Malawi is a de facto one party dictatorship–cleric

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s DPP is abusing its absolute majority in the National Assembly and has turned the country to a de facto one-party constitutional dictatorship, outspoken Moderator of Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), Rev Mezuwa Banda has said.

Rev Mezuwa Banda told Capital Radio’s Straight Talk programme on Thursday evening that ruling DPP is abusing its majority to pass bills in parliament without proper scrutinisation.

“Bills should not just be passed so quickly like that without looking at the weaknesses or the strength at the bill. Tomorrow the same bills that they have been passed into law will haunt us,” said the eloquently speaking cleric.

“It’s a kind of de facto one party system,” said Rev Mezuwa.

“The overwhelming majority of the DPP makes it a weak parliament which does not scrutinize the bills; they have passed in a hurry. And they don’t listen to the voice of the civil society that has always been urging parliament to be very, very committed to serving the people not the political party,” he said.

The cleric said bills are just passed even when the civil society cries foul giving an example of the local government bill which was approved by the President when people protested that the Head of State should not assent to it.

“It’s unfortunate that the DPP’s majority is turning to be negative to the nation in as far as parliamentary debate is concerned. We would have loved to see bills being debated thoroughly in more mature manner than it is the case now,” said Rev Mezuwa.

The presenter asked the Moderator why he and the Livingstonia synod has become bitter critics of President Mutharika, he said: “In a democracy people don’t just swallow things. People have freedom to digest and give a feedback back to their own government.

“Barack Obama in the United States is in trouble because of his health policy. In the UK, Brown is criticized left and right. People have the right to take their government to task on policies that they don’t feel are right with them.”

Asked to comment on corruption perception in the country, he said the vice is worsening.

“What we have been told by those measuring corruption, corruption is worsening. We are worried that corruption is worsening when there is zero tolerance on corruption. We are all responsible, we cannot blame one person. On corruption, everybody is to blame,” he said.

On democracy, he said: “Sometimes we are making gains then there is also retrogression.”

“The passing of those bills on local government elections, we think that we are getting backwards because why should the President determine the date of holding these elections why not give it to the constitution itself to determine.

“When the minister of local government has power to appoint certain officials in the system, then that’s a backward move. The councilors themselves should have powers to appoint the people they want to lead them.”

Journalist Brian Banda known for his no-holds barred questions in the Straight Talk interviews asked Rev Mezuwa if he sometimes gets scared with his outburst.

“Getting scared of what?” asked the cleric.

“Getting scared of the unknown,” said the presenter.

Rev Mezuwa said: “Not at all. I am a preacher man. I was trained not to fear. I was trained to say my mind if it is coming from God. So, all my convictions is that I am a voice of the voiceless. I am a leader of a church; I have to speak things without any fear in me.”

Asked how he feels when President Mutharika publicly mentions him, he said; “I am humbled, I am a small man, I am not a threat to the President and when he mentions my name I say well I am doing my role, I am playing my role as a church leader. I am never threatened as such. I go about doing my business without any feeling of remorse.”

“I was called to a ministry. When I die, let me die because I am in God’s ministry.”

He also said there is nothing wrong for the clergy to plan a demonstration against bad policies of government saying history is replete with stories of similar nature where parallels could be drawn from.

Rev Mezuwa Banda cited selfless Malawi’s fallen hero Rev John Chilembwe, Rev Chimaliro and  Martin Luther King Jnr, the 1964 Nobel peace prize winner and other prominent Christians who  have marched in their times.

“If you read the story of Jericho, follow Jericho the children of Israel marched around Jericho and the cities fell, demonstrations are there in bible.

“f you look at Jesus Christ, his triumphal  entry into Jerusalem was a kind of a march, that’s why he marched into Jerusalem so the next day he was there overturning the tables but initially from the Mount of Olive to Jerusalem it was kind of a march”.

He said in Mzuzu  City there’re is a road named in honour of Rev Chimariro, a minister of CCAP who led a march to the provincial commissioner of the colonial masters.

“Marches have been there in the bible, there have been there in historical times. The march of Jesus was against the authorities that were abusing the temple and all people he turned against. So it’s very much similar.”

“Chilembwe was the first one in the history of Malawi. Chilembwe did it and we all praised him, he even went overboard by beheading the head of Liston and he did a lot of other things that are very controversial but we have not beheaded anybody’s head. So Chilembwe did it, it was fine, why is not fine with Livingstonia.”

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