When historians sit down to chronicle the story of our nation, it will be written that Reverend Christopher Mzomera Ngwira MP struck the match to light the fire of federalism. Hopefully, historians will remember that the Reverend was not for federalism per se; rather he wanted the northern region to secede from Malawi altogether. Federalism […]
Localized Governance Every province has political, social and economic problems peculiar to the region itself. Provincial government representatives live in proximity to the people and are most of the time from the same community, so that they are in a better position to understand these problems and offer unique solutions for them. For example, traffic […]
Son to the Malawi’s fallen pro-democracy hero Chakufwa Tom Chihana, Enock, who is also leader of the now tiny opposition Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) is accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of by-passing democratic principles of free debate on issues of national importance such as federalism. Speaking to Nyasa Times on Friday, Chihana asked DPP […]
President for Malawi’s leading opposition party in parliament MCP, Dr Lazarus Chakwera says his party is yet to make its position on the ongoing debate about the introduction of federal systems of governed as opposed to the current unitary government. Chakwera said although MCP has no stand on federal system of government, its members are free […]
A two-day national stakeholders forum organised by Public Affairs Committee (PAC) on inclusivity and federalism, aimed at enhancing common understanding of federalism, commenced on Monday in Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre. The conference whose theme is ‘Enhancing a Common Understanding on Inclusivity and Federalism in Malawi’ has attracted representatives from academia, faith community, political parties, Malawi Congress […]
It has pleased our leader of delegation, Chief Apostle Professor Abiti Joyce Befu, MG 66, to appoint Assistant Chief Apostle Innocett Mawawaya, A3, the delegation’s communication and PR manager and adviser on national reconciliation and cultural literacy. The appointment has been necessitated by the need for our delegation to maintain a regular and positive media […]
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has denied reports that he previously proposed federalism and proportional representation in the country, describing them as two possible ways of doing away with concerns of regional marginalisation. Addressing the National Constitutional Review Conference in Lilongwe, held from 28 to 31 March 2006 titled ‘Towards a More Manageable Constitution, Mutharika, then […]
The current democracy is nothing but fake and unlikely to be sustainable due to the fact that we do not have national parties but rather regional-based parties masquerading as national parties. Thus one group of people ends up annexing the other(s) creating a “them and us” syndrome and in the process moving away from a […]
Public Affairs Committee (PAC), Malawi’s influential religious body, will conduct a national stakeholders forum on inclusivity and federalism on November 24 and 25 in Blantyre. The theme for the forum is ‘Enhancing a Common Understanding on Inclusivity and Federalism in Malawi’. The event, according to PAC Executive Director Robert Phiri, will serve as a dialogue mechanism […]
Let us switch gears this time around and do a bunch of different things together. We will see how it all works. Those who paid attention to what happened this past week heard about new degree programs in Gender Studies at a Malawi university. Then there was the story of top Civil Society leaders appointed […]
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says the party leadership has never bribed anybody to speak against federalism. DPP Publicity Secretary Francis Lazaro Kasaila was commenting on what opposition Malawi Congress Paryy (MCP) spokeswoman Dr Jessie Kabwila said last week that those who are eating the money are the ones rejecting federalism. Kabwila was trashing […]
Advantages of a federal state compared with a unitary state: Distribution of power: Distribution of power ensures that there are checks and balances, helping to prevent abuse of power. More democracy: Each citizen has two opportunities to exercise the most fundamental democratic right, namely the right to vote; in a federation, elections are held both […]
Forum for the Advancement of Federal System in Malawi (FAFESM) has accused ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of organising and sponsoring its Youth Cadets to disrupt the federal system debate held at Grand Palace Hotel in Mzuzu and aired live on Zodiak Radio. The forum chair Dr Bina Shawa noted that DPP organized a youth […]
What justifies federalist sentiments? The idea of federalism has proved to be so seductive to many Malawians that I have felt compelled to restate my opposition to it and communicate it to a wider audience. I understand and will explain why more and more people are finding it attractive, but argue nevertheless that federalism is […]
A professor at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) Fred Msiska on Wednesday spoke in support of a federal system of government in Malawi during a public debate held at Grand Palace Hotel in Mzuzu which was broadcast live on Zodiak Broadcasting Service. Prof Msiska, who is a director of open and distance learning at Mzuni, trashed anti-federalism […]
State House wishes to unequivocally present His Excellency the State President Prof Arthur Peter Mutharika’s position on federalism as follows. President Mutharika has on more than one occasion said that he would not stop anyone from advocating for federalism because he believes in freedom of expression which is enshrined in our Republican Constitution. He also […]
The opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has maintain its stand that it is federal system of government which can help to achieve equitable distribution of resources in the country. MCP publicity secretary Dr Jessie Kabwila, whose party has officially stated it is for federalism, told Nyasa Times in a telephone interview on Friday tin reaction […]
Former leader of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) John Tembo and Monsignor Boniface Tamani joined the federalism debate this past week and spoke more or less from the same script. Monsignor Tamani was quoted saying instead of working together to solve Malawi’s many development challenges, federalism proponents had “selfish reasons” for proposing that the country […]