Dausi targets Malawi Catholic youths to defy Bishops on demos:  Same method used during one-party on Pastoral letter

Minister of Information Nicholus Dausi has been mobilizing some Catholic youths especially in the Archdiocese of Blantyre to defy the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) directive for a peaceful mass demonstration on December 13 to push government to table Electoral Reforms Bills, including the 50+1 provision.

Nyasa Times can reveal that Dausi, a well known Roman Catholic faithful, is chairing a task force which is finding ways of thwarting the nationalwide mass demonstration slated for December 13, 2017.

“The minister has been approaching some of our friends to defy the Catholic bishops directive on MBC radio and TV and social media platforms.

“I know for sure that most of them have been given money and they get it from Dausi himself,” said one of the Catholic youth who has been approached on the scheme.

Another impeccable source confided to us that there is indeed a task-force headed by Dausi whose aim is to find ways of thwarting the national demonstrations which has received endorsement from almost all religious groups in the country.

“It is clear the government is afraid of these demonstrations, there is too much frustration in this country and government feels this demonstration may spark some unrest because people are angry,” he said.

He said Dausi has reached to some Catholic youths especially from the Blantyre archdiocese to defy the ECM  directive for people to go and conduct peaceful demonstrations.

“There is a lot of money exchanging hands on this which shows that government is not comfortable with the demonstrations,” said our source.

Apprently, when Catholic bishops  issues a pastoral letter in 1992 read out in churches throughout the country – to condemn former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda – Dausi who was Banda’s aide used the same method with other officials to fight the bishop even threatening their lives.

When that letter was issued, the then-administration which Dausi was part of rounded up the Catholicbishops and a special convention of the party resolved to kill them.They were spared after international condemnation and intervention by Pope John Paul II.

That church move in 1992 is credited with bringing about dramatic social and political change in Malawi after three decades of tyranny.

Catholic Bishops and other religious leaders are calling on their followers to go and attend the mass demonstrations against government reluctance to table before parliament some electoral reforms bill which include the controversial provision of declaring winner of presidential election a candidate who has amassed 50+ 1% of the national vote.

The marches are  organised by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) which the bishops endorsed at their meeting held from November 28 to 30.

The bishops asked their faithful to mobilise all Catholics and people of goodwill within dioceses and parishes to participate in the marches, but also to pray for the nation and its leadership and take part in the marches in the spirit of active citizenship.

TheAnglican, the Evangelicals, Muslims and CCAP synods have also asked its followers to participate in the marches, urging them to congregate at four points in the country’s cities of Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba.

Catholic Church, with more than three million followers, is the largest  and influential church in Malawi.

It is credited with initiating political change after its historic pastoral letter of 8 March, 1992, led to democratic and human rights reforms. These ended three decades of oppressive rule by Kamuzu Banda.

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