Mzimba is Malawi by Mistake - Dr Bofomo

Key issues

• Parliament passes land bill saying all land in Malawi belongs to government
• Dr. Bofomo says that is out of order as Mzimba has always never been Malawi
• Mzimba is Malawi's biggest district

Member of Parliament for Mzimba Liwelezi, Dr Bofomo Nyirenda says the land in Mzimba district does not belong to the republic of Malawi as the new Land Act states but rather to the people of Mzimba who are not part of Malawi but just development partners.

Nyirenda initially raised the issue in parliament on Friday as part of debate on the Land Bill that was being tabled. His concern was brushed aside as not serious by the leader of the house Henry Phoya and the Bill was passed.

But Nyirenda  did not take the issue lightly and he stormed my office in Lilongwe where he reiterated his stand saying the Land Act is out of order by claiming in Sections 10 and 12 that “All land [in Malawi]belongs to the Republic.”

“Mzimba is part of Malawi by mistake...Mbelwa Administrative Council was...an independent kingdom neighbouring Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Nyasaland was colonized in 1895 by the British and Mzimba was not.

“Mzimba was persuaded by the Queen to work as development partners with Nyasaland...and it was agreed that Mzimba would reclaim its independence from Britain after enough people from there were educated,” wrote Nyirenda in a speech addressed to the speaker of parliament.

Nyirenda explained that before Mzimba could get independent, Kamuzu Banda persuaded the then chief, Inkosi ya Makosi Mbelwa 2 to help him fight the federation and was told that afterwards Mzimba would get independent failing which Mbelwa would become king of all Malawi and Banda would be his prime minister.

“In fact... the name of this country should have been 'Republic of Malawi + Mbelwa Kingdom' because Mzimba is only a partner in development. Hence the land of Mzimba belongs to Mbelwa and his chiefs and their subjects and not to the republic of Malawi.” Said Nyirenda.

He said the people of Mzimba still remember that the relationship between them and Malawi is that if development partners and as such “all land belongs to the Republic except the land of Mzimba.”

Diagnosis? Bofomo is right, i have read about this before, its why Mzimba has no district council but rather a "Mbelwa District Council" and its only district with a chief in the name of a district council, why? because Mzimba was a kingdom.

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.