My College Party Highlights - Poly Socials 7 of 8

How to analyse an advert semiotically - case study of Zazoo condoms advert

Semiology is concerned with anything that can stand for something else or as Umberto Eco says “anything that can be used to lie.” Semiotic analysis looks for signs and what they stand for in media text and as van Zoonen argues, “Semiotic Analysis is a powerful tool to understand how sign system in mass media can evoke emotions, associations, fears, hopes, fantasises and acquiescence” (quoted in Taylor and Willis, 1999:26). This paper will thus attempt to semiotically analyse an advert for Zazoo condoms and come up with an academic review.

In the advert, (available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-OqKWXirsU, attached) a boy and his guardian are on a shopping spree and the kid sees a pack of sweets that he finds irresistible. When the boy tries to smuggle the pack into the shopping cart his guardian refuses to buy it, the boy then causes an embarrassing scene forcing the guardian into buying the sweets.

The advert is not explicitly connected to condoms and it is why it makes a good text to semiotically analyse because most of the signifiers are connotatively linked to the signifieds in line with Taylor and Willis (1999) who assert that language, signs and their meaning are historically, culturally and socially produced.

The mood of the advert is normal, balmed by the slow music playing in the background, the lighting is also not manipulated in a big way, and then the trouble begins.

The first thing that can be spoken of a sign is the packet of sweets; its’ yellow colour serves to attract customers and to stand out, that is on a marketing side...a close look at the colour yellow will point to something that is promising, sweet, warm and exciting things. Some robot signs use yellow to indicate “go.” (http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/color-yellow.htm)

Yellow attracts the youth who are adventurous and ready to go for promising things; here is where teenage sex can be brought in. The youth are anxious to experiment with sex especially with puberty and peer talk that tends to make sex a must have.

The boy’s guardian in the advert stand for society in real life, it has rules laid out for youths, but just like in real life, the youth will not just listen.

The boy, who by now represents the youth, adopts a way to coax his father into buying the sweets for him; he burst into a loud crying session and makes a scene to embarrass the father.

The boy’s actions can be said to signify or represent what the youths of today’s society do, if society doesn’t want them to socialize or have sex freely, they will make a scene and do something bad such as getting pregnant or catching some disease.

The father tries to hush the boy as society labours to suppress the youth but they don’t usually listen and the dad bows to the kids demands and buys the pack of sweets. The message is the same, society doesn’t endorse premarital or extra-marital sex but since the youth seem too determined to have it, it is better to let them use condoms to avoid the negatives of unprotected sex.

The producer of this advert or text has used several tactics to carry across his or her message to readers as Alexander Clare argues “analysis of all of the adverts will strongly focus upon the advertisements' photographic imagery, and the ways in which this imagery generates the appropriate signified concepts (or emotional overtones) which promote the image of the product.”(Chandler, 1997)

Camera shots have been manipulated and the manipulation itself is a sign. The biggest close up shot in the advert is shot where the kid is at his angriest, like in the Chinese Kung Fu movies, Extreme close ups are used to show the anger or anguish on the faces of actors...it can thus be said that the mere fact of using an extreme close up signifies anger.

The anger described above will make the readers of the text to side with the child and once this happens the producer will have begun achieving his goal of selling the condoms although the audience does not yet know this fact.

The capitalized subtitles “I WANT THOSE SWEETIES” are also worth exploring in the text. In the world over whenever one writes in upper case, they are either angry or illiterate and because it is obvious that the producers of this text cannot come up with such an intelligent ad and still be illiterate they are probably trying to show the kids anger.

Gestures and expressions of the cast in the advert are also sign that can be of importance in talking about the text, semiotically. The gestures represent what Saussure termed codes or the language sign users use. (Taylor and Willis, 1999)

Saussure asserted that languages and their codes are constructed the paradigmatic and syntagmatic axial dimensions and that while some signs serve to scaffold a point some pull the meaning/ expectation in the opposite direction(Taylor and Willis, 1999:21)

The father puts a finger to his lips (as if to say “keep quiet”), puffs out air (to show resignation), avoids eye contact from other shoppers by casting his glance on the floor(to show embarrassment) and shrugs(again, resigning).

The boy, after smuggling the candy pack into the cart, ties his arms across the chest and gazes unblinkingly (to challenge his superior), shouts his cries despite his interlocutor being about a metre away, throws items from the shelf and lies on his back and cycles the air using his legs.

While the audience paradigmatically sides with the boy, the message “use condoms” at the end of the advert syntagmatically shatters the sympathy and throws the reader into some kind of dissonance which may or may not be balanced by accepting condom usage.

The other shoppers represent the critics in society. They ignore the child’s deliquence and focus their gazes on the parent. Their gaze is a sign signifying disappointment and disapproval.

The advert ends with a still shot of a red packet of condoms with the inscriptions “one for 2.” The portrayal of the box is as pregnant with signs as the squealing child.

The red carton speaks of the importance of the box’s contents especially after the bad things that can happen to those ignoring have already been beamed.

The phrase “one for 2” stands or signifies what is contained in the carton and it is not easy to know that it mean that the box has two usable condoms.

The whole packet and message stands for the real product in a shop somewhere and the portrayal stands to instil the image of the real products in the viewer or reader of the text. The bigger picture, however, is that the packet is the solution to the problems of child bearing (as denotatively shown by the ad) and solution to the unabstaining and passion seeking minds.

It has already been asserted that signs are contextual and as Taylor and Willis (1999) put it, signs are also polysemic that is they have the potential to be interpreted variously by different readers. The advert can thus be seen from another perspective as well.

The advert was aired at a time (2004) when global condom usage among youths was slumping; the advert can thus be seen as a warning to careless couples of what awaits them. (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101003221541AAN513q)

The looks on the faces of the other customers in the mall are an indication of the disapproval that awaits the rashly parent.

The discussion has, in a nutshell, picked out the semiotic signs in the Zazoo advert and expounded them by unpacking them into signifiers and codes and laying bare the signifieds. It has also looked at why the signs were used and the way semiotics plays a role in advert design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bhbfriendsfan, (2006) (video) available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-OqKWXirsU accessed 19/02/11

Chalres, K. (2010) (www document) available at: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101003221541AAN513q accessed 19/02/11

Chandler, Daniel (1997): Semiotics for Beginners [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html accessed on 20th February, 2011.

No author, (www document) available at: http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/color-yellow.htm accessed 21/02/11

Taylor, Lisa and Willis, Andrew (1999) Media Studies: text, institutions and audiences, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Pay 2 million before you can demonstrate – Malawi’s president

For anybody who has read George Orwell’s Animal Farm or 1984 and has also been observing the political terrain in Malawi, it’s not very difficult to see that it is now not only a police state, a dictatorship, a one party state but also a fully fledged animal farm.

On Sunday, the 6th of March, the Malawian president held an emergency rally at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. A lot of critics, one of whom is me, thought the president would take time to explain why there is no forex and fuel in the country, why university lecturers are striking, why activists are saying he is a dictator, why the local elections are not forthcoming and why donors are withholding funds.

To my surprise, and to the surprise of many of you I can argue, the president added more salt to the wounds of the critics by solidifying his iron stance and most shockingly made weird decrees that are likely to see violence and police brutality increase in the country.

“From now on, write this in the laws, nobody should demonstrate before they pay K2, 000,000 minimum in cash. This is to be surety in case they vandalize public property!” boomed the president.

Wait a minute; did the big one just say that? You got to be kidding the constitution!

I don’t need a lawyer to sense the illegality of that statement...even at the UN anybody seeing that statement should choke with horror. 2 million to demonstrate? Is that a move to enrich the police or to block civil society voices?

The president then indirectly called on party members to deal with his critics just like the former regimes UDF and MCP did....stop there...UDF and MCP? So the president was calling for violence?

UDF and MCP party faithfuls used to kill people in the name of loyalty to their leaders; is that what DPP members should do? I think it is, because in agreement the party members at the rally sang: [sagona...sagoona...sagoona ndimpweteka!] a chorus translating as: “they won’t sleep, they won’t sleep ...we will maul them!” Weep Malawi weep.

And the tirades at donors. The president did a good thing to remind Malawians that he is the only one ruling this country and that the donor community should stay far, great stuff. But with my little knowledge of donor money, I know the Washington Consensus never remits aid without conditions, one of which is good governance.

Despite his arguing that the “whites” are happy with governance in the country it doesn’t mean that there is good governance in Malawi, Uganda, under Idi Amin used to have similar comments from the Britons until the nation became a gaol.

I’m also very shocked at the presidents’ lack of knowledge in media effects despite him boasting that he has journalistic training in his bag. The people that were at the stadium, including college students were not a representation of Malawians, they were coaxed with money, t-shirts and Lorries and showing them on TV doesn’t mean that the rest of the nation will subscribe to the propaganda.

The college students that still support DPP are either tribal loyalists or puppets, I for one would not associate with the colour blue, not even with a 2 million cheque!

The Malawi nation is now officially a police state, I saw a group of students being shot at for just singing. Of course the Chinese will not say anything and the other donors won’t intervene because we do not have oil, we will go through what we went through under Kamuzu Banda and we will survive.

Long live the people that are not giving up in fighting for genuine democracy, long live the NGO’s long live the Nation and BNL newspapers and long live protest politics.

Protest Politics and Culture: My take on demonstrations and protests…

Protest Politics and Culture: My take on demonstrations and protests…: "There has been a disproportionate amount of criticism over the last years of students not acting exemplarily, demonstrating over trivia and ..."

My take on demonstrations and protests…

There has been a disproportionate amount of criticism over the last years of students not acting exemplarily, demonstrating over trivia and general barbarism. Sound as the tirades may seem, they are very narrow and signify unlearnedness. I wish to justify why students have to go on peaceful and sometimes violent demonstrations.

History reveals that student demonstrations have been a tool that many (students, politicians and society) have used extensively to change phenomena or even courses of history. Demonstrations do not just happen; they are the last resort after dialogue has failed or where the other powerful party is very good at using their blind eye.

Recall how French students forced President Charles de Gaulle to call for new elections and reform the defunct educational system in the late 60s. Remember that it was students that brought Iran true sovereignty by holding those American hostages for 444 days teaching the then US president, Jimmy Carter, the meaning on the word “non-interference.” Students of The Rangoon colleges in Burma managed to force Ne Win, Sein Lwin and forced Maung Maung to move towards democracy in 1988.

Famous to many are the Soweto demonstrations against Afrikaans in public schools and the Tiananmen Square demonstrations against communist rule in 1989. They are thus not a new thing, these demonstrations.

Students do not just go on the rampage for anything; they are inspired by great men; Stephen Biko was a medical student when he started the Black Consciousness Movement; Nelson Mandela was booted out of Fort Hare University for organizing demonstrations. Students are also exposed to the ideas of Karl Marx who teaches resistance to top-down decisions, Che Guevara, Islamic militancy and even radicals like Peter Macintosh who believed that “peace is the diploma one gets at the cemetery.”

Malawian students take the model of the American Students for a Democratic Society (ASDS) where representative democracy is a farce and participatory democracy a virtue. One Frenchman Daniel Cohn Bendt, another model and a student of sociology was once taunted by politicians for being “a nobody,” but his revolution rocked the whole of France with workers joining in.

Coming to Malawi, one would surely look at university students as empty souls wanting to be filled with some kind of rightness. On the contrary, many students do whatever they do sober and it is after a general meeting where they decide on the best courses of action to take.

Nobody comes to blame the university administration or government and I know it’s because they only see the violence not the buildup. I don’t blame them but here is a cross section of some of the events that shook UNIMA in this millennium and notice the facts of the students’ cases.

In 2000 Mathews Chikaonda was appointed Minister of Finance and in his Ten Point Plan, he raised university fees from K1, 500 to K46, 000 arguing that university was a luxury and students should pay for it dearly. It was strange coming from a man whose career as we know it today sprung from the same university so students protested. The so called school calendar started to be affected by the time fees was reduced to K25, 000. Who do we blame?

2001 in December, Fanikiso Phiri was shot by a trigger happy police officer when folks were demonstrating against the hiked maize prices, Evison Matafale’s Death and the arrest of Opposition politician Nelson Shaba: all noble causes. When students protested Fanikiso’s death, the colleges were closed and opened two months later with the calendar suffering badly. Who do we blame?

2003 UDF supporter marching in favour of the much detested third term bill hurled insults at poly students calling them names, the students retaliated and the police joined the UDF supporters led by John Chikakwiya to destroy property at the poly including the precious DAF bus, who would not fight? Surprisingly the then principal suspended all students. A legal battle ensued and classes resumed, but time had gone and the calendar suffered. Who do we blame?

February 2004, a student died in his sleep but the administration allowed examinations to go ahead, infuriated students rioted, as many would do. The students were sent home only to be called in May to finish the exam, a thing that could have been settled by suspending exams until after the student’s burial. The calendar was not waiting and who do we blame again?

Polytechnic Students, stratergising on protesting....

In 2007 lecturers wanted 200% a pay hike, inspired by the high MP salaries; the ensuing strike affected the calendar by at least five weeks. Instead of closing on 13th November the schools closed on 23rd December. Even in 2009 the semester that was supposed to begin on March 8 was pushed to the 23rd. The media and the administration do not see that and they want student to pay. Do you still blame students?

Some people say the students should live by example, I ask, whose example: because even Jesus rebelled against the corrupt officials who turned the church into an agora. Patrick Chamaso, Malcolm X, both Martin Luther’s, Marcus Garvey, Mandela and their godfather Mahatma Gandhi didn’t believe in slavery of any kind. Actually Mandela said “To overcome oppression has been sanctioned by humanity and is the highest aspiration of every free man.”

Take for example the polytechnic administration who would rather build a fence costing more than K27 million when students stay in substandard hostels in the Chichiri area and there is no hot water for the majority of students.

When Authorities take students for granted....

Delaying stationery allowance for example is a thing that happens yearly, why can’t the administration sit down and hasten the process? Every year students have to submit identity photos and apply for the loan, why not make it electronic? Why not do there paper work when the students are on holiday?

The university should learn to liaise with the students’ representatives, for example the holiday saga at Poly recently was communicated as a top-down decision by a single memo. Last year there was no mid-semester holiday and students took that as an insult hence the boycotting of classes, only if there were students in the secret meeting that they hold, the police would have a surplus of tear gas.

The French students of 1968 rioted because the university running systems were archaic, staffed with aging octa- and nonagenarians, maybe it’s the same thing that is plaguing Malawi. It seems the administrators think like in the Kamuzu era. The philosophy that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow is a farce because it implies that the elders should be the leaders now. Some youths are as competent as everyone else and the administrators should learn to consult with the youths because it is them that know the pressures and prerequisites of modernity.

The society should also understand dynamics of society, the students especially the social science ones, understand that the media have power so if they block the highway, for example, the media will report the issue directly to the relevant authorities with veto powers over the usually stubborn university administrators.

Many folks also make a lot of noise of changing the image of the university, I ask which university? University is a den of havoc where ideas are discussed without emotion or religion. Whatever the students decide is carefully cooked with engineers, business managers and journalist, lawyers and teachers of tomorrow in the midst. The students didn’t create the system, the system created the havoc.

Some of those who speak against the student demonstrations have done them and they can’t understand their younger counterparts. It’s a pity how folks forget.

Some riots are not even for the students sake, take the section 65 issue, some DPP party gurus booked the students a bus to go to parliament to help in pushing the budget through, the politicians then betray them and call them barbarians?

Society should also remember that most youths are just past puberty when they reach university so a flash of private parts or obscene words is but a good thing after all it’s a celebration of freedom from the strict home. When judging university students put yourself in their shoes: there are hormones rushing in their veins, there are ladies to impress and there is a little philosophy in their minds. They are like a goat just getting to terms with new horns.

Most of the folks that criticize have not been to college thus they posses no knowledge of what it is to be a university leader. The students are being trained to become leaders and if they are oppressed the oppression will trickle to the people they will oversee. In 1968 Mexican president ignored the demands of the students and what followed was the creation and widening of the poor-rich gap.

The students are held together by the mutilated national anthem sentence and it’s not likely to go anytime soon it goes: “join together all hearts as one thus will be free from fear.” University demonstrations are justified indeed.

May it be it love

That which I feel whenever I steal a glance at you

The colour of which like a snow-white dove

If it were fruit, mangoes she would be

That which lulls when I think over it

May it be love

May they rock

Those goods you have in store for me

Let them not suck

For that is what I seek of thee

You I will follow like wind the airport sock

Madonna‘s ‘stuntish’ Malawi charity turns serious, Piers Morgan to unban her?

Former Britain Has Got Talent Judge and Larry King's CNN successor reportedly vowed never to have Madonna on his juts launched CNN show saying that Madonna's charity activities in Malawi are just a publicity stunt, that he feels uncomfortable when celebrities support a good cause and that Madonna is too boring for his show...Morgan's slam never hit the mainstream but Madonna seemed to have been listening after all!

Madonna was supposed to build a state-of-the-art girls academy in central Malawi, well that academy will not materialize according to local press reports, instead Madonna has said she wants to build many lesser grander schools across Malawi to benefit more girls...do you see the Morgan effect?

I was of the Morgan opinion myself, I always thought Madonna's adoption of two Malawian children did nothing to help Malawi apart from advertising how poor the country is...and the attention she gets when she visits Malawi overshadows her charity work and that unsettles me!

Well now that she is getting serious, if the reports are anything to go by, then I might as well ask Piers Morgan to unban her from his CNN show, because now it will be real charity, not one big stunt academy that would have been abused by corrupt Malawian politicians who would have flooded it with their daughters and relatives.

I sometimes wonder; who advises Madonna on Malawi? Are they average Malawians? Are they in PR? I ask this because what Raising Malawi (Madonna's Charity) is doing in Malawi is nothing that I can write about; its impact is so decimal to belong to a star of Madonna's calibre!

I however, give respect to her, the few lives that she impacts should be very and are grateful...I urge Raising Malawi to widen its grip and get the media away from its activities and instead do the work that its meant to do.

In your face, Mutharika – This new website seems to say!

"The Fedayeen Bingu wa Mutharika has been formed in Malawi. The Fedayeen Bingu wa Mutharika is similar to that of Fedayeen Saddam of Iraq's regular armed forces but rather operated as a paramilitary unit of irregular forces.   Bingu wa Mutharika formed a tribal Mulhako wa Alhomwe which is an organization made up of his tribe people."

I didn't write that, it's a quote from the yet to be introduced Website http://freedomanddemocracy.atmalawi.com/ which is already promising fireworks even in its construction stage...it takes a swipe at the Mutharika government and proposes cutting edge solutions to the maladies of the Malawi nation.

I will blog more on this Website but here are some excerpts from the site:

.......

Government

The People's Movement for Freedom and Democracy (PMFD) has been formed to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and a community in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, tribalism, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the fullest. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.

The economic system that the PMFD shall embrace is the free market system where there shall be a rule of law. In order to achieve fairness among all the citizens of Malawi the PMFD is calling the ruling party of Malawi government to abolish the current election system and sit down with us to introduce Electoral College system based on the U.S. model. Each province shall be allocated Electoral College. For example: South Malawi = 32, Central Malawi = 30, North Malawi = 28. Electoral College required to win presidency will be 55 electoral college and above (The objective of Electoral College is to make all provinces relevant and to encourage participation of all citizens that everyone's vote count).

Policy 

First preference of the PMFD's economic policy is to improve trade relationships with other countries.  The PMFD economic policy is intended to make Malawi a market oriented economy, where most decisions are taken by private individuals and business firms. More flexibility will be enjoyed by business firms. Introduction of new products would help in economic growth of Malawi. These economic policies are to create new economic opportunities and the creation of millions of good paying jobs. Malawi needs to diversify its economy and also create business opportunities for the rural Malawians where 80% of its population live. The economic plan that the PMFD will embrace will help a rural Malawian farmer to market their products and get paid for what it is worth.  In order to attract foreign investments the PMFD is determined to build railroads and roads to connect the entire Malawi.  The PMFD is going to invest in its own people by building modern schools in rural Malawi and introducing Internet and computers to them.  The PMFD is also to build more hospitals to alleviate the crowding that exist right now. These projects will be done on provincial level.

................

Whoever is behind this site is very visionary and has my blessings after all ints within the realm of my blog: protest!

Protest Politics and Culture: My Beach Affair...in pics

Protest Politics and Culture: My Beach Affair...in pics: "me on the easy chair   me on the easy chair   swinga doodle doo  Me, Shoes and a freshman back hug Last Saturday i was at B..."

My Beach Affair...in pics

me on the easy chair





me on the easy chair




swinga doodle doo



Me, Shoes and a freshman

back hug

Last Saturday i was at Boadzulu Beach Resort with the rest of them First year students from the Malawi Polytechnic...as part of their freshman spoiling....and i had fun...excerpts:

Martin, Evellyn and moi

She aint my girl guys...

Capoella

Negros: What to do in ‘racist’ Russia when the World Cup comes

News that Russia had won the world cup bid ahead of England shook the world alright, some saw it as punishment for the Brits and their badmouthing BBC, some said Russia deserved their win with Arshavin's performance highly playing reference.

...but think of the Ojiofor (not real name) family in Nigeria, they have recently lost a son who was their only hope: he was in Russia doing his MA when a redneck did him in saying he is bringing impurity to the land of the Czars. Ask every African about Russia and you will hear how they fear it, I mean is it not the racism capital of the world?

I ask therefore, is Russia prepared to host the cup? Will the racist youths that Ross Kemp in his BBC program "Ross Kemp on Gangs" hold their fire? No is the obvious answer, it is easier for a German to buy a fake Chinese product than to make Russians accept 'others," but there is hope.....

To all the dark skinned and the Ojiofor family I say do not hate Blatter, this might be an opportunity to Change Russia!

Maybe after the World Cup, Negroes can start freely clubbing in Russia nightclubs and maybe taking on their women, I hope they have heard of our prowess, we Negroes, in bed I mean.

This is what every Negro should do when we arrive in Russia: stay up late and patronise the most racist clubs, do many Russian women, drink and sing African verses when moving the streets....if one of us is beaten or killed then we stage the protest that is block their impressive underground trains, refuse to play matches and march to the UN begging for sanctions!

The only way change can come is by exposing the stagnant mind to that which he despises, I know that the reason racism began was because white and black people that made the first contact thought the other was an animal or a lesser human, now that we know that we are equal (or are we?) we can move on and fuck some of these stupid ideas!

Searching for languages of God

Walk into any Pentecostal church; you will either be entertained by English speaking pastors bellowing into the microphones and their ever available translators artfully flinging out Chichewa or other languages for the 'illiterate' masses to hear.

 

Many ask, though, we are all Malawians here why the trouble of using English? Or if you are in Mzuzu why use English when Tumbuka can do? What language does God hear or want to hear then?

 

Rev. Major Highson Gondwe of St. Andrews CCAP church in Mzuzu thinks the reason and the answer is 'many'.

 

"In the Bible, God gave us 'many' languages not one. That means He acknowledges diversity and, thus, everyone should use their language," said Gondwe.

 

But Donnex Mwenesungu, Deputy Divisional Director of the Assemblies of God in Mzuzu and whose church is among those using English along with Chichewa translations, thinks such a combination is justifiable.

 

He said pastors go to theological colleges where the language of instruction is English, and some theories learnt from there are difficult to expound in any language other than English.

 

Mwenesungu added that preaching the gospel is like marketing and so far their style has seen the church grow.

 

"Also remember that it is tradition, the British used interpreters. They left it with Kamuzu and we are just in line with that. Why do they use English in Parliament when it's a foreign language?"

 

Assemblies of God Presbyter for Katawa, Isaac Mhango, said the use of vernacular like Chitumbuka automatically means that those who do not understand the language have to find their own church.

 

As a solution, Mhango said English eliminates all that and Chichewa, which he believes is understood by every Malawian, is the next best. But Gondwe laughs off the suggestion and describes it as propaganda.

 

"Look, the constitution grants recognition to all languages not one. God also does that. We preach in Chitumbuka because we have spoken that language since we were born," said Gondwe.

 

Many theologians agree that the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is a myth. But for whatever reason the peoples of the world are endowed with many dialects.

 

Further down that line psycholinguists like Noam Chomsky will tell you that when you speak somebody's language you adopt their culture.

 

So as a Mr Msiska of Movement for the Preservation of Endangered Languages in Malawi (Mopelama) believes, are the Pentecostal churches which often use English just a vehicle of imposing languages?

 

Ronald Harawa, Resident Pastor for the International Christian Centre in Mzuzu and whose church only uses English, says no.

 

"History is to blame. I wish we had one neutral language like Swahili but again you should know that pastors are universal. I am not called to one tribe only. I can go to China today and still preach because God is universal," said Harawa.

 

Mhango agreed with Harawa and joked that someone said the use of English and an interpreter was somehow entertaining because "people play a game of interpreting along with the pastors and thus evading boredom."

Police stop party launch, members cry foul; it’s sad for democracy –analyst

Armed Police in Mzuzu on Sunday stopped the launch of the newly registered People's Development Movement (PDM) a move that has angered its members and has attracted condemnation from political commentators.

According to the party's publicity secretary, Msenga Mulungu, police started intensifying their presence at Katoto Freedom Park, where the party was scheduled to launch, early on Sunday morning and at around 8AM ordered the platforms to be disbanded.

"They said they had orders from the Mzuzu City Assembly to stop the launch because the party was not registered and thus not supposed to stage any rally in the city," said Mulungu.

Mulungu wondered why the City Assembly could make such allegations when the party [PDM] has a certificate of registration issued by the Mzuzu High Court, Mulungu further alleged that the City Assembly was dabbling in the affairs of the court.

A letter from the city assembly said in part that the party should not hold any gatherings in the city whether on developed or undeveloped land and ordered all police officer to be on guard.

Mulungu said he tried to talk to City officials but didn't manage to convince them as they argued that the State, through the registrar of Political Parties, was still contesting the legality of PDM to the effect of getting a stay order that will calumniate into a court hearing slated for January six.

"The hearing is on 6 January that mean before that we are a legal party and we have our certificate," said Mulungu.

Mzuzu City Assembly Chief Executive, Richard Hara, refused to answer any questions saying he was on Holiday.

Mzuzu Police Spokesperson, Norah Chimwala also couldn't say anything and said she needed more time to find out what happened.

Commenting on the development, Mzuzu University's history lecturer and political analyst said that the disruption of the party launch was "sad for democracy."

"It is undemocratic and unconstitutional. The Malawi Constitution provides for freedom of association for every citizen after all the party is registered by the court," said Mbowela

Mbowela however said that they may be some procedure that was flouted by PDM that could render the disruption of its registered justified and said PDM ought to have cleared issues with the city officials.

"...but if everything was done then such actions may confirm other people's fears that the country is being governed in an MCP regime style and shows that the current government [DPP] doesn't want other parties coming in and gaining momentum," said Mbowela.

PDM has attracted many members including Harry Mkandawire, Loveness Gondwe and Richard Msowoya and the launch was to be graced by members from across the country.

PDM and government have been at daggers draw since the party applied for legal status. Its initial application was refused because it was openly critical of the Quota system, a revised application was turned down again and the registrar of political parties stopped responding to the applicants prompting them to forcibly register the party through the High Court on November 5 last year.

Pictures from a trip

This Christmas i went on the road...i set out from Mzuzu to Mlowe at the Lakeshore part of Rumphi District and then went up to Livingstonia....here is what i captured...

I visited my first Boarding school, Livingstonia Night Secondary School



THis Block housed all the students at my first boarding school...its now in memory and will soon be in history

Mantchewe Falls is an uncelebrated water fall up in Livingstonia Escarpment

@ Bend 9 while going up Livingstonia Plateau

me and my grandpa

a photo with my family at the village

the stunning view from Golden Road looking down on Chitimba and Chirumba

@ Holy Water

Mzuzu Nkhatabay Road

Livingstonia Chapel

a glimpse at Nyika National Park

Dr Robert Laws Hall at Livingstonia University

Stop ill-advising Mutharika - Youths

YPU Secretary, Isaac Mkandawire

The Young Politicians Union (YPU) has added its input to the Joyce-Bingu impasse debate by condemning Mutharika, his advisers, MBC and his ruling DP party for focusing on Peter Mutharika campaign and ignoring development a move YPU blamed for the delaying of the disbursement of the much touted YEDEF youth loans.

The Mzuzu chapter of the YPU said this at a press conference that they staged at Mzuzu Youth Centre on Thursday.

"It all started with Peter Mutharika endorsement by the Southern Region DPP committee, as much as it's their right but we fault the timing, 2014 is too far and already in Malawi it's as if elections are to be held tomorrow," said YPU Director, Tiyezge Kacheche.

Kacheche bemoaned what he called "Mutharika's mistreatment" of Joyce Banda and hailed Banda for not answering back Mutharika's rants and called her silence is golden.

Another member on the panel, Isaac Mkandawire, Mzuzu Young Politicians Union Secretary, called on MBC, the state broadcaster to produce programs that will build the nation instead of programs like "Mkutinji" and "Road to 2014," which he called "unfortunate."

Asked why the union was using the media instead of contact and dialogue and why they were commenting on DPP's internal issues, Mkandawire said the union has no other channels but the media because it can remove the need for gate-keepers.

He also said that firing Banda from the party will not go well with the country's need for development because Mutharika and Banda will not be working well together and the nation will suffer.

The issue of false and hypocritical advisers was also raised with Hetherwick Ntaba chiefly in the spotlight. YPU said a few people are ill advising the president for personal gains a move the union said was counter-developmental.

YPU also called on government to learn to separate government functions from political ones citing last Wednesday rally at Manolo in Mzimba where DPP was more on the agenda than the Function which was the launch on the national tree planting season.



YPU Director, Tiyegze Kacheche



"We want government to concentrate on development not politicking, they should fight Aids, hunger, illiteracy not one another," said Kacheche.

Bulukutu Mkandawire, one of the founders of the union in the Northern Region said that Malawi is sliding back to the one party era with a culture of fear slowly taking over Malawians.

"People will stop opposing because of fear and all we will hear is about Peter...who is Peter anyway?" Bulukutu said.

The union denied being aligned to any party and said they represent all the youths in the country.

"What we want is development not politics, where is the YEDEF loan, for example?" asked Kacheche.

 

'JB wanted Bingu dead'

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Malawians are now bored with the Joyce Banda (JB) firing story.... but wait; they are in for a surprising twist, Goodal Gondwe on Saturday added two more reasons to the ones the ruling party earlier listed for the firing, one of which was the allegation that JB wanted Bingu dead.

Mphepo organised the meet

Goodal was speaking at press briefing at Mary Mount Secondary School Hall in Mzuzu where the Northern DPP faithfulls gathered to issue a communiqué to notify the nation that the party was still strong even without JB and Khumbo Kachali.

“Joyce wanted Bingu dead and Kachali was electing own shadow MP’s a thing that made the party fire them. The party is now new without them,” said Gondwe, who is the Director of Economic for DPP.

Etta Banda - lashed out at JB

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is quoted in the Weekend Nation Newspaper saying that

JB was fired for sabotaging the Nsanje port progress, and refusing to endorse Peter Mutharika which is a deviation from Goodal’s claims.

Minister of Health; David Mphande accused JB of financing anti-government propaganda via Nyasa Times.

“Nyasa Times is Bingu’s greatest enemy, and I am angry at Nyasa Times for alleging that my constituency was not represented at Manolo on Wednesday when the president was launching the tree planting season, on the contrary, there was a lorry full of people from Nkhata-bay south East, this is Joyce’s propaganda,” said Mphande.

Other DPP members also took turns to castigate JB; among those who spoke hard against here were Bessie Chirambo, Etta Banda, Vuwa Kaunda and Gotani Hara.

Gotani Hara said Joyce Banda does not like Northerners and said her hatred manifested with the absence of Northerners while she was Minister of Foreign affairs.

Akim Mwanza, MP for Mzimba Solola, who had once been fired from DPP for criticising Quota System of selecting students to university as discriminatory, said that after what he experienced nobody should dare blunder.

The party also took time to endorse Peter Mutharika’s 2014 presidential bid with the party’s deputy publicity secretary Wyson Mkochi claiming that it was the North’s idea that Peter succeed Bingu because he was the only one they saw as educated and experienced.

Another Mzimba MP, Bofomo Nyirenda, said he supported Peter Mutharika because he has records that Peter was instrumental in Malawi’s fight against Kamuzu Banda’s dictatorial rule.

Vuwa Kaunda - JB is not from the North

The meeting was organised by DPP’s Organising Secretary, Francis Mphepo and had many big wigs of the party in attendance in addition to about 80 faithfuls that had been ferried from across the Northern Region.

The meeting was never short of drama as the reporters that were called to the press conference were never allowed to ask questions a move that saw some respectable reporters like Edwin Nyirongo of The Nation Newspaper walk out in disappointment.

JB wished Bingu dead: Gondwe

Te meeting also come in the wake of mass resignation of DPP member with over 30 people including DPP’s Northern region organising secretary Frazer Chunga, district campaign director Bitton Nyirenda and Phato Theu, the Deputy District treasurer resigning in Mzimba on Thursday.

The 33 said they knew DPP through JB and KK and thus saw no reason of staying in the party now that the two were fired. They however said that they were not forming or joining any parties soon.

Iodine quantities in Malawi salt still worrying-MoH

The Malawi Government through the Principal Environmental Health Officer in the Ministry of Health (MoH), Hannah Hausi, says the levels of Iodine in the salt being used in Malawi still remains a concern despite some improvements from the past years.

She said this on Monday on the sidelines of a UNICEF funded workshop held at Mzuzu Hotel, where the ministry was reviewing the progress it has made on the monitoring of Iodine in salt sold ands used in Malawi.

"We have found that most salt, about 90%, has iodine and the monitoring is going well at grassroots levels but the issue is that the quantities of iodine in the available salt is still low," said Hausi.

Iodine is an element which is required by humans for the synthesis of thyroid hormones and its deficiency can lead to goitre, various neurologic, gastrointestinal, and skin abnormalities. Iodine deficiency in pregnant or nursing mothers can lead to significant neurocognitive deficits such as Cretinism in their infants.

The workshop drew District Environmental health Officers and Safety and hygiene health officers from the ministry of health from the Northern and part of Central region. Similar review workshops are slated for the South.

Malawi does not produce salt and relies on Botswana, Kenya and Mozambique and this presents a challenge as some merchants smuggle in uniodised salt.

A visit to Mzuzu Market says it all, Lucius Mayaka sells salt but is not sure who manufactures it and says his salt has iodine because he shield it from the sun.

Bingu is being blasphemous – Harry Mkandawire

Outspoken politician and business man, Harry Mkandawire has taken a swipe at Malawi's president Mutharika and his cabinet member, Billy Kaunda calling them blasphemous and paranoid respectively for the comments they made yesterday at Manolo in Mzimba while launching the National Tree Planting Season.

Mkandawire was reacting to the comments aired by Bingu in defence of his party's firing of Joyce Banda and Khumbo Kachali in which he wondered why he shouldn't fire infidels when God expelled Satan for the same crime.

"Bingu was being blasphemous when he compared himself to God because God was not elected by people and is not answerable to his creatures," said Mkandawire in a phone interview.

On Billy Kaunda's comments on Northerners in which Kaunda said the hype on Kachali's firing was unjustified because the president still has many Northerners in his government, Mkandawire said Billy was just being paranoid.

"First of all, in the Ngoni culture an MP cannot request for a chief's promotion, secondly Kaunda was just being paranoid when he attacked northerners, it shows that he is just a visitor no wonder he cannot even speak ChiTumbuka," said Mkandawire.

Kaunda however wondered why his comments are being taken as if they are not fact. He refused to defend them because he said they were blameless and general such that Goodal Gondwe was not his target.

"What I said was that when Me, Dausi and Mwamondwe were fired from DPP nobody talked why should they talk now? And Goodal Gondwe has never been fired from the party," said Kaunda.

Some Northerners over the cyber-sphere expressed anger at Kaunda's comments which some labelled offensive and directed at Goodal Gondwe whose firing from cabinet drew cries of foul from some quarters in the North.