WEEK BEGINNING
MONDAY 6TH MARCH 2006
Well, left Strathaven
at midday on Saturday and 24 hours later arrived in Malawi – Lilongwe
in the rain; 24 hour rain, torrential! Still, the rains having arrived
on time to save the maize crop, unlike last year, is a blessing.
Strange how in Scotland we moan about the wet weather, whilst in other
parts of the world they pray for it. The first impression that Pete
Wishart and I shared in our car-ride from the airport to the hotel was
just how unexpectedly verdant the landscape was, and how in fact
‘Scottish looking’ with rolling hills, low lying clouds, rivers and
streams. Of course, Scotland never dries up completely – It was hard
to imagine the area around Lilongwe during the dry season with barren
fields, dusty tracks and dried up river-beds.
The
reason Pete and I visited Malawi was with a view to assessing whether
the Scottish National Party, funded through the Westminster Foundation
for Democracy’s ‘smaller parties’ initiative’, could assist in the
promotion of multi-party democracy. This Foundation’s funding allows
bi-lateral co-operation between political parties in the UK and
priority overseas regions/countries. Currently the agreed priorities
are Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Scotland’s firm historic
links with Malawi, along with our Parliament’s agreed Scotland/Malawi
partnership makes this a country that the SNP would obviously want to
work with. Some may think it strange to consider funding political
parties but the reality is that if the ordinary folk in such countries
are really going to have choice and a say in their own futures, then
one of the bedrocks of democratic practice is the ability of political
parties to operate and to attract popular support in safety and
security, both at local and national level.
Following three decades of one-party rule, in 1994 Malawi had its
first open election, but there have really only been two parties
operating at any meaningful level – well, up until fairly recently
when the President fell out with his Party and has now started
another! But that’s another big long story, the upshot of which
details quite clearly that politics in Malawi is very much
personality-led, from the top down rather than involving those who are
affected most. And, then when you consider that the parliament hasn’t
met since November, that it meets in the President’s house but he
maybe won’t let them in when they turn up again this April, that the
President’s old Party has twice tried to impeach him, that the courts
are considering corruption charges against high-level politicians,
then you realise that there’s a lot to be done here!
So,
three days of meetings to follow – political party meetings,
parliamentarian meetings, government agencies, charities etc. All
extremely interesting, some thought provoking. The facts of Malawi are
stark: the tenth poorest country in the world; the lowest per-capita
income in Africa; drought and starvation last year; 65% illiteracy in
some rural areas; life expectancy around 35 years of age; 1 million
orphans (population is 12 million people) – 46+% of the population is
under 14 years of age!
The
problem of children who have no parents is huge in Malawi – one of the
main reasons for this is as all over sub-Saharan Africa, the problem
of HIV/Aids and although it seems that there is an improvement
generally in regard to appropriate drugs and treatment being made
available, Oxfam explained that there is an issue about how to impress
upon people who cannot read and write, who do not understand the
concept of modern medicine, that the medication must be taken
continually. So, it is generally those who are more informed/educated
who receive the treatment. As always in such issues it’s never as
straightforward as it seems. Education for orphaned children is
another area in which Oxfam works. They explained that so often with
the Government the policy was set, but the practices did not always
match the policy. An example of this is in primary education:
Government policy is that primary school for all children is free,
however in practice in some areas this is not in fact the reality,
with schools charging families – teachers seem to be unaware that the
Government has made this commitment. What Oxfam operatives are trying
to do is to impress this on those who run the schools and force the
Government to meet their commitments. However, even if primary
schooling is completely free, some orphans cannot attend – they are
often looking after younger siblings, trying to eke out a living
somehow, and therefore unable to attend school.
Oxfam
also spoke about the proposed land reform legislation with the hope
that the Land Bill re Security of Tenure would have its first reading
in April when it was hoped the Parliament would meet. Land reform
first came on the agenda 10 years ago, but no progress so far. General
points made were that some land holdings are too small to be
sustainable – generally tenant farmers and squatters, in the south the
big tea estates – multinationals – own land (90% of the land used for
tea growing is not Malawi owned), in village life the Chief uses land
as power.
A
particular treat for me was on Wednesday when we set off at the crack
of dawn for an internal flight south to Blantyre. Of course Blantyre
in South Lanarkshire is within the area I represent in parliament, and
is actually just down the road from where I live. Also, of course when
I was growing up in Glasgow, every schoolchild knew the story of David
Livingstone, and visited the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre on
school trips! When we got to Blantyre it was dry and stayed so all day
– a real change and such a pleasure, sunshine in Blantyre.
From Blantyre to
Blantyre
It was
in Blantyre that we met with members of the smaller political parties
who have MPs in the Parliament – the People’s Progressive Movement has
five and the People’s Transformation Party one. They were both part of
a coalition of smaller parties prior to the 2004 election. Political
parties here don’t appear to have any real structure – membership,
policy development, collective philosophy etc., and apart from the two
big parties, both of whom have held power, they seem to form just
prior to elections rather than build up from community level, or grow
from a particular movement. Certainly that was recognised by those we
spoke with who were trying hard to sustain their organisations in the
face of very limited resources and understandable public apathy about
politics. They were both positive about the work being carried out by
the Malawi Centre for Multi-Party Democracy, run by a Netherlands
organisation which is similar to the Westminster Foundation for
Democracy – all political parties in the Netherlands have pooled their
resources to fund all elected parties in Malawi and help in capacity
building and facilitating dialogue amongst them, and interested to
know whether we could compliment this work in some way.
I would
like to have spent more time in Blantyre where the links between
Scotland and Malawi are particularly strong – generally Pete and I
were astounded by the recognition amongst Malawians of Scotland, both
historically and current, and from all sorts of people. I did have a
concern though that because of the much-trumpeted Scotland-Malawi
partnership there was a level of expectation being raised which could
not be met. The partnership has been going for almost a year now and
the Minister with responsibility for the dispersal of funds will be
coming to my Committee soon to report progress. I’m still very
disappointed that South Lanarkshire Council has not even attempted to
tap into this funding to link the two Blantyres – seems really
short-sighted to m. Still waiting for an answer from their Chief
Executive though, so maybe they do have plans in the pipeline.
So,
following last minute meetings in Lilongwe on Thursday morning,
another 24 hour trip, this time home. A short visit, and I hope to
repeat it some day. Once Pete and I get our heads together and perhaps
put a proposal to the Party and the Foundation, then we’ll see. We
should never underestimate the amount of work needed to make Malawi a
viable, self-sufficient nation with a level of democracy, or the time
it will take – it’s so much more than just pumping in money; it’s
reinforcing the concept of the ‘common-good’ which was lost by the
divide-and-rule tactics of the dictatorship; it’s slow but sure
building of communities through education and health initiatives; it’s
giving people food security. One of the Malawians we met described his
own philosophy, in his own language, for what was needed in his
country - UMUNTO – there’s no direct translation, but he described it
as being about how Malawians need to see themselves so that the
country can progress, that is as people who have self-worth. Not a bad
philosophy for any of us I thought.
Back to normal work on
Saturday, but on a related theme – the Hamilton Fair Trade Group’s
stall in the Shopping Centre. Loads of interest from the public – the
movement is really taking off, and well done to the Hamilton
activists.
Linda Fabiani
12.3.06
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
