Malawi President adamant on flag change
President Bingu wa Mutharika says his government will go ahead with modification of the national flag though many Malawians have spoken against the change.
Mutharika said this on Wednesday at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe on his arrival from Uganda where he went to attend the 15th African Union (AU) summit.
Dismissing claims by the opposition, civil society, faith organizations and other quarters that government did not consult; the President said his administration widely consulted the people of Malawi.
He said the Ministry of Information and Civic Education conducted country wide consultations to get a public say on the matter and was convinced that Malawians are for the idea.
Said Mutharika: “If you are against the changing of the Malawi national flag and your argument is that you were not consulted, you may have been out consuming alcohol at the time, so do not cry foul now.”
The President’s remarks come after Wednesday’s media reports that he was yet to assent to the Protected Flags, Emblems and Names Amendment Bill, beating the 21 days requirement.
Parliament on July 2, 2010 passed the Protected Flags, Emblems and Names Amendment Bill despite protests from the country’s opposition parties, who spoke against the change during debate in the National Assembly during the last sitting.
In protest, the Opposition Members of Parliament further went ahead boycotting deliberations of the Protected Flags, Emblems and Names Amendment Bill, arguing that that government was using its numerical advantage in the National Assembly to bully everyone to submit to its decisions.
Prior to the tabling of the bill in parliament, government conducted a country-wide “consultation exercise” in which chiefs, who are paid by government, were largely said to have accepted the proposal.
On the expenses to be incurred during the change, Mutharika said matter-of-factly that the cost of changing the national flag, which opponents of the idea site, should not be cause for alarm.
“It is just too little,” he said when asked to make public how much would go into the assignment.
He said since the attainment of Independence in 1964, “Malawi has transformed in so many ways hence the need to have the flag changed to depict the current national status.”
Government intends to modify the national flag in order to align it with the current political and democratic realities as well as the social and economic development achievements and aspirations that Malawians are experiencing and cherishing.
Tagged with: Bingu, DPP, national flag
Bingu thinks that we are all drunkards like him.he is just arroogant for nothing.don’t waste tax payers money for the useless flag change which will not bring any development.
This man is very old and he seems he has totallly lost direction.he should be ready to take his brother to ndata.Nobody needs him for presiedent.
We need leaders with proper thinking in malawi with long vision for malawi not some short sighted leaders
The problem with us Malawians is that, we just argue without giving strong back ups. Everything is changing in every passing momment, in that we should also move with time. We dont have to be luggards.
Moving with time ndiye zikukhudza kusintha mbendera. Ikakhala moving with time osaika mipope ya madzi m’midzi monsemu bwanji. 21st century anthu akumwabe madzi a pa chithaphwi ndiye moving with time ikhale mbendera?
flag change will improve nothing to the society of malawi but only wasting tax payers money. would the government plz take that money and invest in something that malawi will benefit other that giving the dammen printing contract to urselves.Fear God
God be with u
I am a pan-Africanist and I vehemently support Mr. Mutharika’s decision. I just wish he was more articulate so that other people could be more understanding than they are. The essence of his decision is very philosophical and so insightful. It comes down to the question: “What is in a name?” If I call you “dog”, does it make you a dog? Changing Malawi’s flag touches on something very sensitive … the country’s IDENTITY. Mr. Mutharika is a visionary, a man born before his time. He is able to see things that the common man may not see at first glance, and I salute him for this. However, I would caution him to use as little monies as possible on this project because there are many other pressing needs in Malawi. For the record, I have no doubt that he shall do this because I have seen through his actions that he is very frugal with monies. Is he not the only President in Africa who banned his ministers from traveling abroad on “state missions” at the the time that the financial crisis was wreaking havoc across the globe? Oh yes, Mr. Mutharika is a visionary, a man born well before his team. I salute you, Comrade Mutharika!