** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
Prof Dean,
Thanks for shedding some light on this issue. I was just wondering if
President Mathurika is re-opening the infamous detention camps
conceived by Late Hastings Kamuzu Banda to silence voices of
dissidence, is it not a signal that he is a disciple of this not-so-
loved erstwhile president of Malawi, reputable for his statement: My
political enemies are food for the crocodiles? Have a nice day today!
PETER VAKUNTA
----- Original Message -----
From: salifou issoufou <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 9:08 am
Subject: Re: Ghostly rodents drive Malawi's President out of his 300-
room home
> Dean, is it true that he (the current president) lives in a 300-
> room palace?
>
> Salifou
>
> Dean Makuluni <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
>
> Peter, Felix and all:
>
> Events surrounding the ghost story suggest that the central issue
> is the
> power struggle between President Bingu wa Mutharika and his
> predecessor,Bakili Muluzi, who sought to influence the presidency
> through his position
> as head of the UDF party, to which they both belonged. Although wa
> Mutharika was elected to power as a member of the same party as
> Muluzi,they have been bickering over wa Mutharika's drive against
> corruptionsince the new president came to power. Three months ago,
> the president
> canceled a party meeting at which the opposing camps were supposed
> to sort
> out their differences on the pretext that some members of Muluzi's
> campwere plotting to assassinate him. Yesterday wa Mutharika lambasted
> journalists for the ghost story and for taking bribes from the former
> president, Muluzi. Today the journalists who reported the ghost
> story were
> arrested. The charge is that the journalists reported a false
> story. It is
> not unusual in Malawi to deny their own statements. You may wish
> to know
> that President wa Mutharika recently authorized the reopening of
> PresidentBanda's infamous detention camps. I guess it's time we
> got back to our
> roots!
>
> Dean Makuluni
>
>
> --- PETER WUTEH VAKUNTA wrote:
>
> > ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
> >
> > President Mathuriaka has only one thing to do to rid his sumptuous
> > presidential palace of macabre rodents: empty his closets of the
> > skeletons that have been piled there since the days of Kamuzu
> Banda to
> > date. In my culture, when a man's conscience is ill at ease,he hears
> > strange noises. The case may not be different in Malawi. When
> you throw
> > out the lawmakers of the nation in order to misappropriate a
> building> assigned to them, what do you expect? Applause or
> bewitchment? Africans
> > have uncanny ways of fighting their foes, believe it or not!
> >
> > PETER VAKUNTA
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: f ossia
> > Date: Monday, March 14, 2005 7:38 pm
> > Subject: Ghostly rodents drive Malawi's President out of his 300-
> room> home
> >
> > > ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
> > >
> > > Ghostly rodents drive Malawi's President out of his 300-room home
> > >
> > > By Meera Selva, Africa Correspondent
> > >
> > > 14 March 2005
> > >
> > > The President of Malawi has moved out of his luxurious, 300-room
> > > mansion,insisting the building is haunted. President Bingu Wa
> > > Mutharika claimed he
> > > felt ghostly rodents crawling over his body when the lights were
> > > turned out
> > > in his home on the outskirts of the capital, Lilongwe.
> > >
> > > He has moved to another palace in Mtunthama, a town in a
> tobacco-
> > > growingarea 60 miles away, until clergy can exorcise the spirits.
> > > Neither his
> > > bodyguards nor his wife, the First Lady Ethel, have detected any
> > > supernatural presence in the house.
> > >
> > > Last May, when Mr Mutharika, 71, came to power, he threw Malawi's
> > > parliamentout of the New State House and claimed it for his
> > > personal use, ignoring
> > > protests that he was reneging on election promises to cut
> government> > spending. Parliament has not been able to meet since
> September> > because of
> > > the lack of an appropriate venue, and is to reconvene in March in
> > > rentedoffices. Parliamentary committees have had to conduct their
> > > business in
> > > motels and at one point MPs have considered using a sports stadium
> > > for their
> > > debates.
> > >
> > > Now clergy from the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvary and
> Faith Of God
> > > churches have all been asked to offer prayers for the
> building. As
> > > well as
> > > the rodents, Mr Mutharika insists he has heard footsteps and
> > > strange noises
> > > in the presidential suite at night.
> > >
> > > The Rev Malani Ntonga, the presidential aide on Christian affairs,
> > > toldreporters ghosts would not be allowed to harm the
> President. He
> > > added: "No
> > > strategy designed from the pits of hell will prosper against the
> > > Presidentbecause we have asked for divine intervention to cast the
> > > blood of Jesus
> > > against any evil plots against the President.''
> > >
> > > The mansion was built by Malawi's founding president Hastings
> > > Kamuzu Banda,
> > > who ruled the country as an autocrat for 28 years from 1966. The
> > > house took
> > > 20 years and $100m to build and is set on 555 hectares. Mr Banda
> > > himselflived there for only 90 days. His successor, Makili Muluzi,
> > > who came to
> > > power in 1994 through the country's first multi-party elections
> > > refused to
> > > use the building, calling it "obscene opulence'' in one of the
> poorest> > countries in Africa.
> > >
> > > Mr Muluzi later became known for being as extravagant as his
> > > predecessor,but his early decision to turn the palace into
> > > parliamentary offices after
> > > failing to find an international buyer, won him widespread
> approval> > at home
> > > and abroad.
> > >
> > > Mr Muluzi and Mr Banda lived most of their terms in office at the
> > > FanjikaPalace in Malawi's commercial centre, Blantyre. President
> > > Mutharika said New
> > > State House was better suited to be a private residence than a
> > > parliamentarybuilding.
> > >
> > > _________________________________________________________________
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