Yes, it is an embarrassment to the nation
By Ayami Mkwanda
ON 11 November this year, women members of the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) petitioned the government of Malawi over Big Brother Africa Revolution representative, Mzamose Chibambo, arguing that her sex ‘escapades’ in the house do not reflect the true image of a Malawian woman.
The group met the Minister of Gender, Women and Child Development, Patricia Kaliati in Lilongwe. The chairperson of MCC, Agnes Mkoko, said Mzamo’s behaviour is not portraying Malawi well as a God-fearing nation. So the group asked government to be sending representatives who are morally upright that would not bring the country shame through despicable behaviour.
This has come at a time when there has been a controversial debate on how Mzamo carries out herself in the reality show-house. Right from the beginning, Mzamo has shown some traits that are arguably contested as being un-Malawian. Here is a young Malawian woman who drinks like fish, smokes like a chimney, wears scantily like a beauty-pageant contestant; and above all, allegedly had sex live on television.
Summing up all this, one wonders whether her behaviour truly reflects the country’s overall morality. It is an open secret that morals in Malawi are fast decaying but still, this is not enough reason to forget who Malawians really are on the moral standpoint.
Malawians, and the majority of them are, to a larger extent, well-behaved people who relish in respect, obedience, sharing, harmony, fearing God and unity. If we happen to see cases of immorality escalating then it is because we are living in an era when technology has brought its evils upon us.
To argue that the small percentage of immorality we are witnessing countrywide mirrors the entire population’s moral decay is unfair. Mzamo may just represent this small percentage of immorality. Therefore, to say she portrays the whole trend in the country then that is a fallacy (but rather her bad behaviour will have a wrong portrayal of Malawi).
I would therefore like to totally disagree with all those who back Mzamo on the premise that even many Malawians are not morally upright people themselves. What do they mean when they say that what Mzamo did in the house (by having sex with Lionel) is also what people of Malawi do but only that the setting is different; meaning Malawians do it in secluded places and at night?
Although Malawi does not have a written code of ethics, we know for sure which conducts are regarded as “normal”, “right”, “good”, “permissible” and “desirable”. The opposite is true. So deriving a conclusion from the above, people should not take advantage of the unwritten code of ethics to justify that it is difficult to classify Malawian behaviour.
Everyone who is Malawian knows the “taboos” and other dos and don’ts in the country, only that we are choosing to ignore them by hiding behind the façade of westernization and modernization. It is unfortunate that our BBA representative behaves the way she does because she is our representative on an international level.
What people forget is that even one person can damage the reputation of a country, provided they are exposed like Mzamo. We should not forget that foreigners deem Malawians as honest, hardworking and intelligent people because they saw individual Malawians portraying those traits.
Did they come to Malawi and conduct their research? Absolutely not! It was a simple encounter in faraway lands that people of other countries came to build a positive image of Malawi.
So when people are downplaying the bad behaviour of Mzamo in the house by christening it as a technique and strategy to survive in the house, then they are in a way accepting her wayward behaviour in public as something to be proud of. Why trivialize a very serious matter like this when we all know the gospel truth that what is bad is bad?
I subscribe to a philosophical view that there is no relativism or subjectivity to morality (here morality should mean what is totally acceptable by convention as right, good and permissible).
I believe that any moralist in the country is lamenting the way Mzamo has carried herself out so far. It is true that Mzamo has traveled a lot and stayed in England and South Africa, both of which are developed countries that partly cherish the behaviour of Mzamo like smoking, drinking and dressing scantily.
As Malawians, we should be reminded that it is immoral for a woman to dress in a way that her feminine sensitive parts should be exposed. We should also take note that although women in Malawi smoke, it is not to the level and magnitude of Mzamo.
Mzamo is such a girl who seems to me as a train without control. With her sorry and despicable behaviour in the house, I do not celebrate her but instead pity her. How can I celebrate a person who brings shame on herself and the nation with such inspiring gusto?
What is there to celebrate when a person who was supposed to preach to the world about our good reputable image is raping the very image she is supposed to protect?
To my understanding and expectation, Mzamo was like our ambassador to the world who would show the world who Malawians are by simply conducting herself in a way that is in line with our image. Still, like I have already said, let us not admit that we are a morally corrupt nation, because we are not; but instead we should feel sorry for the immoral acts that have beset us.
As a nation, you do not stand on the anti-hill and shout, “what Mzamo is doing is what we also do”, lest we tarnish our impeccable record and image to the outside world. When someone is going astray let us not follow them; instead we should advise them so that they can take a good road. Like good citizens let us not clap hands for bad acts, whether they be done in public or secret.
A wrong is a wrong no matter the circumstances and context; it does not matter whether you are strategizing your survival in the Big Brother House or you are at home.
The problem of celebrating immorality is equivalent to celebrating failure. When a person succeeds in life by using crooked or dubious means, we must not celebrate it.
If a person fails and you tell them they have passed, then you are writing their doom. It is always good for a failure to reap the fruits of their labour and not the opposite. Likewise, only good people deserve good things; that is the law of nature.
Our problem as a nation should not be celebrating vices as virtues, shame as glory, failure as success, defeat as victory and cowardice as courage. This will bring the country down. Rather we should always be courageous to criticize bad things for the betterment of the motherland.
The problem is, many people who are hypnotized by the idea of Mzamo winning the money do not see or read the shameful tactics she is using until so far (if what she does endears her to the viewers).
If her behaviour is not rebuked severely, surely, we are unconsciously declaring publicly that what matters in life is to achieve victory or goals through book, crook or hook.
No, it is her winning strategy
By ANANIYA ALICK PONJE
As Malawi’s Big Brother representative Mzamose Chibambo is there in the house in South Africa fighting not to be nominated or simply not to be evicted once she has been nominated, most of her countrymen back home are busy castigating her for what they have labeled “her unMalawian behaviour”.
Some have even reached the point of revealing that they are eagerly waiting for the day she would arrive back home where she belongs. Mzamo has been castigated from right to left and back to front; simply for playing a game that she feels has the potential of propelling her to the end of the competition so that she can clinch the ultimate prize.
It is every housemate’s desire to win the prize and each of them has his/her own kind of strategy. And Mzamo’s strategy has been described as unMalawian by some who “have a highest regard for morality”.
When Malawi’s first Big Brother representative Zein went into the house, he had his own strategies and he never spent a more than a fortnight in there. Code too had his own formula and he came close to the end of the competition. Then came Hazel: she also had her own strategy and she reached the end of the competition, even though she failed to clinch the prize.
Mzamo as well has her own survival strategy and that is what she believes would reward her. And why so much fuss over her survival strategy when it is a game that she is playing for her survival, and no other individual’s survival.
One thing that should be put under consideration is the fact that Mzamo has not broken any of the Big Brother rules, which clearly implies that she is rightly within the game. All what she does is acceptable in the house; otherwise she would have faced some punishment from Big Brother, up to reaching the point of being booted out.
The problem is that most people who condemn Mzamo have set values which they want everyone to adopt. They want to brainwash everyone that kissing, boozing and having sex in the Big Brother house, is wrong. Much as it is good to uphold high levels of morality, the Big Brother house is not a place where such an aspect can be practical.
Life there is completely new and the housemates have no touch with the outside world. In fact some people reach the point of arguing that the housemates are not in touch with reality. I believe that the best way to uphold morality is by avoiding associating with aspects that ‘may’ to a certain extent be immoral in nature.
Malawi as a country allows its citizens to participate in the Big Brother show and everything that happens there has to be taken without much as choice. Perhaps the problem is that we are comparing Mzamo with Hazel.
Just because the latter liked cooking and ‘putting things in the house in order’, it does not mean that Mzamo should follow suit. Then the essence of the whole thing would be non-existent. Mzamo is Mzamo and she has to do things the way which suits her. She has to be herself and this is all what it means to be there.
Some people have reached the point of saying “Hazel was quite, did a lot of cooking and cleaning in the house and was pretty much reserved, while her successor is much more of an extrovert who drinks, smokes and swears”.
Yet the fact of the matter remains that they are two different women clearly sitting on two different sides of the spectrum. I fail to come to terms with what it means when one talks about ‘Malawian and unMalawian’ behaviour.
Of course, it is true that morality is something that has to be highly upheld in our country, but if one chooses not to as in the case of Mzamo, is there any legal provision that is being broken? I don’t think so. The moral aspect of a human being largely involves their own self and if they feel they are not committing a crime against themselves, then they are safe.
And therefore, if Mzamo feels what she is doing is not wrong, and she is confident it is a winning strategy, why castigate her when it is her game. There is so much hypocrisy in the numerous comments that have emanated from different quarters against Mzamo’s behaviour.
Malawi is a country that is rocked with many maladies which are but ignored. It appears many quarters have found the Mzamo scenario to be something that can easily push them into the limelight because they quite well know that it is being followed by many people and stakeholders.
Otherwise why hasn’t much been done on the numerous anomalies that we hear; like those of old men raping young girls, men having sex with livestock, child abuse and many more? Perhaps another question has to be asked: why don’t those who feel Mzamo’s behaviour is wrong resort to watching other programmes other than the Big Brother show.
The mere fact that they castigate Mzamo means that they watch the show; and frequently for that matter. There are many other channels that are offered by DStv which involve a lot of ‘moral tidings’. The main aim is to incorporate diversity so that everyone plumps for that which pleases them. No one is forced to watch the Big Brother show.
Some people have even reached the point of arguing that Mzamo’s behaviour may set a very bad precedent for their daughters. Every parent or guardian has their own way of controlling their children. I don’t think there is any parent out there who can allow their under-eighteen daughter to watch the Big Brother show.
In fact, there is a clear demarcation on who is and who is not supposed to watch the show in consideration of age. I am also against the view that girls who are above the age of 18 can copy something from Mzamo.
These are girls who can make their own sound decisions, and after such an age, they quite well know what is good or bad for them. If they do immoral things, it is not because they watched Mzamo, but because their mindsets have dictated it. There is another thing that I fail to come to terms with.
Opponents of Mzamo’s actions castigate her for allegedly having sex; kissing, and boozing in the house. It appears the strong part is the ‘having sex’ one. Yet Malawi’s second Big Brother representative Code Sangala allegedly had sex in the house, with a pregnant wife waiting for him at home, and no one came out to castigate him.
Are there moral values in Malawi that are designed specifically for men and others for women, such that what a man does may not be morally wrong when the same thing is considered morally wrong when done by a woman? Just like Minister of Gender, Women and Child Development, Hon. Patricia Kaliati observed, the only problem with Mzamo is that she is doing those things in full view of everyone, while it is of course, what most people do when they are in secluded places.
I have personally seen girls who drink and smoke heavily, yet they have never been condemned. So why Mzamo? Above everything, Mzamo is who she is and as one cartoon in The Nation pointed out, “is there such a thing as a typical Malawian woman?”
In other words is there some way in which we expect Malawian women to behave? Mzamo is just a free woman who is not restricted by any cultural or traditionalistic views of what it is to be a woman. This is exactly what I pointed out in one of my articles in The Daily Times. We should not be too much stuck in the past with so much stubbornness and tradition.
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