The demonstrations claimed 18 lives with most casulties in the three cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu. The deaths were due to live shots fired by the police to stop the demonstrators.

The demonstrations were organised by members of Civil Society in coalition with Workers, Faith Communities and Concerned Citizens. The country-wide mass demonstrations were held under the theme: “Uniting for Peaceful Resistance Against Poor Economic and Democratic Governance – “A Better Malawi Is Possible”.

According to a press release by the Civil Society members, these demonstrations are part of a series of nation-wide mass actions that will continue until feasible solutions have been found and implemented.

“Malawi is currently facing a series of catastrophes on multiple fronts due to economic mismanagement and democratic derogation by the incumbent leadership and administration. The current leadership and administration continue to disregard caution and advice regarding the crises, choosing to engage in empty political rhetoric without providing any actionable solutions or alternatives,” said the Civil Society members in the press release.

Preparations



The demonstrations were strategically organized. The Civil Society came out of their shell a month before 20 July that they were planning a nation-wide mass demonstration.

Opposition parties that include former ruling party United Democratic Front, main opposition; Malawi Congress party, people’s Progressive party and the vice president’s Peoples Party rallied behind the Civil Society. The demonstration also received an overwhelming support from Clergy, Civil Servants and the business community.

Prior to 20 July, messages were sent to Malawians and special task forces were set in all 28 districts of the country. SMSs were sent from one person to another there by creating a network to Millions of Malawians.

“1.Fuel shortage 2.Forex shortage 3.Academic freedom 4.Dictatorship 5.Electricity blackouts 6.Nepotism 7.Taxes 8.Bad bills 9.Deportation of British ambassador 10.Quota system. These are some of the reasons why you need to put on red on 20th," went one of the circulating texts.

Bingu’s public lecture

After the Civil Society slated their demonstration on July 20, the state house made a press statement that President Bingu wa Mutharika was to hold a public lecture on the current challenges facing Malawi on the same July 20. This surprised many Malawians as they thought it was a means to curb the demonstrations.

Case still, Civil Society members together with opposition political parties vowed to proceed with their demonstration. Civil society and the private media fraternity said they would not attend the lecture saying problems Malawi is facing can not be solved by a public lecture.

The Injunction



In the late evening hours of 19 July, a man, who is alleged to have been used by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) got an injunction against the demonstration.

Malawians were awakened on the next morning that an injunction has been rested against the demonstration. This angered the demonstrators who still started off to the streets. The mantle of demonstrations was slated for the county’s major cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu.

Heavily armed military police were in the streets as early as 6:00 am. Nevertheless, this did not stop the demonstrators from invading the streets. The police were out numbered and simply knew that they could not manage such crowd of demonstrators as it was the first of its kind.

The injunction amazed many Malawians as the government passed the Injunctions bill which seeks to stop people from getting injunctions without the government side. The government argued that such injunctions affect already planed for events at the eleventh hour but yet they did the same to the demonstrating Malawians.

This angered Malawians as they resorted to turn violent as they saw that the just passed injunctions bill was working to the government side.  They could not get an injunction to go on with the demonstrations as it meant healing from the government side first.

The demonstrators in Blantyre notably included former Vice president Cassim Chilumpha, UDF Senior Official George Nga Mtafu, Moses Dossi who contested with Bingu wa Mutharika at a UDF convention in 2004, President of People’s Progressive Movement Mark Katsonga and Rafiq Hajat, a notable Civil Society activist.

The demonstrations turned violent with massive crushes between the thousands of demonstrators and the police. In the northern Mzuzu City, demonstrators burnt a DPP office, a house of DPP official and 2 party vehicles.

In the Capital City Lilongwe, a Shoprite for a DPP parliamentarian was rooted; a police officer’s house and a police vehicle were set ablaze.

In the commercial city of Blantyre, police were in the afternoon firing teargas to chase the demonstrators who were breaking shops and public offices and could also blaze tyres in the streets. As late as midnight, the riots were still going on in known notorious townships where people were rooting shops.

It was also reported that crushes between the police and demonstrators took place in most districts throughout the country.

All this was happening as the President was delivering his public lecture which many Malawians have described as one of the usual speeches the president has been making. The public lecture was interrupted towards the end as electricity line to the State House was disconnected allegedly by some demonstrators.

Malawi’s challenges

Members of the Civil Society said the challenges currently facing Malawi are too numerous to mention. In their press release, they however raised the main challenges which they said may suffice to demonstrate the cause of their discomfort.

Foreign Exchange (Forex) Shortages



Malawi has been experiencing acute shortage of foreign exchange for over 2 years, with no end in sight. The current shortages are deemed to be the worst in Malawi’s 47 year history since attainment of independence.

On a daily sight, significant numbers of people scramble in queues for forex that may be available at any foreign exchange point.

According to the press release, the acute shortages have had many consequences such as scarcity of products and services due to difficulties in importation of essential products.

The civil society argues that Malawians who utilise foreign currency have searched in vain to pay expenses when travelling abroad, when purchasing products which are not produced locally, to send school fees for dependants studying abroad, to pay for examination fees to foreign education providers and when accessing treatment for vital medical facilities.

The government has provided reasons to the forex shortage, such as poor tobacco sales (which used to provide 74% of forex inflow but has dwindled by over 70. But the civil society says this shows a clear divide between advice from economic experts and rhetorical defences from the current leadership and its administration.
Malawi: a ‘fuel queue nation'

2011 has seen the most acute fuel shortages in Malawi ever. A common scene at every filling station is long queues of cars, with people waiting for hours or even days to get access to a few litres of fuel.

The acute and persistent fuel shortages have caused shrinkages in transportation. Service providers are unable to transport products around the country, leading to shortage of products and services. Critical services such as health services have been highly affected and workers face a daily struggle in commuting between workplace and home.

The civil Society hinted that reasons provided by the government regarding the causes to the fuel shortage have been unsatisfactory. At times there have been contradictions in reasons provided by the Petroleum Importers Limited, the Ministry responsible.

Electricity blackouts

Recently, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM), the sole electricity provider in Malawi, made it point blank that power cuts will be implemented for 8 hours everyday for the rest of the year.

Industries are hard hit with insufficient power to enable optimal production of vital products which may substitute imports. Work-flow is constantly interrupted by equipment switching off intermittently.

The Civil Society has since demanded a clear time frame as to when the problem will be over. As it remains now, the energy drain remains a pain without any solution in sight.

Lack of economic prudence



In 2010, the President secretly authorised the purchase of a private jet costing US$13 million - equivalent to half the budgetary support that Malawi's major donor contributed. The purchase went on regardless of condemnation from different stakeholders within Malawi and beyond. The amount spent is said to be equivalent to annual salaries of approximately 5,000 nurses or 11,555 primary school teachers.

Since the first Cabinet of 29 Ministers in 2004, Cabinet size has grown to 41, leading to a monthly wage bill of over MK15 000 000.00 (US$ 100 thousand), which would fund monthly salaries of 428 nurses or 1,000 primary school teachers. Such a cabinet include Deputy Minsters who, in the view of some Malawians, are appointed as a reward for political favours.

At the beginning of 2011, the President secretly awarded a contract to his wife, the First Lady, Callista Mutharika, leading to a payment in arrears, of MK6,400 400 for the period before the contract was signed, and subsequent salary of MK1,300,000 per month for doing charity work. The First Lady's salary is said to be equivalent to monthly salaries for 30 nurses or 93 primary school teachers.

The contract for the construction and management of the Nsanje Inland Port was awarded in a non transparent and dubious manner to Mota Engil, a foreign construction company who appears to enjoy presidential favour. The same company is rumoured to have built a palace at Ndata Farm (the President’s personal estate) and has now won a concession for oil and gas drilling in the Lake.
Corruption and Abuse of Power

Recently, the Malawi Housing Corporation sold houses to selected staff, Cabinet Ministers and DPP officials at grossly reduced prices leading to a net loss of over MK100 million.

The leadership and administration remain quiet and Anti Corruption Bureau appears unable to investigate further thereby giving rise to fears of officialdom turning a blind eye to such misdemeanours.

The Civil society says it has noted with concern that Malawians witness a few individuals in Government who have amassed massive wealth at public expense. These individuals build expensive houses, own fleets of cars and indulge openly in displays of fabulous opulence that seems to have ensued without a visible source.
Disrespect of the Rule of Law

Amid public condemnation, the current government abused its majority in Parliament to pass an amendment to Section 46 of the Penal Code allowing Minister of Information to ban publications 'deemed to be contrary to the public interest'.

Again, amid widespread public condemnation, the current leadership passed the Civil Procedure (Suits by or against the Government or Public Officers) (Amendment) Bill, 2010 popularly known as 'Injunctions Bill'. This bill denies supplicants the right to instant relief when their rights are under threat by any Government agency or officer.

Apart from the two bills, the Government passed the Police Act which empowers the Police to search any house without a search warrant, the Pensions Bill, the Local Courts Bill, a Constitutional amendment on timing and methodology of Local Government Elections, and the Protected Names, Flags and Emblems bill which changed the national flag at huge cost whilst dismissing widespread protest by most Malawians.