POLITICS

ABOUT MALAVI - POLITICS

Madame President Joyce Banda (People's Party)
Bingu Wa Mutharika (Democratic Progressive Party)
Bakili Muluzi (United Democratic Front)
Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda (Malawi Congress Party)

On the 5th of April 2012, President Bingu Wa Mutharika died, having collapsed from a sudden heart attack. The Vice President Joyce Banda of the People Party was sworn in as President of Malawi on the 7th of April 2012. The next elections in Malawi will be held in 2014.

Malawi is a democratic, multi-party government, currently under the leadership of Madame President Joyce Banda of the People’s Party. The current constitution was put into place on May 18, 1995. The branches of the government consist of executive, legislative and judicial. The executive includes a president who is both chief of state and head of government, first and second vice presidents and a cabinet. The president is elected every five years, and the vice president is elected with the president. A second vice president may be appointed by the president if he so chooses, although he must be from a different party. The members of the cabinet are appointed by the president and can be from either inside or outside of the legislature.

The legislative branch consists of a unicameral National Assembly of 193 members who are elected every five years, and although the Malawian constitution provides for a Senate of 80 seats, one does not exist in practice. If created, the Senate would provide representation for traditional leaders and a variety of geographic districts, as well as special interest groups including the disabled, youth and women. The independent judicial branch is based upon the English model and consists of a constitutional court, a High Court, a Supreme Court of Appeal and subordinate Magistrate Courts. There are currently nine political parties, with the Democratic Progressive Party acting as the ruling party and the Malawi Congress Party and the United Democratic Front acting as the main opposition parties in the National Assembly. Suffrage is universal at 18 years of age, and the central government budget for 2007/2008 is $1.24 billion dollars.

Malawi is composed of three regions (the Northern, Central and Southern regions), which are divided into 28 districts, and further into approximately 250 traditional authorities and 110 administrative wards. Local government is administered by central government-appointed regional administrators and district commissioners. For the first time in the multi-party era, local elections took place on November 21, 2000, with the UDF party winning 70% of the available seats. There was scheduled to be a second round of constitutionally mandated local elections in May 2005, but these were cancelled by the government. In February 2005, President Mutharika split with the United Democratic Front and began his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party, which has attracted reform-minded officials from other parties and is winning elections across the country as of 2006. As of 2008, President Mutharika has implemented reforms to address the country’s major corruption problem, with at least five senior UDF party members facing criminal charges. In 2008, Malawi was ranked 11th of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, an index that measures several variables to provide a comprehensive view of the governance of African countries.

Madame President Joyce Banda (People's Party)

Joyce Hilda Banda is a Malawian politician who has been the President of Malawi since 7 April 2012. An educator and grassroots gender rights activist, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Vice-President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is Malawi’s first female president and was the country’s first female vice-president.

She was also Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Children’s Affairs and Community Services. Prior to an active career in politics she was the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation, founder of the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger Project. She was listed in Forbes Magazine 2011 as the third most powerful woman in Africa.

She is the founder and leader of the People’s Party created in 2011, and prior to Bingu wa Mutharika’s death was considered likely to contest the Presidency of Malawi in the 2014 general election. The People’s Party is scheduled to have a convention later this year, with Joyce Banda likely to be confirmed as party leader.

People’s Party is a political party in the Republic of Malawi that was founded in 2011 by Joyce Banda, from May 2009 to April 2012 Vice-President of Malawi, and President since April 7, 2012.

Joyce Banda created the People’s Party after being expelled from the ruling DPP when she refused to endorse President Bingu wa Mutharika’s younger brother Peter Mutharika as the successor to the presidency for the 2014 general election.

Who is Joyce Banda?

1950: Born

2009: Elected vice-president

2011: Fell out with President Bingu wa Mutharika but he failed to have her removed from her post

2012: Sworn in as president after Mr Mutharika’s death Southern Africa’s first female head of state

Has large charity to help educate and empower women

Her father was a well-known musician; her sister was hired to work in pop star Madonna’s schoolShe entered politics in 1999, during Malawi’s second democratic elections. She won a parliamentary seat in the former ruling party of retired president Bakili Muluzi.

He named her minister for gender and community services. Five years later, she retained her seat as a candidate for Muluzi’s party, even as Mutharika won the presidency.

The new president crossed party lines to appoint her as foreign minister in 2006. During her time as Malawi’s top diplomat, the country severed its long ties with Taiwan and established relations with Beijing.

She argued the switch would bring economic benefits to Malawi. China has since built Malawi a new parliament.

Mutharika tapped her as his running mate in the 2009 elections, but their honeymoon was short as party in-fighting intensified over his decision to anoint his brother as his successor, drawing accusations that he was trying to create a dynasty.

“The chronic disease of third term, or chieftaincy, remains one of the greatest enemies of our efforts to achieve sustainable development,” she said.

“The country is constantly caught in a vicious circle of privatisation of the state where one or two people hold the fate of the country.”

Banda’s ouster from the ruling party angered many urban voters, and she remains a popular figure for many Malawians, known for her vigorous campaigning. But her critics question her ability to steer the country through its economic crisis, with the currency trading on the black market at twice the official exchange rate.

After anti-government protests broke out in July last year, when police shot 19 people dead, Banda warned that Malawi could face more unrest ahead of the next polls.

“The road to 2014 will be rough, bumpy and tough. Some will even sacrifice their own lives,” she said.

Banda remains a role model to many women in Malawi for her gender fight in a male-dominated society.
Under the constitution the vice president is next in line and if Banda is sworn in as president, she will become Africa’s second female leader of modern times, after Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Her family is now among the most influential in Malawi. She is married to retired chief justice Richard Banda. Her sister Anjimile Oponyo was hired by Madonna to run her school for girls, although that project collapsed and she was sacked by the mega-star. – Sapa-AFP Joyce Banda, who rose to prominence in Malawi as a relentless advocate for women’s rights, now appears set to become only the second female African head of state in modern times.

She become Malawi’s first woman vice-president in 2009 as the running mate of President Bingu wa Mutharika, who has died after a heart attack, sparking political suspense about who will succeed him.

Just one year after their election victory the two fell out in a spectacular succession battle. Mutharika decided to groom his brother Peter, currently the foreign minister, to become his Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate for the next polls in 2014. He expelled Banda from the party, but she refused to give up her job. Instead, she formed her own People’s Party and became one of Mutharika’s fiercest critics, >lambasting his management of an economy beset by crippling fuel shortages.

Banda was born on April 12 1950, in Malawi’s colonial capital of Zomba where her father was an accomplished and popular police brass band musician. She began her career as a secretary, but she became a well-known figure during the dictatorial era of Kamuzu Banda, no relation to her own family. She started a women’s empowerment programme, travelling throughout the country to sell the National Business Women Association, a campaign that made her one of Malawi’s most visible champions of gender equality.

She later established the Joyce Banda Foundation to empower women through girls education.

The Democratic Progressive Party

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was the ruling political party in Malawi. The party was formed in February 2005 by late Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika after a dispute with the United Democratic Front. There were allegations that members of the former governing UDF did not adequately tackle corruption. It is unclear if the party was ideological or personalist in style. Since the UDF was a member of the Liberal International, the DPP might take a liberal position. In October 2008, the DPP’s national governing council unanimously chose Peter Mutharika who is brother to the now late President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika as the party’s candidate for the May 2014 Presidential election.

Bingu Wa Mutharika

Bingu wa Mutharika (born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death. He was also the president of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which has a majority in Malawi’s parliament as a result of the 2009 general election. During his two terms in office he was noted for presiding over the African Union, as well as several domestic controversies. He died of a heart attack in Lilongwe on 5 April. Bingu wa Mutharika was born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom on 24 February 1934 in Thyolo. Mutharika’s parents, Ryson Thom Mutharika and Eleni Thom Mutharika, were both members of the Church of Scotland Mission which later became Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian. His father was a teacher for 37 years and his mother taught the women of the Mvano group. Upon completing his primary education at Ulongwe Mission and Chingoli, Mulanje, Ntambanyama, Malamulo, in Thyolo and Henri Henderson Institute in Blantyre, Mutharika obtained a Grade A Cambridge Overseas School Leaving Certificate at Dedza Secondary School in 1956. In 1964, he was one of the 32 Malawians selected by Hastings Kamuzu Banda (President of Malawi 1961-1994) to travel to India on an Indira Gandhi scholarship for ‘fast track’ diplomas. The BBC reports that he went to India to “escape then President Hastings Banda’s crackdown on political opponents”. At some point during the 1960s, he also changed his name, to Bingu wa Mutharika. In India, Mutharika earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics. Subsequently, he attended the Delhi School of Economics graduating with a M.A. degree in Economics. He later obtained a PhD degree in Development Economics from Pacific Western University. Mutharika also completed short courses on Business Management, Financial Analysis, Trade Promotion, Political Leadership, regional Economic Co-operation and Human Relations. Mutharika served in the Malawi civil service. He has served as Administrative Officer in the Government of Malawi and Zambia. He was offered the Deputy Governorship of the reserve Bank of Malawi and appointed Minister of Economic Planning and Development in 2002. He also worked at the World Bank as a Loans Officer and at the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa, as Director of Trade and Development Finance and as Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA, covering 22 Member States Mutharika co-founded the United Democratic Front in 1992. In 1999, he stood as a candidate in the presidential election, finishing last.

President

Mutharika was nominated by then President Muluzi as his successor. Mutharika won the presidential election on 20 May 2004, ahead of John Tembo and Gwanda Chakuamba, and took office a few days later. On 7 October 2006, Mutharika stated his intention to seek re-election in the 2009 presidential election as the DPP candidate. Two years later, in October 2008, the DPP’s national governing council unanimously chose Mutharika as the party’s candidate for the 2009 election, which he won with 66.7% of the vote.

First term

During President Mutharika’s first term in office (2004-2008), the country achieved a high rate of agricultural production and food security. The President’s initiatives, centred on a programme of agricultural subsidy, benefited approximately 1,700,000 resource poor smallholder farmers. In the 2005/2006 crop season, Malawi achieved a food surplus of more than 500,000 metric tons. During the 2008/2009 planting season, food surpluses topped 1.3 million metric tons. This agricultural policy was widely regarded as successful but expensive, and was curtailed in 2011.

Second term

Under his tenure, the constitutionally enshrined human rights and separation of powers were enhanced, including legal reform. His first term was seen as a broad political success. He has also been credited with committing to and presiding over economic reform, fiscal restraint and anti-corruption measures. During his tenure, the election was recognised by monitors as fair. Mutharika’s Malawi Growth and Development Strategy for 2006-2011 prioritised the enhancement of: agriculture and food security, education, transport, energy generation, rural development, irrigation and water development, youth development and anti-corruption initiatives. In 2009, Malawi’s Ministry of Finance estimated that during the previous four years the share of Malawians living below the poverty line fell from 52 percent to 40 percent. This has been attributed to the country’s agricultural policies, which have been seen as pioneering in the context of African economic development. In addition to championing food security in Malawi, Mutharika promoted a similar approach for Africa. While Chairman of the African Union in 2010, the President laid down a road map for Africa to achieve sustainability and food security. He proposed a new partnership with other African nations, which he called the “African Food Basket”, outlining a strategy incorporating subsidies to small farmers, especially women, improvements in irrigation, and improving agriculture and food security over 5 years through innovative interventions that comprise subsidies, increased budgetary allocations, private sector investment and affordable information and communications technology. Approximately half of the country’s subsistence farmers received vouchers which provided discounts on maize seed and fertiliser. To sustain the program, the Malawi Government allocated 11 percent of its budget for 2010/2011 to agriculture, continuing a rare record of commitment on this scale in Africa. The level of investment in the programme was reduced in 2011. Mutharika was accused of trying to sideline and isolate his vice-president, Joyce Banda. He kicked her out of the party in 2010 because she refused to accept the nomination of Peter Mutharika as the next president. She remained vice-president of the country because there had been no formal impeachment process. As a result of the Cochrane-Dyet 2011 cable controversy that accused Mutharika of being increasingly ‘arrogant’ and ‘autocratic’, he expelled the British High Commissioner. In international relationships, his close relationships with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan were controversial. In 2011, days of nationwide protests occurred, sparked by worsening fuel shortages, rising prices and high unemployment. Malawi’s health ministry confirmed 18 deaths in the northern cities of Karonga and Mzuzu as a result of police using live ammunition to quell protests. Mutharika was unapologetic and said that he would “smoke out” all his enemies. This was accompanied by a crack-down on Malawian journalists, human rights activists, and lawyers, including Ralph Kasambara. Other events that marred his presidency were the activities surrounding the 2011 academic freedom stand-off between the President and University, and the death of student activist Robert Chasowa.

Chairperson of the African Union

On 31 January 2010, Mutharika replaced Muammar al-Gaddafi as chairperson of the African Union after Gaddafi’s attempt to run as the African Union chairperson for an additional year failed. Mutharika was Malawi’s first head of state to assume the position of chairperson. In his acceptance speech he said that “Africa is not a poor continent, but the African population are poor” and called for “Africa to develop Africa”. He shared his vision for the African Food Basket Initiative by making food security a priority in his agenda. During a speech at Boston University, Mutharika defended his subsidy program and noted that although Western countries say African governments should not subsidise agriculture, Western governments subsidise their own farmers. Malawi hosted Africas first conference that brought together Ministers of Agriculture in Africa where they were urged to fight for subsidies in agriculture. He did not attend the Africa-EU Trade summit in Libya but no official reason was provided for this move.

Family and personal life

Mutharika was a Roman Catholic and married to Zimbawean Ethel Zvauya Mutharika, with whom he had four children. Ethel Mutharika died of cancer on 28 May 2007. In 2010, Mutharika announced he planned to marry Callista Chimombo, a former Minister of Tourism. The two were married on 1 May 2010. Mutharika’s son, Peter Mutharika, was a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis. In May 2009, he was elected to the Malawian Parliament, and was subsequently appointed to the Malawi Cabinet as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He has held other cabinet position

Death

Mutharika died of a heart attack on 5 April 2012 at the age of 78, after being admitted to a hospital. He was reportedly flown to South Africa due to power outages in Lilongwe. The media reported “chaotic scenes” after his wife, Callista, and other cabinet members were leaving the hospital. His condition was initially announced as “critical.” Vice President Joyce Banda wished him a quick recovery. In reaction, police were deployed across the national capital with 15 Army officers posted at the Vice President’s residence. His death was officially confirmed on 7 April, the day Joyce Banda was sworn in as Malawi’s first female president despite controversy following Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati’s statement that “the conduct of the honourable Joyce Banda in forming her own opposition party precludes her from being eligible to succeed the presidency,” while the country’s security forces also wanted the constitutional order to prevail. The former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith said of Mutharika that he was “unwavering in his commitment to improve the plight of Malawi’s poor” and that he was ” one of Africa’s most courageous and conscientious leaders.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingu_wa_Mutharika

United Democratic Front (UDF)

Elson Bakili Muluzi (born March 17, 1943) is a Malawian politician. He was the President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004 and was Chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009.

Presidency

Muluzi was the candidate of the opposition UDF in the May 1994 presidential election, the country’s first multiparty election. He won the election with 47% of the vote, defeating Malawi’s leader since independence, Hastings Kamuzu Banda. He was re-elected in June 1999, taking 52.4% of the vote and defeating challenger Gwanda Chakuamba who was the leader of the opposition movement. In 2002 he proposed an amendment to Malawi’s constitution that would have allowed him to run for a third term, but this was abandoned due to the move being blocked by the National Assembly of Malawi Members of Parliament, courts, and demonstrations against him. After serving two terms, he therefore handed over power to his successor after the May 2004 election, in which UDF candidate Bingu wa Mutharika (who was handpicked and groomed by Muluzi) was elected to succeed Muluzi as President. Muluzi came to lead the UDF after leaving the Banda government, and he became an advocate for democracy. Muluzi’s time as President was marred by controversy and scandal, particularly due to the sale of Malawi’s reserves of maize to other countries shortly before the onset of a drought, which resulted in famine throughout the country. Despite international pressure, the millions of dollars realized from the sale of Malawi’s food reserves have never been turned over, and it is widely suspected that it wound up in foreign accounts belonging to Muluzi and his supporters.

Post-presidency

Even with the controversy and questionable dealings, Muluzi was a popular leader, particularly in southern part of the country. He remains the Chairman of the UDF, and after a dispute with his successor as President, Mutharika, the latter left the UDF and formed his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in February 2005. In April 2005, Muluzi apologized to Malawians for choosing Mutharika as his successor “and imposing him on the country”. On July 27, 2006, Muluzi was arrested on fraud and corruption charges; he was released on bail later that day. Hours after his arrest, the chief investigator Gustav Kaliwo was suspended by President Mutharika and Director of Public Prosecutions Ishmael Wadi said he had no choice but to drop the charges. Dr. Bakili Muluzi was once more arrested on 26 February 2009 and initially charged with 86 counts of corruption and abuse of office. He is being accused of allegedly diverting 1.7 billion Malawi Kwacha (US$11m) of donor money into his personal account. The said money, among others, came from the Republic of Taiwan, the Kingdom of Morocco and Libya.

2009 presidential candidacy

In early March 2007, with many prominent members of the UDF calling for Muluzi to run for president in 2009, the party said that he would have until March 11 to declare whether he intended to run. Accordingly, on that date Muluzi announced that he would seek the party’s nomination as its presidential candidate. The question of whether Muluzi is eligible to run again has raised some controversy. Because the constitution refers to a limit of two consecutive terms, this could be regarded as enabling Muluzi to run again after being out of office for a term. The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Alex Nampota, announced on March 17, 2008 that the ACB intended to prosecute Muluzi for allegedly diverting about 11 million dollars of donor money into his personal account; Nampota said that the ACB had asked the courts to lift an injunction that prevented it from questioning Muluzi. Kennedy Makwangwala, the Secretary-General of the UDF, denounced this as “political persecution”. On April 24, 2008, a UDF convention chose Muluzi as the party’s 2009 presidential candidate. He received 1,950 votes against 38 for Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha. On March 20, 2009 the Malawi Electoral Commission passed a judgement to bar Bakili Muluzi from running for the presidency for the third time. Muluzi challenged this, but on May 16, only three days before the election, the Constitutional Court ruled that Muluzi could not run again. By that point, Muluzi and the UDF had thrown their support behind the candidacy of John Tembo, the President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Muluzi announced on December 23, 2009, that he was retiring from active politics and that Friday Jumbe was replacing him as UDF leader http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakili_Muluzi

Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda (Malawi Congress Party)

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (15 February 1898 – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country (then British Nyasaland) to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence. In 1963, he was formally appointed as Nyasaland’s Prime Minister, and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later. Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made him the party’s President for Life. In 1971, he became President for Life of Malawi itself. As a leader of the pro-Western bloc in Africa, he received support from the West during the Cold War. He generally supported women’s rights, improved the country’s infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries. However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. He also faced scorn for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid-era South Africa. By 1993, he was facing international pressure and widespread protest. A referendum ended his one party state, and a special assembly stripped him of his title. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections which followed, but was defeated. He died in South Africa in 1997. His legacy remains controversial, with some hailing him as a national and African hero, while others denounce him as a tyrant and one of the most corrupt leaders in Africa’s entire history.

Infrastructure

In 1964, after serving as a government minister in the colonial administration, Banda adopted a macroeconomic policy aimed at accelerating economic development for the betterment of Malawians. He settled on the Rostow model of “Catch Up” Economics, wherein Malawi would vigorously pursue Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI). This entailed both a quest for “self-sufficiency” for Malawi – becoming less reliant on its former colonial master – and growth of an industrial base that could ensure Malawi was capable of producing its own goods and services. Such capacity would then be used to catch up and even overtake the West. An infrastructure development program was initiated under the various Development Policies (DEVPOLs) documents that Malawi adopted from 1964 onwards. The country’s infrastructure benefited through massive road construction programs. With the decision to shift the capital city from Zomba to Lilongwe (against vociferous objections from the British preference for the economically and well developed Blantyre), a new road was built linking Blantyre and Zomba to Lilongwe. The Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC) in Lilongwe was itself a beehive of infrastructure development, supported by planning and funds from apartheid-era South Africa. The British refused to finance the move to Lilongwe. The CCDC became the sole development agent for Lilongwe; putting up roads, the government seat at Capital Hill, etc. Other infrastructure entities were added, such as Malawi Hotels Limited, which undertook massive projects such as the Mount Soche, Capital Hotel and Mzuzu Hotel. On the industrial side, Malawi Development Corporation (MDC) was tasked with setting up industries and other businesses. Meanwhile, Dr. Banda’s own Press Corporation Limited and MYP’s Spearhead Corporation embarked on various business initiatives that lead to an economic boom during the mid-to-late 1970s. Banda personally founded Kamuzu Academy, a school modelled on Eton, at which Malawian children were taught Latin and Ancient Greek by expatriate classics teachers, and disciplined if they were caught speaking Chichewa. Many of the schools Alumni have assumed leadership roles in medicine, academia and business in Malawi and abroad. The school remains one of Dr Banda’s most lasting legacies. It is claimed, probably incorrectly and unfairly, that Dr Banda spent almost all the country’s education budget on this project, while increasingly ignoring the needs and welfare of the greater majority [80%] of Malawians toiling in the rural areas. The National Rural Development Program and Rural Growth Centers were tentative and belated policies aimed at diverting rural populations from moving to the few urban areas which Dr. Banda’s ISI macroeconomic policies had created and were now being battered by the arrival of more and more rural people seeking better opportunities. Eventually, with the collapse of the Cold War, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund arrived, imposing a series of Structural Adjustment Programs from 1987.

Malawi Congress Party

The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was the successor to the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC), which was banned in 1959. The MCP was founded by Hastings Banda and other NAC leaders in 1960. Hastings Banda became the first MCP president, and later the first president of Malawi. It won all of the seats in the legislature in the 1961 Nyasaland elections, and led the country to independence as Malawi in 1964. When Malawi became a republic in 1966, the MCP was formally declared to be the only legal party. All adult citizens were required to be party members. They had to carry “party cards” in their wallets at all times. The MCP lost its monopoly on power in a 1993 referendum, and was roundly defeated in the country’s first free elections the next year. Unlike other former single parties in Africa, the MCP remains a major force in Malawi. It is strongest in the central region populated by ethnic Chewa and Nyanja people. At the last general elections, held on 19 May 2009, its candidate for president, John Tembo (a longtime confidant of Banda), won 30.7% of the vote, and the party won 26 out of 193 seats.