suicide pact

Author’s note: This short story was published by in Malawi News; only about half of it. There might have been an error during designing, and this is the full version. Write to linda.lindalinda.linda56@gmail.com Suicide Pact By LINDA CHISONI There at the interrogation desk in a small room at Karonga police station sat Penjani, waiting for the detective to come into the room. The correctional facility was staring in his face and all the money that was buried beneath a huge bed in the massive bedroom was silent. It could not work for him alone when it had been meant to be for them all. When the detective silently walked into the interrogation room, he immediately informed him that one more count had been added on the charge sheet. “Of course you know that you will not find yourself on the right side of the law. Not when I am the one pursuing this case,” the detective said. Penjani lost himself into a gust of make-believe laughter to allay his conscience. But still what had gone around was crudely coming around to haunt him; to taunt him and to hound him. Time for his bumpy ride had come and it appeared to have come in its fullness. During his arrest he had rumbled about character assassination but now the words were sheer echoes in his confused head. He had only spent two days at the police station but he had already grown into a wraith-like creature – a sorry sight. And the fact that he had been a man who had been commanding a great deal of reverence was fast fading into oblivion. He was now a prisoner and outside the police cell walls his reputation was fraying around the edges. “Chickens come home to roost,” the detective said as he spread a paper containing Penjani’s case details on the table. “Brother, you rule things here and I accept it. But don’t you think you can do something that may earn you some fact bucks. At least it is going to be the line of least resistance to both of us.” The detective slammed his hands on the desk and it shook. He was wrathful. “I am going to include that on the charge sheet. Look here Mr. Penjani, you are trying to bribe a police officer and that is a very big crime. Of course you know that you can’t bribe me. I am not that type. You are destined for the prison – a place with complete fetters.” Penjani looked at him and tears welled down his cheeks. The detective left the room and it was as though he was giving the prisoner more time to think about his plight. He cursed that pistol. If only it had functioned properly, he wouldn’t be in such a place. He would be dead by now and he would no longer be grappling with life in this sty of a police cell. He would be resting in peace in the land beyond flowing rivers and meadows and lakes – at least that was what he had been told about the afterlife. Above all, he cursed that day when his parents had been killed in a car crash. It marked the onset of his lifelong tribulations which had finally landed him in the musty place called a cell. It all started four months after Penjani’s parents died in a car accident. Being the only child in the family, he was left in possession of everything that his parents left behind. But because of succumbing to the pleasures of the youth, by the end of four months, he was left with nothing. He had withdrawn all the money that his parents had been saving in the bank. And now the new owners of the house informed him that they would be moving in in three days. He had already squandered the money. A month later he joined a gang of three men who earned their living by robbing banks and other big institutions. No one knew that they were armed robbers and people were according them so much respect for they were living in a very big house and always donned classy clothes. And they drove the latest models of cars. After all, they were known amongst many people to be international consultants in accounting for that was what the signpost at the turn-off to their house claimed. This other night, they robbed The Natives’ Bank and two days later their photographs were almost in every paper informing the whole nation that ‘these criminals robbed The Natives’ Bank’ and anyone who would provide information leading to their arrest would receive a reward of K500 000. Even on the nation’s sole television station, the advert appeared now and then. As they sat together in their lounge, watching TV, Penjani and his colleagues were attracted to the screen like never before. It was not the announcer that attracted their attention but the information she was disseminating: The police in all neighbouring countries have been alerted about these criminals lest they try to get out of this country. If they are hearing me now, they better surrender themselves because they are going to be caught, whatever the case. “What should we do, gentlemen?” Penjani asked. One of the robbers glared at him with his bloodshot eyes. “This is no time for asking stupid questions. I think we should be talking of how to escape. The police can say whatever they want to say but the last thing we will do is to surrender.” He looked at his colleagues who remained silent. “That is my opinion. No risk no venture. We have to give it a try.” “I can’t subscribe to that,” another robber chipped in suddenly. “It is a matter of choice.” The robber who was considered the leader of the gang finally said authoritatively. “He who chooses to escape has to escape; he who chooses to stay has to stay. Choice. Period.” Long at last a consensus was reached. Two of the criminals made up their minds to escape while Penjani and another decided to stay. They decided that they would go to any remote village and stay there for sometime until the coast was clear. “Fare thee well, gentlemen,” Penjani said to his colleagues who picked their rucksack to God knows where. Only two hours later, news about the arrest of the two robbers was disseminating like wildfire. The caught robbers had revealed everything about their colleagues. And the police again announced that the remaining two should better surrender. “What do we have to do now? We are squeezed towards a tight corner,” Penjani said to his colleague tremulously. “Now I can see that every road is pointing in our direction and every road that we take appears to be pointing to the police station.” “On my part I think I have finally made up my mind.” “What are you going to do? Surrender?” “I have to end it all.” “Suicide? The last thing I would do,” said Penjani. “Don’t you think you have reached the last option? What is the essence of living when you are being hunted like a wild animal? Friend, suicide is the gentle end to life’s tribulations.” “How dare you utter those words as though you have ever tasted it?” “Anyway, the choice is yours now as I have already made mine.” But finally Penjani gave in after being equally convinced that life would be full of tribulations once the police got hold of them. And it was a generally accepted suicide pact. Penjani’s colleague picked the pistol, drove its burnished barrel into his mouth and opened fire. His body slumped onto the wintry floor like a bag of sand. Penjani picked the pistol but when he pulled the trigger, nothing came out of the gun. As he tried to reload it, the door violently flung open and there into the room stormed three police officers who were armed to the teeth. “Hands up. You are under arrest for robbery. You reserve the right to remain silent for whatever you may say now may turn against you in the future in a court of law. It is your constitutional right to remain silent,” one police officer said. And when he arrived at the police station, he was informed that another charge had been leveled against him. “You murdered your fellow robber, perhaps because you wanted to get all the money that you have been robbing. For this count as well, there is evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt. You may go back to your cell, Mr. Penjani. Good day.”

Loyal opposion

Author’s Note: This article appeared in The Daily Times of 17 June 2009. for more information write to ananiyaalick.ponje@gmail.com or alickponje1988@yahoo.com Loyal Opposition By Ananiya Alick Ponje Loyal opposition is a notion that needs to be accepted as a sophisticated phenomenon in developed democracies. The aspect of Malawi’s democracy being a young democracy as argued by many appears to miss the fact that a democracy does not remain young after 15 years. Of course this might depend on the understanding that is implied by actions that take place within the democracy. Loyal opposition implies a distinction, one of profound significance, between the interests of the state and the interests of the government of the day. The term is derived from the British constitutional practice, and has its origin in the time when politicians were beginning to outgrow the idea that opposition to the executive power was disloyal. This is what the case was during Mutharika’s first term in office. The opposition used the muscle of its majority to frustrate most of the president’s programs. It does not necessarily mean that the opposition should have gone on bended knee worshipping the government and accept everything that had been proposed but their actions were beyond the reasonable level of sanity. The notion of loyal opposition, to some extent requires that the opposition is accepted as a necessary entity in the political system, but with it playing its prudent role. It took two centuries for the notion of loyal opposition to be fully accepted in Britain. Even as late as 1937, one backbencher in parliament, speaking on a bill to provide a salary for the leader of opposition, commented on the absurdity of paying someone “to criticize and hinder the work of the government”. This was because the opposition was not there to scrutinize the works of the government but to criticize them; typical of the near past Malawi’s opposition. The opposition, on the other hand is supposed to be more than a spearhead for criticism and a searchlight for scrutiny. The government is responsible for legislative policy, the preparation of bills to be passed in parliament and the delineation of priorities. The opposition, in actual sense, is supposed to be regarded as an alternative government. That opposition may soon come to power – and if it is thought of by the opposition itself – may help to inhibit reckless criticism and rejection of bills which are for the good of the country as a whole. Ignorance of this aspect is what resulted into the terrible downfall of the Malawi Congress Party whose president was the leader of opposition in the previous parliament. With the majority of legislators occupying opposition benches in the National Assembly in the previous parliament, politics has been known as adversary politics. Just as a lawyer would so much desire to have his client acquitted even if the client has confessed to him that he indeed committed the offence he is being accused of, opposition MPs supported everything their leader put across. It was a very disloyal opposition. A crucial thing about loyal opposition is not so much the particular form it may take, or the extent to which it is concentrated, but that the legitimacy of the opposition as such is accepted. And since in Malawi, we all know that it has always been accepted since the advent of democracy, the problem is why it has always been a very disloyal opposition. Now with the government having the majority of representation in the National Assembly, perhaps the notion of loyal opposition will be implemented without much as choice.

ON FASTCASH MONEY TRANSFER

On FastCash Money Transfer By Ananiya Alick Ponje In a bid to be abreast of the times in this era of a very fast growing rate in science and technology and other aspects of life, most service providers, ranging from mobile phone network providers to banks and other money institutions and organizations, always have new ideas to maximize the effectiveness of their services. With mobile phone operators, they do everything possible to make sure they provide services which will be deemed to be the best by their subscribers. This is the best marketing strategy that does not need bush for it is like good wine. One of the service providers that does not want to lag behind in terms of service delivery which is easily necessitated by the rapid growth of technology is the Malawi Posts Corporation. Considering that money sent through the telegram system takes a bit long to reach the recipient, the Corporation introduced one of the fastest ways of sending and receiving money branded FastCash Money Transfer. The whole procedure of sending and receiving can only take five minutes and the recipient will be brandishing the hard cash afterwards. The demands of the process are not very involving. In fact the one sending money to you can just tell you to go and collect the money the moment he finishes processing procedures of sending it. With no strings attached, the process is a very convenient way of sending and receiving money. But much as FastCash Money Transfer is a very convenient method of sending and receiving money, it sometimes plays tricks with the recipients. This is largely due to the system itself and then the issue of power blackouts. Sometimes you may go to the Post Office with the aim of receiving the money that has been sent to you only to be told that the information that you have been given is not correct. For instance, the Postmaster will tell you that the passport number that you have been given does not match with any number in the computers. You insist that the sender of the money repeated the passport number several times to make sure you did not copy the wrong number and the postmaster – to help you? – advises you to come probably an hour later. Yet you are supposed to use the money just now. So what is the essence of FastCash Money Transfer if one can not retrieve his money as soon as possible? This is what happened to a certain young at Zomba Post Office. He was supposed to use the money for transport to a certain place where he had been invited for an interview but he could not get his money instantly. Of course, he was lucky that someone lent him the money which he used for transport. The following day the young man went to the Post Office again to collect his monies but he was told that there was a power blackout and that the computers which contained all the information could hardly operate because there was no standby generator. One wonders why the Malawi Posts Corporation decided to introduce this ‘fast’ way of transferring money even in Post Offices where they have no alternatives in terms of power. It is very painful for someone to get his money from the Post Office three or four days after it has been sent by the FastCash Money Transfer process. If MPC knew that the operation would be useless in cases of power blackouts, they should have mounted standby generators which would come into use in cases of blackouts. The statutory corporation should now be fully aware that ESCOM is another statutory corporation that cannot be trusted. If perhaps MPC does not have enough funds for generators, then it should better not introduce FastCash Money Transfer at Post Offices that do not already have the generators. It goes without saying that before a company introduces a service system, it first of all considers all the shortfalls of the system. I wonder whether MPC looked at the demerits of this system of transferring money in Post Offices that do not have standby generators. It also appears that the implementation of the system has not been maximized because of the fact that computers sometimes fail to recognize certain information at first and then recognize the same information later. Or are the computers just incompetent? There are a number of issues that should be rectified if FastCash Money Transfer system is to reflect its intended purpose, otherwise it is sometimes very irritating.

GOVERNMENT

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION By Ananiya Alick Ponje It is oftentimes said that modern governments live and die on their economic records. This is in virtue of the fact that a government is never recognized as a vibrant one if its economic performance does not inspire anyone, especially foreign investors, to invest in the country. The fact that modern governments live and die on their economic records is applicable in both industrialized and developing ones. During the last five years of economic performance and subsequent analysis on the part on the government by different analysts, it has been observed that Malawi has performed quite well on economy with the last development being the country registering another 0.5 decrease in inflation. This is not something that many come on a silver platter, but there is need for someone to mastermind it. The brain behind it has a task of strategizing procedures for achieving the same. And this is connected to other dimensions of performance which might not be very economic in nature. President Bingu wa Mutharika’s political performance has tackled sufficiently all areas affiliated to it. One thing that should not be discounted about political performance is that a good political performer encompasses other dimensions as well which may seem not to be political in nature. These dimensions create the whole bundle of political performance as one thing. And in most instances, regardless of how many they are, if some of the them have flopped, a regime’s political performance is dented. Yet in Malawi, we have a leader whose political performance has been rated as one of the best in Africa. Such an achievement may seem mean to a layman’s perception, but it is in actual sense, an historic one. The ultimate analysis has been drawn out after discovering that Mutharika has done well in all areas, despite a few hiccups. Everywhere in the world, with the priority of democratic states, citizens expect the government to maintain order, to resolve conflicts in peaceful manners, and to provide a peaceful and free climate where people can live without fear of being harmed or even killed. These are some of the things that will determine the political performance of a government. Citizens also expect their government to be able to formulate policies which will ultimately respond to their basic needs and problems. All these aspects are, at a lower level, supposed to be carried by legislators and cabinet ministers. Even if they did not vote for a particular candidate, citizens will still expect free and fair treatment by government authorities. They also have all the trust that the authorities will use public resources for the defined purposes of government and not to satisfy their own interests. That is why the president has since his re-election been extolling the virtues of burying the hatchet and moving forward for the good of the masses. In common Malawi, it is now common that citizens expect the authorities to excel at being democratic, at safeguarding civil and political liberties, honoring the provisions of the constitution without tampering with it even if one side has a majority that would enable it to. Here is where the Mutharika administration will be required to show citizens that these aspects were not withheld during the past five years because of lack of the political muscle due to minority of representation in the National Assembly, but that the administration did everything in good faith. Since it is now entirely accepted that Mutharika is a great economist and a political performer, the last analysis is based on what his performance will be now that he has the ‘majority temptation’. It is bound to have immense social and political effects, thereby producing a far-reaching loss of confidence from the populace, should the president mess things due to the majority of representation in the National Assembly that he has at his disposal. Of course, he has already assured Malawians that the majority will be used to the advantage of Malawians in general, and not the DPP as a party or any individual. On the other hand, it is expected that the president will shoot his political performance, especially on the dimension of economic performance, because despite registering a great economic upheaval in the last five years of office, the president had inherited an economy that had been lying in tatters. On the other dimensions of political performance, particularly freedom, order and security, there is a clear assurance that this administration will maintain them and even improve if the measures that are already there will be re-employed and strategized further. Mutharika will also be labeled one of Africa’s great political performers should he ultimately view the opposition as a necessary entity in the government system despite having the muscle to tramp over it completely. He might be the first to implement the aspect of majority rule and minority rights. However, since the government is the one with the majority rule aspect, the real tension between the need for collective decision-making and respect for choice might not be of significance. To the newly elected cabinet, the ministers are supposed to take things in a very professional way because this is the era of ultimate political performance where a non-performer will not need to stay. In their different capacities, they will be required to achieve certain goals which might not be vivid, while the president might have already set for them. They need to be aware of the fact that cabinet reshuffles come to purify cabinet. Overall, citizens must be put first. As a practical matter, issues of public importance are seldom resolved by a unanimous decision. Opposition will always be there, but it might not matter at all. In virtually every instance, there will be losers and winners, but the best justification for majority rule is that it provides a legitimate and realistic way to make collective decisions. The most significant thing is that the government accepts the fact that there is no higher authority than the citizenry. And this is the time for the opposition to experience some kind of a bumpy ride since they will no longer have that power of rejecting bills wantonly. Their authority will be vanquished beyond measure. However, all they need is to accept that this is another era of Malawi politics where the opposition is only necessary in the government system while mattering very little or not at all.

POLITICS

Time for politics of performance By Ananiya Alick Ponje In both authoritarian and democratic regimes, politicians need money to sustain their activities be it in campaigns for elections or the selling of their ideologies and policies to the electorate. It is no denying fact that money is central in politics as much as it is to our daily lives. In fact, without money, political parties would not operate because there would be no way they would easily convey their messages to the voters. However, one significant thing about political money that should be born in mind is that it has its own limitations as well especially in modern Malawi which has become like America after the Enlightenment Period. In Malawi we, at some point in time, had political parties that had at their helms ‘open-handed’ individuals who spent substantial amounts of money on anything if it meant buying the support of voters. One thing however, remains underlying: no one knows whether everyone can be enticed by money so that they may finally vote for the ‘money-giver’. Yes, people may receive the money or any other form of handout aimed at buying their support but the choice of every voter is a secret thing that is entirely known only by the voter himself, unless if the voting process is done in a way that supporters of a candidate stand behind him/her like in the case of primary elections. However, even in such types of elections, there is no evidence that ‘supporters’ of a particular candidate are really their supporters. In fact, a certain individual during the botched-up primary elections in a certain constituency confided in me that he would vote for candidate A not because he supported him, but because he had ‘patronized’ one of the feasts that the candidate had prepared to woo the support of voters. This informed me that even if the candidate made it, the ‘untrustworthy’ voter would still vote for someone else in the general elections. It is very easy to find examples of candidates who have spent substantial amounts of money on election campaigns aimed at buying the support of the electorate only to fail miserably at the polls. An example of an incident where a candidate used so much money to plug his views in different ways to buy the support of voters is the referendum that was held in a once glorious Zimbabwe in February 2000. The aim of the referendum was to seek a majority of votes that would enable president Robert Mugabe have his proposed new constitution implemented. Mugabe paid for many major media so that they published stories about the ‘positive’ parts of the provisions in the new constitution. He used money in different ways to lobby on all issues which he deemed positive in the ‘reformed’ constitution but failed miserably. He was shamefully defeated by a scantly organized opposition which had not even done enough awareness on the same. Here is where it becomes clear that there are voters who do not just vote for the love of the candidate but for their own future as well. The new constitution was to give President Mugabe too much power and the voters knew that he would in turn oppress them severely if he attained his wishes of having the constitution amended. In modern societies it is becoming very hard to manipulate the underlying choices of the electorate with money. It appears politics where money rules is becoming extinct, or maybe it was never there. Money does not necessarily buy votes, but perhaps it helps in maintaining the candidates’ relationships with their potential voters through frequent contacts so that the voters do not lose interest in the candidate because of too much ‘absence’. Although money is undoubtedly central in politics, it is not the only important resource. Other political motivations and forces can be used as tools of winning the favour of voters. The policies of the candidate, the already instituted development projects and academic credentials are some of the motivations that may help a candidate win the favour of voters as evidenced form the recent parliamentary elections where people purely voted on the basis of these aspects. Another classic example which vindicates the argument that money is not the only driving force towards political prosperity is the case of the British billionaire businessman Sir James Goldsmith who paid about 2 million pounds in the general election of 1999 to present a line-up of candidates opposed to Britain’s integration into the European Union. Nevertheless, his Referendum Party proved a very scanty force in Britain’s politics. He never succeeded. Of course, someone may argue that that was politics in Britain, but it is the case in Malawi too. The last general elections that we had have revealed that people in Malawi are no longer ‘hide bound’ and they are more concerned about their future than their present, hence their desires to choose a leaders who are going to uplift their lives even if the leaders have not given them handouts. Legislators who have made it to parliament need to put into consideration the fact that much as money is important in politics, it has its limitations as well, hence there is need to involve other strategies that would maintain their voters’ support if at all they desire to make it again come 2014. It may seem too far but a journey of one million miles begins with a single step. Voters now look for leaders who are going to provide for them continued sustainable ways of living, not necessarily leaders who are going to give them handouts. But they are going to receive the handouts anyway and they are going to sing songs of allegiance to the giver.

FEATURE ARTICLE - THE PRICE FOR ASSOCIATING WITH MULUZI

The price for associating with Muluzi By Ananiya Alick Ponje In his article titled ‘A beautiful flame that kills’ which appeared in The Nation of July 16, 2007, Mzati Nkolokosa made a very clear evaluation of what happens to individuals that have at a certain point worked with the former head of state Mr. Bakili Muluzi. He described the politician as being so attractive, an irresistible, little flame that attracts moths while in real sense it is a flame that suffocates and all who do not realise early enough, die. This former head of state will indeed go down the annals of Malawi politics as a politician whose greater contribution in the political circles has been propelling the downfall of others. There might only be only a few people who really detect this kind of Muluzi’s contribution in politics. The man was firstly considered as a very significant lot in Malawi politics during the one-party-to-multiparty political transition when he fought fervently against the one party government and emerged the president of the country. Of course there were many other brave men and women who fought for a good cause and were very central to the democratic transition, but after assuming power, Muluzi practically chose to tramp over their images. These are fighters who, many believe should have been the first to rule Malawi in the country’s democracy, but the former head of state fought so much for his own self-recognition which he thought would not come forward if other names were also vivid that he almost thrust the names of people like Chakufwa Chihana and Rose Chibambo into the mist of history. Then after Muluzi assumed power from Dr. Kamuzu Banda, he started to associate with individuals who mostly were supposed to hold different positions in his administration where they would serve him and not necessarily in their respective capacities. Those who served in their respective capacities without necessarily serving him are the ones who at least still survive politically to this day. But those who ultimately associated with him, and him alone, faced a lot of challenges as long as their political careers were concerned. Only a few who realised quickly that the man has so much intelligence when the destruction of others’ political careers is concerned were spared the wrath of the former head of state. There appears to be something peculiar about associating with Muluzi, the self-acclaimed political engineer, whose politics lack principles and sound ideologies which are essential for politics in a democratic regime. Individuals who mostly suffer by virtue of associating with Muluzi might have never realised they were associating with a deadly man. Some politicians who are conspicuously missing from the political scene or will soon be missing and are disappearing into the mist of time because of associating with Muluzi in very intimate ways are: Kwauli Msiska, Gwanda Chakuwamba, Sam Mpasu, Maxwell Milanzi and the recent ones are clement Stambuli and John Tembo, among many others. At one point or always, these people tried their damnedest to please Muluzi but their reciprocated price ignited by the former head of state is their terrible downfalls. Kwauli Msiska came into the limelight after he spearheaded Muluzi’s open term bid which would allow him to bounce back after ruling this country for a maximum of 10 years. The guy became very infamous for the same and what followed was his exit from the political scene and now very little or nothing at all is heard of him. Then there is Gwanda Chakuwamba, a once very great politician whose survival from the Kamuzu administration was of profound significance to the Malawi Congress Party that time since he never gave up even after losing in the 1999 general elections. But the lower shire man, who is now in the fishing industry, made the biggest political blunder when he thought of associating with Muluzi. The same happened with other politicians, even those whose political careers had just been blossoming like Lucius Banda. The Balaka based music icon was so much controlled by Muluzi that he even did what was considered as the worst in Parliament, just to please such a dangerous master. Other victims of Muluzi’s destroying magic like Sam Mpasu and Maxwell Milanzi also made blunders by being too loyal to the former head of state at one point in time. They almost worshiped the ground Muluzi walked on, yet what he had in store for them was a terrible sword threatening to destroy their political careers and the sword swept just in time before they could escape. The recent victims of Muluzi’s destroying-associates’ proficiency are conspicuously Clement Stambuli and John Zenus Ungapake Tembo. With Stambuli, it might be understandable since his association with Muluzi was never clearly defined other than allegiance to the chairman of the party. The young politician tried to frustrate a number of the previous government’s programs just to please Muluzi and what followed was his constituents’ loss of confidence in him. But when it comes to honourable Tembo, one loudly wonders whether the 35 plus years the man has been in politics have not taught him anything, including something about Muluzi’s ability to propel the downfall of his associates. This is where the real folly of humankind in politics is detected. How could the central region politician, out of all the political experience he has, fail to recognize a subsequent fall which comes as a result of associating with Muluzi? Tembo should have known Muluzi’s true implications on a politician’s career since he had ever worked with the Kapoloma man some time in the Kamuzu administration. Even if the once central region political maestro did not recognize how dangerous Muluzi is in the Kamuzu era, he should have recognized it during the former head of state’s past 15 years of politics. Now Tembo associated with Muluzi by forming a coalition that was aimed at removing Mutharika from power. Tembo thought he shared the same aspirations with Muluzi, not knowing that Muluzi wanted that if it was UDF’s loss, it should be MCP’s loss as well and if it was MCP’s win it should be UDF’s win as well. Tembo had a shock of his life when his partner-in-politics immediately congratulated Mutharika even when the official results from the Electoral Commission were not out. Muluzi never agreed with Tembo to concede defeat. That is the character of the Machinga man: he can easily propel the fall of others. And now Tembo is tittering on the blink of complete downfall. Above all, he has already fallen enough for his desire to rule Malawi will never come to pass. His political future is now fraying around the edges, yet he was, just recently, one of the biggest politicians in Malawi. Such is the price for associating with Muluzi. One needs to be aware of Muluzi, otherwise most people who associate with him end like curtains. The Kapoloma man himself has stood upright for quite a long time despite fuelling the downfall of many politicians. He might deem himself as a very influential man who causes the end of others’ political careers without falling himself. But for him as well there is a price to pay. He is unconsciously set to cause his own downfall. After the ‘good gestures’ which he showed soon after the elections which even earned him the title of statesman, the former head of state appealed against the constitutional court’s ruling which barred him from contesting in the elections. This is an unconscious move towards his downfall. There is a hidden agenda in his pursuit which he is not conscious about and it will culminate in his fall. He is going to cause his own downfall after causing many to fall. Or are his lawyers the ones to cause Muluzi’s downfall? Whatever the case, there is a price for him as well.

POEM

SONG OF A CONCERNED BIRD BY ANANIYA ALICK PONJE Divide us not vultureThough we are parrots, swallows, and crowsWe are known to be oneThough our nests are attached to waterside reeds, In mango tree foliage and meadowsWe are all birds.Though we don’t have the same fluffWe have more things that unite us as birds.After all we belong to the same forest, Then why should you be so bent at dividing us, vulture? As you extol the virtues of unanimityWe would meekly ask of youTo partition us not your lordship vulture.Though we are eagles, lapwings, and hawksWe are all identified by one universal nameThat unites us each instance.Stare not at the trees where our nests layFor we can’t all have our nests in the same tree.Though we don’t flock together, We are united because we are all birds.After all, we are all under your auspices, great vultureTherefore leave us the way we were.Don’t wreck us royal vultureDon’t let the floor beneath our feet disintegrateSo that we get lost to the four windsWhere we will be intolerably crushedBut build us sovereign vultureThe great ruler of the bird realm.Divide us not; unite us; love us and lead usThat perpetually we may stand unified.Rule this great kingdom, king vultureWith wisdom, sober-mindedness and insight.Though we are magpies, kites and ducksWe are all one under your rule.Deem not the tone of our warbling voicesFor we are sure this is one factor that makes you want to segregate usBut take pride, n-everlasting vultureIn this variety that prances in your kingdom.As you rule, venerated vulture, Take to heart one thingYour splendor is just an ephemeral glance.Therefore divide us not.

Poem - My Pen

My pen has dug in deep and it refuses to die.
Its crimson ink desires to portray concealed dark images
Of the outlying past that were once trampled beneath embryonic
Loads of word stipulating the organic rules.
My pen keeps on marking down
Dark patches of his magnificence.
As it ignores the white ones good for the other side of olden times
But I can’t oblige it to put down what it does not crave to.

The hand fails to control the progress of my pen.
It takes its course without heeding suggestion
That would secrete the sticky patches of his lordship
That taint his glorious throne crammed with splendour.
It keeps on writing down
About days gone, money squandered, economic management.
It ignores the development that is seen through a microscope
Which is still part of the history made.
Yet I reserve no right to halt it
Let it write what, when and where its heart desires
For it is a stubborn pen in gentle hands.

My paper crunches itself up and moves into a dancing hearth
When my hand forces my pen to take opposite directions.
History can’t be twisted
To save a few avaricious faces
No! It can’t be suppressed
For every book holds the past.
That is why my paper cries for the truth
And only the truth to be put on it.
Then it will dance and fly across the earth
Informing all and sundry
That whatever it is, his kingship has made history.

As my pen refuses to die,
I picture the truth within the borders of my congested mind
That my brain forces it to refuse to dry
So that more people will drink from its ink of truth
As it makes another version of history without dying.
Let the paper fly to America, Europe and back to Africa
Then my pen will never ever refuse to die.
I will crush it in the dark corner so that it may finally sleep
And save the image of the king
After a few slaps of word.
Then perhaps my pen will die

POEM - I WILL NOT WAIT

I WILL NOT WAIT ANANIYA ALICK PONJE I will not wait for his breath to resignSo that I can curse the activities of his officeHe has to discern the lot before he goes to sleepHe has to be told everything while his eyes are wide open And his expansive ears are perfectly pricked.I will divulge the precision in written terms, songs and chants.So my voice will live onEven after his breath has resignedI can’t wait for him to begin to breathe haltinglyI am safe and sound because I tell the truth Before his breath has resignedI will not look at the setting sunAnd wait for darkness to completely shroud the universeSo that I can enlighten everyone about his hostile managementNo! I will not do thatI will depict his inequities in hours of daylightExclusive of fear of reprisalBecause word dies not in any creationThat is why I will expose his shortfallsSo that he may be an education to othersWho will vie for the position after his breath has resignedI will leave no stone unturnedWhen undressing his veiled activitiesI will amass all the literature and put it on paperAnd I will not ask for his observation or estimationI will not look at his shriveled faceSo that I may be filled with empathyI will revolve my eyes awayAs my pencil will be exploring the departed daysWhen he subjugated me and othersThen I will have no time to stare at his goodiesI will only publish his vicesWhen his breath is still entireAnd I will not wait for his breath to resign.

POEM - FIGMENT OF THE IMAGINATION

Figment Of The Imagination By Ananiya Mulungu As I drag myself through the subsequent doorA stench of urine and fresh human shit embraces my tender snout.I long for the milk of human benevolence.I totter across the room, The frosty floor stinging my crazed feetAnd torment my blameless essenceThat hankers for a fresh light windBut they have dug their heels in deep.And I have to die, to be strangled like an atrocious radicalI have to expire like a dogFor a transgression I never committed.Nonetheless, I see a hesitant hand of optimismHanging above the parole catalog where my given name hangs in the balanceBut as the door hinges squeakI glaringly convalesce from my world of infinite hope and wishesFor it was only a figment of the imagination.Could it be another figment of the imaginationAs my eyes that stick out of their socketsSee the manacles of cruelty and belligerenceUnwind gradually and serenely in my facade? Could it be just a fantasyAs my body feels the loftiness of the puny scaffold where I am stuckWith a dreadful lariat around my stripped scarred neck? How I dread to think about my closing stages, A ruthless end fit for dogs, pigs, robbers.But as a gruff voice rasps into my distorted earsTo inform me that final statement has to be said, I sigh through the hushed airWith horror and hesitationThat each conclusion is essential for human providence.Alas! The lasso tightensAnd my body is turning floppy

Short story - moment of reconciliation

MOMENT OF RECONCILIATION Short Story by Ananiya Alick Ponje Chrissie looked at Gerald from the corners of her eyes. In the western horizon, the sun was setting and the evening chill was already rolling into the drawing room. She removed her tinted eyewear and placed it on the smooth table in front of her. At her elbow sat Lusekelo, her eight-year-old daughter who had pestered her so much three days ago to take her to her father wherever he was. And now, they were together in his own drawing room. Everything having been cleared, Chrissie coughed softly and said, “Gerald, I am a friend indeed in spite of all what you did to me. Pray to God for forgiveness. He is always ready to forgive.” Lusekelo stood up and padded across the room to where Gerald was sitting. Then they embraced each other as Chrissie walked forward to join them with cordiality. They were just like refugees who had been dispersed by war and had finally found each after many years. Tears rolled down form Gerald’s eyes as Lusekelo said, “Dear dad, he is no man at all that doesn’t err.” Ukanama sikuchedwa kucha, goes a Chewa saying, literally meaning when you lie it does not take long to dawn. But Chrissie had not proved it to be a lie until Lusekelo spoke the next word. She had promised to take her to her father and the day had come like a flash, sending a cold feeing down her spine. Lies had continued to convince her like the multiplication table and now she appeared to be ready to face the truth. She figured out how her lies were pulling away from justice. From honesty. From God. She thought of what to do to her daughter that would enable her be completely out of the wretched state she was in and finally accepted that the truth had to be known. It was a kind of truth that would make things either worse or better. Lusekelo always arose late from bed but this particular day that was filmy and bleak, she was already up at an uncivilized hour. The day had come so slowly to her and when she listened to the warbling of the buoyant morning birds, it was as though she had accomplished a task of clambering to the top of a very high peak. Her hands were cold like glaciers but her body was warm in virtue of the sweatshirt that she had put on the moment she had risen from bed. In her mind that was constantly in a terrible trance, the knowledge of her father was going to change a number of things in her life. “You are already awake, darling,” Chrissie said to her daughter. That was all she could say at that time. “And I have already had a warm shower.” “Really?” Now her reply was a gentle nod followed by total silence and Chrissie, now in many years understood the significance of having a father and more principally, knowing him. “You will see your father soon, darling. Just hold on to your patience because it is a long way off,” she said, almost unwittingly. “This is the most wonderful day to me. I’m going to see something I haven’t seen since I was born eight years ago,” said Lusekelo. Chrissie slipped into her bedroom and sat on her bed slothfully. There was a strong impulse in her that was urging her to take her daughter to her father. “Be afraid not. Take her and remove the burden off your heart. Necessity knows no law.” Together they walked out of the house en route to Sokola, where Gerald was taking up residence. It was An eight-hour journey by the average bus. After some moment of talking and laughing, Lusekelo became silent and looked at her mother as though she was awfully puzzled. “But mum, why didn’t you take me to my father all these years.” A smattering hint of shock was on her petite face. “I’m sorry, darling; your father was not in exile as I told you. Only that the story is a little bit complicated. But don’t worry; this is the day of reckoning.” “Are you no longer married?” “No?” “Why? Didn’t you take an oath to be there for each other for better and for worse, in health or sickness? Didn’t you say only death should part you, mum?” she said, from memory. Chrissie looked at her daughter again and again like a convict seeking the sympathy of a judge. So this was Lusekelo, a girl who had been known to her mother to say so little or to say nothing at all at the best of times? So she knew more than she exhibited? “Dear daughter, I never married your father. It….it just happened. It’s very hard to understand what happened. Look here, my good girl, just be patient like you have always been.” She failed to look straight into her daughter’s eyes. How did she know people ever took oaths when marrying? Chrissie asked herself. Now, about four hours later, they were in Gerald’s house. Gerald rarely entertained visitors, especially those calling on him in advance of any notice. But surprisingly, this day he was calm and said nothing about the surprise visit of these two souls sitting in his drawing room together with him. “It’s my pleasure to meet you. May you please introduce yourselves. Forgive me if I’m being too formal,” he said. “It’s necessary.” “But you see, your face is not very strange.” He looked squarely at Chrissie’s face. The last time he had seen her was about eight years ago and he expected her to be heavy-hearted and wasted if ever she was alive. And now she was in his own drawing room, yet he could hardly recognize her. Blood was pounding strongly in Lusekelo’s head. How could the man demand an introduction when he ought to know his former wife? How could he fail to recognize the face of someone who had a child for him? She thought of revealing the questions but thought better of it. Maybe her mother was trying to play some games, but what sort of game would that be? The whole scenario was failing to make sense to Lusekelo. “I know it’s hard to understand what I’m about to say.” Gerald looked at her perplexedly “I know it’s hard to understand what I’m about to say,” she repeated stiffly, much to Gerald’s annoyance. Folding her hands in front of her knees, she placed her handbag down. What was hard to understand had to be articulated to be understood, she said to herself. “I’m Chrissie, your second wife’s daughter and beside me is my daughter; your daughter.” A picture of the past quickly flashed through Gerald’s mind. Fear gripped him but he could hardly figure out what he feared. He tried to be defensive. “Chrissie, I lived with you for fourteen good years and you decided to betray me in the end? After putting me through hell, you have come back to stay? I spent months at the correctional facility because of you. I spent four weeks in a padded cell because I was terribly traumatized and now you are here….” “I’m not here to stay, but to show my daughter her father. Although I was your step-daughter I think what you did to me was the worst thing a man could ever do. After bedding my own mother you decided to rape me times without number and now I have to bear the burden. I bear no ill feelings towards you. I forgave you a long time ago.” Turning to Lusekelo, she said, “darling, this is your father, yet he married your grandmother. Don’t doubt what I say, he is your biological father. Such is the pain that I went through and now it’s haunting both of us. But the most important thing is that we should just accept the whole lot.” Gerald was strapped for words. He had never thought such a bitter blast from the past would come to him and now his strength was streaming out of him. He had no choice but to accept the responsibility. “Yes, yes I’m your father. It cannot be altered. I’m sorry, daughter, I’m sorry.” “We have to leave,” said Chrissie after they had embraced.

GENERAL

Students’ stationery allowance doubled By Ananiya Alick Ponje After a marathon of discussions between the Public Universities Students Loan Trust and students unions of Chancellor College and the Malawi Polytechnic on a 100% increment of book and stationery allowance which was proposed by the entire body of university of Malawi (UNIMA) students, the two parties have finally reached a consensus. The Trust has finally agreed to give UNIMA students a sum of K20 000 each for book and stationery allowance which represents a 100% increase. This has followed numerous efforts by mainly the Students Union of Chancellor College (SUCC) to have the increment implemented by holding different discussions with the Trust for times without number. During the last meeting that was held at the Polytechnic last Tuesday the Trust agreed that the 100% increase would be effected but in two phases. It proposed that the students should get K15 000 this semester and get the remaining K5000 at the beginning of the next semester. The proposal was after the Trust told the students unions of Chanco and Poly that since the budget had already been drawn, it was hard to find the extra K5000. In fact, the Trust pointed out that even the K5000 that had been added on the K10 000 to make it K15 000 had been “stolen” from other allocations. In a memo released earlier this year, the Trust announced that it would only afford a 50% increase. This did not go well with the students, especially from Chancellor College, who agreed that they should still sign K20 000 on the loan agreement forms. The release of the memo resulted in some students at some constituent colleges of UNIMA, Bunda College of agriculture and Kamuzu College of Nursing, to be precise, to receive the K15 000 since these colleges opened earlier than Chanco and Poly. This implies that they will get the other K5000 in the course of time. Usually when there are matters which need to be tackled by the whole university students fraternity, Chancellor College and The Polytechnic are the only colleges that are the first to act. In a General Assembly convened in the Great Hall at Chancellor College on Wednesday 8 April on the way forward following the declaration that the Trust would only afford an increase of 50%, a number of students made their contributions by raising different points. In his opening speech, SUCC president Jimion Nyanda told the gathering that he had received a call from an official at the trust where he told the president to convince the students to receive the K15 000. One of the contributors during the assembly said that it was not surprising to hear that KCN and Bunda students received K15 000 because they did not indicate any amount on the loan agreement forms. “The fact that students at KCN and Bunda did not indicate the amount they wanted to get implied that they could get any amount,” said the contributor. SUCC speaker Timothy Pagonachi Mtambo said during the assembly that he had done everything within his capacity to inform the Trust that Chancellor College students would not accept any amount less than K20 000. Macdonald Nkhuwa, a fourth year student at Chanco observed that even though some colleges had already accepted the K15 000, they would get the remaining K5000 any time. “In 2006, other colleges received K5000, but we, at Chancellor College got K10 000. The other colleges received the remaining K5000 later. The same thing can happen now,” he said, referring to the fact that students at Bunda and KCN had already received the K15 000. Finally, last Wednesday, the SUCC speaker circulated a memo to inform every residential student that they 100% increment had been effected, but that it would be given out in two installments. Then about four hours later after publication of the memo, the speaker received a call from the Trust informing him that the trust had finally agreed to give out the K20 000 at once. This was still after continued discussions between the two parties. The students are supposed to get their allowances by close of business next week according to the SUCC speaker. James Munyapa, a residential student at Chancellor College who is going to benefit from the increment lauded the Trust, saying the decision to effect the increment at once is the best the trust has ever made. “It does not necessarily mean that K20 000 is enough. In fact in my course combination, the cheapest book is pegged at K7000, so how many books will I buy with K20 000?” he said. “But still more the trust has to be praised for understanding us.” All this having been done, it is not yet clear whether students at Mzuzu University (Mzuni), another public university which benefits from the Public Universities Students Loan Trust Fund, will receive the K20 000, which is the fruit of a battle staged by the University of Malawi Students Union (UMSU), mainly students unions of Chanco and Poly.

GENERAL

Students’ stationery allowance doubled By Ananiya Alick Ponje After a marathon of discussions between the Public Universities Students Loan Trust and students unions of Chancellor College and the Malawi Polytechnic on a 100% increment of book and stationery allowance which was proposed by the entire body of university of Malawi (UNIMA) students, the two parties have finally reached a consensus. The Trust has finally agreed to give UNIMA students a sum of K20 000 each for book and stationery allowance which represents a 100% increase. This has followed numerous efforts by mainly the Students Union of Chancellor College (SUCC) to have the increment implemented by holding different discussions with the Trust for times without number. During the last meeting that was held at the Polytechnic last Tuesday the Trust agreed that the 100% increase would be effected but in two phases. It proposed that the students should get K15 000 this semester and get the remaining K5000 at the beginning of the next semester. The proposal was after the Trust told the students unions of Chanco and Poly that since the budget had already been drawn, it was hard to find the extra K5000. In fact, the Trust pointed out that even the K5000 that had been added on the K10 000 to make it K15 000 had been “stolen” from other allocations. In a memo released earlier this year, the Trust announced that it would only afford a 50% increase. This did not go well with the students, especially from Chancellor College, who agreed that they should still sign K20 000 on the loan agreement forms. The release of the memo resulted in some students at some constituent colleges of UNIMA, Bunda College of agriculture and Kamuzu College of Nursing, to be precise, to receive the K15 000 since these colleges opened earlier than Chanco and Poly. This implies that they will get the other K5000 in the course of time. Usually when there are matters which need to be tackled by the whole university students fraternity, Chancellor College and The Polytechnic are the only colleges that are the first to act. In a General Assembly convened in the Great Hall at Chancellor College on Wednesday 8 April on the way forward following the declaration that the Trust would only afford an increase of 50%, a number of students made their contributions by raising different points. In his opening speech, SUCC president Jimion Nyanda told the gathering that he had received a call from an official at the trust where he told the president to convince the students to receive the K15 000. One of the contributors during the assembly said that it was not surprising to hear that KCN and Bunda students received K15 000 because they did not indicate any amount on the loan agreement forms. “The fact that students at KCN and Bunda did not indicate the amount they wanted to get implied that they could get any amount,” said the contributor. SUCC speaker Timothy Pagonachi Mtambo said during the assembly that he had done everything within his capacity to inform the Trust that Chancellor College students would not accept any amount less than K20 000. Macdonald Nkhuwa, a fourth year student at Chanco observed that even though some colleges had already accepted the K15 000, they would get the remaining K5000 any time. “In 2006, other colleges received K5000, but we, at Chancellor College got K10 000. The other colleges received the remaining K5000 later. The same thing can happen now,” he said, referring to the fact that students at Bunda and KCN had already received the K15 000. Finally, last Wednesday, the SUCC speaker circulated a memo to inform every residential student that they 100% increment had been effected, but that it would be given out in two installments. Then about four hours later after publication of the memo, the speaker received a call from the Trust informing him that the trust had finally agreed to give out the K20 000 at once. This was still after continued discussions between the two parties. The students are supposed to get their allowances by close of business next week according to the SUCC speaker. James Munyapa, a residential student at Chancellor College who is going to benefit from the increment lauded the Trust, saying the decision to effect the increment at once is the best the trust has ever made. “It does not necessarily mean that K20 000 is enough. In fact in my course combination, the cheapest book is pegged at K7000, so how many books will I buy with K20 000?” he said. “But still more the trust has to be praised for understanding us.” All this having been done, it is not yet clear whether students at Mzuzu University (Mzuni), another public university which benefits from the Public Universities Students Loan Trust Fund, will receive the K20 000, which is the fruit of a battle staged by the University of Malawi Students Union (UMSU), mainly students unions of Chanco and Poly.

GENERAL - TOUGH TIME FOR WINIKO

Tough time for Winiko By Ananiya Alick Ponje This article appeared in the Weekend Nation Television and radio drama personality Bon Kalindo popularly known as Winiko, a name he uses in acting, had tough times coping with hordes of children at Ntaja, Nkwalula and Ngao in Machinga recently. Winiko was driving one of the 25 Toyota Hilux vehicles which were on their way to a campaign rally which His Excellency the state president Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika was to hold later in the day at Mangochi Boma. The vehicles which were part of the presidential convoy stopped at the mentioned places to wait for the rest of the convoy which was trailing behind. At Ntaja where the 25 vehicles stopped for about 40 minutes, Winiko, just like any other driver and passenger, alighted from the car that he was driving so that he could have a feel of some fresh air. The children recognized him and they rushed and surrounded him chanting Winiko yemweyo! All his efforts to get out of that throng of children who surrounded him proved futile. He tried to buy sweets for the children to persuade them to leave him alone but the children could hardly budge. It had to take the intervention of a police officer to disperse the children. Then Winiko rushed to the car that he was driving. But when the police officer left for other duties at the place, the children rushed to the car and surrounded it. The celebrity breathed a sigh of relief when finally the fleet started off. But it was not yet over. When the cars stopped again at Nkwalula, just a short distance from Ntaja, another army of children surrounded him but he was at least lucky because the fleet did not take long to leave. But things became worse again at Ngao where the fleet stopped again. At the place, not only children but older people as well, surrounded Winiko. Almost each and everyone who surrounded him, young or old, wanted the celebrity to address him/her. Endless questions were directed at him. He gave his admires some money but they did not leave him until the fleet left the place. At one point, Winiko shook his head as though regretting being famous.

EDUCATION - STUDENTS DRILLED ON ENTERPRENEURSHIP

STUDENTS DRILLED ON INTREPRENUERSHIP BY ANANIYA ALICK PONJE Malawi’s legendary first pilot and Republican Party President Stanley Masauli drilled Chancellor College students on how they can be business magnates, entrepreneurs or even politicians during a business workshop organized by Chancellor College EDU-LINK, an association which encourages people especially the youth to be entrepreneurs. The business workshop which took place in the Little Theatre at Chancellor College attracted different Chanco students who aspire to become entrepreneurs when they graduate. Masauli, who claims to be an entrepreneur himself, gave the students a lecture on three areas in which he said he has vast knowledge. The areas included Insurance and Assurance, Flying and Politics. On Insurance and Assurance, Masauli pointed out that even though in an average society, the terms Insurance and Assurance appear to continue being used interchangeably, they have two different meanings and implications. “Insurance is an investment designed to protect against a risk of a situation where one would need money. Auto insurance, fire insurance, flood insurance all protect against the damages that may happen and provide adequate money to account for damages to the insured property. The difference is that dying is not something that may happen – it is something that will happen, no matter what. So an assurance policy is not set to protect you if you die but when you die. Accidental death policies are designed to insure for the risk of death in an accident. You cannot assure that someone can only die from an accident. Hence, accidental death policies are a form of life insurance but not of life assurance,” said Masauli. The 64 year-old who is also vying for presidency and looks hale and hearty said it is possible for students who have graduated from college to become insurance agents or brokers. “After graduating, you can become insurance agents who make transactions on behalf of an insurance company and earn some commission. But this might work best for you if after graduating from college, you obtain a certificate or any higher qualification in Insurance, and then you may become an insurance agent before you open your own firm. This is one field that rewards handsomely although many people out there do not know more about it,” he said. Masauli who said the most interesting career he has ever done is Life Insurance because it is what has made him to understand people’s lives, said it has made him understand his own life as well and those of his family. “Life Insurance has made me understand people’s lives and my own including my family’s. I have come to understand how important life is and what provisions one has to make for his family,” he said. He also said that those in other professions apart from Insurance and make money frequently should opt for Life Insurance. “You never know when death strikes, so because you are a salesman or anyone who earns some fast money, then it is better to go for life insurance,” he said. The professional pilot who trains pilots in, but has taken a break on the same so that he may concentrate on his political career was however quick to warn all those who want to embark on a career in Insurance that every insurance policy has conditions which the salesman has to explain to the insurer without hiding anything. “As an insurance salesman, you have to explain the merits and demerits of an insurance policy to the insurer so that the choice is left in their hands. If you do not tell them they will blame you in the future if the policy they chose does not conform to their expectations,” he warned. On flying, he said those who want to become fliers may train in Zambia or South Africa because currently he is not training any pilot. He also gave a detailed process that one has to go through in order to become a professional pilot. First of all one has to attain a Private Pilot License (PPL), then a Commercial License (CL), and finishes with an Airline Transport License (ATL) which can be likened to a PhD. To attain this qualification, one has to do research and sit for examinations. When one of the participants asked whether it is not expensive to learn piloting, Masauli admitted that the training needs quite a substantial amount of money, making reference to his own experience when he learned to fly at the age of 34 because of lack of finances. “For example, a twin engine plane will consume 60 litres of fuel in an hour, and to learn how to fly, you need plenty of time, so definitely one has to have a lot of money. However you may learn by installments. What matters is to be focused on what you want to achieve,” he said. On politics, Masauli warned the students never to join politics as a career soon after graduating. “Come into the world, get a job and enjoy your money. Once you have settled and you have gained some knowledge in the field from some acclaimed politicians, they you may now go into politics,” he said. When closing his lecture, he said entrepreneurship is not easy, especially in Malawi. He warned those willing to go into entrepreneurship to be ready to face difficulties. “There are many impediments but just fight on,” he said. He also advised the students to take care of themselves when they get out of college, citing tha Malawi is losing a lot of graduates to the HIV/AIDS pandemic needlessly. Another personality who spoke during the workshop was Kamuzu Chibambo, president for People’s Transformation Party (PETRA) who is a Lawyer by profession. Chibambo said that as they get out of college the students should not be prepared to get employed but to create employment. “Perhaps the problem is with the curriculum which prepares students to be employed not to employ,” he said. He also urged the students to learn and never stop learning, saying others sit down and get satisfied with just a degree. “No, learn and learn till you die,” he said. Other personalities who spoke during the business workshop are Independent Members of Parliament for Zomba Central Constituency, Lawrence Bisika and Sudi Sullaimana. Matthews Nkhonjera, one of the students who attended the workshop praised these entrepreneurs for leaving aside their businesses and come to address Chancellor College students. “These personalities have to be praised for abandoning their businesses and coming to address us on entrepreneurship. They put aside all their political affiliations for our interest. Personally, I have gained quite a lot,” he said.

POLITICS - OPINION - LIMITATIONS OF POLITICAL MONEY

LIMITATIONS OF POLITICAL MONEY By Ananiya Alick Ponje In both authoritarian and democratic regimes, politicians need money to sustain their activities be it in campaigns for elections or the selling of their ideologies and policies to the electorate. It is no denying fact that money is central in politics as much as it is to our daily lives. In fact, without money, political parties would not operate because there would be no way they would easily convey their messages to the voters. However, one significant thing about political money that should be born in mind is that it has its own limitations as well. In Malawi there are political parties that have at their helms ‘open-handed’ individuals who spend substantial amounts of money on anything if it means buying the support of voters. One thing however, remains underlying: no one knows whether everyone can be enticed by money so that they may finally vote for the ‘money-giver’. Yes, people may receive the money or any other form of handout aimed at buying their support but the choice of every voter is a secret thing that is entirely known only by the voter himself, unless if the voting process is done in a way that supporters of a candidate stand behind him/her like in the case of primary elections. However, even in such types of elections, there is no evidence that ‘supporters’ of a particular candidate are really their supporters. In fact, a certain individual during the botched-up DPP primary elections in Likangala Constituency confided in me that he would vote for candidate A not because he supported him, but because he had ‘patronized’ one of the feasts that the candidate had prepared to woo the support of voters. This informed me that even if the candidate made it, the ‘untrustworthy’ voter would still vote for someone else in the ‘main’ elections. It is very easy to find examples of candidates who have spent substantial amounts of money on election campaigns aimed at buying the support of the electorate only to fail miserably at the polls. Some people have tried their best to mobilize voters in different ways so that they may support their colleagues but their efforts have come up against brick walls. An example of an incident where a candidate used so much money to plug his views in different ways to buy the support of voters is the referendum that was held in a once glorious Zimbabwe in February 2000. The aim of the referendum was to seek a majority of votes that would enable president Robert Mugabe have his proposed new constitution implemented. Mugabe paid for many major media so that they published stories about the ‘positive’ parts of the provisions in the new constitution. He used money in different ways to lobby on all issues which he deemed positive in the ‘reformed’ constitution but failed miserably at the end. He was shamefully defeated by a scantly organized opposition which had not even done enough awareness on the same. Here is where it becomes clear that there are voters who do not just vote for the love of the candidate but for their own future as well. The new constitution was to give President Mugabe too much power and the voters new that he would in turn oppress them severely if he attained his wishes of having the constitution amended. It is very hard to manipulate the underlying choices of the electorate with money. It appears politics where money rules is becoming extinct, or may be it was never there. Money does not necessarily buy votes, but perhaps it helps in maintaining the candidates’ relationships with their potential voters through frequent contacts so that the voters do not lose interest in the candidate because of too much ‘absence’. Although money is undoubtedly central in politics, it is not the only important resource. Other political motivations and forces can be used as tools of winning the favour of voters. The policies of the candidate, the already instituted development projects and academic credentials are some of these motivations that may help a candidate win the favour of voters. Another classic example which vindicates the argument that money is not the only driving force towards political prosperity is the case of the British billionaire businessman Sir James Goldsmith who paid about 2 million pounds in the general election of 1999 to present a line-up of candidates opposed to Britain’s integration into the European Union. This was an amount that could uplift the development projects of poor countries like Malawi, yet his whole wealth was as though it had not been ‘tampered with’. He was so rich that the money that he plugged to sell his views meant very little to him. Nevertheless, his Referendum Party proved a very scanty force in Britain’s politics. He never succeeded. Of course, someone may argue that that was politics in Britain, but it is becoming the case in Malawi. An unpublished research on the role of political money in Malawi has revealed that people in Malawi are no longer ‘hide bound’ and they are more concerned about their future than their present, hence their desires to choose a leader who is going to uplift their lives even if the leader is not rich. As aspiring legislators and presidential candidates have armoured themselves for the campaign into victory, they need to put into consideration the fact that much as money is important in politics, it has its limitations as well. There are other political motivations and forces which the electorate may be willing to anticipate. Money is going to make election campaigns possible, but not automatically successful. That is why all aspiring candidates need to put forward other strategies for winning the support of voters other than money alone because it may just frustrate them. People now look for something beyond wealth. They look for a leader who is going to provide for them continued sustainable ways of living, not necessarily a leader who is going to give them handouts in the form of money during election campaigns. But they are going to receive the money anyway and they are going to sing songs of allegiance to the money giver, yet their choices remain concealed. However, for political parties and individual who are vying for different political positions and have sound ideologies and policies that they are bold enough will win the confidence of voters and want to enhance them with political funding, let them do so. It might be just a way of doubling chances. Election campaigns prepare a journey towards reality, and money will not monopolise other advancements of campaigns.

SPIRITUAL - ARTICLE - OPINION

‘Secular’ gospel music lyrics By Ananiya Alick Ponje In this era of modernisation, there are different effective ways of spreading God’s word. With the rapid growth of technology, spreading God’s message is becoming easier and more effective than it was prior to the 90’s. God has given different individuals different forms of gifts and these gifts are used to spread his word. One such gift is the music talent. Music is widely becoming a very effective tool of spreading God’s message nowadays. That is why many adverts about ‘a night of worship’ or ‘a great breakthrough’ and so on will have some subtitles like: so and so gospel group or solo will perform. Here, music performs two functions. First, it is a way of attracting people so that the audience that is going to patronize the ‘night of worship’ or the ‘great breakthrough’ will be large. People will be compelled to listen to the ‘actual’ preaching and other proceedings apart from the singing because it is impossible for the whole session to be dominated by music. So music can simply act as a ‘bait’ for attracting people. Music will also act as a way of preaching to the audience on its own because of the message that may be contained in it. The rhythm of music has the potential of provoking hard hearts up to reaching the point where one may be profoundly influenced by it. And even the tone of the song can be very effective on its own; hence some people will openly say that their main aim of going to religious functions where different gospel musicians perform is to listen to the music because ‘their hearts get moved by music’. However, it is possible to poison gospel music lyrics with the use of undesirable terminologies especially when trying to tally with the contemporary society. The music will turn to the nothing other than a piece that is solely aimed at entertaining the audience. Its underlying and most central purpose is going to be missed. For many times, I have heard some ‘unreligious’ lyrics in most contemporary gospel songs. At first, I thought this was only the case with the Western societies but I have discovered that it has quickly filtered into our own Malawian society like a joke. Phrases like Yesu ndi nyatwa (Jesus is super, if at all my translation is correct) and mayazi, ndine mfana wa Yesu (no, I am a child of Jesus, still if my translation is correct) which are found in some gospel songs sung by Malawians leave a lot to be desired. The idiolect is typical of the youth, but much as the artists try to make their music fit in the modern society, do they really think that Jesus himself smiles when he listens to their songs? Should modernization manipulate the traditional understanding of religious matters? In fact, much as the ‘unreligious’ lyrics are aimed at fitting into the modern society, one wonders whether those who listen to the songs ever take them seriously. A gospel song ought to be heart-searching and sentimental. But when it lacks these aspects, it becomes a secular piece taken only for entertainment. Most young gospel artists are just missing the whole point of their ‘calling’. Although attracting a big audience is a very imperative thing even in religious matters, it will be meaningless if the underlying aim is not achieved. Religious leaders should also take a role in advising young gospel artists on the ‘modest’ lyrics that are supposed to constitute their songs. It is no denying fact that the artists belong to different denominations which begs the question of how their leaders react to their songs. And the artists are usually featured by different religious leaders during their rallies. Let gospel music and its main aim not be marred by some ‘unreligious’ artists who do not understand the real motive of gospel music, but only think of tallying with the contemporary society while neglecting the actual aim of their gift.

RELIGION

A PERVERSE GENERATION ASKS FOR SIGNS By Ananiya Alick Ponje In a number of situations, signs are used by people to deduce underlying circumstances that would otherwise remain concealed. They betray hidden truths in both good and bad situations. There are situations which without signs would remain dormant or even regarded as non-existent. Doctors are sometimes able to detect a disease just by looking at the signs that may have appeared on the patient’s body. Unlike signs, symptoms are hidden and they only require direct individual testimony to be known. The credibility of symptoms may be doubted but the individual who is claiming to feel the symptoms has the right to accredit them even without anyone testing such credibility. Jesus Christ performed a number of miracles on a number of occasions to show that He indeed had the power from heaven in Him. He could have performed such miracles in enclosed places so that other people might not see Him, but He did not want them to doubt His ‘credibility’. He was living among a generation that was awfully prepossessed with doubts. Even after He had lived with them for three years and they had been close to Him enough to see how credible everything that He said was, his disciples still had doubts when He told them that He had risen from the dead. They only believed Him when they saw where the nails had pierced and when He told them to give him something to eat because a ghost cannot eat food. He was doing all this just to ‘erase’ his disciples’ doubts about who he really was. And, interestingly, this was happening after the three days that he had told them beforehand that he would spend in the grave. If they had doubts about a thing that had already been ‘pre-emptied’ to them, what more with things that would happen spontaneously? Doubt is something that has made many a people lose grand opportunities. Imagine this: A certain boy who had dropped from school because of poverty met a ‘Good Samaritan’ who pledged to pay school fees for the boy and provide other necessities. The ‘Good Samaritan’ produced every evidence that his offer was purely in good faith, but the parents of the poor boy rejected the offer because according to them it was impossible for someone to ‘just’ offer to help their child. The man tried all he could do to convince the ‘conservative’ parents but they could not budge. They were filled with such doubts that they could hardly accept the offer. Then the offer had to be shifted to another needy child who by now is doing quite well in school and his future looks bright. Much as it is good to assess an offer before accepting it, some offers are such direct and in clear good faith that they cannot be doubted. The parents who had rejected the offer wanted to see the credibility of the man making the offer but unfortunately, it could not come back to them. Nowadays, most Christian are utterly occupied with gnawing doubts about where and when to worship and which one is God’s true church. In the understanding of many, there are some churches where the meditation of God is stronger than in others. In fact, some churches are said to be ‘hotter’ than others are because miracles happen in them. Yes, miracles are a good sign of the manifestation of God, but not all of them are in good faith. Why should we seek signs to worship God? We just have to build our faith strongly in the Holy Spirit and this should be the greatest miracle. We are all vindicated by God and we do not need miracles to detect the presence of God, for He is supposed to be in our hearts already. Signs are for those who lack faith and would like to see vivid images so that they can believe. About the crowd that was increasing to see Jesus perform miracles, He said, “It is a wicked and perverse generation that asks for signs”, not that signs are bad, but that signs should not be the only catalyst of our spirituality. The faith that we can build in our hearts should provide us with myriad signs which will show us the ultimate love of God.

SHORT STORY

A blessing in disguise Short story by Ananiya Alick Ponje Finally, Chiletso decided that he was left with no other option than to accept what he had read in the sms whose reality had been substantiated by her own words. Had it been that she had never come to confirm it herself, he would have taken the sms for granted but her cold voice had mercilessly revealed everything in the twinkle of an eye. A straw had been in the wind that such a thing might happen one day and this was the day. For many times, he had disapproved of the maxim that it is your best friend who is your greatest enemy but now his humble heart accepted it. The maxim was to be applied in his situation with necessity. He had so much trusted his friend, Charles that on a number of occasions he had sent him to go and pick his wife at her workplace until this hour; until this moment that appeared to have brought a terrible atmosphere of gloom in his life. He had sacrificed his time to loving her but now there was this heart-breaking sms, and more painfully, her own betraying voice which was threatening to shatter his hopes of survival. For her sake, he had plunged himself into terrible debts but now she had condemned him like a murderer in a gallows. She had told him candidly that their marriage chapter was closed and those words had pierced his heart like a rapier sharpened to a glitter. At one point, Chiletso was completely strapped for words. He could not call his wife again for she had told him openly that he should not waste his time calling someone who would not pick his calls. He did not know whether he should pile the blame on her, his friend Charles or on himself. He could hardly figure out who was wrong in that fracas. Perhaps he should have avoided allowing Charles to be so close to Cathy. Maybe, in the first place, he should have stopped him from calling her during odd hours, or better still, maybe he should not have sent him on a number of occasions to pick her up at her workplace. If he had tried to strategize all those ‘maybes’, maybe this entire fracas would have been avoided. He would not be sitting in his bedroom shedding silent tears. They were tears that were falling into his heart. It was a very painful end to his once happy marriage. He gazed at Cathy’s photograph hanging on the wall; and then at four other photographs that they had taken at the Botanical Gardens during their honeymoon. They provoked vivid images of their once happy marriage whose end had come so unexpectedly. As long as the photographs remained there the painful memories would be etched on his heart forever. He could not make head or tail of why Cathy had come to such a conclusion after all the love that she had shown to him. Above all, she had promised at the altar that she would be with him in peace or turmoil, health or sickness till death. But now she had easily made the decision to leave him, the reason being that Charles was always giving her a good time when he went to pick her up at her workplace. Chiletso thought that it would have been better if the person to betray him was someone else, not his best friend. “But remember the oath you took at the altar during our wedding, Cathy,” he had pleaded with her two days after she had broken the sad news. “What is there in an oath?” she had retorted. “Look here, Chiletso, no one is going to drag you into the 21st century. You are stubbornly stuck in the past with too much tradition that you can’t recognise that the world is changing right in front of your nose.” Chiletso had looked at her from head to toe. This woman was not the Cathy he had known four years ago when he had gone to Kalenge, a very remote village, to court her. She had been a woman of very admirable morals, with her natural beauty defying all sorts of cosmetics. And now she had started putting on deep makeup and she had told him that he was too traditional. “Cathy, remember where I picked you. Remember how you were when I picked you at your parents’ house. Remember how much I struggled to send you to that secretarial school. If only you have a retentive memory, you will remember all the time that I spent escorting you to town when you could not go alone in fear of being hit by a car. Remember all these things that I did just for your sake,” Chiletso had said but it had all fallen on deaf ears. “I do remember, but everything is subject to change.” “Fine, since you have made the ultimate decision, you are free to leave. Go and make life; life in the 21st century; life to the fullest,” he had concluded painstakingly, staring at her see-through strapless blouse; her skimpy miniskirt that had barely covered her thighs; her vanished fingernails and she shadows around her eyes which together with her plucked eyebrows, qualified her for a professional harlot. When she had left, Chiletso had sat in his bedroom and thought of calling Charles. “What have you done friend? At first I thought it was only a joke,” he had said through the mouthpiece. “Well you should blame your wife. She began to seduce me about four months ago. She used to tell me that she married the wrong person who is still stuck in the past with stubbornness and tradition.” He paused for the hell of it. “And she told me that she would rather be hooked to a man who would take her out than rot in a lackluster home. I am sorry, friend, I am only human and I failed to fight the attraction.” Then he had ended the call. It took almost a month for Chiletso to partly get over the bitter feeling of parting ways with his wife. He spent most of his time at home, drinking heavily. Even at church, his fellow congregants were wondering at his sudden change in behaviour, but some of them who knew his situation understood him. “Don’t worry much,” one of Chiletso’s friends told him one night when he visited him. “Remember what one famous novelist and poet said about drinking to drown your sorrows: They that drink to drown their sorrows should know that sorrows know how to swim. Just accept with fortitude what has happened. She was never meant to be yours.” Chiletso looked at his friend and dropped down the bottle of beer which he was about to open. “Life is a vicious journey. As we travel, we meet too many tribulations. I wish I were not born at all.” Then there was a strong knock at the front door and Chiletso wobbled towards it to open. In front of him stood a young man who did not dither but immediately informed Chiletso that his former wife had been involved in a car accident together with her new husband who had died on the spot. “She is in hospital now,” the young man concluded. Together with his friend, Chiletso rushed to the hospital where they found Cathy in a very critical condition. “Chiletso, you are still the husband of my life and death though I know I am not going to live. I was involved in a car accident together with Charles and I don’t know how he is wherever he is but when I was being taken to this hospital, he was labouring his breath. “I have something to tell you. A long time ago, I went to a witchdoctor so that I could find a man to marry. What he said after he had conducted his ‘rituals’ devastated me so much but he said I had no choice but follow the instructions he was giving me. He told me that I would die together with my husband. It just happened that I left you but I had never thought about what the witchdoctor had said. God was by your side. Take care of our little Alinafe.” She chocked and, with tears streaming down his cheeks, Chiletso told her that is was alright. “For my sake, you are not going to die,” he said, his hands trembling. She coughed heavily, shook herself and rested to the hilt. Her eyes closed as her heart rested.

SHORT STORY

Redeeming love Short story by Ananiya Alick Ponje She had been standing there by the roadside for the past two hours and she was about to give up when a white Toyota Corolla abruptly pulled up a few metres from where she was standing. Hurrying towards the car, she beamed radiantly. She opened the other door and sat on the passenger’s seat nonchalantly. “Good evening,” the driver of the car greeted her as the car surged forward and caught speed. “Good evening.” She looked at his pencil moustache furtively and sat back. “So where are we going now?” “You mean you have picked me up without knowing where to take me to?” she asked, her tender voice sounding as though it had been slightly magnified through a megaphone. “Well, I’ve been seeing you standing where I picked you up for a number of nights,” he said. “And therefore I suppose you know why I stand there.” “Of course I do,” he replied as he jammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist who was crossing the road recklessly. “Would you mind if I take you to my house?” The words came out of his mouth firmly. She remained silent and he took that silence to mean consent. “By the way, I’m sorry for not introducing myself in the first place. My name is Joseph Soko. You can call me Josey,” he said in a clipped way. She almost said she was meeting so many people that she could hardly find time to memorise his name but she thought better of it. “I’m Lucille and my friends call me Lucy.” Within a short time, the car drew up in front of a stately mansion belonging to Joseph. They both climbed down and walked towards the front door. Taking a bunch of keys from his breast pocket, Joseph unlocked the door and ushered Lucille in. They sat in opposite armchairs. “Welcome to my place,” said Joseph as he picked from the shiny coffee table a copy of that day’s Top-rated Medium. “So far so good.” “Well, I think I’ve to inform you in advance that I no longer spend nights at people’s houses. I usually have plenty of appointments to honour, so you have to be time-conscious,” said Lucille, looking at her wristwatch. “It’s now three past seven and I think it would do me a world of good if I left before nine.” “Look here, Lucy, the fact that you don’t spend nights at people’s houses is the more reason why I’ve taken you to my place. Did anyone ever tell you that you are such a beautiful girl that you deserve a better marriage?” He peered at her only to see a hate gleam in her brown eyes. “Joseph or whatever you are, I’m not here for some trivial issues you are trying to raise. If you are no longer interested, pay me for the time I have wasted and let me leave. I have clients waiting for me,” she blurted out. “You don’t understand.” “You need to understand me first. If you have been sent by someone to make a research on prostitution, then I’m sorry, your plan has misfired. If you are a journalist….” “I haven’t been sent by anyone.” “So what do you want from me now?” She seemed to be a hard nut to crack. He stood up and strutted towards the fridge. Bringing down a bottle of squash, he poured some into two goblets and diluted the drink. He extended one goblet to Lucille who received it to make a virtue of necessity. “Lucy, I have to admit that I haven’t seen any girl around here who is as beautiful as you are.” Those words struggled to come out of his mouth. “Thank you for the compliment but what you have to know is that prostitutes need no flattery at all. We, being what we are, only need men who can give us money not who can shower trivial flattery. It means nothing to us,” she said. “I want to marry you.” “What?” she was mystified. “Do you really know me?” “Of course I do. I know that you are a prostitute but I hold so much love for you that I feel attracted to no other woman in this world. I just can’t avoid it.” “Well, I’m leaving,” she said, standing up and pacing towards the door. “Not now.” “But when?” she shouted, practically on top of her voice. “I don’t know. Obviously not tomorrow….not next week. Never.” “I don’t understand you,” “Of course I understand why you don’t understand me,” said Joseph persistently. “You never knew me before I picked you up there by the roadside. I picked you not to use and then pay you but to marry you. This is the greatest redemption I’ll offer you. I know you didn’t choose to be a prostitute…” “I did. I chose.” “Perhaps you did but not because you wanted to.” “What exactly do you want from me?” She had completely lost her cool. “I want to marry you. To give you what you need. To restore your human dignity. There is a soul in you that you are persecuting. I’m here to redeem you.” Lucille was greatly touched by those sentiments. They meant a lot to her yet she could see herself going back to the streets even if she got married. Prostitution was in her veins and blood and she appeared to be addicted to it like hell. She could hardly see herself living successfully in marriage. But her mother’s advice once things got out of hand was that she should marry and now after four years in the oldest profession, this man sitting opposite her was asking for her hand in matrimony. “Just briefly explain how you became what you are to me,” Joseph said persuasively. She sat back, moved her soft hand down her face and sighed. The hate gleam in her eyes had now vanished. In the deep recesses of her heart, there was something pushing her to narrate the road that had led her into prostitution, yet her mouth seemed to be reluctant. “It should be a bad history I know,” Joseph intoned. She nodded humbly. The push to tell the story was becoming too much to be suppressed and in a trice, she found herself narrating it. “My parents died in a car accident that claimed not less than eleven people. That marked the beginning of my misery. I had grown up in a very rich family but two months after the deaths of my parents, the only thing I was left with was this silver ring that I ripped off my dead mother’s finger before her burial.” She paused, looking at the ring on her little finger. Her brown eyes glittered with tears like drops of rain on a rose petal. “I’m sorry.” “Soon after the death of my parents I went to leave with my uncle who ravished me several times until it became too much for me. My escape to nowhere landed me in this filthy business that I’m now doing. Please, pay me I’ve to leave,” she said, reaching for a hanky in her reticule. “You are going nowhere, Lucy. You are not leaving this house.” “After all what I’ve told you?” she wondered. “Everything matters less in love.” “Joseph, you seem not to understand. You have fallen in love with someone who has been taken to solitary places umpteen times. You have fallen in love with a stranger. Joseph, you don’t understand me, I’ve lived a very dirty life. I don’t want to ruin your dreams. This world is no longer my home.” Her melodious voice wafted across the room like music. “As I sit here, I see in you a streak of a woman who is going to make the best of homes. The only way you can ruin my dreams is by not marrying me.” Lucille stood up, dropped her reticule and ambled towards where Joseph was sitting. He stood up as well. They were feeling each other’s breath at a very short distance. Tears streamed down Lucille’s tender cheeks and disappeared into her mouth. On a nostalgia trip, she found herself sitting together with her parents in their huge house. And this place where she was now felt like where she belonged. “This is your destiny. It could only be delayed but it couldn’t be denied,” Joseph said as they embraced passionately. “Bury your past and remember it no more.” “I know it’s going to be hard for you to believe me but I have to say it anyway. I promise to be with you for the rest of my life. It appears to be abrupt but this is the vanishing point of all roads I was destined to take in this life. Your love has redeemed me from the pains I was engrossed in.” Three months later, Joseph and Lucille married in the new redemption church and they lived happily thereafter.