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| Features |
| Tears of small giant |
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by
Mzati Nkolokosa, 04 August 2004
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19:12:37
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The formation of UDF as a pressure group was announced on October 19, 1992, a day after President Hastings Kamuzu Banda declared there would be a referendum, a vote for or against multiparty politics.
UDF joined an advanced battle for democracy. There was already freedom of the press, speech and conscious.
The party rose to great heights and by May, 1994, Muluzi was like a source of a mountain river, seen from a peak; he was a prospective origin of cold water, too sweet to be resisted by people who had been thirsty for three decades.
No wonder the majority, with hopes of quenching dry throats, chose Muluzi in the 1994 general elections ably handled by Justice Anastanzia Msosa with her commissioners and staff.
River Muluzi begun to flow or appeared to do so on May 21, 1994 during a swearing in ceremony at Chichiri Stadium.
People at the foot of the mountain had mouths open in readiness for a cold drink called poverty alleviation. But now poverty is worse than 10 years ago.
And the party, too, is weak. It’s a weakness towards death. I don’t want UDF to “die”, said Muluzi at a rally he addressed Sunday at Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.
Sure. Very few would love to see the end of UDF. But if UDF dies, the cause will be from within the party. The party was satisfied with victory over MCP forgetting that Malawians wanted a transformation of the economy.
The party’s formation was a direct result of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and publication of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ pastoral letter, Living Our Faith, in early 1992, says a book titled Church, Law and Political Transition in Malawi 1992-94.
The fall of Russia transferred interests of old democracies from fighting communism to building and consolidating democracy.
Western democracies withdrew aid to Malawi and called for improved human rights record, accountability and transparency. The UDF came into power promising these elements of democracy which, unfortunately, came in little amounts.
Now President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government of UDF is heading towards accountability and transparency. Malawi’s problems require prudent economic management. And that’s what the Mutharika administration is doing. In fact Muluzi himself said time for politics is no more. It’s time for economic management.
And Mutharika is doing just that. Strangely the same UDF, the real UDF perhaps, isn’t pleased at all. The party has become of not so much importance to the needs of Malawi.
The party wanted separation of party and government. This is the reason the position of national party chair was introduced.
Mutharika is following that to the dot and UDF is not happy. Lack of vision on the part of the party. UDF made its own bed and the party is refusing to lie on it.
UDF is weak, weaker than it was on the election day. This is mainly due to a poor succession formula. Another lack of vision. If an election was held today UDF would not get more MPs than it has today.
Further, UDF has not only refused to lie on the bed but the party is angry and divided. Part of the 34 percent that voted for Mutharika is not happy. Mutharika is doing what is good for Malawi.
UDF was a party of arrogance especially between 1999 and 2004. Every piece of advice was treated with suspicion and ridicule. The party failed to handle succession. The ugly attempt to extend presidential terms was the last blow to the reputation of UDF.
Malawians, who fought for change, were being taken for a ride. UDF was behaving like it was the only group that brought change.
Yet five months before UDF was formed, Malawians from all walks all life took to the streets. Students, for example, supported the pastoral letter. Workers, too, put down tools and took to the streets demanding better wages and working conditions. About 42 people were killed, shedding blood, seeds of democracy.
“The disturbances have come to be called the May riots of 1992, a landmark in Malawi’s history comparable to 3 March in 1959, the original Martyrs’ day,” says one author adding: “A new generation of political martyrs was ordained.”
Indeed because press freedom was there long before UDF was formed. The Financial Post was the first independent publication. It was a combination of rare talent in Aldin Osman and Jika Nkolokosa. Journalists, and there are many of them, fought for democracy long before politicians.
Pressure groups followed the independent press. Alliance for Democracy (Aford) was launched in mid September 1992.
Chakufwa Chihana was arrested on April 6, the same year. His trial made him hero, almost president. Supporters turned clothes into a carpet for Chihana’s car. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour which was reduced to nine months by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
It is widely accepted that Chihana became a living symbol of the struggle against dictatorship and human rights abuses in Malawi. But by the time he was released from jail in June, 1993, the political field had been invaded by UDF, a party that has reduced him to a constituency hero.
Changes pointing to democracy took place in 1992. Dr Banda addressed the nation on 5 July and announced that Malawians could meet cabinet ministers. The result was a Presidential Committee on Dialogue (PCD) representing government and Public Affairs Committee (Pac) for ordinary people.
UDF came in October as “a group of Malawians deeply concerned about the current state of the Malawi nation which would mount a crusade for the establishment of a genuinely democratic government in Malawi”.
Democratic changes had taken place before UDF. And more changes took place in parliament where UDF had no members.
As of December 1993, Parliament had abolished the life Presidency, detention without trial, the Forfeiture Act and notably the Decency in Dress Act attracting Polytechnic female students to immediately put on pairs of trousers and walk on Masauko Chipembere Highway, then Kamuzu Highway.
It was people of Malawi that fought for change. UDF was not there when people took to the streets to demand better working conditions.
Malawians had expressed desire for change. But there was need for a group of people to organise itself and represent people. This is where Muluzi and UDF came in to fill the gap.
UDF stood on the shoulders of Malawians. This is what the party didn’t realise all the years.
Now the truth is coming out. Now the party, a once giant group, is crying in public. Tears are coming out through cracks. Even the party chair was below his usual Sunday at Chileka Airport.
In between his speech, people with the sixth sense saw tears flowing down. Tears are a language that can be read and understood.
Ninety percent of the human body is water. And serious losses of water affect the appearance of the skin. UDF is losing water in form of tears and shrinking in size.
The party, once a giant, is now slimming at an alarming rate. UDF is fast becoming a small giant. |
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