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afrol News, 19 November - Leading scholars have united to publish a new review of Malawi's short and troubled history of multi-party democracy. They find a true transformation since the Banda dictatorship, but they also warn that "intimidation and tolerance, old and new, exist side by side in Malawi's political pluralism." Editor Harri Englund asks the question: "Is there a culture of politics beyond mere greed?" in the introduction of the just released book, 'A Democracy of Chameleons - Politics and Culture in the New Malawi'. While some chapters underline the new freedoms and the political will to solve the country's profound structural problems, others focus on the maintainace of structures and persons from the defeated dictatorship. There are no clear answers. This 187-pages review of Malawi's recent history is published by the Nordic Africa Institute, edited by Finnish researcher Harri Englund. A new generation of scholars, most of them Malawians, cover a large range of issues causing debate in the so-called 'New Malawi'. The origin of the book can be traced to the International Conference on Historical and Social Science Research in Malawi, held at Chancellor College in Zomba in June 2000. The concept of unmasking the ambiguities of Malawi's young and fragile democracy is promising - such as the title - but this is not a monography. Therefore, the collection of articles - each and every one being a decent analysis on their own - does not reach a common conclusion, has no beginning and end and is not a systematic answer to the questions asked. Still, 'A Democracy of Chameleons' contains much needed analyses of the era of President Bakili Muluzi, which nobody seems to be able to categorise as neither democrat nor dictator. A highlight is the ending statement - which maybe should have been the introduction to the debate - by Malawi's internationally celebrated writer, Jack Mapanje. Dismayed at the continuation of an "oral culture of dictatorship," Mr Mapanje urges Malawians to confront their past in order to have a democratic future. Author Mapanje gives the much needed introduction to the brutalities of the era of Lifetime President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. According to Mapanje, the total of 33 years were finished by 15 years of a dictatorial triumvirate, headed by an increasingly senile President Banda, his "permantent mistress" Cecilia Kadzamira and her uncle, the ruthless John Tembo. Mr Mapanje explains how the "Kadzamira extended family" continues to have great influence in a Malawi that never had a truth commision to review the Banda regime's attrocities, he laments. Mr Tembo has rejected all past repsonsibilities and has gone on as one of the opposition's main leaders - now even hailed by President Muluzi. Mr Mapanje however warns that Mr Tembo could again use the President to carry out his undemocratic policies in another's name.
The Malawian author comments on the political questions raised in the book in a truly political-historic analysis. He explains the historical problem of an "oral dictatorship", where the abusers left no written tracks for later legal actions against them. Mr Mapanje, who will "not be told to shut up about [his and other's] incarceration," even puts himself at risk of being sued by the perpetrators within the new legal framework in Malawi's disfunctional new democracy. Mr Mapanje's words are forceful and to the point. Now, the book is a collection of 11 articles, all of great analytic value. They aim at making a "cultural approach" to Malawian politics. This experiment however fails due to a lack of a thorough political background analysis to contextualise the fragmented cultural analyses. Important sectors are also left out, for example the role of the struggling independent media - which are treated as "irresponsible" puppets of the opposition in some side comments. Maybe the ambiguity of Malawi's democracy even is reflected in the authors? There are two articles focusing on the economic trends in the country. Blessings Chinsinga shows that the Malawian discourse on poverty - now suddenly a key political issue - is perhaps the most conspicious way in which the difference between the "old" and "new" Malawi is currently demarcated. Gerhard Anders continues with a critical review of economic liberalisation and its effects on employment. Two chapters address the behaviour of politicians and other assumed custodians of democracy in the "new" Malawi. Clement Ng'ong'ola discusses disputes that have accompanied the elections, especially the increasing use of the legal profession by politicians. Edrinnie Kayambazinthu and Fulata Moyo examine what they term "hate speech" by politicians in the media in post-colonial Malawi. This study focuses on ruling party members and their abuse of state media - which was "worrisome, given Malawi's history of ethnic and political polarisation. The authors however too easily reach the conclusion that the constitution "needs to put reasonable limits to free speech," without defining such a dangerous proposal. The following chapters focus on cultural aspects, such as Reuben Chirambo's analysis of political messages in popular art and the important role of the Catholic and Presbyterian churches in the fight for democracy, discussed by Peter VonDoepp. Gregory Kamwendo looks at the history of tribalism in Malawi, which not only is treated as a threat, but also a resource, given many groups' passion for language and culture. "Tradition" is treated in two articles, giving a meaningful background to analyses of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the role of women. John Lwanda argues that, although AIDS is openly discussed in the "new" Malawi as contrary to the "old", the change is more in rhetoric than in action when it comes to address the pandemic. Similar trends are detailled by Ulrika Ribohn in her study of women "as keepers of tradition." Taken together, the articles demonstrate how contradictory and competing interpretations of democracy co-exist in the new Malawi and indeed among the authors themselves. Dispite the lack of an overall political analysis and syntesis, the book gives a sound introduction to a wide specter of Malawian society, enabling both Malawian and non-Malawian readers to reach their own conclusions. 'A Democracy of Chameleons' can be ordered from Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (P.O. Box 1703; SE-75147 Uppsala; Sweden) or on their web site at www.nai.uu.se (price: US$ 28). In Malawi, the book is co-produced and distributed by Kachere Series; POB 1037; Zomba. Other distributors exist in the UK and US (see the Institute's web site).
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