[Civsoc-mw] J Banda, Guardian (UK) 14-11-17

Fri Nov 17 16:10:22 CAT 2017

I totally agree with you Robert!
Besides we have bigger issues than JB's that would put her in a better situation as regards any case against her!
Those feeding JB with lies about her being arrested and later killed are just being used by other forces to keep her out of site!
JB my Sister take courage and return home!  Remember you are one of the world's powerful wonen and show our feeble minded men that women too are part of an inclusive democracy!  We should not be oppressed and threatened!
JBMUSTRETURNHOME Campaign!
FC

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.-------- Original message --------From: #rjdm2016 <rjdm2011 at gmail.com> Date: 17/11/2017  08:42  (GMT+02:00) To: Civil Society <civsoc-mw at sdnp.org.mw> Subject: Re: [Civsoc-mw] J Banda, Guardian (UK) 14-11-17 

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I still dont underdtand why jb cant return home. Every malawian of moral standing understands whaat happened on cashgate, if she was implicated in oneway or the other its normal of any case as the accused would want an easy passage

If i were close to jb i would have advised her to return home. I would appeal tjat she attempts to arrive earlier before 12noon.
On arrival its obvious she will be picked for questioning at area 30 , charged and enter plea on all charges. The police would not cheat that they want to keep her to conclude investigations, they have already been done .
So honestly she will be detained at area thirty but the news of her arrest will send shickwaves and will incite Malawians to revolt leading in the state granting her bail and later house arrest pending court appearing. 
The threats will always be there as this day and age of technology anyone is free to send texts to any on mber they wish so wether state led or overzealous cadets did that, its no justification for her to stay away, as high a profiled figure as her, there is no way The state can want her to die mysteriously in the malawian soil, infact where she is is a fertile ground for such desires to be executed.
Besides, which high profile cases have been concluded in Malawi? Let her come take plea, go home and start eating bonya with us or experiebce the trending romantic life Malawians are currently enjoying-taking dinner under a candle light with their loved ones!!! Infact her early return will boost her political supporters confidence and free her party followers in readiness for 2019 polls. We cant continue singing the sane song- lets move!!
I submit!

Robert MkwezaĺambaConcerned Citizen
On Nov 17, 2017 8:12 AM, "Adamson S. Muula" <amuula at medcol.mw> wrote:
It is interesting that the Blairs were contracted to provide PR facilities for the JB government in those two years. 
On 17 November 2017 at 07:23, Diana Cammack <cammack at mweb.co.za> wrote:
Death threats and a ‘ghost warrant’ – why is Malawi hounding Joyce Banda? Cherie Blair The rule of law is failing in this important African state, as the former president is forced to stay in exile amid a culture of fear and impunity

• Cherie Blair is the chair of Omnia Strategy LLP‘During Banda’s two-year administration from 2012 to 2014, an imminent economic collapse was averted through the implementation of vital economic reform.’ Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images  Tuesday 14 November 2017 09.30 GMT Last modified on Tuesday 14 November 2017 11.37 GMT A country of spectacular natural beauty, boasting one of Africa’s Great Lakes, sprawling forests and the mist-laced Shire Highlands, Malawi is a small land-locked country in east Africa. It is rarely in the spotlight and, even then, it’s most likely because of a celebrity sighting: Madonna has adopted four Malawian children and visited most recently to build a paediatric hospital; Prince Harry is a regular, lately volunteering in the relocation of elephants with the NGO African Parks.While Malawi does not enjoy the same international attention as heavyweights South Africa, Nigeria or Kenya, it is a regional leader boasting the first elected female vice-president of any African country, and only the second country on the continent to have a female president, Joyce Banda, whom I have known for many years.During Banda’s two-year administration from 2012 to 2014, an imminent economic collapse was averted through the implementation of vital economic reforms, the country’s economic growth rate rose from 1.8% in 2012 to 6.2% in 2014 and draconian laws were repealed, strengthening the rule of law. In healthcare, the Banda administration promoted safe motherhood initiatives and maternal mortality rates were slashed from 675 per 100,000 live births to 460.What Banda had done to receive this treatment was to oversee the exposure of the largest governmental corruption schemeToday, progress has stagnated and the government of Peter Mutharika is presiding over the country’s sad deterioration. Mutharika’s regime exhibits troubling governance tendencies such as flagrant abuses of the international legal system and political persecution. The principles of democracy, transparency and the rule of law that Banda and her administration re-established during her presidency have been systematically demolished. The case of Banda herself is telling.The former president was completing a year-long residency earlier this year as a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington – before she came to power she was a celebrated civil society advocate – when she publicly announced her intention to return to Malawi.Within days, the national police spokesman James Kadadzera had organised a press conference in which he declared that an arrest warrant had been signed to investigate the former president for “alleged abuse of office and money laundering”. Two months on, neither Banda nor her lawyers have been served a copy of the warrant and all attempts to see it have been thwarted by the authorities.What Banda had done to receive this treatment was to oversee the exposure of the largest governmental corruption scheme ever uncovered in Malawi. “Cashgate” is reported to have involved $250m being stolen from government coffers and British auditors investigating just one six-month period found that tens of millions of dollars had been fraudulently claimed. Neither the audit report nor any other evidence has been produced to implicate Banda, despite wild allegations thrown by her accusers.However, in threatening what had been a profitable scheme for many, Banda made enemies in the new authoritarian administration that succeeded her. As others have learned to their detriment, in many countries today there is more danger from calling out corruption than there is in engaging in it. Malawi today is characterised by a culture of fear and impunity; the origins of which Banda had sought to expose during her term in office.Much like the Russian authorities have repeatedly done against Bill Browder, the Malawian authorities announced they had sent a request to Interpol to prevent Banda from lawfully travelling without being arrested. Browder, who lives in the UK, has spent the past eight years investigating the murder of Sergei Magnitsky in a Russian prison and calling for sanctions against Russia. He was recently prevented from travelling to the US because of an Interpol-issued “diffusion notice” instituted at the request of Russian authorities; a process that has come under increasing scrutiny as a tool of political persecution by authoritarian states.Banda is not only confronted by a politically motivated investigation and the threat of arrest, but has received numerous death threats aimed at her and her family. These threats explicitly warn that if she continues speaking out about political corruption and dares set foot in Malawi, she will be killed.So while the “ghost warrant” was being contrived to deter Banda from returning home, her sister, Cecilia Kumpukwe, was being arrested in Malawi – accused of online rumour-mongering at the expense of the vice-president, Saulos Chilima. The allegations remain unsubstantiated but nonetheless she has to report to the police every Tuesday and her passport has been withdrawn by the government, stranding her in Malawi and preventing travel to South Africa for important medical treatment.Malawi mobs kill two more people accused of being vampires Read more Even more chillingly, Banda’s son has been publicly labelled a “vampire” – a ridiculous, but fatal designation in Malawi which has seen eight people murdered by lynch mobs in the last month alone, spurred to violence by this pernicious libel.The treatment of Banda and her family serves as a stark reminder that Malawi must recommit to higher standards of governance and the rule of law or risk failing its citizens and finding itself attracting the wrong sort of headlines. Yet Malawi is not alone in needing to show proper respect for due process. Recent events across the region and in the west, only serve to emphasise the need for deeply rooted institutions with the resilience to withstand those who, in power, might seek to undermine and subvert them for personal and political gain.• Cherie Blair is the chair of Omnia Strategy LLPTopics Malawi Opinion Africa comment  
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Adamson S. Muula PhD, MPH, MBBS, CPH, PGDip (Public Health Ethics), PGDip (Global Health), PGD (Palliative Care)Professor of Epidemiology and Public HealthUniversity of Malawi, College of MedicineSchool of Public Health and Family MedicineDepartment of Public HealthChimutu Building Room 850Private Bag 360, ChichiriBlantyre 3MalawiEmail: amuula at medcol.mwCell: +265 884233486Publications list: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Muula
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