Two sides of the compensation issue

About a week after the March 3 holiday, I received a telephone call from one of the broadcasting stations for an opinion on whether the Malawi Government should request the British Government to pay compensation to the relatives of people who were shot dead in Nkhata Bay on March 3 1959.

I was told that those who were pressing for these compensation had given two reasons: First that Germany was compelled to pay for the destructions during the two world wars. Secondly, that Britain has paid compensation to the people of Kenya who had wrongly been tortured during the Mau Mau uprising.

I found the demand for compensation on these grounds hard to entertain. It is true that after the World War I, the victorious allies inflicted heavy fines on Germany. All German colonies were forfeited. Besides, Germany had to pay fines in monetary terms. The Germans did so unwillingly. When an ex-colonel called Adolf Hitler advocated rearming Germany to repudiate the Versailles Treaties, millions voted him into office. What followed? The Second World War!

At the end of the 1939-45, the allies refrained from punitive measures such as they had taken after the 1914-18 war. Only the Nazi ring leaders were punished. As a nation, the Germans were this time treated with magnanimity; peace prevailed between the former enemies.

If we demand compensation anyhow, we may make enemies out of some of the Britons. Most of those in-charge of the politics and economics of Britain today were born after the British Empire had gone. They do not share the guilt inflicted by their parents or grandparents. To make them pay taxes that will be passed on to Malawi as compensating there will have to be persuasion.

Since Malawi gained independence in 1964, Britain has poured millions if not billions of pounds, helping Malawi to remain afloat. Thousands of Malawians have been trained or educated in Britain by the British Council, the army and the police have received similar training. Budgetary support and development aid have been received every year until recently when crooks among us started thieving and money laundering.

In return for the aid that Britain has been giving, what has Malawi reciprocated? Maybe you know the answer, but I do not. In my view, the aid that Britain has been giving is compensation enough for the afflictions that we suffered trying to become free and independent. To demand some other form of reparation smacks of ingratitude.

The similarity between compensation Britain made in Kenya and what Nkhata Bay chiefs are demanding does not seem to be obvious. I understand in Kenya compensation was paid to survivors of the torture not to the relatives of all the people who died in the Mau Mau uprising. More problematic is the question: Having paid compensation to relatives of Nkhata Bay victims what about relatives of other casualties, not only in 1959 but also in 1953 and all the way to the John Chilembwe Uprising. Once the relatives of these martyrs hear of compensation having been made in Nkhata Bay, they will most likely insist that they too be fairly treated.

I am not saying do not listen to the demands of the Nkhata Bay chiefs and their MP, I am only saying think carefully what you do. Sometimes when you solve one problem, another rises. George Bernard Shaw has been quoted as saying when a scientist solves one problem, ten new ones arise.

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I heard from the radio with dismay that DPP activists are going to treat with special reverence that day their party leaders Arthur Peter Mutharika was released from jail during the Joyce Banda two-year administration.

My respect for President Peter Mutharika has been growing for two reasons: He has shown that in the interest of the nation, he can let bygones be bygones. This is when he refused to entertain from his henchmen and women for compensation concerning the detention they had been through.

Secondly he has shown to be a president who is prepared to learn from others. Having sent the vice-president to lead a delegation to Israel, he has now sent him to Singapore. This is a hallmark of modesty. In my view, APM has shown no craving for personality cult.

By treating the date he walked out of prison, his henchmen are trying to build a personality cult around him which other party leaders avoided. Chakufwa Chihana spent a year in jail after the Bishops pastoral letter, Bakili Muluzi was also thrown into jail. They never, as I remember, demanded that the dates they walked out of jail be treated as special. How many people know that Dr Kamuzu Banda was released from the Gweru Prison on April 1?

Let us recall the past. How did Kamuzu become an autocrat? The origin was in his henchmen vying each other to please him. They told him whatever he said was to be accepted without question because he could do no wrong. Some called him mpulumutsi (saviour), a term Christians have come to reserve for Jesus Christ. They praised him from mountain tops. He reciprocated by calling his henchmen boys and started running government affairs without consulting them. When they asked why, he replied: “But you told me I know best! When did I cease knowing best?” n