‘Malawi a Place Apart’ book launches: Author ex Norwegian Ambassador Eidhammer, hails ‘man of the people’ Muluzi
Former Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, Asbjorn Eidhammer, launched his book titled Malawi a Place Apart at Jacaranda Cultural Centre in Blantyre, over the weekend.
The event brought together prestigious literary intellectuals who interestingly critiqued the non-fiction book unravelling Malawi’s history to date.
Eidhammer served as Ambassador to Malawi from 1999 to 2004 and then again from 2011 to 2014.
Commenting on the book, the former ambassador said he mostly referenced his book through the history written by Desmond Duwa Phiri about Malawi including his personal observations whist he was in Malawi over the years.
“It is risky business for a foreigner, like myself, to write a piece like this but at the same time, methods were used to make the book more balanced and objective. It is fair to say Malawi, just like many other African countries has not had a smooth path since democracy,” he said.
Lastly, Eidhammer, who flew in from Norway last week, read chapter six of his book, in title A Man of the People, a chapter that talks about the former President, Bakili Muluzi, who was in office from 1994 to 2004.
During the launch, Historian, Desmond Duwa Phiri, acknowledged with great respect with some of his print articles hang on the walls around the room.
Malawi: A Place Apart, published by Logos-Open Culture, offers some food for thought on whether democracy is contributing to the development of the country.
Logos-Open Culture co-founder Muti Phoya described the book as a bestseller.
He said the Malawian culture has influenced a number of changes we are facing today but the country’s history is not well documented with some information misleading the public hence the need to write more books like the one being launched.
Clearly economics is not his field nor was transformation of malawian economy part of his mission in Malawi beacuse if it was he would know who his talking about