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UDF women were in for a shock Wednesday when they were barred from entering Usaid campus in Lilongwe where President Bingu wa Mutharika took part in the celebration to mark 44 years of the agency’s operations in the country.
Nation Online witnessed a heated argument between some UDF women and young democrats on the one hand and Safetech security guards, on the other, at one of the gates when the guards told them that they were ordered not to admit them into the function.
The irate women and young democrats resisted and tried to force themselves into the function, threatening to beat them up and demanding to know who ordered that they should be barred.
But the party loyalists gave up when the security officers put their foot down and told them that they could only admit them if cleared by their officials and threatened to use force.
However some of the women later squeezed themselves into the campus through the gate used by the President but they were noticed by a Usaid official who was seen ordering security officers to move them out of the campus.
Nation Online witnessed some security officers pushing the women most of them in traditional wear and party colours out of the gate while other security
officers struggled to bar several others from jumping over the closed security bar.
UDF spokesperson Humphrey Mvula said in an interview that what happened was unfair, claiming it has always been a trend where women accompany the President to give him support when attending such functions.
“I don’t think it’s a fair way of treating party women. Political leaders live on moral support by their followers. To be denied entry was wrong unless they misbehaved or undermined the security of the office,” said Mvula.
“Members who came along with the President were there to see the president and give him support. This is not the first time they have done that.”
Meanwhile, Usaid Charge d’Affaires David Gilmour has pledged to continue assisting Malawi to realise its development agendas in areas of education, democracy and good governance, agriculture and several other sectors supported by his government.
He said his government has spent $1 billion (about K117 million) in several development activities since it started assisting the country 44 years ago, saying he was happy that the initiatives have borne fruits in transforming the lives of Malawians.
“I see it when I meet many colleagues in government, NGOs, and the private sector who have benefited from Usaid’s university education and professional training programmes. I see it when I meet Malawians who are exercising their constitutional rights having learned about those rights through a Usaid-funded programme,” Gilmour said.
He said Usaid’s long term investment in rural water initiatives over the past 35 years have brought safe drinking water to over 70 percent of rural Malawians-one of highest rates in Sub Saharan Africa.
President Mutharika said his government is grateful with the support from the United States government, which he said has transformed several sectors of the economy and raised people’s standards of living with an ultimate objective of eradicating poverty.
But Mutharika hoped that Malawi will now qualify for support under the Millennium Challenge Account (MICA), which Malawi did not qualify during the initial round because of its shortcomings in its fiscal and financial management.
“It is my hope that your Excellency will convince your government that Malawi has now instituted a strong economic and financial management programme,” said Mutharika.
He reiterated that his government will put in place new measures for the reform of the public sector, the civil service, agriculture sector and the private sector to create a conducive environment to achieve an annual growth rate of at least six percent, which is needed to substantially reduce poverty.
He said his government is also determined to improve accountability and transparency through zero tolerance option on corruption.
“Furthermore my administration is committed to ensure that institutions for political and economic transformation should not just exist on paper but that they should be seen to do the work for which they were established,” he said.
Gilmour said his government is committed to investing in countries that care for health and education of their people, countries that respect freedom and the rule of law and countries that unleash the power of the private sector.
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