What my Country can learn about Democracy from Barack Obama’s Farewell Address to the American People

On Tuesday night, January 10 this year, the outgoing President of the United States, Barack Obama, gave his farewell address to the American people right in his home town of Chicago, a place where he said he came to when he was in his early twenties, a place, he said taught him the power of small beginnings, a place from where he first “witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss.” What moved me most wasn’t just the fact that he was making it in a town where he had ‘his roots’ as a young man, but that he was making it a man with double honour and dignity, having gone in, some eight years ago, a man with merely honour and dignity. In Malawi or Africa one never leaves the political stage with double honour, but Obama’s speech taught me we can, yes, we can. It taught me democracy can be so enjoyable.

At the beginning of Obama’s speech, the crowd is heard chanting: “Four more years!” and Obama responds direct: “I can’t do that.”

First, such chanting reminded me foolery spares no land, that even in the midst of the cream of democracy, you can find a few misguided fellas who subsist on corruption.

In Africa, a crowd chanting ‘Four more years!” would be a justification for someone to listen to ‘the people’s wish’ and so declare another term or perhaps I shouldn’t say of term knowing this is post-election. However, we should remember that on Tuesday July 28, 2015 Obama had poked fun at African leaders at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when he said: “I actually think I’m a pretty good President. I think if I ran, I could win. But I can’t. There’s a lot that I would like to do to keep America moving. But the law is the law, and no person is above the law, not even the president.” He later expressed surprise that leaders in Africa love to stay in power forever, saying, “I do not understand this.”

In his farewell address, he repeated that stand, almost a principle in him: “I can’t do that.” In that July 28 speech to the AU, he had said leaving office in dignity at the end of your tenure is a matter of principle; even if you have got a lot of money, you still must leave it because the law says you must. I bet if the ‘four more years chant’ was made in some hall in Africa before a man about to leave office, there would be formed a parallel government the following morning, one to give the President-elect the toughest of moments, or worse still, a coup.

When Obama said, “In 10 days the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy,” and the people cut him, apparently expressing their unhappiness at Donald Trump becoming the American President, Obama defended the American democratic system, “No, no, no, no, no,” explaining why: “The peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected President to the next. I committed to the President-Elect that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me.”

In Africa, transfer of power is often a period of humiliation to the outgoing leadership and an embarrassment to the incoming leadership. Normally, the outgoing leader is never present at the swearing ceremony, and by this time, the new leadership has already sent ‘sheriffs’ to throw the outgoing leadership out of the government mansion often with no alternative place in place, or to withdraw all official vehicles in a fashion that smacks of revenge and vengeance. Our friends believe in a system, and you can never attempt to bend that system without piling upon yourself stigma and shame, and this regardless of the ridiculous amount of money you have or the obscene amount of power you wield.

Currently, Malawi is tearing itself apart because of politicians fighting over a bare bone; it’s almost a war of vanity, those in power, at every ‘opportunity’ hitting hard those in opposition or the civil society, and the civil society often with the opposition on their side, picking quarrels with government at every issue. Issues people can discuss over a cup of sense are being addressed through heated exchanges in newspapers, or on the social media. The result is chaos, for the people now direct their energies towards things that retard at the expense of those which would see us all move forward as a nation. And the worst part of it all is that everything is now seasoned with some condiments of a language that borders on tribes.

On taking same direction as one people, Obama in his farewell address made an observation I should borrow for the sake of my country folks: “But remember none of these (democratic uprightness, etc) happens on its own. All this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power happens to be swinging.”

What Obama means by this is that when it comes to things of national importance, we have no choice but to support Government so it moves forward, and this is regardless of, in our context, the ‘tribe’ or ‘party’ in power. Unfortunately, Africa will take none of this, because we support those from our region even where it is obvious they are leading us astray. And the worst part of it all is that there are no powerful elders who can speak from a position of neutrality to show the people it makes no sense to celebrate fifty-two years of Independence with nothing to show for it. There are no such people to stand on a neutral ground to reason with the people we have one Malawi and one people, and we have no excuse to derelict from duty no matter who is at the top.

In Malawi, people give 20% of their energy to their work; this is the scandal of our work ethics. In Malawi, people can choose to work at a snail’s pace because a manager has offended them. I do not share that spirit; we never work for people; we work for GOD.

I believe this is the same problem we are now facing as regards the rule of law. Many are beginning to realise the Constitution can never save a nation when the people therein collectively chose to divert. To quote Obama in his farewell address: “Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power. We, the people, give it meaning . . . ”

In short, unless we strive to live the spirit of our Constitution as individuals, this piece of parchment (document) will remain an instrument that can be used by unscrupulous men and women hungry for power and wealth to serve their own interests. In other words, until we reach that point where each one of us vows to live each for the other, we shall continue to see the opposition pulling on one side, the Government the other, or the civil society coming in only where they want to serve some interest.

Of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr (Joe Biden), his Vice, Obama said, “. . . You were the first decision I made as a nominee, and it was the best. Not just because you have been a great Vice President, but because in the bargain I gained a brother. And we love you and Jill (his wife) like a family. And your friendship has been one of the great joys of our lives.”

Obama, you must be joking. How on earth can you say good of your Vice President?

From 1964, the year Malawi attained Independence, to 1993 when the country held a National Referendum, the country had witnessed a long chapter of terror under the one-party rule at the hands of dictator, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda. In May 1994, Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front, UDF, became the first President of the new Malawi under a new Republican Constitution. Justine Malewezi was his Vice.

The man at the helm of the one party rule, Dr Banda was from the Central Region of the country (an area populated by the Chewas to which late Dr Banda belonged). Bakili Muluzi is from the Southern Region (where there is a mix of tribes—Yaos to which he belongs, Lomwes, Mang’anjas, Senas, et cetera). Muluzi’s Vice, Malewezi, like late Dr Banda, is from the Central Region. Under normal circumstance, Malewezi was supposed to inherit the party’s mantle and so lead it to the 2004 Elections yet from 1999, the Southern Region-dominated UDF Party had started sidelining him, by first introducing the Third Term Bids so Muluzi would stand again after the expiry of his constitutional tenure of two five-year consecutive terms (1994-2004). At that time, the UDF used all sorts of excuse to sidestep Malewezi, including claims that if Malewezi would be made party President no one from the Southern Region (then UDF ‘fan’ base) would vote for him and the party would consequently lose the elections. Things went so bad, soom Muluzi would taunt him live on the podium, referring to him as sleepy and a man living on pills. Eventually, Malewezi, finding the UDF kitchen too hot, left, to witness from outside the UDF eating itself from the inside. Today the UDF is in the opposition although Muluzi used to say, “We shall be in power for more than 30 years because Kamuzu Banda’s Malawi Congress Party had been in power for thirty years!”

After the people had rejected the Third Term Bid, Muluzi went outside the party, hand-picking Bingu wa Mutharika, pairing him with a UDF veteran politician, Cassim Chilumpha, as Vice President. The UDF came into power again though Bingu was soon to ditch it, to form his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party, DPP. It was a funny scenario, because the President belonged to the DPP yet his Vice still remained UDF. The DPP decided to throw him out of government, and so devised a mechanism known as Constructive Resignation.

The scheme was that late President Bingu wa Mutharika, in his capacity as President and Head of State, ‘responded’ to Chilumpha’s wishes by accepting his ‘constructive resignation’. The , letter, under the heading Re: Your Resignation as Vice President of the Republic of Malawi reads:

In the light of the foregoing, I hereby inform you that the Cabinet has unanimously decided that you have, on your own volition, not worked in accordance with your mandate as Vice President of our country. Cabinet is therefore obliged to construe that by abandoning your responsibilities, you have accordingly resigned from your position as Vice President of the Republic of Malawi.

I have, therefore, with deep regret, accepted your resignation as Vice President of the Republic of Malawi effective today, 8th February, 2006.

Thus, the letter argued that Chilumpha, by, e.g. not attending cabinet meetings, was telling all and sundry that he didn’t want the VP post, and so the President had no choice but to accept his ‘resignation’. From there, they went on stripping the man of his benefits as VP. The Court had to come to Chilumpha’s rescue, saying allowing the President to treat people thus would entail accepting that he should at his whim do whatever he felt ‘necessary’, which is not what our Constitution was made for. The Court said resignation connotes voluntariness, and where there was no element of voluntariness, the scheme reeks of removal.

In his second term of office, Bingu picked Joyce Banda, a fellow Southerner but with a marriage connection (like me) in the North. It proved a great combination, and they made it, this time, convincingly. Barely a year later, cracks between the two began to emerge. The cracks were shown when JB came out of the DPP or was expelled together with another senior Minister from the North, Khumbo Kachale. Death was to cut Bingu’s leadership short, and in April 2012, JB became the country’s President with Khumbo Kachale as her Vice. For the 2014 Elections, JB said after seeking GOD’s guidance on who to pick up, she was shown some young man, Gwengwe, from the Central Region. Before the Elections, Kachale dumped JB’s party and returned to the DPP. Joyce Banda was to lose the elections to the DPP under Arthur Peter Mutharika (brother to Bingu, the deceased) who had picked another young man, Saulosi Chilima, from Central Region, as running mate and therefore VP. Today, I don’t know how true the story is, but news is making rounds that relations between Peter and Chilima are getting more and more strained by the day.

Elsewhere, in South Sudan, a new nation bigger than Spain and Portugal combined and with a soil blessed with oil, two ‘brothers’ who should have been leading by example, them being central in the fight for liberation from the grip of the Khartoum Government, ended up falling on each other, mobilising soldiers and militias on ethnic line, engaging in hostilities, leading to death of civilians, atrocities bordering on genocide. President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka (largest ethnic group in South Sudan), and his former Vice President, Riek Machar, an ethnic Neur (second largest ethnic group), led the country to independence on July 9, 2011, but hardly two years later, the two could not see eye to eye. In July, 2013 Kiir dismissed Machar, a man he was later to accuse (in December, 2013) of led a ‘foiled coup’. A few days later, things were to deteriorate into a shameful and senseless conflict I should describe as South Sudan against South Sudan, as it is a senseless conflict mostly between Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement—SPLM (that’s the Government led by Kiir) and Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition—SPLM-IO (those opposing Kiir, led by Machar). Typical of African leaders, they always whip up ethnicity for their personal end, the conflict soon took an ethnic dimension between the Dinkas and the Neurs, in the course, taking in more and more tribes and factions. Reading the tale of South Sudan is like watching some horror movie; you would think you’re dreaming, that a people who were so soon together could so soon fall on each other in a fashion so incredible.

Now, when you hear Obama praising Joe Biden, you would think the United States is on a different planet, or perhaps it is Africa that is on a different planet.

Obama’ farewell speech also inspired on the power of putting country first.

December 2016 to January 2017 has witnessed a period of greatest tension in Malawi since the July 2011 Demonstrations when 20 people were killed by those sent by those in power. In fact, language of ‘Let us go to the street’ is becoming more and more pronounced, and blame-shifting on tribal lines is rising towards a crescendo. Such is a setting politicians like, and it’s all for their personal end. In all these, our elders see no sense to bring the people together to calm nerves and bring back sanity among them. It worries me every time people talk of going to the streets, because a people who fail to resolve their differences through talking are not worth of a land so fair and beautiful as this one our GOD gave us—Malawi.

Everything that is happening in Malawi is either someone looking for some popularity or fame, or someone defending their position; very few look at issues affecting the people with that genuine sober eye. They want to score some mileage, to go into power the wrong way, or to impress those who fund their activities.

I am not saying the ruling DPP is in no fault; the DPP Government has failed Malawians big time, but one must take a serious analysis of our setting before passing such a judgment on them. As far as I am concerned, the DPP are doing the best they could under the circumstance that they are not receiving that enough external aid. Unfortunately, they miss living the life of austerity, the one they preach for the rest of Malawians to live; this is their problem.

If you tell your children you’re in trouble and so everyone must tighten their belt for some period until some bridge is crossed, you would do yourself injustice to be seen around living a life of a tourist. Put simply, people’s concern isn’t that we’re in trouble; it is that those who should lead in that sacrifice are nowhere near the battlefront of servitude, integrity and sacrifice. The day the DPP will show the people their interest is not merely to be in power, but to serve the people by genuinely identifying themselves with them, that day they will be the people’s party again. I don’t think this is difficult; this is possible. All it needs is listening and seeking wisdom on how best to achieve it.

Most Malawians are angry, but thank GOD Malawians are a people who know there’s nothing that can take the place of peace. Our leaders must help us endure; they must set some example as far as living austerity and reducing expenditure is concerned until we cross that bridge. Our solution won’t come from fighting or using abusive language; our solution comes from talking. No matter the situation, let us always utilize the virtue and prize of talking.

Malawi needs a man or a woman who shall rule without looking at tribes, a man or woman who shall sacrifice himself or herself to start afresh for the good of his or her people, a man or woman who shall truly let the bygones be the bygones, a man or woman who shall come in with a heart devoid of vices of revenge and vengeance. Those in power now were given five years through a constitutional process we call voting. We can never ask them to step aside now without bringing great shame upon our Constitution. In short, since they are there legally and have the due legitimacy the Constitution demands of those to lead, we are left with one option only—talk and talk and talk until they see sense in living the life the people’s way. Such talking must be based on honesty, and not on attempts to humiliate someone. If they fail, then we have an opportunity in 2019 to send them packing the legitimate way. Isn’t this simple?

Currently, an issue is in court, where an activist, Charles Kajoloweka and three civil society organisations sought the High Court’s intervention through a process known as judicial review, in order to stop one minister, George Chaponda, from serving as Minister in a Ministry at the heart of the ‘controversial Zambia-Malawi maize deal.

In judicial review, a person or body that has sufficient or strongest interest in a matter which has affected him or her directly can ask the Court on his or her behalf to review whether the decision-making process to arrive at the decision had happened within the four corners of the law. When one follows this process, one first asks the court to grant him or her a go-ahead to seek the redress. When making this initial request of intention to seek this redress, one often asks the Court to also order a halt temporarily of the implementation of the said ‘questionable’ decision or action. This is the first part of the judicial review. The other party can then come in to oppose the move so the actual judicial review should not take place.

When Kajoloweka and the three CSOs approached Justice John Chirwa, the man saw merit in their intention and granted them the temporary one-side (ex-parte) order to stop George Chaponda, who is Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, from exercising his duties because such would interfere with investigations into alleged corruption in a maize deal between an agriculture parastatal, ADMARC, and a kind of similar body in Zambia, Zambia Cooperative Federation. Justice Chirwa did see it an arguable case, and so granted the injunction.

A number of respected scholars and commentators have since given their opinion on the issue. Professor Danwood Chirwa, a great legal mind at the University of Cape Town hailed Justice John Chirwa for not sleeping on his job, saying whenever a president sleeps on a job for which he was elected, the court should exercise vigilance in reminding the same of his or her constitutional responsibilities. Professor Danwood Chirwa also doubted the Commission of Inquiry set by the President, Peter Mutharika, to do the investigation into the alleged corruption in the maize deal. He said, “There is no need for an expensive commission filled by political cadres to investigate this criminal issue whose facts are easily ascertainable.”

Reacting to the same, a top Government Advisor, Solicitor General Janet Chikaya Banda, went Facebook, questioning the granting of the injunction by the High Court in Mzuzu to suspend Chaponda. For this, The Solicitor General has received a pretty share of criticism for ‘unprofessional language tantamount to contempt of court’. Currently, over 18 CSOs have demanded that she relieve herself of duties of the Commission of Inquiry in which she is member.

Meanwhile the Attorney General has filed a request (motion), asking the Court to remove the order that stops Chaponda from serving as Minister. The reasons for filing this motion are that the High Court has no jurisdiction (powers) on judicial review on an issue that borders on administrative justice, that the CSOs involved have no arguable case or serious issues that would really require judicial review, and of course, that the three CSOs involved have no direct interest over and above the rest of us concerned with the matter of the Zambia-Malawi maize saga.

What we must remember is that Foster Mulumbe, ADMARC Chief Executive, has been sent on forced leave to allow smooth investigations to take place. Under normal circumstances Dr Chaponda, being Minister under the Ministry concerned and someone who is said to have directly taken part in the negotiations on one or two occasions, should have allowed himself to resign in the name of transparency. Unfortunately, issues have been mixed, and the pot in which they are cooking has been boiling unattended for some time so that past scores are finding their way in. It is like the OJ Simpson case where people have already passed judgment with someone they have always wanted out. Sometimes when I read comments about Chaponda I wonder whether our view of him as a person is honest and objective. I have read comments claiming the man is a witch, has an ugly face, et cetera. At one time, he confessed, “Of course, I am ugly.” No matter how much we do not like someone, we must avoid embarrassing them. Justice must avoid putting people in a position where they will lose that which gives them a sense of being. We must learn to stop somewhere and remember these are human beings. They can have their flaws, yes, but are human beings first. Above all that, Chaponda is not a CEO; he is Minister. There should be wisdom in the manner we handle issues surrounding a person of the stature of Chaponda’s. I do not mean to say he is above the law, no, but where emotions mixe with justice, and where history warns us to tread cautiously, we must allow justice to take its course without taking that road with the bitumen of public opinion and emotions.

As far as I am concerned, all parties in the Zambia maize saga have failed to isolate emotions from facts. The CSOs who are baying for Chaponda’s blood have on many occasions previously agitated for his removal; you can never expect justice from such a setting. Newspapers have found meat on which to feed the already frustrated population. The Government on the other hand is doing all it can to show whosoever criticizes it that it still is in control, and that it has the apparatus in place, intact, to beat them into submission. Everyone wants to hear the story in their own way, in a way that favours their preconceived ideas, and anything to the contrary is bad stuff. That is not how a people build their nation.

Tempers are high, and anything that gives us an opportunity to vent our frustrations seems good fodder, but that is not how we sweep forward. I still feel, in the name of peace, we must give this DPP chance to ‘fail’ us, and should they prove obstinate still, show them out through the ballot box. Tensions already high, I think we must exercise the highest sense of caution and wisdom in the way we handle matters.

And those in power should also learn the power of speaking to diffuse tension rather than flying all over, name-calling those who seem to differ with our position. I do not think whatever is happening a thing we cannot overcome, but we need to stress those things that unite.

Barack Obama’s farewell speech showed me we can do better; we can respect each other; we can exercise the smoothest transition of power ever; and we can put in place systems to guard our democracy against failure. The maize saga issue is testing us; let us rise from it stronger. Let us remain calm and believe in our systems to help us talk and move on. Malawi has some underlying problem which we are failing to address; let us search ourselves and see where we went wrong. Let us reflect thoroughly and ask whether whatever we are doing is indeed treating the disease itself rather than merely the symptoms. This is our job today; we must never preserve it as a time-ticking bomb assignment for those tongues yet unborn.

At the same time, we must remember that no matter the wish-list of the so-called leaders we have, those we think can serve us better, if we refuse to set a system that will address discrimination, intolerance, growing hatred, nepotism, corruption and all evils dogging us, we shall remain losers. So, the answer lies in us sitting down together to talk our differences while forging forward to build a better land for ourselves and the generations to come, those people unborn to whom we owe our allegiance.

Malawi is not looking for people looking for leadership positions; Malawi is looking for people who can sacrifice themselves for the good of this beautiful country, people to lead by example in the fight against corruption, people dead to the appetite of accumulation at the expense of the poor. We have a government in power; we can talk with it and together devise a way to achieve these great virtues. Malawi has no room for divisions or hatred; Malawi has no room for people to settle scores through establishment; we do not have that pleasure, for we the only time we have is that to use in talking peace while working our way through to development and progress.

I am not sure the world would be complete if GOD didn’t create Malawi. We are fifty-two years old as an independent nation; let us have something to show for it as a nation.