Where is Malawi’s Freedom Day?

It is official!!  Freedom Day has been removed – a public holiday in Malawi to mark and commemorate the second emancipation of the people of Malawi.  It was a day on which we should desire to reflect and ponder upon the noble achievement of our heroes and all those we venerate; most specifically for ending 31 atrocious, repressive and oppressive years under the one party system of government led by the late Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda and the Malawi Congress Party.

Our first emancipation is commemorated as we celebrate the attainment of our Republican status on July 6, every year.  On this day we also commemorate the arrival of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda from Ghana on July 6, 1958.  In the same vein we would write correct history if we capture events as they unfolded.

This day and Holiday should be restored and dedicated to the advent of multiparty politics.  It also marked the unleashing of the various God given freedoms and rights.  This noble accomplishment has no chronological support for June 14.  We need to rethink this matter and urgently put issues into perspective.

This day, event and its observance would not express satisfactorily its deserved appropriateness, relevance, and significance without taking note of or reviewing the works of particular individuals and institutions that initiated and consummated this noble task and when.

We are all aware of when the Catholic Bishops in Malawi raised the initial alarm with their pastoral letter in which they high lighted what they deemed immoral in the process and system of governance in Malawi.  The contents of this letter were endorsed by the majority of Malawians as absolute truth and pertinent.  The University of Malawi also added their voice in support of the same; and to condemn the death threats that were issued against the clergy by the Malawi Congress Party cadres for authoring the candid scroll.

However, the context of the matter as it evolved became substantively political, and there was none at that material moment from the political fraternity who could brave to move the public opinion caused by the pastoral letter further, even though the masses were adequately sensitized and converted enough to act.

The nation was at cross roads.  To the governing elite and a majority of party cadres in the then “mighty” MCP, it was unimaginable that an individual would rise and raise a voice against the Ngwazi.  The general atmosphere was that of “shock and awe”, especially about what was to befall the Catholic clergy.

In this moment of unease and tension it was abundantly clear that the nation needed some one, who had had youthful years and mature accomplishments, one who had the courageous commitment to venture into uncharted career waters, with a commitment to intellectual excellence.  And as the events of April 6, 1992 made it clear, we had found one; none other than late Chakufwa Tom Chihana (pictured).

In the power of the Almighty God, Chakufwa spoke and we all heard him challenge the one party system of government and call for political pluralism and democracy in Malawi. That is the Freedom Day for Malawi- April 6.

He did not individualize the fight; it was he and the Alliance for Democracy AFORD that epitomized the process of democratization in Malawi.

It was AFORD and Chihana that drew the chronological agenda which the MCP government eventually implemented:  Namely, holding a national Referendum for Malawians to choose between the one party political system and the multi party political system, followed by the declaration of general amnesty to allow exiles to return to their homeland and participate in further events to follow – holding a general election for Malawians to elect a government of their choice.  This chronological agenda was duly adopted and implemented by the Ngwazi and the Malawi government.

It is therefore our considered view in the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), that as a liberation movement in the 90s, we delivered the initial goal.  We further acknowledge and greatly appreciate the unprecedented and tremendous support the party enjoyed from Malawians of all walks of life, young and old, male and female.

We also in a special way acknowledge the support of the international community without which the process of the second emancipation would have been slower and more painful than it was accomplished.  It should also be anticipated that our National Assembly will take interest in the matter and discern serendipity of it in the name of genuine democracy and nationhood

In the same breath, we humbly call upon all that subscribe to this reality, AFORD members and other support groups, friends of AFORD locally and abroad, our trusted friends in the Diplomatic circles, the Faith community, to relive and recall the events of 1992 to 1994, and revalidate the role AFORD played, in the hope that we may find cause not to abandon AFORD merely due to the flippant and frivolous misunderstandings that recently inhibited the party’s activities and progress.

Good news is, all that intra-party bickering was sheer delinquency which the party has competently resolved.  That makes it imperative for the lovers and defenders of democracy to engage and examine this party to encourage, reinvigorate and redirect it in the way of progress.

We call upon the Forum for New Direction (FOND), Public Affairs Committee (PAC), and GTZ Forum for Dialogue and Peace, Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and all those civil society organizations that feel concerned about the plight of this historically significant liberation movement to speedily harness a consortium to restore form in AFORD.

This should include, helping to plan, conduct and coordinate the party’s next convention where new and able leadership shall be selected and elected, tidy up its constitution to remove all manner of ambiguity and perfect its ideology as well as educate/train its cadres accordingly.

*The author is the National Elections Director of Alliance for Democracy (Aford)

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