From ‘Subjects’ to ‘Citizens’: A tale of Malawi’s triumph in 2020

Malawi’s first leader, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was a bad dictator who, for 31 years, reduced Malawians into subjects of this nation.

For over three decades, Malawians had no say in how they were being governed for every attempt to speak out, even a slight one, ended in streams of tears and pool of blood.

It was in rejection of being subjects in their own country, that is why Malawians, in 1994, voted out Banda and opted for democracy where their voices should matter in how they were being governed.

Simply put, in 1994, Malawians rejected the notion of being subjects and opted to be citizens where, as the Constitution stipulates, those governing this country should do so at the sustained trust of the governed.

For 26 years that Malawians have been experimenting to be citizens in their country, the journey hasn’t been that rosy. Those in power, in the past 26 years, have been steadfast in advancing selfish policies aimed at stopping Malawians from being citizens in their country.

One of such policies is on how those in power have been stifling the voice of Malawians through manipulating the electoral processes to their favour.

Apart from the 1994 and 2009 general elections, almost all our electoral processes have been wrought with widespread irregularities that militated against every thought of free and fair elections.

Electoral irregularities became a constant feature of electoral processes, almost a normal, a rotten culture that stole the voice of Malawians in deciding how they must be governed.

But, as they say, every dog has its day.

The 2019 elections, just as its sisters before, were wrought with numerous irregularities that questioned its integrity. As usual, one expected the opposition leaders to cry out loud in the media, a rush to the court and, after, that silence—everything returns to normal.

Interestingly, 2019/2020 was different. A ruthless and unforgiving voice of the people, through civil society organizations, ganged up and mobilized every sector of the society, both through the medium of courts and street protest, to challenge the 2019 electoral results as it did not represent the voice of Malawi.

The level of resolve was unprecedented. Malawians gave up everything to defend their voice—a new feature of hitting self-actualization in the journey to citizen hood.

It paid off, eventually.

Courts overturned the results, fresh elections were held and the people’s favorites rose to power. Surely, 2020 showed us that, when people stand together and defend their voice, the outcome would be certain.

The question is: Will the 2020 resolve be sustained or it will sink with time?

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