Right to Write

THREE YEARS AGO, I wrote this opinion in defence of Soldier Lucious Banda following what transpired in a WhatsApp group called BALAKA CONNECTIONS where some members argued that the music maestro had stopped composing attacking songs because he was siding with the ruling party. After reading the post, he said he was grateful that there were still people who saw and appreciated the other side of him. I post it again to honour this great son of the soil.   Soldier's music lives on (Photo Credit: Internet) FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: IN SUPPORT OF ‘SOLDIER' AND OTHERS  By Joseph Kayira | 1 July 2024 Soldier Lucious Banda, one of Malawi’s foremost musicians came into the limelight when he was very young. His role in ‘activism’ to bring about social and political change has largely been through music. For those who believe in telling the truth, Soldier’s contribution to Malawi’s political and social change has been worthwhile. This analysis was inspired by a discussion in a W...

REMEMBERING VICE PRESIDENT SAULOS KLAUS CHILIMA By Joseph Kayira | 1 July 2024 On June 10 2024, death robbed the Malawi nation of a man who so loved his country, so much that he left a lucrative job in the private sector to serve in the public service. Saulos Klaus Chilima or SKC, stunned many when he resigned from the position of managing director at Airtel Malawi Limited to join politics. His courage to join Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to pair with Peter Mutharika in the 2014 presidential election was viewed by many as a risk too high to even consider taking – bearing in mind that at the time, the DPP was an opposition party.  SKC turned out to be the leader this country should have had at the dawn of multiparty politics. His call for Malawi to embrace transformation, public reforms, creation of one million jobs for the youth in a year, and that families should be able to afford three meals a day; that the elderly should get K15,000 per month and that the Malawi passport s...

REPRESSIVE REGIMES HATE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS  By Joseph Kayira | 8 February 2024 In 2022, veteran journalist Gregory Gondwe was invited to South West Region Police Headquarters in Blantyre for what the police said was an interview on the ongoing investigations police were conducting regarding an online news story published by Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) and other related issues. It was not an interview; it turned out to be an interrogation. He was at the police for hours and only gained his freedom around 5:00 pm. Police impounded his equipment such as a laptop and mobile phone. Someone senior in government apologized for Gregory Gondwe’s arrest when it became clear that he was behind the journalist’s arrest. Malawi’s development partners, the United States and the United Kingdom issued a statement condemning the arrest, further expressing concern over the conduct of police to raid the offices of PIJ, where Gondwe works. “We note that he now has been released b...

STORM BREWING OR DUST SETTLING IN DPP? By Joseph Kayira | 2 February 2024 A few days ago, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expelled some of its senior members, who included its former vice president for the South Kondwani Nankhumwa, former publicity secretary Nicholas Dausi and former secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey. This protracted battle started well before the general elections in 2019. It worsened when it was announced that DPP president Peter Mutharika would step down to pave way for a new leader. Nankhumwa was one of the people who declared his interest to contest for the DPP presidency. Five others have been associated with the presidency too. They are Bright Msaka, DPP vice president for eastern region and legislator for Machinga Likwenu; Dalitso Kabambe, former governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi; Paul Gadama, a businessman; Joseph Mwanamvekha, member of Parliament for Chiradzulu South; and Living Word Evangelical Church Prophet David Mbewe. Mwanamvekha and Mbewe have...

PUTTING THE LID ON CORRUPTION, BAD GOVERNANCE  By Joseph Kayira | 4 January 2024 Corruption is evil, yet it is generally accepted as a way of getting things done – especially in the civil service. Corruption is the reason the economy has remained stagnant for close to 60 years now. It is also the reason poverty has permeated through society’s stratum, leaving millions prone to de-humanising effects of poverty. It is important to acknowledge that corruption is a serious problem in Malawi; and that it goes beyond the civil service. Corruption has quickly spread to other sectors of the economy, including the private sector. Stories are bound of politicians and businessmen who connive with public officers to defraud government. Past and present cases reveal how civil servants, politicians and businesspersons have seized by dishonest or fraudulent conduct, government resources and diverted them into their personal bank accounts. Chizuma: Heads the ACB (Photo Credit: Internet) The Cashga...

CRAVING FOR A BETTER AND UNDIVIDED FAM By Joseph Kayira | 21 December 2023 A lot has been said about the Football Association of Malawi (Fam) elections. One of the revelations from that election is that when people want change, they will do anything to force you out of office. Walter Nyamilandu, the man who was at the helm of Fam for 19 years did not commit any known serious crime to be kicked out of the football association. Those who wanted to flush him out of the system, come rain or shine, said the man had been Fam president for far too long “as if he is the only one who is blessed with the knowledge on how run football in Malawi.” At least that is what his detractors were saying.  Those who did not like his legacy started accusing him of belonging to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Someone took a picture of the former Fam president standing by the roadside wearing something that looked like a blue DPP beret. It became fodder for those who were baying for his ‘blood’. O...