Uthenga Wa Chichewa Kwa A Malawi Onse Pa Za Kuyendera Ufulu Za Pa 20 Julayi

A Third In A Series Of Articles On The Malawi 20 July Demonstrations:

"Pa 20 July Pano, Monga Mwamvera Kale, A Malawi Okonda Dziko Lawo Azayenda Ngati Mbalame Zakunyanja Kuyendera Ufulu Wawo Umene Ukunka Nasowa Ndikuponderezedwa Muno MuMalawi, Amalawi Okhuzidwa Amene Akupanga za Ziwoneserozi Ali Ndi Uthenga Uwu Kwa a Malawi...."

Inu nonse a Malawi mukudziwa kuti mudzaka zisanu zoyamba za ulamuliro wa a pulezident Bingu wa Mutharika anthu tinatangwanika ndikuona ngati tiona zeni zeni ngati dziko. Ife ngati anthu amene timatsatira mwandondomeko zakayendetsedwe ka boma la democracy komanso potsatira zimene inu a Malawi eni munasankha mmene tinkasintha ulamuliro kuchoka ulamuliro wa chipani chimodzi mzaka za 1992 mpakana 1994.

Malawi tsopano wabwerera mbuyo ndipo wasanduka choseketsa cha anthu zifukwa za zinthu izi:-

1. Kusowa ndalama za kunja zomwe timatha kugulira zinthu monga mankhwala, mafuta ndi zina zofunika.
2. Kupereka bizinesi kwa anthu omwe ali pa ubale ndi pulezidenti ndi amtundu wake.
3. Kusamvera malangizo ngakhale ochokera kwa atsogoleri a mipingo ndi zipembedzo.
4. Kudzichemerera ndikusamvera kwake kwamtsogoleri wadziko lino
5. Kufuna kusandutsa u pulezidenti ngati ufumu pofuna kusiira mng’ono wake mpando wa pulezidenti mopanda kutsatira ndondomeko zoyenera za demokalase ndi ulamuliro wabwino.
6. Kuchitira nkhanza ndi kusawalemekeza a Malawi ena omwe agwira ntchito yokonza dziko la Malawi mbuyomu komanso ngakhale omwe iye wagwira nawo ntchito chifukwa chomulangiza.
7. Kuthamangitsa anthu othandiza dziko lino komanso otigula malonda athu ngati fodya.
8. Kuopyedza ufulu wachibadwidwe wa a Malawi poopsyedza atsogoleri a mabungwe omwe Sali a boma komanso manyuzipepala ndi mawailesi omwe Sali a boma.
9. Posintha malamulo mosaganizira zomwe a Malawi anawaikira malamulowo ndizolingazo.
10. Kusowa kwamafuta a magalimoto ndi zina zotero kwa nthawi yayitali.
11. Kuletsa kugula mafuta mzigubu ngakhale galimoto itakuthera mafutawo panjira kapena kunyumba kwanu.
12. Kunyozera zigamulo za ma khoti komanso kuopyeza ogwira ntchito mmakhotimo ndikuwamana malipilo awo motsutsana ndi malamulo.
13. Kukondera popatsa maudindo a mboma ndi mabungwe aboma komanso business kwa anthu a mtundu wake wokha.
14. Kuzunza atsogoleri akale ndi ena monga a pulezidenti opuma powakaniza kupita kuchipatala ndi achiwiri awe komanso a Chilumpha ndi a Vice Prezident a dziko lino  chifukwa choti ndi mzimai.
15. Kuzikundikira chuma pogula ndi kumanga nyumba 15  kunja ndi kuno komwe pogwiritsa ndalama zomwe zikanatukula dziko lino.
16. Kupatsa mkazache malipiro (salary) pogwira ntchito yothandiza yomwe ena amagwira osalipidwa.
17. Kumangiridwa nyumba ndi zina ndi contractor yemwe akumpatsa ma contract a boma popanda ndondomeko.
18. Kusamutsa university yoti imangidwe ku Lilongwe kuipititsa ku mudzi ndi munda wake ku Ndata ngati ndi yake
19. Kumpatsa galimoto zomwe ziyenera kuyenda ndi anthu ngati pulezidenti ndi wachiwiri wake (convoy) kwa Peter Mutharika atalanda kw a Veep ndi a pulezidenti opuma pamene iye ali nduna wamba.
20. Kulemba ntchito achibale ake mmaudindo akulu akulu a boma ndi mabungwe a boma.
21. Kupereka chimanga mwaulere ku Zimbabwe mopanda chilolezo chochokera kunyumba ya malamulo.
22. Kunamiza a Malawi kuti iye ngwa nzeru pamene akulephera kuyendetsa dziko.
23. Kutseka sukulu zaukachenjede pamene analumbira kuti muulamuliro wake sukulu zimenezi sizizatsekedwanso.
24. Kunyoza mavenda ndi anthu amalonda.
25. Kuononga ndalama za boma pomanga damu kuNsanje popanda kuwafunsa a ku Mozambique omwe akukhudzidwa ndi mbali ina yantchitoyi.
26. Kuwabera anthu omwe akupereka zinthu mboma ponama ndi nkhani ya funding.
27. Kukhometsa misonkho mosaona kuvutika kwa anthu.
28. Kuopsedza atsongolori a Zipani zotsutsa ndi amabubgwe amene si Aboma
29. Kungwiritsa ndi kuphangira nyumba zaulusila mau za Amalawi (MBCTV) kutukwana amalawi.
30. Kusapereka malipiro kwa Ziphunzitsi and ena ogwira Mmboma mu nthawi yoyenera 
31. Kugwiritsa Ntchito Apolisi molakwika kutolera makobili Mmusewu ngati  MRA kutolera Misokho. 
32. Kusakha popereka Chitukuko cha Dziko pokondera Madera ena monga kwawo kwa A Prezidenti

Nkhani zonsezi ndi zina zotero zikuonetsa kuti akuluwa boma lawakanika kuliyendetsa- akuyesa kuti utsogoleri ndi njira yongolemelera ndikutchukapo. Tsopano nthawi yakwana kuti a Malawi tonse tidzuke ndikumuchotsa munthu wadyerayu pampando akupume kundende. Tikupempha a Malawionse kuti tigwirane manja kuti pa 20 July pano tichotse munthu ameneyu. Tipemphe achitetezo monga asilikali a nkhondo ndi apolisi kuti ateteze a  Malawi onse patsiku limeneli ndi masiku akubwerawa.

Ife a Malawi okhudzidwa.

Now this calls for a big WTF!

As if petroleum fuel shortages are not enough, the country’s sole electricity provider, Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (Escom), has just announced that it is embarking on a massive load-shedding program that will see the whole of Malawi in darkness everyday from four to 10 PM for the rest of this year.

The announcement was then defended and sugar-coated on the state broadcaster MBC TV in its News Hour programme on Wednesday by one of the parastatal’s officials.

The move has already become one of the most discussed topic on the social media and cyber sphere with some backing Escom, and some trashing it as part of DPP’s continued failure to run the country.

“We heard that Escom got funding to improve power generation where is that? And not only that, Escom is a monopoly that enjoys abnormal profits and economies of scale, where is that again?” wondered one Malawian on Facebook.

“This will mean more trees going down, they can’t bring this move when winter is at its peak, what will we cook with?” said a DJ on Radio 2 of the MBC.

“I hope this will not affect Poly, because we never live in darkness without raising hell,” said a Poly student.

Escom has been under constant criticism over its incapacity and misuse of revenue with the recent K80 million kwacha party scandals still vivid in Malawians memories.

Some quarters of Malawi have since planned to march against the country woes with posters in Blantyre’s Ndirande calling for a 6 July march, in Mzuzu Msenga Mulungu, one of the protest organisers said they [Fond] are planning something on the 20^th of next month.

In the world over such issues as tax raises, fuel shortages and energy woes result in nationwide demonstrations but Malawians never seem to agree on one course of action.

“Why are only 6 Malawians RSVPing this event?” Wondered Fungai Chiposi, a Zimbabwean who is a critic of Robert Mugabe’s rule, he was referring to the event “Malawi Revolt Update” which is being hosted by a Malawian living is Seychelles.

Signs of division are eminent in the drive to protest Malawi’s woes with tribalism raising its dirty head in some occasions.

“Atumbuka you just want to revenge Bingu on Quota, we will not join you,” said one user on the Malawi Revolt Update wall, referring to the ‘Mhango’ surname of the host.

Tribal issues also played out in one of Poly lecturers’ meeting in March where lecturers from the Central and Northern Region voted against teaching while those from the south and especially from the Mhlakho belt voted to teach because they said the others were only being personal against Bingu because he was a Southerner.

Undule Mwakasungula (Ngonde) and Gift Trapence (Lower Shire), the two top most human rights activists in Malawi have also seen their share of the tribal labelling on the social media; it seems that Malawians are yet to agree that the country’s woes are for everybody.

Meanwhile to stage a demonstration police are demanding that the Intelligence unit be involved in the planning, that the planners give the exact number of people that will be present; this is reportedly according to the new Police Act. The go ahead for demonstrations has also been shifted from City CEO’s to District Commissioners.

Reports also indicate that an extra band of intelligence spies have been deployed to eke out intel on demos in the country’s night clubs.

Protests Today

From today I will try to map the world protests.....here is a sample:

Today Cab drivers protested in New York

http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles/166327/20110620/new-york-city-mayor-bloomberg-livery-taxi-cabs-cab-job-loss.htm

About 200 public employees marched across the Delaware River this morning in protest of cuts to their benefits.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/nj_public_workers_march_across.html

Great article on Protests here:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C06%5C21%5Cstory_21-6-2011_pg3_2

Here is how the first paragraph has been tackled: ‘We as a people are much too easily persuaded to lose our temper and get angry. We look for elements of negativity in situations that confront us. Furthermore, instead of being modest or sceptical about the validity of our own position and conceding that the other side’s interpretations may merit serious consideration, we tend to be loud and exaggerative in pressing our point of view’ – cool stuff!

One from Jo’Burg!: Taxi commuters were planning to protest against exclusive bus lanes in Soweto on Monday, the SA National Taxi Council said.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Joburg-taxi-commuters-to-protest-20110620

While we are busy organising the toppling of governments via facebook, in Israel our protest friends are using social media to protest....against cheese prices!

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-20/israeli-facebook-protest-targets-high-cottage-cheese-prices.html

Rest in Peace Brian Haw, the good protest shepherd

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2011/jun/20/peace-campaigner-brian-haw-pictures

Out in the US, Members of a controversial church plan to protest today's memorial service of a 21-year-old Marine from Gastonia who was killed while serving in Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/20/2392145/group-to-protest-marines-memorial.html#ixzz1PrWxnA00.

Spain's 'indignant' activists launched protest marches today which will culminate in a major Madrid rally on 24 July, showing no let-up just a day after rallying an estimated 200,000 protesters.

I wonder if they play soccer while protesting in Spain!: http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0620/spain.html

Come on Asad, go! ‘As a pro-democracy uprising continues to rage in Syria, about 100 protesters marched Sunday night from Laurel Street and Sixth Avenue through Balboa Park, shouting “Long live Syria. Down, down with Assad.”’

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/19/balboa-park-protest-supports-pro-democracy-effort/

The King says he is bringing reforms, the people think its not enough: ‘Several thousand Moroccans have taken to streets in the country's biggest city, Casablanca, in protest against the constitutional reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI.’

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185447.html

I thought the Catholics were Conserving in nature?  But...

 Parishioners of a liberal Catholic Church demonstrated outside the facility Sunday, protesting what they say is a more conservative direction the parish has taken the past two years

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_18312325?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Up-close and personal is always the best!

Northern Territory cattlemen will deliver a personal message about the ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia when they meet federal parliamentarians in Canberra

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/cattlemen-deliver-personal-message-to-mps-20110621-1gc8k.html

Happy Protesting Everyone, but sincerely today belongs to Ben Haw who couldn’t beat Cancer....his cause lives on.

University of Malawi - Anti-Government Demonstration

Since street demonstrtaions are banned in Malawi, Students at the country's top university, The Polytechnic decided to stage an in-campus demo wher they burnt the ruling party cloth, chanted anti-government slogans and yes they rocked to the sound system...the following day government ordered the university to be shut down.

Check it out on Youtube here

‘It sure feels like the 70’s Cambodia’

I released this press release after the University Council of the University of Malawi decided to close down the two main universities in Malawi...giving students two hours to vacate campus and they did so at gun-point. the PSU is the Polytechnic Students Union and  i am its spokesperson.

We the PSU feel that the decision to close down the university is not only morally, practically wrong but also illegal and illegitimate.

Poly Students were never in conflict with the University Council, actually we only knew of its existence after the ‘academic freedom’ battle began. To us, this fact tells us that the council lacks sufficient interest in the issue.

When lecturers downed their tools, the university council never sent them a bogus memo with typographical errors on fools’ day giving them notice of vacation. Why students? Is it because we have no legal muscle? We have been calling for dialogue on the issue but the warring sides refuse and chose to use us as pawns.

To add salt to the wound; take Lemmy who hails from Chitipa and he has two hours to pack and then find transport money to go to Chitipa, and its already 2pm. Is this decision made with ‘fairness’ in mind or it was just some sort of vendetta?

Polytechnic students chose to take a stand in the issue, as the adage says; fight for something or fall for everything, we analysed the academic freedom battle and found it sweet and worthy the ride so when Poly lecturers joined the battle by downing tools we never whined, we giggled with excitement. When the same lecturers dropped the battle we took it from where they left it.

Our argument was simple, learning these days is learner centred thus academic freedom is chiefly for the students.  Secondly, we saw bribes and cowardice in the lecturers’ decision to drop the issue, so we demanded an explanation and when we heard from PASCOW’s chair, Salima that it was due to tribal allegiances, we declared Poly a no fly zone for lecturers, anybody would. 2011 is no time to be dabbling in tribal foolishness and as lecturers they should know better. So the students; Lhomwe, Tumbuka, Chewa and Sena fought on.

We feel that the involvement of police in this issue is not legal. We are fighting with Mukitho and how do you expect the same Mukitho to handle us? It’s why we have police officers gassing students and beating us like bags of sand. 

Police involvement is also illegal in that the Kampala Declaration forbids any police presence on any campus or where African intellectuals are...why do Malawian police, led by the whole commissioner invade our campus? Yes we know most of them are brutes but at least they should have heard of the word ‘law.’

Now we have lost a student, Justice Mwafulirwa,  yes he had lung trouble but what sparked the final blow is cleary the gas that was settled on campus, there have been about five cases of students collapsing in the hostels since the teargas was fired, and they have been none since the semester started, draw your own conclusions.

We will not speak much on the minister of education here, because he has failed us miserably and if he thinks this is a lie, let him try to come to Poly one day.

Finally, we have our chancellor, forget the debate about the legality of his post as chancellor; to us he is the one to blame for all that has transpired in this conflict and to achieve peace will also demand his hands as well.

When the president was being inaugurated, he vowed never to close down any university in his reign...how ironic and funny does it feel to finally break the vow on fools’ day?

At first we thought the president would quickly apply Machiavellian philosophy and fire Mukitho to make peace with the whole load of critics, most of whom are influential, but to our shock Mukitho was glorified and the rest vilified effectively starting the ‘Chinsinga wars.’

The details are not our concern, but we are the sufferers, we know that as university students we have the power to start a revolution but that depends on the failure of government not on a single lecturer. The university system is too complex for anybody to manipulate.

The way forward depends on what the president will do and on the way the grieving lecturers will be handled. Already Poly students are swearing to continue where they left off if any lecturer or student is fired.

 As a union, and as we said at our previous press conference, the issue will only rest in our hearts if the law takes its course, we can’t be having anybody coming to campus and saying and doing  things in the name of national security especially when they have never been to a campus before.

We hope this is not the beginning of the Khmer Rouge type of government which hated intellectuals and eliminated most of them because of the ideas of a few. Already, we cannot seem to stage a demonstration without the City Assembly and police firmly refusing us permission.

 We also should take time to salute those who have stood firm in this time of battle, names like Kamchezera, Kapasula, Salima, Amin, Kanyongolo, Mungoshi, Sithole, Morra and Mgala.

PSU would also like to thank the public and the independent media for being understanding and empathetic even when we were being violent and barbaric. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The law, through the constitution and the Kampala Declaration speaks of academic freedom, let government grant and assure it.

As PSU, we are disappointed in the system and we hope that when we return we shall find no spies in classes, no intimidated lecturers, no uniformed brutes on campus, and we hope that we will return to campus very soon as the world, including the police force, is waiting for our well trained input.

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.

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.

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!

Protest Pictures

Student at Viphya Secondary school in Mzuzu, Malawi broke every window pane at their school in protest against the schools supspending of four boys. the school has since been closed and the damage is pegged at K2.5 million

Student at Viphya Secondary school in Mzuzu, Malawi broke every window pane at their school in protest against the schools supspending of four boys. the school has since been closed and the damage is pegged at K2.5 million

A University of Malawi student challenges the whole Chipembere Highway in Blantyre to stop while he poses for a photo...the highway passes through the campus and anything can happen to outsiders...curses, stone hurling and when the students strike the highway is targeted. when its blocked the students are soon live on air and their grievieances heard at the State House

the first youngman (in Grey Tshirt) has already got his "Gin" babtism, the one in yellow get his Babtism while he hides his Carlsberg beer bottle from the high priest

A student captured at Mzuzu University displays a shirt he made from combined cloth of  Malawi's rival party

Cross-Dressing is taboo in Malawi...not for they two young men