Muluzi reflects on Malawi’s 30 years of democracy

As Malawi has clocked 30 years as a democratic state on 17^th May, Malawi’s first democratically elected President Bakili Muluzi said the road to the attainment of democracy wasn’t an easy one.

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In 1994, Malawi held her first democratic elections following a Referendum which saw 63 percent of the voters opting for democracy.

Speaking in a Times Exclusive interview, Muluzi said he was arrested seven times and confessed that after Malawi’s founding President Hastings Kamuzu Banda ordered his arrest during a rally in Balaka, fear gripped him and he hid at a cottage of the then British High Commissioner.

The authorities went around searching for him at the home of mother, his accomplices and his lawyer Collins Chizumila advised him to surrender himself at Chichiri Police where he spent a night.

He disclosed that others who were also advocating for multipartyism also got arrested adding they used to meet at Dr. Kahumbe’s private clinic pretending to be sick to hold meetings.

As a businessperson, Muluzi said his extensive travels to Zambia and Botswana exposed him to the advantages of multipartyism despite the sentiments which were there in Malawi that multipartyism meant war.

Muluzi also acknowledged the role of the pastoral letter in bringing winds of change to the warm heart of Africa.

He paid tribute to the late Patrick Mbewe, business tycoon James Makhumula as having contributed to finances for the multiparty movement in the country.

The former President indicated donor’s withdrawal as one of the challenges faced adding that the process of debt cancelation commenced during his reign.

He defended the economic performance during his reign attributing it to the structural adjustment programme initiated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to the formation of the Privatisation Commission.

Nonetheless, he stated that despite the advice from the two Bretton woods institutions, his administration resisted the privation of ADMARC due to its social responsibility to the poor adding that when he was leaving office, Air Malawi was still operating but was later sold.

On assertions which put his reign as a lost decade he responded: “Those who are old now can relate how difficult the road to multipartyism was. It started from Referendum where people spend their own resources for the public to buy-in to the concept of democracy over multipartyism.

“I’d urge Malawians not to forget where we’re coming from for us to appreciate the role others played to get here. Unfortunately, there are some sections who think otherwise. What about the freedoms people are enjoying now?” he queried

Muluzi described his relationship with the incumbent President Chakwera as cordial. 

The former President has also been actively involved in Cyclone Freddy recovery efforts through construction of houses together with Malawi’s first female President Joyce Banda.

The jovial Muluzi indicated that during his interactions with people, they complain on the rising cost of living and high commodity prices.

“We have to control the expenditure, it’s simple, you don’t have to be an economist. People need to be cautious on their spending we have to be careful”.

He underscored the need for leaders to be human and create a conversation among Malawians