André Mkandawire · @amkanda
19th Feb 2012 from Twitlonger
Thandika Mkandawire:
Dr. Banda bequeathed Malawi three institutions that gave us a good
start towards democratic consolidation: (a) a relatively independent
judiciary, since the political cases were handled by the « Traditional
Courts »; (b) a depoliticised military since the political side was
handled by paramilitary Young Pioneers and (c) and a fairly competent
civil service. It is these institutions that ensured us a peaceful
referendum. Dr. Banda further gave legitimacy and credibility to these
institutions by accepting both the results of the referendum and the
first democratic elections. Muluzi in his own way strengthened the
legitimacy of these institutions by accepting, albeit reluctantly,
their ruling on Dr. Banda and the Tembos. He accepted the
parliament’s rejection of his Third Term bid. To appreciate the full
value of the legacy one has to consider the cases of many African
countries where these institutions were severely compromised during
one-party rule. Such countries have had huge political problems with
their democratisation since they have no credible institutions to
adjudicate even the simplest of squabbles. In Malawi all political
actors have respected the courts and sought to redress their
grievances through the court system. Malawi had more litigations going
on than the entire SADC region. One can point to some of the abusive
aspects of these litigations but all in all they are partly evidence
of the faith in our court system.
When Bingu came to power he promised to reverse the creeping trend
towards the politicisation of these institutions. He specifically
promised to strengthen the meritocratic basis of the civil service.
What we are witnessing now is the shredding of the legitimacy of these
institutions by politicising them and by implying that their daily
management of their affairs depend on “orders from above”. The
institutions are now being pitted one against another . The
anti-corruption bureaus publicly suggest the judiciary is corrupt and,
presumably on the same understanding, the police and prison disobey
court rulings. The loss of faith in public institutions has been
demonstrated by the rejection of doctors sent by the government as
“independent doctors” to check the health of Kasambara.
Good institutions eventually saved Dr Banda from politicised trials
and they have protected Muluzi from vindictive attempts to deny him
his rights. Those in power now should remember their own future will
also dependent on how independent and how well these institutions are
--
Thandika Mkandawire
London