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JB welcomes Pastoral letter

Banda:It offers food for thought
Banda:It offers food for thought

President Joyce Banda yesterday welcomed the criticism from Catholic bishops in the country of her administration’s management style, including abuse of power and limited adherence to the rule of law.

Speaking during the World Aids Day commemoration in Kasungu, Banda said her government will work on the shortfalls pointed out and consolidate the positive gains.

She said: “The pastoral letter is giving us an opportunity to improve on the shortcomings. This [pastoral letter] is a welcome development, God speaks through leaders such as the bishops.”

The President warned her followers to desist from arguing against anything from the letter the Catholic Church issued yesterday in which the bishops condemned government’s handling of several sticky issues, including the Capital Hill cashgate and poor democratic principles.

In the pastoral letter under the theme ‘Strengthening The Vision Of Our Destiny’ read in all Catholic churches across the country, the Catholic bishops observed that there is limited adherence to the rule of law.

They further noted that there is witch-hunting and arbitrary arrests of government critics, abuse of power, limited responsiveness, accountability and weak public goods delivery, hand-clapping and praise-singing, weakening spirit of patriotism in the leadership and spirit of fatalism in the country.

And in a separate statement also issued at the weekend, the Catholic Church described the Capital Hill cashgate as an embarrassment and an indication of serious moral decadence and dwindling levels of patriotism to the country.

The bishops said they have been quiet on the Capital Hill cashgate because they were pondering and praying over the revelations.

Reads the statement on the cashgate: “We are dismayed that materialism, corruption and get-rich-quick syndrome seem to be on the rise at the expense of truth, honesty and hard working.”

The bishops have called for thorough investigations into the matter.

The bishops have also pleaded with the country’s donors to find other ways of channelling the aid they have suspended to Malawi so that innocent Malawians should not suffer.

Three weeks ago, Malawi’s donors under the Common Approach to Budget Support (Cabs) suspended budget aid amounting to $150 million for the October to December 2013 quarter due to concerns about pilferage of public resources at Capital Hill.

Likening the situation in the country to Joshua and his compatriots in the Holy Bible, the bishops said they see Malawi at a crossroads.

Other shortfalls noted are continued and systematic abuse of public resources for selfish party and personal benefit.

The church has also condemned the enactment of repressive and immoral laws that “legalise what is otherwise immoral”; politicisation of development activities, lack of continuity in activities initiated by the previous administrations and continued donor dependence.

“There are worrisome tendencies amongst us that push for a world-view independent of and sidelining God and making human being dependent on their own intellect and determining for themselves what is right and what is wrong,” says the 19-page pastoral letter signed by all Catholic bishops in the country.

The church also talks about the need for quality leadership, national development agenda, citizen participation and spirit of patriotism, national values, the dignity of the human person, the common good, preferential option for the poor and empowerment.

The pastoral letter has described the forthcoming tripartite elections as an opportunity and a challenge to Malawians, urging them to vote for a leader with a vision, a good steward, exemplary, one who respects the Constitution and Rule of Law and is accountable, democratic and genuinely God-fearing.

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2 Comments

  1. The Bishops are using present tense and this means it is the Joyce Banda government that has been faulted. Joyce Banda is very much to blame for all the miserable life Malawians are facing both economically and socially. She is simply evil and represents the devil despite wearing an innocent face. Bingu had made some strides in terms of infrastructure development. Just drive through Lilongwe you will find street lights that Bingu restored but have since seized to function. If we talk about theft of public funds all has come to light in the JB government and is trying as much as possible to shift the blame using well known crooks like Brown Mpinganjira and Chipliro Mtumodzi. This is very shameful and indeed Malawians need a different type of leadership. We can no longer continue with the Uladi Mussas, Sidik Mias, Chilumphas, Wakudas, Frank Mwenifumbos, Harry Mkandawires, Zikhale Ng’oma, Dama Phoyas and worse still Brown Mpinganjira. Enough is enough from these looters

  2. This is s a good communiqué from the church. The sanctified commune has expressed their scriptural advice that must be received with warmth by all Malawians. Since the devotional epistolary message has referenced the pending economic hardships because of the “aid freeze,” I would like to append to, not take away from, the pious message.
    The fiscal criminal acts are condemnable and no civilised society must tolerate such acts of selfishness and criminality; rest the society breaks asunder! These are punishable by law. However, unbeknown to many people is the fact these fiscal mismanagements by themselves can cause only limited damage to the overall economy. It is the aid freeze by some donors that severely destroys the Malawi economy resulting in the hardships articulated in the pastoral epistle. This is not the first time this has happened. The question then is what is the moral justification of such actions by some donors (not all) given the impact such freezes have on the whole economy? This is a very disturbing question. Aid freeze is illegal, unethical, patronising and frankly, it is an abdication of so-called donors’ “fiduciary duty” on the poor. It is not far fetched to surmise a Machiavellian hidden agenda aimed at advancing certain norms. It is time Malawians rejected the moral justification by some donors to freeze aid because it is indiscriminate and kills everything in its wake. It damages the Malawi monetary system into “cardiac arrest” causing million times more damage than the looted amount, unfortunately. No one is supporting looting and indeed zero tolerance must be promoted against it but aid freeze must not come into play because of its latent Omni-destructive nature to the monetary system.
    Malawi must find solutions to both internal as well as external threats. Do not let party politics keep you blind to the truth. AID freeze causes unwarranted national disaster. Renegotiate aid to completely eliminate any provision for aid freeze that has devastating consequences on the poor and the whole economy. Aid money is Malawian money borrowed from donors (lenders) to be paid back with interest…! Donor money is grant money not bilateral/multilateral aid. There is no moral justification in bombing the whole economy because of the sins of the few! We call on aid donors to lift their aid freeze ASAP unconditionally and pledge never to do it again ever to spare the economy and poor people! Donors must not play God with people’s lives.

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