MHRC chides Tonse on governance

The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) says the country’s socio, political and economic situation is getting worse, calling on government to address concerns or risk losing public trust and legitimacy to govern.

MHRC commissioners led by chairperson Scader Louis yesterday held a press briefing in Lilongwe where they highlighted a number of governance issues, ranging from the high cost of living and shortage of food, fuel and fertiliser to lack of respect of the rule of law.

But Minister of Information and Digitisation, Gospel Kazako has said government has a clear plan to fix these challenges.

During the briefing, MHRC issued a 13-paged statement, saying it is worrisome that things are getting worse and yet the Tonse Alliance leadership does not seem responsive.

The statement adds that failure to resolve these challenges may lead to loss of public trust as the power to govern is derived from the people themselves.

“The authority to exercise power of State is conditional upon the sustained trust of the people of Malawi, and that trust can only be maintained through open, accountable, and transparent government and informed democratic choice.

“Renowned governance experts have further elaborated on this as follows: public trust has critical implications on the long-term legitimacy and democratic consolidation of any polity,” reads the statement in part, quoting part of Section 12 of the Constitution.

In a written response, Kazako, who is the official government spokesperson, said government has a plan to resolve the challenges and that it was unfortunate that some people do not seem to understand the gravity of the issues facing the country.

Said the minister: “Our popularity will be in the Malawi everyone will see and experience. A Malawi that we are building on concrete.

“We will fix this country. Unfortunately, we still have a few who don’t seem to understand the gravity of what is before us. Apparently, this sort of approach is what has kept Malawi poor and under-developed. We tend to choose simple routes to resolving issues. We need to make very difficult decisions that may appear unpopular.

“We are a government that is focusing on building a sustainable development and we are aware of the political cost such decisions demand.”

In its 23 recommendations, MHRC asked the government to address the shortage of fuel, fertiliser, electricity and food, all of which have a bearing on human rights.

The commission said the issues surrounding the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) and the controversy on Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) must be resolved as a matter of urgency to avoid aggravating the hunger situation in the country.

Reads the statement: “The commission is concerned with the continued rising cost of fertiliser in the country which has serious negative implications on the enjoyment of several human rights including the right to food, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to health.

“The current high cost of farm inputs is potentially a critical factor for food insecurity in 2023…The commission is further concerned with the continued closure of Admarc with no alternative vehicle performing the functions of Admarc.”

On the food situation, MHRC has also bemoaned the lack of attention to the plight of prisoners who are facing serious food shortage.

But Louis indicated that after some engagements, government has promised to address this issue.

The commission further asked President Lazarus Chakwera to walk the talk on austerity measures by, among other things, reducing the size of his motorcade, cutting down on local and international travel, and subjecting his Cabinet to performance appraisals.

On respect for the rule of law, the commission expressed concern with what has it called continued attempts to undermine the authority of constitutional bodies in reference to the recent letter from the Secretary to President and Cabinet (SPC), objecting the dismissal of National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) deputy chief executive officer Hellen Buluma.

The government has also been bashed for perpetrating a culture of hiding information contrary to provisions of the Access to Information Act and its regulations (2021).

The commission said there is high non-compliance rate on requests for information and, to make matters worse, the Ministry of Information is yet to publish names of information officers for government ministries, departments and agencies for easy access to information.

On ATI, Kazako said: “The Access To Information law is our conviction. We operationalised this law and we cannot ignore our own action. We will be publishing the names soon.”

Besides the MHRC chairperson, other commissioners present were Chikondi Chijozi,  Boniface Massah and executive secretary Habiba Osman.

The commissions voice comes on top of other voices that have raised similar concerns.

Last week the Human Rights Defenders Coalition issued a 21-day ultimatum to government to fix the fuel shortage and other challenges or else they will organise nationwide protests from December 7. The deadline is November 29, 2022.