Many civil society organizations (CSOs) in Malawi are wonderfully executing their duties, including checks and balances on how the government is serving the citizenry, but still there are some whose leaders need special courses to know their mandate.
One such a CSO leader who needs a course in human rights activism and CSO leadership is Sylvester Namiwa of Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) who seems not to be working for the betterment of citizens but rather for personal gains.
Recently, the CDEDI Executive Director called on President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera to fire Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma and to address the nation on his government’s plans to deal with murder cases, which have occurred since the past few weeks.
One thing Namiwa needs to know and understand is that not all security details are for public consumption, and they must at all cost be treated as such, regardless of any pressure for their publicity.
It is also clear that, being the State President, it does not mean to respond to everything as the President has responsible people put in authority to respond to such issues until unless otherwise. This means Mr. Namiwa is in hurry to call for two things at once from the citizen number one.
Being a CSO, which looks at democracy as one integral part of its operations, CDEDI has the responsibility to sensitize the citizenry on the evil of these other actions than rushing to grab the neck of those in authority all the time.
Maybe CDEDI Executive Director wants to tell the nation that his organization was constituted to criticize the government without suggesting better ways of dealing with issues. Or is it a political pressure group hiding behind the mandate of a CSO?
As a nation, we can all hold hands in curbing malpractice such as robbery, murder, committing suicide and many other practices than finger pointing and politicizing everything for special interests.
It is not the firing of Zikhale or the statement from the President that will end the vice, but our working together as a nation in dealing out with such barbaric acts. Remember we are all one and we have nowhere to call home if not our beautiful Malawi.
