regional integration has been considered as a means to achieve sustainable economic growth and development and to overcome the regions structural problems.”

However, as noted by Van Rooyen (1998:125), “a critical question that has for the past years been at the centre of debate is: What is the best approach for regional integration in Southern Africa?” Is it market integration, regional cooperation or development integration? Which one of these can enhance development of the Southern African region as a whole? As the debate for a relevant regional integration approach rages on in the region, many academicians, politicians and writers seem to be vacillating among the three theories. This paper joins this contested debate and it makes the proposition that development integration approach of regional integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African region. This is largely because Southern Africa as a region is meeting numerous challenges and in order to overcome them, there has to be an overarching and a comprehensive approach to regional integration not just one that focuses on trade as an end in itself.

In order to dwell further on these deeper kinds of terrain of regional integration, it may be useful to raise a few critical explanations so as to proceed with some clarity and be able to comprehend better the key issues of regional integration. At the outset, it should be noted that there are three approaches to regional integration. These are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:128), market integration “involves the lowering and removal of trade barriers between states in a region in order to increase trade between them.” Market integration therefore sees trade as an engine of economic growth and development. Lee (2003) gives the various forms of market integration, which include Free Trade areas (FTAs), customs union, common markets, economic unions and total economic integration.

Regional cooperation, on the other hand, refers to the execution of joint projects between two or more countries. The basic idea of regional cooperation is that cooperation in one sector of the economy will eventually “spur and necessitate” further cooperation, integration and development between the countries in ‘marriage’ (Van Rooyen 1998:129). The third and final approach to regional integration [which this paper subscribes to] is development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:129), “development integration is the response to the shortcomings of the market integration approach.” It is based on the understanding that industrialization must be advanced before market integration is considered. Furthermore, it is multi-dimensional in the sense that it deals with all structures that affect development whether political, social, ecological and economical. It comes from this brief background that development integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African countries.

Perhaps mention must be made that any ideal approach to regional integration and development must be “flexible, pragmatic, adaptable and inclusive” (ibid: 126). When one looks at the three theories, one can safely argue that it is only development integration, which largely has these attributes. To say the least, neither market integration nor regional cooperation is appealing and relevant to Southern Africa. This, as already stated in this discussion, is mainly because of the fact that the thrust of market integration is on trade. The fact that market integration sees trade as a catalyst that can have a spill over effect to development should be a major cause for concern in Southern Africa. In fact, this assumption, to say the least, is erroneous. Market integration, of course, can spur economic growth, but it is imperative to note that not all development problems, for example, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, can be solved through trade. This means that market integration is a necessary evil in the SADC region.

Another problem with market integration is that it was primarily developed with and for industrialized economies such as those in the First World. However, almost all Southern African states (excluding South Africa) are in the Third World or are referred to as developing countries. Many, lack industries and a majority, have a historic reliance on exporting primary products (SADC 2000:16). Market integration cannot thus work in a region where the level of industrialization is distinctly low and at different levels. As Van Rooyen (1998:128) observes, “the potential for successful market integration improves once the members are on the same level of industrial development.” This clearly is not the case with Southern African economies. For instance, Soka (2008:56) notes that “the region’s economy is overwhelmingly dominated by South Africa…which apparently produces 80 per cent of the Southern Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

Market integration is also not appealing to Southern African economies because of the fact that the Southern African economy is similarly structured, in that it produces, consume, import and export essentially similar products (Ciliers 1995:13). Therefore, instead of complementing each other, history has it that, Southern African Countries have ended up competing with each other. This has rendered the chances of market integration almost impossible since there is a minimal amount of trade that happens amongst these countries.

The viability of market integration in Southern Africa is also questionable since for market integration to be successfully implemented there has to be a number of prerequisite conditions that have to be taken into consideration. For example, the region has to be politically stable and the security has to be tight. In addition, macro-economic stability has to be in place. However, when one looks at the Southern African region, a majority of these conditions are not in place. If there are there, then they are very patchy. For example, cases of armed robbery activities and other growing insecurities are the order of the day. Malawi and South Africa are classic examples. Other transnational crimes such as car-hijacking, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, small arms and the influx of refugees from other regions are serious challenges that have beset the region (SADC 2000:24). On macroeconomic stability, the situation of many countries in the region is very disheartening. Many countries suffer from macroeconomic instability and their economies are characterized by high budget deficits, high inflation rates, high interest rates and exchange rate instability that have thwarted trade and foreign investment (ibid). Zimbabwe, in particular, is a case in point.

There are also other factors that have compounded the problem of market integration. For example, geographically, six of the countries in the SADC region are landlocked (SADC 2000:35). These are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. As a consequence, economic integration within the region has proven to be difficult since other transport systems such as roads and railway lines are also poor. Further to the above point, the population size of a majority of countries in the region is very small. As a result, the SADC Human Development report of 2000 notes that, “the cost per capita of providing infrastructure individually is high” (ibid). All these challenges point to the fact that market integration is not relevant and appealing to Southern African region.

However, regional cooperation is not appealing and relevant to the region either. Much as regional cooperation is easily achievable, “it has minimal advantages as compared to development and market integration especially when significant disparities exist among participating countries” (Ciliers 1995:14). Furthermore, the fact that regional cooperation overlooks other serious and growing challenges such as the political environment of other countries makes itself to be more irrelevant and less appealing in the SADC region. Many countries in the region have nascent democracies that need to be nurtured and guided. Moreover, if links between democracy and economic development are anything to go by, then regional cooperation should be greatly discouraged since it undervalues the importance of deep integration. Another shortfall of regional cooperation is that it disregards to a greater extent core issues such as trade in regional markets. The fact that this paper is saying market integration is not appealing in the region, does not necessarily and sufficiently mean that issues that deal with trade have to be completely disposed of. All what this paper is saying is that trade issues have to be properly taken into account in the region and this has to be coupled with other development agendas. To undermine the importance of trade in economic growth and development, it to be totally disingenuous. No any region in the world can develop without the influence of trade.

Development integration is therefore needed in Southern African region since it is the only approach that encompasses all issues that the SADC region is currently facing. These issues range from trade, health, and politics to environment. Millions of people in SADC live in conditions of abject poverty as evidenced by low quality houses, high levels of illiteracy, and high incidences of infant, child and maternal mortality rates (SADC 1998: xiii). The HIV prevalence rates in the region are extremely alarming and many people are dying from the AIDS scourge. For example, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia have an average HIV prevalence rate of 24.8 per cent (UNDP 2008:276). It is not only HIV/AIDS that is ravaging many lives, some curable diseases such Tuberculosis and Malaria continue to blight the lives of many people in the region. Furthermore, the Southern African region is characterized by high levels of unemployment (ibid). To clinch it all, the Southern African region is comparatively underdeveloped and is meeting many long and growing challenges.

What is thus needed is an approach that recognizes these challenges and addresses in a pragmatic manner by fighting these challenges on all fronts not by only looking at trade of which has proven to be difficult in the region. Since development integration, theory is human development oriented, then it augurs well for the development of the SADC region. The southern African region should not follow what the industrialized economies are doing in their regional integration efforts by liberalizing their trade anyhow. This can further marginalize the region’s weaker economies. As Van Rooyen (1998:131) succinctly puts it, “the Southern African region should approach regional integration with realism and caution.” This means it should take into consideration the social, political, ecological, and economic realities of the region and focus much on human development not trade per se.

In conclusion, this paper has assessed the three theories of regional integration on their relevance and appeal to the Southern African region. These theories are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. On the whole, the main message that emerges from this discussion is that development integration approach is relevant and most appealing to Southern Africa. This is so because it addresses the contemporary challenges that the Southern African region is facing and that it is comprehensive.

REFERENCES
Ciliers, J (1995). The Evolving Security Architecture of Southern Africa. Africa Insight.
Vol. 26. No. 1
Lee, M (2003). The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa. UCT Press
SADC (1998). SADC Human Development Report: Governance and Human
Development in Southern Africa. Harare: SAPES
SADC (2000). SADC Human Development Report. Challenges and Opportunities for
Regional Integration. Harare: SAPES
Schiff, M and Winters, A (2003). Regional Integration and Development. Oxford: OUP
Soka, M (2008). Building Regional Integration in Southern Africa: South African
Customs Union as a Driving Force in South African Journal of International
Affairs. Vol. 15(1). SAIIA
UNDP (2008). Human Development Report 2007/08. Fighting Climate Change: Human
Solidarity in a Divided World. New York: UNDP
Van Rooyen, C (1998). Regional Integration as a Development Strategy: The Case of
SADC. Africa Insight. Vol. 28. No 3/4

Democracy without Democrats

2009-11-12T02:59:00.000-08:00

In 1993, many well-meaning Malawians got blanketed with euphoria and excitement when the winds of political change swept across the country. Tears of joy cascaded down the cheeks of many Malawians as the results of the historic referendum were being announced. With a conviction, Malawians voted for democracy.

Surprisingly, 15 years down the line, it appears some politicians, political parties, including various supporters, still find it hard to completely orient themselves with the tenets of democracy. On the lips of many Malawians, the word democracy exists, but our conduct suggests otherwise.

True, four democratic elections have now been conducted in Malawi and various political parties have been formed. On a broader picture, this is sweet news and encouraging too.

But, if one digs deep to explore on intra-party democracy, one may find out that Malawian political parties are devoid of democracy. And the question begged is: are we really democratic?

A closer look at Malawian political parties, points to large cracks of democracy in Malawi. For example, it is said that democracy tolerates dissent, criticisms and advice. But why do many Malawian politicians struggle to come to terms with this basic principle of democracy?

When Sam Mpasu prophesied doom and offered a word of advice to the United Democratic Front (UDF) party in the run up to the 2009 elections, people in UDF got so infuriated with his remarks that they dismissed him from the position of spokesperson and constructively expelled him from the party. To them, Mpasu’s words of wisdom were seen as rebelling against the chairman of UDF, Dr Bakili Muluzi, who was at that time bent on making his comeback to the political fore.

Come 2009, UDF found itself in the thick of things when the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) barred Muluzi from contesting as UDF’s presidential torchbearer. Result? UDF did not field any presidential candidate in the elections; instead, it made a marriage of convenience with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to support John Tembo in the elections. Sadly, the alliance saw red as the Democratic Progressive Party claimed a landslide victory. As Mpasu prophesied, UDF now is a party which is heading towards the evening of its existence. Pity!

Just recently, similar cases have reared their ugly faces in the country’s main political parties---the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

In MCP, after one brave Ishmael Chafukira lashed out at the leadership of the MCP czar John Tembo in the aftermath of the general elections, he catapulted himself into a legal and political tussle with his party and again he was axed as MCP spokesperson. Very unfortunate! Was Chafukira in the wrong to call for democratic leadership in MCP?

One would ask this question. Why then do Malawian politicians wallow in the veneer of the democratic perfume? Another one would also ask.

Equally deplorable is the recent expulsion from the DPP of the Director of Political affairs, Harry Mkandawire, for his outbursts at the president. If truth be told, this has only bespoken that the DPP too, is neither democratic nor progressive.

It appears therefore that in Malawi, our democracy is struggling to shake off the politics of praise-singing, hero-worshiping and boot-licking to the extent that politicians do not want to accept criticisms and dissenting views.

Undoubtedly, this is why our democracy will always be called into question. Surely, it sounds mockery to hear politicians waxing lyrical about democracy, but surprisingly fail to be in tune with some simple democratic principles.

I think it is high time that politicians tried to practice mature democracy. As Martin Luther King Jnr succinctly put it, “now is the time to make true the promise of democracy.”

The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College

Escom Woes Need Cooperation

2009-10-08T04:43:00.002-07:00

The recent article that was carried in one of the local dailies that the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), has changed its slogan from “Power all day, every day” to “Towards power all day, everyday,” makes for a good reading.
Needless to say, the abandoned slogan did not reflect the reality on the ground. And in fact, it was mockery and utter torture to the minds of many Malawians.
How could Escom boasts of giving out “power all day, every day” when it is common knowledge that there are blackouts everyday, sometimes all day?
It was little wonder that the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) took Escom to court for failing to live up to its slogan. Simply put, it was an embarrassing catchphrase for Escom and an inflammatory buzzword for the consumers.
However, that Escom is failing in its mandate to efficiently generate, transmit and distribute electricity, is now well understood.
It is now an established fact that Escom, the country’s second biggest parastatal after ADMARC, is not performing efficiently largely because is swimming in a pool of problems.
As the 2009 Report on the Performance Analysis of Escom clinches it all, Escom now “is one of the loss making parastatals,” and one cannot agree more.
For one thing, Escom has huge debts to settle, a consequence of mismanagement, greed and irresponsibility on the part of Escom workers.
For example, at the time when the Malawi’s sole electricity company is swimming in financial woes, the whole nation got shocked when one of the local papers revealed that Escom had spent a whopping K80 million in organizing a Christmas banquet for its senior workers last year.
Of course there is nothing wrong in organizing a once in a while party for workers who have toiled the whole year, but spending such a huge amount of money especially when the company has got cash flow problems, is both disgusting and scary. In fact, it begs the question; is Escom really cash-strapped?
Of even hard to fathom are media statements coming from Escom’s boss Peterson Zembani that Escom will also hold the same kind of feast this year. What a pity!
Not long ago, Escom proposed a 54 per cent tariff hike to the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) arguing that it was and still is cash-strapped and cash-starved. Is Escom not missing something here?
Surely, one would be tempted to think that Escom is taking Malawians for granted. Another problem, and perhaps the main one, bedeviling Escom, is that of corruption.
Nowadays, it takes a whole year after paying the electricity connection fee for Escom to connect a house with power. Reason? Many Escom workers want applicants to bribe them first before they connect electricity. Often times, they give a pretext that the equipment for planting electricity is out of stock. But one wonders how the equipment is readily available after giving them a dosage of corruption. Very unfortunate!
However, the blame for electricity woes should not squarely be put on Escom. Calling a spade by its name, the government also has a fair share of the blame. How?
Several government’s departments and ministries owe Escom huge debts amounting to billions of Kwachas. It appears these branches of government take Escom for granted since it is also a government company. They thus use electricity willy-nilly without settling the money which is billed to them. So how is Escom going to improve its operations if it is meeting these hurdles? Surely, this should change.
Another problem that has also affected Escom badly is the vandalism and theft of Escom property such as oil from transformers. The implications of these sick conducts on Escom do not need to be overemphasized here.
It is, therefore, important to realize that there is more to Escom’s woes than meets the eye. It is for this reason that there should be cooperation from all quarters, if Escom’s problems are to be brought to a grinding halt. Changing the slogan alone should not be the final step “towards power all day, every day”. I think the change of the slogan should be taken as a point of departure as the name puts itself. Cooperation essentially means the act of working together towards the ending of the perennial power cuts that are affecting the economic development of this country.
However, the government needs to take a leading role. All debts that it owes to Escom must be settled forthwith. At the same time, it should also instill sanity in Escom workers by authorizing all expenditures and prosecuting all alleged cases of corruption and abuse of office.
It is therefore surprising and unfortunate that despite parliament passing the Public Finance Management act in 2003, which spells penalties for the misuse of public money or property for controlling officers, no one has been prosecuted on matters pertaining to the same. To this end, we need the cooperation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the police to help in instilling fiscal as well as management discipline in Escom.
It should also be down to Escom to make sure that all the monies that the government owes to Escom should be recovered and settled. Escom should also put in place ways of collecting money from government without problems. For example, in this digital era, Escom should have introduced the pre-paid system by yesterday.
Furthermore, all hoodlums who vandalize Escom property should be reported, brought to book and be given stiffer penalties. This, I think, requires the cooperation from the police, judiciary and ordinary Malawians.
Finally, it should be borne in mind that energy is a very important sector for economic growth and development. It is of great importance therefore that we band our heads and work together as a country to promote this sector and create a reliable and a sustainable energy supplier.

Reflecting on Circumcision and HIV/AIDS

2009-10-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Culturally, it is considered a taboo to discuss matters pertaining to sex in public domain. That is understandable. As a Malawian proudly conscious of my culture, this, and for a good reason, is the idea I totally subscribe to.
Surely, norms and values are indispensable to any society. However, when I beg to differ is when the society allows these norms to override all other concerns more especially at the expense of critical issues. For example, it is unfortunate that up to now, there are still communities in Malawi where HIV/AIDS issues are still a taboo.
This problem, it seems, is historical. It was so when first cases of HIV and AIDS were being reported in Malawi in the mid 80s. Malawians never wanted to discuss the causal relationship between sex and HIV/AIDS. Reason? Culturally, it is a taboo to share notes on sex issues. Still it was so when condoms were firstly being advocated as one of the preventive measures of HIV/AIDS. And, for the same reason, it is so with the issue of male circumcision and HIV/AIDS.
For many years now, there has been a growing body of medical and pragmatic evidence that has suggested the link between male circumcision and HIV/AIDS. The convincing evidence testifies that male circumcision reduces the risk of contracting and transmitting HIV—the virus notoriously known to be the cause of AIDS.
A research published in the Journal of Plos Medicine in 2005, suggested that male circumcision reduces HIV infection risk in heterosexual men by 50-60 percent. It further estimated that male circumcision could avert six million HIV infections and three million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over a period of twenty years.
“There is a tremendous potential for male circumcision to have an effect on the HIV epidemic particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,” Catherine Hanking, Chief Scientific adviser to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and co-author on the study said in the report.
However, it seems evidence of male circumcision as a protective measure against HIV/AIDS dates back to the late 1980s. As I gather, researchers working in Africa and Asia noticed that HIV-prevalence rates “differed dramatically among neighbouring regions and were often lowest in areas where male circumcision was practiced.”
Recently, randomized control trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda have confirmed and supported the link between the two. The studies say male circumcision has a promising safety and significant efficacy.
Even pleasing to note is that circumcision has health benefits beyond HIV prevention. Researchers have discovered that male circumcision provides increased protection against the herpes, syphilis and chancroid. It also appears that male circumcision has been recommended for hygienic and sexual reasons. Surely, it seems, there is more to this issue than meets the eye.
However, what is disheartening to note is that the Malawi government has chosen to bury its head in the sand and pay a deaf ear and a blind eye to this overwhelming evidence suggesting the inextricable link between male circumcision and HIV/AIDS.
At the time when the HIV scourge is ravaging the lives of many Malawians, it is very unfortunate that the government is dragging its feet in coming out with a stance on this hotly contested subject.
Sadly, according to a slew of health reports, around 14 per cent of Malawi’s 13 million people are HIV positive with 300 cases being registered every day. What this essentially means is that about 1 million Malawians are living with the virus. So why then is Malawi not adopting male circumcision as one of the preventive measures of HIV/AIDS? One cannot find an answer to this question.
Of course, it is understandable that rolling this into action might require scaling up medical facilities and medical training for effective implementation thereby straining the country’s limited resources, but let’s be more reasonable, we are talking about saving human lives here.
To put the record straight, I am not saying the nation should rush headlong in adopting male circumcision to complement the existing interventions on HIV/AIDS, but surely, the solution does not lie in remaining silent. For, being quiet would only delude those men who are currently circumcised into thinking that they are 100 per cent protected from infection thereby shoving their precious lives to fate. It would be utter foolhardy to think that circumcision is an alternative to using condoms.
Already, other sub-Saharan countries are streets ahead of us in exploring other avenues of combating HIV/AIDS. South Africa, we gather, is developing a policy on male circumcision for HIV prevention while in Kenya, 20,000 men have been circumcised in the past year in a programme called Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC). Botswana is also not lagging behind as it is tirelessly training teams to provide the service in all its public hospitals for free.
In Malawi, it’s now that we have heard that there was an HIV and AIDS Research and Best Practices Dissemination Conference held in Lilongwe between 2-3 July this year at Crossroads Hotel, where among other issues that were discussed was about the link between male circumcision and HIV/AIDS.
However, it remains to be seen whether Malawi, like other sub-Saharan countries, will adopt a policy out of the notes obtained at this much-needed conference. Of course, as we told, some private reproductive health institutions including some public hospitals, do conduct male circumcision for medical reasons but a government policy is needed to ensure that the operations are safe, low-cost, legal and option available. The proof of the pudding, says old wisdom, is in the eating.

The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College.

Cracks of African Leadership

2009-10-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

I recently listened to a BBC Africa Have Your Say Programme where the topic of discussion was “why do African leaders always want to cling to power?”
This, I guess, was in the wake of unpleasant news that Niger President Mamadou Tandja, had tampered with that country’s constitution to allow him stay longer in office.
Indeed, one of the most serious cracks of leadership in Africa is the greed of African leaders to remain in power forever. But why is this so? One would really be tempted to ask this question.
Usually, African leaders insist on remaining in power because they fear from being held accountable for the political crimes they committed and for the social and economic mess these leaders create when they are in power.
Another problem with African leaders, and perhaps the main one, is that they cannot just bear the thought of parting ways with the life of luxury that goes with the status of the president.
They thus create loopholes and perform all unimaginable maneuverings so that they should not release the lid of power. Often times, they try to find cunning ways of elongating their stay in office.
So, the story of one Mamadou Tandja is not one that can surprise any keen follower of African history. If one can dig deep into the annals of African history, one can find out that Africa has had a litany of power hungry leaders. .
Several presidents—including Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Idriss Deby of Chad, Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda—all secured constitutional amendments allowing them to stand for a third term in office.
But others, for instance, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Frederick Chiluba, including our own Bakili Muluzi failed in their third term bids, despite arguing that it was the people who insisted they stay in power to continue the 'good work'. Little wonder, after attaining independence— and to the chagrin of many colonialists— a majority of African leaders turned dictators.
Of even more ridiculous to note is the fact that many of the leaders who clung to the echelons of power were champions of liberation.
Take, for example, the Zimbabwean leader Robert Gabriel Mugabe. He is a classic example of a freedom fighter turned dictator. He has been in office since Zimbabwe attained its independence from Britain in 1980.
Of course, we cannot gainsay the fact that some of these leaders came to power through the barrel of the gun. Libyan leader colonel Muammar Gadaffi and the erstwhile president of Nigeria General Sani Abacha epitomize such kind of leaders.
And Gadaffi too, for good reasons or not, has been in office for quite some time now. Recently, I gather, he was celebrating his forty-years in office and his retirement, it seems, is nowhere in sight.
The list of power hungry leaders can go on and on so long it is in Africa. In Gabon, there was Omar Bongo, the hitherto Africa’s longest serving president. In Uganda, the name Yoweri Museveni cannot be separated with that country and before him, there was also Idi Amin who used to take delight in calling himself “His Excellency, the President for Life.”
Such are African leaders who do not care about the needs of their people, economies and development but only have a one-track mind of self-aggrandizement.
Of course, there are a few exceptions of African leaders who demonstrated that they had the welfare of their people at heart when they gave up power peacefully. One such leader in recent history is Nelson Mandela.
President Mandela of South Africa was a statesman who set a good example for African leaders. He ruled South Africa only for five years despite the constitution giving him the mandate to stay on in office for another term.
Of pleasing to note is also the fact that he turned down several persistent calls from many South Africans who wanted him to continue rulling. This spirit lacks in the minds of many African leaders.
Power hungry African leaders, more often than not, give a flimsy excuse that they are acting on pressure from the public. Many, as President Tandja of Niger, say that they want to continue the economic projects they started. Typical!
True, they do sometimes initiate development projects, but can there not be anyone who can continue those projects through their helping hand? One would also ask this question.
Sadly, and it is a fact, Malawi, has had its fair cracks of leadership. I mean the cancer of bad leadership so to speak.
Kamuzu, to say without fear or favour, was made dictator. He ruled for about three decades and if it were not for some well-meaning Malawians, he could have stayed longer than this. It was the same story with Muluzi when he ascended into office.
He too, true to the fashion of most African leaders, tried every trick available in the book to stick to power. He thus brought the third and open term bills that were both thwarted in parliament.
But, perhaps, Muluzi outflanked his African counterparts because he unabashedly wanted to bounce back into power while he was out of office until the Electoral Commission foiled his plans. Shame!
All these scenarios, I think, point to the fact that African leaders do not like the sound of quitting leadership. Tandja is not the first nor will he be the last to scrap off constitutional limits for presidency.
However, the wisdom that these leaders don’t have is that one good quality of leadership is knowing when to leave. In fact, quitting, as one Malawian journalist said, is leading too. The best leaders of African history never demanded extra time, they bowed out when the ovation was loudest. Our current leaders should tap lessons from people like Mandela.

The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College.This article appeared in the Daily Times of 02 October 2009.

Youths in Politics

2009-09-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

The youth, it is said and rightly so, are leaders of tomorrow. It is for this reason that youths need to engage and actively participate in politics for them to be groomed as future leaders.
Surely it does need to call upon deep knowledge to sense the inextricable link between politics and leadership. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, politics refers to ‘the activities involved in getting and using power in public life, and being able to influence decisions that affect a country or a society.’
This means leadership and politics cannot be separated. In Malawi, the youth have since time immemorial participated in politics.
During the one party era, the youth were being used and abused by the MCP to sell party-membership cards to the public. Memories are still fresh how these MCP youths used to clad in red clothes and callously beat up people who did not have the MCP-membership cards.
Then the UDF-led government came in 1994. In what could be billed as a smart move to hoodwink Malawians, youths in the UDF party were given a democratic name called the ‘Young Democrats.’
According to the UDF party, the Young Democrats was a movement within the UDF party made up of youths who were assisting in the day-to-day functions of the party. To them, this movement was completely different from the MCP youth movement. They were wrong.
The young democrats were the anti-thesis of their name. They were being used to commit atrocious acts of brutality to people who had dissenting views from the UDF party.
History judges them harshly as democratic youths who beat up supporters of opposition parties, journalists, and human rights activists. Shame!
President Bingu wa Mutharika was elected under the UDF ticket in 2004. He later ditched the UDF and formed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In DPP, there are youths. These youths have been christened the ‘DPP Youth Morale.’ Their role, it seems from their name, is nothing but to provide morale to the DPP, if not the president. Pity!
Although the DPP Youth Morale can be safely described as a cut above the rest, the nation should not wallow in the jocundity that all things are rosy.
Let’s be more reasonable here; should these be roles of youths in political parties? Youths, need to practice leadership for them to become tomorrow’s productive leaders. It is of mammoth importance therefore that the youth be trained in leadership positions in various political parties.
They need to be allowed to hold administrative positions in political parties ‘politburos’
Aleke Banda, one of the smartest politicians ever to have graced Malawi, started politics while he was a teenager. Aleke, we gather, started politics in 1953 when he was just 14. Aleke had no part in any political violence nor did he pamper and pander to the whims of Kamuzu.
Aleke grew up in politics and he held several big positions in the MCP and the cabinet in his youth.
In a similar vein, youths need to be given a leadership role in political parties. They need to be allowed to contribute to the drafting of political parties’ manifestos, winning strategies and even parties’ constitutions.
For example, the country is blessed with many youths at secondary and tertiary levels who are endowed with both intelligence and wit and can contribute positively to politics in Malawi.
Of disheartening to note is that these youths have wrongly been taken as perpetrators of violence and cheerleaders of political parties’ kahunas.
Recently, Malawi conducted its fourth multiparty presidential and parliamentary polls. Sadly, not many youths have been elected to go to the august house.
Surely, this does not bode well for the future of this country. As the nation is pushing for equal participation and representation of men and women in politics, we need not neglect the positive role of the youths in politics. Neglecting the youth in politics, is like killing the future of this country.
My take therefore is that youths need to participate in leadership and administrative politics.

***The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College.

On University Students’ Conduct

2009-09-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

A story goes of one university of Malawi student who insulted a certain man with his wife, in the streets, only to find the man on an interview panel, two years after the student graduated.
The man, recognizing the student as the one who hurled all sorts of insults at him, reminded the desperate and easily forgetting student of that shameful incident. The end result saw the student being denied the opportunity to attend the interviews. Pity!
For umpteenth times, the general public has bemoaned on the conduct of some of the university of Malawi students especially those from Chancellor College and the Polytechnic.
The conduct of students from these colleges leaves a lot to be desired. When these students are traveling in their school vehicles, they spew all sorts of vitriol at people whom they find on the way.
Of even more horrific to note is the painful fact that these students, who travel in these vehicles, sing all sorts of hymns and dirges using abusive lyrics.
One wonders where on earth these students get both the ingenuity and the temerity of translating sacred songs into abusive language.
The students also have got a tendency—and a wrong one— of looting from shops and other businesses when they are conducting their so-called peaceful demonstrations.
And to cap it all, —and this is really shocking—the students, who travel in these vehicles, brazenly flash their private parts to the public. Very unfortunate!
It is also saddening to note that it’s not only Chancellor College and Polytechnic students who do these shocking behaviours. It seems the conduct has spilled over to some other colleges like Mzuzu University and Bunda College and for sure some other private university.
But the question that looms large in my mind is: Is this a way to go for university students?
Surely, this conduct is not on and has to be brought to a screeching halt. University students should quickly realize that the Malawi society is heavily banking on them as leaders of tomorrow. A university is a coveted place that trains professional men and women who have got something to bring to society.
Teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, nurses, agriculturists, to mention but a few, are trained at a university.
For sure, no any teacher, lawyer or doctor worth one’s salt can swear or flash one’s private parts to the public.
How are the students going to be productive leaders if they are not well-mannered at an age when everyone expects them to be?
The whole idea of a university is not only to teach the students classroom knowledge but also to teach them how to behave in society and also equip them with management skills for time, money and a lot more.
The university students need also to be mindful of the fact that other students who are at primary or secondary level look up to them as role models. So, it is disheartening and misleading for those students who are at lower level to see university students have these unfathomable mannerisms.
Sadly, the university students, more often than not, try to justify these uncanny tendencies. They foolishly argue that these mannerisms are a way of unwinding themselves from their slugging studies. Really?
I am double sure that a university being an institution of higher learning is well-equipped with recreational facilities where these students can go and refresh their minds.
Granted, they sometimes want to learn and relax themselves through traveling, but I think they should be doing that in a quiet and respectable manner. After all, most of them are adults and one wonders why they have to be straining their necks outside the windows of their school buses frothing all kinds of four letter words.
University students should realize that some of the people whom they swear, are their prospective employers and once spotted, they might face repercussions of their own misdemeanors
My point therefore is that it is high time that university students took stock of their behaviours and heed to the cry of the public.

Towards the 2010 World Cup

2009-09-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

South Africa, they say, is a land of opportunities. Since time immemorial many Malawians have found their way into South Africa in their quest to find jobs and other opportunities.
History says that during the reign of Kamuzu Banda, the South African government recruited thousands of Malawians who worked in the South African mines and homes.
Even today, we still have many Malawians who are living and working in this so-called “land of opportunities”
History also tells us another pleasant story that it was the same South Africa which bankrolled the construction of our capital city, Lilongwe.
Surely, it seems from this background that Malawi has benefited from South Africa as much as it has benefited from us.
Now, South Africa will be hosting the FIFA World Cup in June, next year. This means that 32 football teams, of different countries, from all continents, will be trooping into South Africa.
All football fans from all corners of the world will be following this event with passion.
Indeed, football fanatics from far-flung areas will be coming into South Africa, in droves, to be part of this coveted event.
But, surely not all teams and the passionate fans will be putting themselves up in South Africa. Some, as likely as not, will be leaving in neighbouring countries of South Africa.
So, what has Malawi done to ensure that these opportunities trickle down to Malawi? Good question!
With the fast-fading hope of Malawi qualifying to the world cup, it means our other option is to reap other benefits from this football gala other than making ourselves present. But how are we going to reap other benefits? Another good question!
We need to create pleasant places that can attract football fans from other countries to visit or stay in Malawi when this event will be taking place in South Africa.
We can even persuade one or two football teams to do their final preparations in the country. In a way, this can give us a fair share of forex value.
To this end, we need to have five-star hotels, good roads, good stadiums and more. Malawi should borrow a leaf from other Southern African countries which are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations towards the 2010 World Cup. In fact, they are in the final stages of their preparations.
But, Malawi, it seems, has only done a minimal amount of preparations for this long-awaited event.
Of even more disheartening to note is that the preparations are painfully slower than expected.
By not being mean with the truth, we haven’t done thorough preparations save for the artificial turf at Kamuzu Stadium. To say the least, the few stadiums that we have in the country leave much room to be appreciated.
Some are so dilapidated that one cannot imagine world-class football teams doing preparations in them. The changing rooms are very horrible and awful. The toilets, bathtubs and showers are not in running order.
Even the billboards at our stadiums are very substandard and carry outdated and insipid messages.
When President Bingu wa Mutharika ascended into office in 2004, he promised to construct a state of the art stadium in Lilongwe, but till now the stadium is nowhere in sight.
As for the hotels, they are not enough and many are old and run down that need some renovations. Ironically, these hotels charge exorbitant tariffs that do no mirror with their standards.
On road construction and renovation, the good news is that the current government has shown a strong commitment to renovate and construct roads in the country. But more needs to be done especially through the renovation of strategic roads that lead to several tourist destinations.
In order to attract many tourists, we also need to strengthen the level of security in the country which seems to be loose. The current spate of armed robbery activities and other growing insecurities need to be brought to a screeching halt.
We still have got about nine months to the big event in South Africa and I do strongly feel that there is still time to correct some of these things. It’s not too little, too late!

***The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College.

MARSHAL MADISE PROFILE

2009-07-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

Marshal Kandodo Madise is a holder of a Bachelor of Arts (Media for Development) degree obtained at Chancellor College of the University of Malawa. Media for Development, and cultural studies degree is a modern multidisplinary programme that was established by the faculty of humanities at Chancellor College in an effort to train media workers capable of addressing development issues in Malawi and the entire Southern Africa. The programme draws its teaching expertise from the faculties of humanities, social science, education, and law.

Marshal Madise has got an excellent command of both oral and written communication skills. He also has got a vast knowledge and experience of the Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal (PRCA), which is the new communication research method that utilizes field-based utilization techniques, interviews and group work to generate information for the design of effective communication programmes, materials, media and methods for development. The development courses that Marshal did in this rigorous course of study, gives him a good grasp of development issues such as poverty and inequality, climate change, HIV/AIDS, gender and many others.

As a media personality, Marshal is always aggressive and do follow current affairs and general knowledge. Furthermore, Marshal boasts to have written many development articles that have been published in the country’s leading newspapers, and some have been written as a partial fulfillment to his studies at Chancellor College. Marshal also has practical computer skills in Office Publishing, Adobe Photoshop and Audition, PowerPoint, Quark Express, Studio Pinnacle, web design, internet and many more. He also does research on various topics and in 2006 and 2011 he worked as a research assistant at Northern Region Water Board in Mzuzu and Pakachere Institute of Health and Development Communication in Blantyre respectively. He also worked with blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission as a Gender and Governance Officer. Marshal also worked on a research paper on how the media in Malawi has helped rural Malawians in understanding climate change issues and this research was done in Tom-Allan village in Zomba.

Marshal Madise, 23, hails from Mzimba district, T/A Mtwalo, Madise Village in the northern part of Malawi. He underwent primary school education at various schools in Lilongwe, Dedza, Salima, Mzimba and Mzuzu. He was then selected to go to Katoto Secondary School in Mzuzu where he was later selected to go to the University of Malawi in 2006. Marshal has also attended several workshops and training such as the ZAMANAWE HIV/AIDS training project, the National Book Fair that was organized by the Book Publishers Association of Malawi (BPAM) which took place in 2007 at Institute of Technology and Management (ITEM) in Blantyre. Marshal also loves working with people, especially rural people and he seems to have an ability to motivate them. He ahs worked on several projects with villagers in Many districts in Malawi. It is also interesting to note that Marshal is a fluent Tumbuka and Chewa speaker.

Currently Marshal is unmarried and in his leisure time, Marshal loves writing, reading, watching movies and football, listening to music, chatting with friends and he also enjoys traveling and sight seeing. His career objective is that he should be a development communication expert so that he contributes positively to the development of his country, which he loves so much.

CONTACTS
Marshal Kandodo Madise

E-mail: madise07@yahoo.com/marshalmadise@gmail.com
Cell: +265995361882

SPEAKING AND THINKING DEVELOPMENT: CHANCELLOR COLLEGE INTRODUCES MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

2009-07-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Malawi is one of the poorest countries plagued by seemingly intractable social, economic and environmental problems. With a growing population of about 15 million people, Malawi is grappling in the midst of huge and erratic challenges. Although it seems now that Malawi’s economy is turning the corner, as the economic growth is slightly over 8 per cent, making it the world’s second largest growing economy, poverty in Malawi remains pervasive and millions of Malawians continue to live lives of deprivation and hardship.

There is a need to speak and think development in Malawi. There is a gasping need for development communicators in Malawi to facilitate the process of development so as to assist Malawi to move out from the dudgeon of poverty.

“Development communication refers to the initiative of applying communication to the process of development with the end goal of improving the quality of life of developing societies.”

It is against this background that Chancellor College in 2004 introduced a modern multidisplinary programme called Bachelor of Arts (Media for Development) in an effort to train media workers capable of addressing development issues in Malawi and the entire southern Africa.

Head of Language and Communication Department at Chancellor College, Sydney Kankuzi, who is also the coordinator for the Media for Development programme said the course draws its teaching expertise from the faculties of humanities, social science, education and law.

“Development is a multifaceted concept that crisscrosses all aspects of humanity so much that it tends to be studied from various academic and professional perspectives.” He said.

“The media for Development programme tackles development issues from the perspective of the media. It particularly explores how the media can best be used for critiquing, promoting, and where necessary transforming how various societies perceive development,” Said Kankuzi.

Kankuzi also said that to achieve these tasks the programme employs critical perspectives from various contributing disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, history, music, theatre, film studies, law, anthropology, development studies.

“The media for Development programme is designed to develop creative and critical human beings that are able to use various mediums of communication to highlight all sorts of development issues.”

“Its graduates are equipped with theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in video production, digital film production, radio programme production, media research, media writing and speech, media policy and law, programme and product analysis, evaluation, project planning and management, publishing just to mention a few,” said Kankuzi himself a holder of a masters degree in mass communication from Rhodes University in South Africa.

Quizzed on where the graduates of Media for Development can work, the soft-spoken Kankuzi said the skills that the graduates obtain prepare the prospective graduates to work in media and/or development organizations in various capacities such as media/communication management, media/development communication consultancy, media training, media/development planning, media/development research, media/development advocacy, development journalism and many more.

He further said that the Media for Development graduates are able to create their own jobs.

The Media for Development programme has already produced its first crop of its graduates and the graduates are selling like hot cakes on the labour market.

Malawi's Economic Development History

2009-06-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty in Malawi remains considerably high and pervasive and millions of Malawians continue to live lives of deprivation and hardship. It is important to know at the outset that Malawi is a landlocked country with a few natural resources other than its 15 million people. This means that the prospects and opportunities for economic development in Malawi are limited. However, of surprising to note is that Malawi has managed to sail through and one can narrate a few success stories on Malawi. It seems now that the economy of Malawi has turned the corner. Malawi’s economic growth is slightly over 8 per cent, making it the world’s second fastest growing economy after Qatar and the inflation rate stands at 9.5 per cent as of March this year ( Kandiero 2009:8).

This essay examines the economic history of Malawi from the period the colonial masters lay the economic foundations of Malawi up to the present period. It is important here to appreciate the fact that any attempt to grasp the current economic problems that are dogging Malawi, has to be situated and analysed within the overall history of the country’s economy since independence and even beyond. This is important because, for us to come up with relevant economic policies, we must firstly understand how Malawi arrived at its present situation.

The economic history of Malawi has passed through peaks and troughs of performance and effectiveness since the dawn of colonialism and provides an interesting case history for the Southern African region. The economic history of Malawi dates back to the dark ages of colonialism when Malawi was under the British protectorate. When the missionaries from Britain came to Malawi in the nineteenth century, they saw Malawi’s economic potential but they feared the influence and the invasion of the Portuguese in the east hence they requested the British government to protect Malawi and that was the beginning of colonialism in Malawi. The colonial government had no immediate economic development plans for Malawi and this can be attributed to several factors. First, as already alluded to in the introduction, the geographical position of Malawi posed a serious challenge for economic development and second, it was because of the fact that Malawi lacked natural resources such as minerals and oil. As Chipeta (2004:3) notes, “during the colonial period Malawi, then Nyasaland, had been relegated to a ‘colonial slum’ and it was used as an exporter of cheap migrant labour to other Southern African Counties such South Africa and Rhodesia.”
Another point worth noting is that during this period of colonialism, local industrialization was limited and the cash economy of Malawi depended much on agriculture (Jackson 1965:353). Coffee cultivation was important in the early years of the protectorate rule and then we saw the coming in of other cash crops such as tea, tobacco and cotton. However, as noted by Chipeta (2004:3), “the export of these cash crops was very minimal and they could not have contributed much to the country’s economy.” Further to this point, the colonial government did not put policies and measures for it to modernize agriculture. It should also be noted here that the colonial government faced numerous challenges in its economic administration. First, the two world wars negatively affected the country’s political economic position and second, the labour migration also affected the economy and finally Malawi experienced several disasters such as droughts and famines. All these challenges prevented Malawi to flourish to greatest levels possible. As Lwanda (1992:52) points out that “no dramatic change in the pattern of the economy had taken place up to the independence period in 1964 and the formation of the federation from 1953-1963 further worsened the country’s role as the supplier of cheap migrant labour.”

After the fall of the colonial government and the break of the federation in 1963, Malawi gained her independence from Britain in 1964 with Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda as her first president. Kamuzu’s government inherited a country that was among the poorest in the Africa if not the poorest. Malawi’s only asserts were land and labour both of which were either “ruthlessly exploited for colonial settler benefit or were underdeveloped” (Chipeta 1992:9). The economy depended much on subsistence farming and the country lacked proper communications both internally and externally.

Cognizant of all these challenges, Kamuzu embarked on several initiatives that were aimed at realizing an instant economic growth. Kamuzu believed that neither the capitalist nor the socialist models could be appropriate to Malawi’s economic needs and that Malawi required a unique solution to her development problems (Short 1974:175). What Kamuzu practiced can therefore be described as “a mixed economy approach” (Harrigan 2001:32). In his efforts to spur the economy, Kamuzu made diplomatic relations with any country with which “grounds for common advantage” could be found (Roberts 1970:62). To this effect, he made diplomatic ties with Apartheid South Africa, the white government of Southern Rhodesia and the Portuguese in Mozambique despite strong opposition from other African counties. He used to argue that “the geographical position of this country made it impossible to sever all ties whether diplomatic, economic and cultural” (Short 1974:195). Thanks to these diplomatic relations, the South African government sponsored to construct the new capital city in Lilongwe and the Portuguese government in Mozambique assisted in the construction of a railway line from Malawi to Nacala Port in Mozambique. These two major projects assisted Malawi to transform and stimulate economic development in Malawi. Furthermore, it should also be noted that Kamuzu’s government put much emphasis on agriculture as an engine of economic growth and development. Kamuzu believed that agriculture was the potential source of revenue that would eventually lead to the financial autonomy in other sectors of the economy (Chinsinga 2002:25). It is for this reason that the agriculture sector was given preferential treatment at the expense of other sectors of the economy. Kamuzu embarked on several projects to modernize agriculture. Kamuzu used to say that:

…in my view, if we are to develop Nyasaland in the way it should be developed, we must
think in first place in terms of modernizing agriculture, rather than in terms of developing
industries… (Kamuzu, speaking at the end of the Nyasaland Symposium on 28 July
1962 in Blantyre quoted in Jackson 1965:361)

In order to modernize agriculture, Kamuzu established public agricultural cooperations such as ADMARC, which was created in 1969 to help in transforming the agricultural sector.

It should also be appreciated that Kamuzu created a favourable economic climate as evidenced by “the creation of parastatals that were confined to a few key sectors, the introduction of low tariffs, in addition to minimal use of qualitative restrictions on imports in order to discourage uneconomic import substitution” (Kandoole and Phiri 1990:69). Kamuzu also improved transport and communications in the country to enable Malawi’s imports and exports to flow easily. This is evidenced by the construction of the Lakeshore road from the southern region to northern region of Malawi and the construction of a railway line including the construction of other important and strategic state buildings. This healthy economic situation led the country to grow rapidly and statistics of the first half of Kamuzu’s rule were indeed impressive. The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 5 % annually during the 1969-1973 period and by 6% annually during the 1973-1979 period (Lwanda 1993:138). However, of saddening to note is the painful fact that the economy dwindled from 1980 up to 1994 and this can be attributed to a series of factors. First, there was a drought during the 1980/81 season in several parts of the country and second there was also a deteriorating terms of trade and disruption of Malawi’s external transport routes mainly due to the civil war in Mozambique, which led to the destruction of the railway line to Beira. Another factor worth appreciating is the fact that there was a sharp decline in public investment, which could be attributed to the political climate at that time (Kandoole and Phiri 1990:69). It is important to note here that this was a period of political metamorphosis in the country when the country was changing from dictatorship to democracy. Therefore, during this period Kamuzu lost grip on leadership (Mkandawire 2005:24). However, perhaps, the economy also nosedived because Kamuzu age was quite advanced and this therefore made other members of the ruling class to run the affairs of the state using Kamuzu’s name. Therefore, what was to happen after Kamuzu are was becoming more and more unclear, thus creating uncertainty among investors, donors and other stakeholders. It should also be known that the oil crisis that occurred in 1979 also contributed to the downfall of the economy.

When it became clear that the growth of the economy was becoming lower and more erratic than ever before, the Kamuzu government in consultation with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formulated a programme for dealing with the structural problems (GOM 2000:15). The programme was supported by a series of Structural Adjustment Loans (SALS) from the World Bank. According to Kandoole and Phiri (1990:69), “the objectives of these programmes were to reduce balance of payments deficit, reduce government fiscal burden, improve financial performance of public enterprises, improve efficiency and resource allocation in agriculture and ensure transport links to coastal ports.”

After the ousting of Kamuzu Banda’s one party regime and with the advent of multiparty democracy in 1963, the new government of UDF with Bakili Muluzi as its president shifted the hub of economic growth and development from agriculture to commerce (Chinsinga 2002:25). The new government of UDF put much emphasis on small–scale businesses and the promotion of the informal sector of the economy. The UDF-led government also put poverty alleviation at the center of its economic and social agenda. There were a number of economic reforms that the UDF-led government put in place in order to realise economic and development. First, there was trade liberalisation and privatisation of many state-owned companies in order to remove inefficiency, Create employment and increase investment (Nkhanda 1999:12). Second, the UDF regime introduced several agricultural programmes such as the Starter Park Programme, drought mitigation programmes like irrigation and the encouragement of non-maize food crops were also advocated (Harrigan 2001:428).

Efforts were also being made to diversify the economy, both by widening the range of agricultural products and by promoting industrial development. On social sector policies, the UDF-led government began to implement several policies such as the introduction of universal primary education in 1994 and the establishment of a social action fund that saw a number of rural projects being constructed. The UDF government also implemented and started numerous poverty reduction documents such as the Vision 2020 document in 1998, the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in 2002, the Malawi Economic Policy Framework Paper and the much publicized and the hitherto Millennium Development Goals, which were initiated in September 2000. However, of significance to note here is that during this period of democracy from 1994 to around 2000, there was poor economic growth and frequent macroeconomic instability (Mkandawire 2005:24). This was mainly due to massive corruption that was practiced in public offices and other private institutions. There was also lack of fiscal as well as monetary prudence by the UDF government and this negatively affected the country’s economy.

However, when Bingu wa Mutharika replaced Muluzi in 2004, the economy seemed to have turned the corner. Currently, the economy seems to be performing well thanks to the sound economic policies of the current president, Bingu wa Mutharika, who came to power in 2004. There have also been many structural changes in the economy since 2004. Noticeable to mention is the implementation of the targeted fertilizer subsidy that has improved food security at household and national levels in the country. During Mutharika’s reign, the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has rated Malawi as the world’s second fastest growing economy (Mzale 2009:9). Mention must now be made that the country’s economy continues to enjoy major unprecedented economic achievements including single-digit inflation rates, a phenomenal economic growth rate of 9.7% in 2008 and the stability in the exchange rate, largely owing to sustained government fiscal discipline and prudence that has set the foundation for a healthier macroeconomic environment. Due to macroeconomic stability in the economy, in August 2006 Malawi reached the completion point under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (Hipc) initiative, a situation that resulted in a debt relief from the multilateral and Paris Club Creditors who wrote off $2 billion (about K280 billion), thereby enabling government to increase expenditures for development (ibid). It is because of this healthier economic environment that the Bingu wa Mutharika led government has embarked on several economic development initiatives such as the construction of roads, bridges, girls’ hostels and the renovation of old and run down secondary schools, including the much-touted Shire Zambezi Water Way Project, which when completed will ease the transportation of goods and other exports that would bring good economic value.

In conclusion, this paper has offered a plausible and a detailed critical analysis of the economic history of Malawi and has ultimately addressed some among the plenty open questions regarding the economic history of Malawi. A certain editor, Jon Woronoff, of a book published in 1980 called the Historical Dictionary of Malawi, was intrigued with the unusual pattern of development that Malawi follows and this paper has critically addressed some of the intriguing questions that this editor had and it has also looked at the current economic status of this country.

The Relevance of Liberation in Development Communication

2009-06-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

In his well-known book called the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (1970), Paulo Freire offered an important exploration on dialogue and the possibilities for liberatory practice. He introduced an important notion of “banking education” and highlighted the contrasts between educations that treats people as objects rather than subjects, and went on to explore on education as a cultural action. More precisely, Freire introduced the concept of liberation. Freire’s work forms a rich set of reflections about education, particularly informal education and its methods (known as pedagogy), and the ethics of liberation. In theory, Freire’s work encourages communities to participate in the planning and implementation of policies affecting their lives (Manyozo, 2003:1). Freire pedagogy is “dialogic, democratic, situated, research-oriented, active, interactive, affective and participatory” (ibid: 38). These characteristics are employed in development communication. According to Manyozo (quoting Ashcraft and Masileta, 1994), development communication refers to the “initiative of applying communication to the process of development with the end goal of improving the quality of life of developing societies.”

This essay, critically analyses and responds to Paulo Freire’s concept of liberation as presented in chapter one, chapter two and chapter three of the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” It also outlines, some of the critical problems in the foundations of Freire’s view on liberation, and suggests ways in which some of his conclusions can better be improved, better supported, or better applied with respect to development communication.

Having looked at his arguments on the concept of liberation as presented in the aforementioned chapters, Freire’s arguments could be summarized in this way; first, in chapter one, Freire introduces the notion of liberation and he offers a justification for a pedagogy of the oppressed and the contradictions between the oppressors and the oppressed. In chapter two, Freire, on one hand, analyses the “banking” concept of education as an instrument of oppression and he gives its presuppositions and a detailed critique. On the other hand, he introduces problem-solving education as an instrument for liberation and he also gives its presuppositions and more importantly, Freire, highlights the teacher-student contradiction. In chapter three, Freire proposes the use of dialogue as a solution to the problems that occur in education. Let us now move to the specific arguments that Paulo Freire proposes in this above-mentioned literature. However, it should be known that the essay would not move into greater detail of these arguments, as the essay is more interested with the basic arguments that Freire puts forward on the concept of liberation.

At the outset, it is important to appreciate the fact that many aspects of Freire’s work have a particular significance in development communication and have struck the right chord with a majority of development communicators. In chapter one, Freire puts forth a pedagogy in which the individual learns to “cultivate his own growth through situations from his daily life that provide useful learning experiences” (Smith, 1997, 2002:1). He mentions several ways in which the oppressed can achieve liberation. To this end, he proposes two distinct and sequential ways the oppressed should undertake. The first, involves becoming conscious of reality that the individual lives as an oppressed (Freire, 1970:3). In his opinion, “this perception is necessary but not sufficient condition for liberation” (ibid). However, this is problematic and there are many points to buttress this argument. At the outset, although Freire, openly admits that sometimes the oppressed might not be able to perceive this reality, he loses sight of the fact that some people might acquire a kind of naive consciousness in which they are aware of their situation but cannot make any effort to change it; they take a conformist stance and consider their situation something normal, even to the point of supporting themselves. Further to this, there might also be a certain group of people who can construct their own reality and liberate themselves from oppression only to go to the opposite extreme of what they were fighting against. The second method involves the oppressed taking an initiative to emancipate themselves from the oppressors (Freire, 1970:5). Freire does not believe that the lived situation consist only of a simple awareness of reality. Instead, he believes that the individual has a historical need to fight the status that dwells within him/her. The efforts of the oppressed become focused and concrete through the type of learning that school really should give them, instead of encouraging them to adapt to their reality, as the oppressors themselves do.

Indeed, in order for people to know that they are underdeveloped and poor, they have to be fully aware in the first place that they are in such situation. This is the reason why Freire talks about conscientisation as the “process of learning to perceive the social, political and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Freire, 1970:12). Conscientisation can help the poor to know that they are living in penury and through this knowledge; they can be empowered to initiate the process of change. Empowerment increases people’s readiness to mobilise themselves for collective action in order to achieve the objectives of the development effort (Anyaegbunam et al, 1998:11).

However, Freire admits that liberation does not come on a silver platter. Many obstacles prevent the process of liberation. For instance, the oppressors deliberately initiate violence and in the process, they violate the rights of the oppressed (Freire, 1970:6). Furthermore, the oppressors accuse those who oppose them of being disobliging, responsible, depraved and responsible for their own situation, despite the fact that even if these adjectives do sometimes apply, they are really a response to being oppressed and are ultimately the result of exploitation to which these people have been subjected. The situation gets even worse when the oppressed accept this reality and adapt to it without questioning or even attempting to change it. A classic example is when development agencies frequently promote inappropriate solutions that people refuse to adopt because the so-called development projects are not perceived as relevant to their felt needs. This stems mainly from the scantiness of effective methodologies to include the people in the identification and implementation of appropriate development projects that address local ambitions, needs and problems (Manyozo, 2003:40). For instance, the development project may involve encouraging people to be sleeping under mosquitoes’ nets, when what worries the people are rising costs of fertiliser or the broken-down water pumps. In such situations, development agencies mistakenly blame the rural poor for being resistant to change and not having the appropriate altitudes, and values to recognise the usefulness of the development project offered while overlooking the fact that the indigenous people were not granted the opportunity to determine their own destiny. The basic argument here is that “lack of participation creates a mood of passivity and community inertia towards development projects” (Kerr, 1989:470). As Freire (1970:27) simply put it that “attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflexive participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning building.” The essay now looks at Paulo Freire’s arguments as presented in chapter two of the pedagogy of the oppressed.

What Paulo Freire says in chapter two is that currently in education, there is excessive use of lecturing and memorisation, with little analysis of the importance of what is being memorised. Freire describes this situation as one in which the students are seen as containers into which knowledge can be deposited. The teacher is the depositor and the knowledge is that which is deposited on daily basis. This bank concept of education “attempts to transform the minds of individuals so that they will adapt better to actual situations and be dominated by them with greater ease” (Freire, 1970:74). This means that the more passive people are, the more they will adapt, the more their creativity will diminish and their naiveté increase, which creates conditions necessary for the oppressors to emerge as generous benefactors. The pedagogy that Freire proposes is the direct opposite of that described above. It suggests that the individual acquire a love of life through a cultivation of his/her being, by being with the world and not for it- a state that is achieved through liberation. To this end, the world needs an education that ceases to be “alienating and mechanistic” (Smith, 1997, 2002:3).

In this respect, education that liberates the individual has to be a conscious act in which the content is understood and analysed, and it must leave to one side this unidirectional and undemocratic relationship to allow bidirectionality to contribute to the whole education of both parties, since they both have elements to bring to the learning. As noted by Sargis (2008:1),”the goal of liberatory education is to provoke the student to question all-taken-for-granted values, beliefs, norms, ideas, etc. of her experience that are the given presuppositions comprising the dominant social paradigm.” Mention must now be made here that what Freire argues is that people are underdeveloped and poor because there is a wrong method of education called banking education that change agents use. He argues that the banking method of education is detrimental to development because it is non-participatory, authoritarian and non-democratic, and he proposes the use of liberatory education. It is therefore imperative to know that the key term in the concept of liberation is to end poverty and this is so because poverty imprisons people. Therefore, according to Paulo Freire, liberatory education is the key to end poverty.
Indeed, one of the major factors that have slowed human development is the lack of people’s participation in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes that affect their lives. Unless, people become the protagonists of their own development, no amount of investment or provision of technology will improve standards of living in a sustainable manner (Anyaegbunam et al, 1998:1). The problem, however, is that the oppressed,[in this case the rural and the poor] who are supposed to become active actors in their development, to enable them improve their livelihood, are often beyond easy reach. They are generally illiterate, but they have ideas, knowledge and practices shaped by deep-rooted cultural norms, traditions, experiences and values different from those of development workers. These peculiarities or differences render the task of involving rural people in the planning and implementation of development efforts difficult. To worsen the situation, most of the development workers, who work with the rural people [who are in this case the oppressed], frequently lack the skills, tools, techniques and attributes to understand and involve them in the development process. This problem is caused mainly due to lack of proper communication between the facilitators of the projects and the oppressed, who are the recipients of the projects. All of this leads us to consider another element that is implicit, but not always clear, in relation to the concept of liberation--the issue of dialogue. This is mainly presented in chapter three of the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.

Paulo Freire’s critique of the dominant model of education leads to his democratic proposals for problem-solving education where men and women develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world. The point he is invariably trying to make is that education must help to develop critical awareness and it must do so using democratic methods such as dialogue. This means that without dialogue, there is no communication and without communication, there can never be true liberation. Dialogue ensures that the people’s culture, altitudes, capabilities and skills, as well as their views and opinions form a basis for the planning and formulation of effective and relevant development projects and programmes (Anyaegbunam et al, 1998:11). The use of dialogue therefore is an essential key in the process of learning. Freire says that dialogue cannot exist without love, humility, faith and hope. This means that the dialogue established between the two subjects helps to increase reciprocal kindness, something that is an act of bravery, not cowardice. It is not a naïve act, but it is about the kind of dialogue that kindness between people creates.
The above comments particularly apply to development communication. For instance, some people believe themselves to be leaders and go to the masses to establish a dialogue with them. However, it is their interests and not the interests of the community that are pursued. They encourage the people to adapt to a new way of life without attending to historical demands. They fall into a naïve thinking that one should adapt to existing conditions required by critical thought--the kind of thought that builds spaces and opportunities for liberation and the overturning of oppression through conscious action. Therefore, the liberation that the oppressed desire is never really achieved.

However, it is important to establish dialogue with the community. Since this implies the use of a language similar to that with which the individual is familiar, it is necessary to integrate oneself into the life of the individual to study his/her language, practice and thought. Later, using problem solving education, these elements will come together to create knowledge, since it is not necessary to refer to other far away spaces to find opportunities and topics for study. Topics for learning can be found in the reality that surrounds the individual; it is just that they are hidden by the limiting situations that the oppressors create. These limits can disappear through the education that a problem solving facilitator, who “moves from the particular to the general encourages” (Smith, 1997, 2002:6).

However, Freire might have overlooked various open questions in his discussion about liberation. There is in fact a major problem attached to the whole idea of dialogue. A crucial problem here is the question of authority. Freire proposes the use of problem-solving education, which to him, is non-directive and non-authoritarian. However, it must be borne in mind that there is no education that is non-directive. Facilitators still maintain a certain level of authority through the depth and breadth of knowledge of the subject matter. There is no gainsaying the fact that the facilitator still grades, still has certain control over curriculum and to deny these facts of life is to be disingenuous (Macedo and Freire, 1999:47). In this respect, it does not make much sense to completely denounce the traditional method of teaching, which calls for authority over students, but rather its strength must also be recognised, a thing which Freire does not want to come to terms with. This means therefore that Freire was seriously deficient in recognising the strengths of the traditional method of education.
In summary, although a broad chorus of praise echoes a wide range of criticisms on Freire’s theories of education, it should be borne in mind that his theories have a particular significance and provide thought-stimulating insights into the understanding of development communication. First, his emphasis on dialogue, has struck a very strong chord with development communicators. As this essay has discussed, too much education, Paulo Freire argues, involves “banking”—the educator making “deposits” in the educatee. Second, Paulo Freire advocates for action that is informed and linked to certain values. This is important because it can enhance community, build social capital, and lead people to act in ways that make for justice and human flourishing. Development communicators have a long-standing orientation to action and change. Therefore, the emphasis on change in the world by Freire cannot be taken for granted. Third, Freire’s attention to naming the world is of monumental importance to development communicators traditionally work with those who do not have a voice and who are oppressed. An important element of this was his concept of conscientisation—developing consciousness that is understood to have the power to transform reality. Fourth, Paulo Freire’s insistence on situating educational activity in the lived experience of participants can open up a series of possibilities for the way development communicators can approach practice.

In conclusion, this essay has critically analysed and responded to the notion of liberation as presented in chapters one to three of the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” The assertion that this essay makes here is that Paulo Freire’s arguments on the concept of liberation are relevant to the understanding and application of development communication.

Muluzi has some wisdom

2009-06-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

Guest Opinion, the Nation on Sunday

By Marshal Kandodo Madise

That the UDF chairperson, Dr. Bakili Muluzi, is contemplating retirement, to pave way for new blood in the party is sweet news. It could not have come at the right time than this and in fact, it is long overdue.

To begin with, let us quickly recognize the fact that the campaign period and the elections razzmatazz are now past behind us. Malawians will have to wait for another five solid years to put another government into power. And this is the time that calls for national unity and peace in the country for us to make great strides in development. It is not this time that we need the political bickering that was seen during the meetings of the previous parliament. The political hullabaloo at that time not only created tension in the country but also retarded developments projects that the Bingu-led government was trying to advance at that time. And now that Muluzi, who was one of the politicians who tried to derail government business in the house, is contemplating quitting active politics, then it augurs well for the future of the newly elected parliament.

We should also not overstate the fact that opposition parties, including the once mighty UDF, have fared badly in these elections. UDF now has got seventeen MPs in parliament when it used to have more than one hundred MPs. Shame! One of the reasons of this poor performance might have been that people were tired with the man who was at the helm of this party and they saw him as someone who had nothing to offer to Malawians. Worse still, the way Muluzi threw his allegiance to John Tembo as the torchbearer of the UDF/MCP alliance, instead of choosing someone from the UDF to lead the party in the elections, should also have contributed to the downfall of the party.

Now that Malawians have spoken through the ballot, that they do not need politics at the expense of development, and more importantly that Muluzi has realised that he is not popular with the people as he used to be way back in the 90s and now he wants to leave the mantra to someone, then we cannot help but applaud him for reading the thoughts of Malawians.

Muluzi should know that he is a former president and should be respected as such. In fact, we would have loved if he knew this yesterday. He can borrow a leaf from other erstwhile presidents such as Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Joachim Chissano, just to mention but a few, who are doing a commendable work by rendering several good will services to the people around the world.

It is for this reason that Muluzi’s remarks should not be taken lightly. As a matter of fact, I cannot agree more with Muluzi for showing diplomacy by wasting little time in congratulating Bingu on his landslide victory. Muluzi also deserves a pat on the back for gracing the swearing-in ceremony of the president despite the miserable loss that was inflicted on the UDF/MCP alliance. It is high time that old politicians retired from politics so that they could groom other young people to lead the parties in 2014 elections. Muluzi has started and we expect others to follow suit.

This article first appeared in the Nation on Sunday of 7 June 2009 (Guest Opinion).
The author is a Media for Development Student at Chancellor College.

Action Needed on Climate Change

2009-06-12T10:02:00.001-07:00

BY Marshal Madise09:19:29 - 23 July 2008(This article first appeared in the Daily Times)

At a time when the world is grappling with profound problems such as epidemics, wars, skyrocketing food prices and many other problems, climate change is yet another global cause for concern and if left unchecked could send the world into a further abyss of catastrophe. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that says greenhouse gas emissions lead to climate change. Climate change has far-reaching effects on human life and it affects all people in the world regardless of how one uses the US dollar in a day. In simple logic, a subsistence farmer in Nambuma could pay the price of climate change created by someone using an automobile in Arizona, United States of America.Climate change affects temperature, rainfall and water availability, which in turn could lead to drought, floods, storms, hurricanes and many other undesirable consequences. This could have adverse effects on food security, ecosystem and human health that could further lead to malnutrition in under-five children, a majority of these, already dying of Malaria in sub-Saharan African countries. This could inevitably impede on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Countries in the Sadc region, Malawi inclusive, have had their fair share of climate change effects. Early this year, there were floods that wrecked havoc in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Here in Malawi, floods that killed four people and left 70,000 homeless reared their ugly faces in the Shire valley early this year. Cases of inadequate rains and severe droughts are the order of the day in some parts of the country.However, the question to think about is, what are we doing as Malawians in fighting climate change? It is disheartening to note that we are not doing enough in fighting climate change despite government commitment to combat climate change.The government in March 2006 came up with a course of action called the National Adaptation Programme for Action (Napa), which strives to address the issue of climate change. The government is also implementing the National Sustainable Renewable Energy Programme (NSREP), which focuses on giving renewable energy sources to rural households. The government also established the four-month national forestry season with the aim of planting more trees in the country.However, what is worrying is that much as the government is putting in place several mechanisms to mitigate climate change, the trend has not yet changed among many Malawians. It seems we have not yet changed the way we produce and use energy despite the efforts on the part of government. Many Malawians are still felling trees for charcoal and fuel wood without replanting them and this has made Malawi to have the highest deforestation rate in the whole Southern African region. Many Malawians are still finding it hard to embrace renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, biogas, and gel fuel just to mention a few. Nowadays, there are also vehicles that are driven using ethanol instead of oil to avoid carbon gas emissions but Malawi is lagging behind in embracing these state of the art vehicles.The other worrisome development is that our development partners are not giving us much technical as well as financial support to assist us in combating climate change. However, when all is said and done, they are the ones that shoulder the blame on the effects of climate change happening now because they emitted many green house gases during Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, their countries have many cars and industries and this translates into more greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, I want to agree with UNDP’s Human Development Report of 2007/08, which says climate change is a global problem and everyone’s responsibility. Let me also applaud the G8 leaders for showing commitment to fight climate change as demonstrated by the recently occurred summit. Time has come for us to lead a responsible life to create a free-problem environment for future generations. Otherwise, we would be manufacturing a time bomb that could one day have disastrous consequences on the globe.