15 African Countries With English As Official Language

In this piece, we are going to look at the 15 African Countries With English As Official Language. If you want to skip our detailed discussion on the outsourcing opportunities available in the African region for businesses outside the region, you can go directly to 5 African Countries With English As Official Language.

Africa comes in as the second biggest continent in terms of size, covering about 30 million square kilometers (11.6 million square miles). It’s also the second most populated continent on the planet, with a whopping 1.48 billion folks calling it home, as of 2024. Over 24 countries exist in the vast continent of Africa where English stands as their official languages, implying the fact that so many African countries are accessible to the world without a barrier such as a language barrier.

By leveraging African talent, businesses can not only enhance efficiency and profitability but also contribute to job creation and economic growth across the continent. This is so due to a vast pool of talent and skill on the continent, which presents viable opportunities for the world outside the continent.

The outsourcing landscape in Africa is a promising opportunity for businesses looking to find fresh talent and cut down on costs. Although the advantages of outsourcing to Africa may not be widely recognized, several countries on the continent have thriving outsourcing industries. Nigeria, with its massive population of over 200 million, is actively promoting outsourcing clients from other countries through initiatives like the National Outsourcing Strategy. Furthermore, South Africa boasts advantages such as native English speakers and a favorable time zone, making it a prime destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Also, South Africa is home to 133,195 software developers.

Moreover, Kenya offers a diverse landscape of BPO services covering multiple sectors, facilitated by an educated workforce and growing infrastructure. Ghana is known for its business-friendly environment, government support, and skilled English-speaking workforce, attracting companies like Trinity Software Center and ACS Ghana. Madagascar, with its reputation for having the fastest internet in Africa and competitive labor costs, sees companies like Bocasay and Oworkers excelling in IT services and data handling.

Furthermore, the education system in Africa has shown remarkable progress over the past ten years. The World Economic Forum recognized 38 African countries among the top 140 in terms of skills development in their education systems. Seychelles, Tunisia, Mauritius, South Africa, and Algeria are among the countries that have been acknowledged for their high-ranking education systems. As a result of this growth in skilled young talent entering the workforce, Africa is becoming a more competitive labor market.

By October 2020, out of the 5.8 million businesses in the U.S., around 140,918 were owned by Black entrepreneurs. Most of these Black-owned businesses, a whopping 96%, didn’t have employees, while only 80% of all small businesses fell into that category. Interestingly, about 32% of Black-owned businesses with employees were in the healthcare and social services sector.

Unfortunately, Black entrepreneurs encounter challenges like limited access to startup funds, less experience in management and industry know-how, and often operate in industries with lower revenue opportunities. Nevertheless, many businesses founded by Black/African people have turned out to be huge success; let’s shed light on some of these before we move on to our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) is a real estate investment trust that’s publicly traded and self-advised. They’re all about owning top-notch hotels, mostly focused-service and full-service ones that bring in good profits. Right now, they’ve got a portfolio of 96 hotels, totaling around 21,200 rooms spread across 23 states and Washington, D.C., plus a stake in another hotel with 171 rooms. Their shares have been making some moves lately, up by 0.4% in the last month and hitting a new high of $12.14 on Friday of the previous week. Since the beginning of the year, RLJ Lodging has seen a 1.2% increase, which is a bit lower compared to the finance sector as a whole but better than the REIT and Equity Trust industry.

Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE.K)

Urban One, Inc.(NASDAQ:UONE.K) and its crew run as a cool urban-focused media company in the U.S. So, the folks holding Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE.K) stocks might be a bit worried seeing their share price dip by 22% last quarter, ending 31st December 2023. But hey, looking back over three years, those returns would likely have put a smile on most investors’ faces. Yup, in the past three years, the share price shot up by a solid 73%, which is even better than the market average.

Broadway Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BYFC)

Broadway Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BYFC) is the big boss behind City First Bank, which is a federally chartered savings bank. Here’s some info on the numbers: the company’s got a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.13, and a quick ratio of 0.02. Their market cap sits at $56.61 million, with a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.71. If we look at their moving averages, they’ve been cruising at $6.71 for the 50-day moving average and $7.06 for the 200-day moving average, as of the start of February 2024.

15 African Countries With English As Official Language

A young African American woman excitedly speaking on her smartphone while using a prepay mobile service.

Methodology

To come up with our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language, we conducted research to first list down the African countries with English as the official language. And then to rank those countries, we used the population figures for the respective countries by referring to the data provided by World Population Review. Let’s now jump on to our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language.

By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.

15. The Gambia

Population figure 2024: 2,841,803

Businesses have been tapping into The Gambia’s plentiful semi-skilled and unskilled workforce for a long time. Wages there are often lower compared to other West African countries. Right now, the minimum daily pay for unskilled jobs starts from $1.50, while average daily wages range from $2.50 to $4. Having access to this affordable labor pool has been a big help for many companies in cutting down on their operational expenses.

14. Liberia

Population figure 2024: 5,536,949

So, Liberia sits pretty on the West African coast, rubbing elbows with Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the northeast, and Côte d’Ivoire to the southeast. While English is the official language there, you’ll hear over 20 local languages chatting away, alongside a unique tongue called Liberian English. Liberia’s got quite the linguistic mix going on!

13. Sierra Leone

Population figure 2024: 8,977,972

Sierra Leone is a real melting pot of languages. While English is kind of the main official language, Krio takes the crown for the most spoken one. In schools, government offices, and on the news, you’ll hear English, but Krio is what folks use to chat across the country. About 97% of Sierra Leone’s 7.4 million people speak Krio, whether it’s their first, second, or even third language. Krio’s roots go back to English Creole—it’s pretty fascinating!

12. South Sudan

Population figure 2024: 11,277,092

So, after some pretty rough conflicts, South Sudan finally broke off from Sudan and became independent in 2011. The vote for independence was a landslide, with over 98% of South Sudanese folks giving it a thumbs up. When they became their own country, South Sudan decided to go with English as their official language. They wanted to ditch Arabic, which they saw as a reminder of the tough times—they were all about starting fresh!

11. Rwanda

Population figure 2024: 14,414,910

These days, Rwanda is like a language mixtape! While over 99% of the folks there chat in Kinyarwanda, which is their mother tongue and a Bantu language, they’ve also got French, English, and Swahili as their official languages. It’s like a linguistic smorgasbord over there!

10. Zimbabwe

Population figure 2024: 17,020,321

In Zimbabwe, they’ve got a whole bunch of official languages—16, to be exact! There’s Chewa, Chibarwe, English, and loads more on the list. But most folks there chat in English, Shona, or Ndebele. Shona is like the top dog, with about 70% of the population speaking ChiShona as a first language. Even though Shona’s big there, the official language is still good old English.

9. Zambia

Population figure 2024: 21,134,695

In Zambia, most folks talk Bantu languages from the Niger-Congo family and are linked back to farming and metal-using ancestors who made their home there around 2,000 years ago. Zambia’s like a language party with lots of different tongues floating around. They’ve even got seven official vernacular languages like Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, and more. English is the big cheese when it comes to official stuff like government, schools, business, and the legal world. Zambia’s language game is pretty diverse!

8. Malawi

Population figure 2024: 21,475,962

Malawi is a real melting pot of languages. Even though English is the official talk, not everyone there is fluent in it—only about 26% of folks 14 and older can chat in English. They’ve got some other major languages bouncing around, like Chewa, Yao, Tonga, Sena, and Elomwe. Lots of language flavors in Malawi!

7. Cameroon

Population figure 2024: 29,394,433

Cameroon sits right in the middle of the action in Africa, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. With French and English as their official languages, it can be a bit tough to kick off a business there. Handling things like payroll, hiring, benefits, and setting up shop can be a bit of a challenge. But, teaming up with a top-notch service company for outsourcing in Africa can really work wonders for your business without all the headaches. While Cameroon might not have as many IT pros as some other places in Africa, they’ve been stepping up their game since 2017, with a big jump in the number of software developers from just 3,000 in 2017 to 7,748 in 2023. Progress is progress, right?

6. Ghana

Population figure 2024: 34,777,522

Ghana is the go-to spot for BPO outsourcing in West Africa. It’s a hit with companies wanting to farm out tech work because of its chill regulatory and tax setup, support from the government, sweet time zone, brainy English-speaking workforce, and strong IT setup. In Ghana’s outsourcing world, you’ll find cool setups like Trinity Software Center, a social enterprise linking up West African and European firms with local tech whizzes. Another star player is ACS Ghana, a tech company in Ghana that hires top-notch African engineers and project managers to provide tech solutions to businesses both here and abroad. Ghana’s outsourcing scene is buzzing!

Click to continue reading and find out about the 5 African Countries With English As Official Language.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. 15 African Countries With English As Official Language is originally published on Insider Monkey.

Source

CDEDI full report on the Malawi Government claims on Passports

STATUS OF PASSPORT PRINTING


As a mouth-piece of the voiceless citizenry, and in exercise of its governance watchdog role, the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) zeroed in on the current passport crisis in the country and hereby shares its key findings as follows:

To start with, it is important to say that President Lazarus Chakwera has not only lied to the world but, also, proved himself to be a security threat to the nation by hoodwinking Malawians into believing that the country’s passport printing system has been hacked, and that the hackers are demanding a ransom.

In other words, we have reasons to believe that the President disguised Techno Brain as a hacker, and further disguised the GIT’s maintenance contract fee as ransom in order to earn himself and his administration public sympathy.

Background

Malawians may wish to know that on March 22, 2019 the Malawi Government engaged Techno Brain on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis where the company used its money to build the system for printing
passports on the understanding that it would recover its money through passport fees and later hand over the operations of the system to the Malawi Government after three years. Important to note here is that passports are
not printed using Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) but money that people pay when they apply for passports.

At the expiry of the BOT contract, Techno Brain handed over everything to the Malawi Government. However, for purposes of the smooth running of the system, Techno Brain recommended a Dubai-based company, known as
GIT, as a maintenance consultant. Apparently, this was done in view of the need for replacement of the system’s parts, including servicing.

The above is now the genesis of the current crisis. Some well-known Malawi Congress Party-connected ICT gurus, including officials from e-Government, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) and National
Registration Bureau (NRB), against technical advice from internal ICT team at the Immigration Department, bypassed Techno Brain and GIT and tampered with the system in an effort to run away from paying licence fees.
Investigations show that the system was tampered with through the Lilongwe saver office at Malawi Postal Corporation Training Centre, along the Paul Kagame road where the Department of Immigration and Citizen
Services headquarters is earmarked to be located. When their attempts proved futile, they invited a Techno Brain team which came for assessment, hence the public notice by the Department of Immigration titled
‘MAINTENACE OF PASSPORT ISSUANCE SYSTEM’ dated January 28, 2024.

According to the assessment report, the Techno Brain team recommended to government that they needed eight days to bring back the system and printing could resume in Lilongwe and Blantyre. To be followed by Mzuzu
and Mangochi. The Techno Brain team said all it needed was a mandate to start working to recover the system, but the MCP ICT team acted wiser and convinced government that they did not need Techno Brain’s assistance,
hence the government has not granted Techno Brain mandate to recover the system.

THE HACKING NARRATIVE

The growing public rage and the ever-inquisitive citizens forced the MCP ICT gurus who were still trying to apply the try-and-error tactics to recover the system, to use the agenda setting theory to churn the hacking narrative,
which is senseless and dangerous.

Unfortunately, President Chakwera has been caught lying under oath! Forget about the report, here is why Malawians should be living in fear:

By publicly informing the nation that the Immigration system has been hacked, the President has played in the hands of professional hackers. In fact, the President has just told the world: “Here we are, a helpless and
vulnerable nation whose systems are susceptible to hacking!” But the hacking narrative also begs some serious question:

  1. The mode of communication with the hackers to demand the so-called ransom, assuming it is in person, why not unleash State apparatus to apprehend the messenger if they are within the country? If they are elsewhere in the world, why can’t government seek assistance from governments of those countries to apprehend them? Assuming they are communicating via WhatsApp call or e-mails, is it that difficult to use modern technology to trace them?
  2. Further question to the above would be; as a nation, have we failed to trace the hackers due to lack of expertise? If that is the case, are we safe as a country? If it is out of lack of interest, why is government not interested to flush out the hackers in the first place?
  3. The other question would be: Is President Chakwera telling Malawians that as huge and important the Passport Issuance System is, it doesn’t have backup servers elsewhere? For starters, any computer-based system, no matter how small it might be, has a virtual backup system, and this was one of Techno Brain’s expected deliverables. To hear that the system crushed and loss of data occurred is a huge mockery, especially for the kind of operations we are talking about.
    Malawians may recall that between 2018 and 2019 one of the commercial banks in the country had its system hacked, but it was up and running within an hour because they had servers in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and in the country they had procured the system.

Servers are important because no matter how watertight a system can be, it is prone to hacking for, among others, the following reasons:

  1. Malice
  2. Theft and or ransom
  3. Frustration from the super users
  4. Natural disasters and calamities

Now the critical question President Chakwera should answer is: Out of the 20 million plus Malawians, did we not have skilled ICT personnel that could advise on the need for the Immigration Department to have redundant servers in place?

This is why we at CDEDI, on behalf of Malawians, conclude that the President lied before the House of records the day he appeared in Parliament and, among other questions, he was asked to explain the passport crisis.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Malawi is at crossroads, the MCP ICT team is holding the country at ransom. But empty threats from the President won’t work. The system is ours since it was handed over to government, but government is trying to dodge user licence fees to GIT. Government is now accusing GIT for demanding user fees, which President Chakwera has described as ransom, after some so-called local ICT experts tampered with the system to bypass both GIT and Techno Brain. The noble thing to do is for the Tonse Alliance administration to swallow its pride and let Techno Brain do the needful that will allow Malawians acquire passports as and when they need them.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Malawians may wish to know that all this is stemming from an election campaign promise to make a passport affordable, at K14,000, down from the current K93,000. As this campaign promise was being made, passport printing, according to the initial contract of 800,000 books, was pegged at $76 each translating into US$60.8 million about MK108 billion. Malawians may remember that the cost of $76 per passport was used to cost the project with deliverables. Techno Brain was requested through the office of Attorney General to inform the country the cost of a single booklet, but they declined. It simply meant that if the passport fee was to be reduced as promised, government should have subsidised the fee.

The three-year e-Passport project had deliverables attached to it as follows:

  1. Digitalization of the registry.
  2. Digitalisation and networking of all embassies to cut on costs for sending
    documents through DHL, and fraud where passports were manipulated.
  3. Printing facilities at Chileka and Kamuzu International Airports.
  4. Disaster recovery site
  5. Airport forensic laboratories
  6. Training of personnel
  7. Study tours
  8. Provision of five Toyota Hilux Twin cabs
  9. Upgrade current passport system
  10. Provision of additional printers
  11. Stock management system
  12. Provision of cctv cameras
  13. Enhance access control of building and printing rooms
  14. Protective gear for printing rooms

As it stands, the Immigration Department Director General (DG) General Charles Kalumo owes Malawians an explanation or two, as to whether all the deliverables were met. If not, he needs to explain why that is the case after full payment of contract money was paid.

OUR STAND

President Chakwera is shielding the trio that is holding this country atransom, by allowing them to feed the nation lies that they will be able to run the system, through bypassing GIT and Techno Brain, at the expense of
people requiring to travel for medical attention, business and school.

The system requires a disaster recovery site, which was among Techno Brain’s deliverables as per provision of the expired contract.

The three weeks the President has promised to have the system up and running is a clear indication that he trusts the so-called ICT gurus that have failed for the past four weeks, and our fear is that this will be a fruitless
effort, likely to end in tears for us.The said 21 days is too long a wait when Techno Brain had suggested for eight working days, especially given that some people have waited for their passports for ages.

WAYFORWARD

Malawians have a right to know who did what; therefore, CDEDI implores the relevant committee in the august House to immediately call for a live public inquiry over the matter, where Techno Brain would also be heard.
By public convenience, the government should immediately recall able hands that have full knowledge and skills of the said ‘hacked system’ but were unceremoniously interdicted, posted and/or transferred, to go back
and solve this national crisis, and save the country from the embarrassment government has pushed it into.

Meanwhile, the seven (7) working days’ ultimatum stands! CDEDI will mobilise Malawians to conduct peaceful demonstrations, protesting the 21 days and forcing a public inquiry on the same.

Sylvester Namiwa
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As chief awarded honorary degrees, let us honor our own past and present heroes

PIX of Chief Dr. Kachindamoto with Malawi diplomats, 2015

By Janet Karim

Dream like Martin, Reclaim like Maxine, Think like Garvey, Fight like Malcolm, Challenge like Rosa, Speak like Fredrick, Write like Maya, Build like Madam C.J., Educate like W.E.B., Lead like Harriet, and Inspire like Obama. – Black History Month commemoration plaque of just a few of African American heroes, 2024

 Opinionate like Janet Z. Karim by giving opinions that are laced with solutions! – Janet Zeenat Karim, 2024

The ngoma drums and nsindo dancers are still resounding with great joy this week Kumangoni lands in Malawi and in the diaspora: Chief Theresa Kachindamoto was this past week awarded two honorary PhD degrees by two Belgium universities. As Chief of Dedza district, she has authority over more than 900,000 people. She is known for her forceful action in dissolving child marriages and insisting on education for both girls and boys, footing the tuition bills of those who cannot afford the cost of tuition at secondary level.

According to Nation Online, the two Belgium universities, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University in Belgium) and Université Catholique (UC) de Louvain have accorded Chief Kachindamoto of Dedza the joint honorary degrees for her work that champions women’s and children’s rights in her area. At the onset of her rise to her campaign, the media often referred to her as the Child Marriage Terminator, Malawians may now call her Chief Dr. Theresa Kachindamoto.

I first met Chief Dr. Kachindamoto when she was part of the entourage of former Gender Minister Patricia Kaliati at the 2015 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Malawi Parliament had earlier in 2015 passed into law the raising of the age of marriage to 18 years, being the first country to legally outlaw child marriage in Malawi. She spoke eloquently relating her work in her area of authority that includes Dedza, how by that time she had terminated over 300 marriages involving children (girls and boys). She also told the stunned delegations from 194 countries how after terminating the marriage, she found herself paying for school fees (especially for the girls) of the former married students.

Among the pictures Dr. Kachindamoto painted was that of young girls either being taken out of school by parents who cannot afford to pay for school fees, or young girls being married off to pay a debt owed by the family. As a member of the audience, it was exciting to listen to the Chief speak so passionately about issues that the UN SADC (Southern African Development Community) group had painstakingly outlined in our Resolution calling for the end to the global scourge of child, early, and forced child marriage. As a member state of SADC, the Malawi Mission to the UN, joined fellow delegates advocating for an end to the practice of child, early, and forced marriage that was noted to be a global menace that impinges on the human rights of young girls and boys.

The times were great moments to work at the UN as a Malawian; in 2012 Malawi had its first female President, dr. Joyce Banda. As she elaborated and underscored the village-level campaign to have all pregnant women have their babies delivered  at health centers or hospitals, Chief Kachindamoto’s work on terminating marriages coupled with the promise of school fees. Thus in my Malawi, while chiefs were insisting on “no pregnant women will deliver their babies in my village,” Dr. Kachindamoto was decreeing “There shall be no child marriage in my district.”

The brass and brave decree morphed fast into a By-Law; the actions of the Child Marriage Terminator was applauded for the noble, laudable, and refreshing game-changing actions for the benefits got national and later global attention. Her exposure at the UN the 2015 CSW led to invitations to be guest speaker at UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNICEF; all three benefit from the cross-cutting nature of banning child, early, and forced marriage.

It has been close to 10 years since Chief Kachindamoto’s debut at the UN. When I had the opportunity to talk with her in the corridors of the United Nations, it was an awesome feast to witness the Chief rise to the level of global recognition and the honorary degree accolade. As I sing and dance like an avid fan on steroids, I wonder what were all the two honorary degrees from UNIMA and MZUNI to the former first ladies in the previous administrations, all about? Comparatively-speaking, were their achievements of grander substances as Chief Dr. Kachindamoto? 

Do honorary degrees have to be awarded to our local heroes from foreign and distant countries? UNIMA, MZUNI, MUBAS, and the Lilongwe Uni, where are your honorary degrees for local heroes? Malawi has truckloads of  heroes (past and present). Regrettably, Malawians – the educated and not, eloquent, and not so eloquent, should they be waiting to be called to another country to be awarded the coveted honorary? Or does it mean the foreign and distant universities are beating unnecessary drums or drums without a cause for our honorary degree recipients? Many of these questions are water under the bridge; but very suspicious murky waters.

The answer is that maybe Malawians just do not care about its heroes: it has a truckload of heroes, both past and present. Regrettably to the credit of the educated and not, the eloquent and not, the political and not,  all that would rather criticize, find fault, go past the light of some local person’s thunder, arrive and get immersed into Critique Zone. The opportunity to appreciate, elevate, and enjoy the success of a fellow Malawian evaporates ever so fast. This must stop.

A very big case in point is the story of William Kamkwamba, who in my opinion, deserves one from three main constituent colleges of UNIMA.) Kamkwamba is an inventor, engineer, and author. Before he graduated from secondary school, he built a wind turbine to power multiple electrical appliances in his parent’s house in Kasungu. He used blue gum trees, discarded bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard. The lad was whisked away to SA where he attended British system secondary school then air-lifted to the US where he graduated from Dartmouth College. He has since built a solar-powered water pump, which supplies drinking water to his village. He has been a guest speaker to the renowned TED talk shows. And the book recounting his amazing story, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, was turned into a film.

The country has someone from its soil who builds solar -powered water pumps and yet we are still yapping about load shedding and power blackouts?! The Kamkwamba story pains me because of Malawi’s reluctance to embrace and celebrate its heroes. This is a call out to the UNIMA colleges (past and present, please excuse me that I do not agree with the breakup of the original UNIMA), these must scrape up on their research prowess and find all the brilliant Malawi minds that did, have done, or are doing great things, worthy of the honorary degree.

Here is my short list of heroes that must be awarded honorary degrees:

1.     Former Official Hostess, Mama C. Tamanda Kadzamira (dedication to service in transition to democracy).

2.     Bakili Muluzi (successfully steering Malawians to life after Kamuzu Banda, former first, and Life President of Malawi).

3.     ConCourt Justices (delivering brilliant verdict on the 2019 flawed presidential elections.

4.     Dr. Joyce Banda (showing Malawians and the world “Yes, she can!”).

5.     Former first female Chief Justice Anastasia Msosa (worked brilliantly in one party and multi-party environments with great aplomb).

6.     Justice Andrew Nyirenda (for integrity and ensuring the rule of law and respect to our constitution prevail).

7.     Gregory Gondwe (for the tenacity to unveil the truth behind the news.

By the way, all Malawians, systems, and institutions should keep very keen eyes on our Chief Dr. Kachindamoto. She is fighting child marriage and promoting the welfare of women’s rights and empowerment; let us help her in her campaign that there is integrity of school curriculums  in our schools. Since Belgium is part of the EU, (an organization that has blackmailed African countries and others – ACP-EU NPA – to sign a document with values that are not our values. Under the banner of human rights, the EU aims to get Malawi and other African countries to change the laws governing pregnancy, contraceptives, right to abortion and the rights of same-sex couples. Malawi should not allow such deceptive agendas to slip into the Chief’s campaign.

UNIMA, please start giving out the degrees to numerous Malawian heroes and sheroes. All quiet on this front is no longer an option: start dishing out them honorary degrees! Kamkwamba should get at least three.

Caption: In the picture below: Chief Dr. Theresa Kachindamoto, in March 2015 when she visited the UN to talk about ending child marriage in her constituency. Seen here with the Malawi Mission to UN diplomats and staff.  – Photo by Robert Michael

Has Malawi legislature faired well under the Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara?

By Rick Dzida

When Catherine Gotani Hara was elected in 2019 as the first female speaker of Malawi’s National Assembly, there sparked ululations and high expectations among many Malawians.

Five years down the line, has Catherine met people’s expectations? Has she proved to the world that women can do much better than men? Has she enhanced the perception that women are mostly of higher integrity than men?

For starters, Gotani Hara’s appointment marked a great stride towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.

During Catherine’s tenuren of office, Malawians were satisfied with the bold step the National Assembly took to reject the amendment of Malawi Constitution just to accommodate the 50%+1 case law.

You may recall that by this time, the 50%+1 had already been rejected by the parliament. However, the Constitutional Court found it necessary to push it back to the National Assembly through a case law.

This was in sharp contradiction with Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Malawi Constitution that grant each arm of Government separation of powers.

Furthermore, Malawians saw the National Assembly asserting itself by enacting a law so that parliamentary and local government elections should be determined by the first past the post, overriding 50%+1 constitutional court interpretation of the word ‘majority’.

However, Gotani Hara’s leadership in the National Assembly is replete with parliamentary controversies and anomalies.

First, Gotani Hara has failed to appreciate that the position of the speaker requires one to discharge duties without any bias, partiality or being partisan.

At the outset, Catherine was very quick to handpick Kondwani Nankhumwa as the leader of opposition without the blessings of the main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, DPP.

Without any iota of shame, Catherine single-handedly created a temporary position of deputy leader of opposition in parliament.

Obviously, Gotani Hara’s actions were in contradiction with parliamentary standing orders 35.

Are we then mesmerised that the Judiciary granted a court injunction to Kondwani Nankhumwa restraining DPP from removing him from that position and yet Kondwani was not duly elected?

Logic rules that it is the Speaker of the National Assembly herself who had started to defy her own parliamentary standing orders 35. The judiciary was just an accomplice in violating the parliamentary orders.

It is not therefore mindboggling that productive deliberations in parliament are now history.

This is why many Malawians were surprised to note that the whole 2023/2024 national budget, under a compromised leader of opposition Nankhumwa, was passed within 120 minutes without any detailed scrutiny.

It is only under the tutelage of Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara that the tenure of office for Members of Parliament (MPs) was unconstitutionally enacted to 6 years instead of 5 years.

This substantiates that Catherine’s leadership has produced law makers who can make laws that contradict the Supreme Malawi Constitution.

In fact, Section 5 of the Malawi Constitution provides that any law that contradicts the Malawi Constitution is rendered invalid.

This simply implies that the Constitutional mandate of the current crop of MPs ends this year.

The added year of 2025 for our MPs is unconstitutional and is therefore invalid.

In conclusion, we implore our beloved Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara to desist from partisan politics in the National Assembly.

Furthermore, we request Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara, to enact laws that are in tandem with the Malawi Constitution.

Lastly but not least, it is the duty of the Speaker of the National Assembly, as the Head of one arm of Government, to ensure that the Constitutional separation of powers is highly respected.

She should not be paranoid of the Judiciary and the Executive arms of Government.

Shadows of coloniality

In the essays “Geo-spatial Verities” and “Mlozi Bin Kazbadema of Mpata,” Phoya reminds the reader that almost none of the current inhabitants of Malawi are native to the land. He illustrates how the indigenous people were the Akafula, who were displaced by the country’s modern-day tribes, who migrated from other regions of Africa. For example, the waNkhonde came from present-day Cameroon and Congo, the Tumbukas from Tanzania, and Yao from Mozambique, with the Ngonis epitomizing this cross-border composition through their shared origins with the Zulus, the Shanganes in Mozambique, and the Ndebeles in Zimbabwe. Probably the most surprising aspect of this varied history is masked in language, specifically, in names. Phoya shows, for example, how a Malawian name such as Mandala is derived from Mandla while Gomani stems from Ngcamane, highlighting their eSwatini origins. Malawi is, therefore, seemingly a confluence of Africa.

I wonder whether this is one of the reasons Phoya claims “Malawi is a construct—a new one at that.” The country is a collection of people displaced, a refuge that the British drew random borders around. If Malawi is nothing but this, how bizarre would it be for it to smother the freedoms of those also fleeing conflicts and looking for a corner of the world to call home? Unfortunately, following a concerning pattern in Southern Africa, Malawi has also veered into scapegoating refugees for its social and economic problems. It seems states that are failing to deliver sustainable social and economic progress for their people in the face of growing inequalities, deploy the same playbook of redirecting their failures to an “outsider.”

Phoya also touches on another depiction of Malawi’s past that is often ignored: the centrality of the colony in the development of cities. Blantyre is the most glaring example of this. Apart from being named after the birthplace of David Livingstone (more about him later) and being home to the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Phoya mentions how Chipembere Highway (the city’s major road) resulted from “colonial engineering.” It primarily connects Blantyre (a former missionary outpost) to Limbe, a rail station that facilitated the core motive of colonization—the transfer of resources (in this case, tobacco).

Although the book engages with numerous historical figures to varying degrees, I focus on David Livingstone, John Chilembwe, Kamuzu Banda, and Madonna (only because the book is named after the essay on her). Apart from Madonna, these people have had the largest impact on Malawi as we see it today.

Starting with David Livingstone, Phoya stresses that “In the beginning of Malawi, there was a people, an African people mostly. And a lake, and David Livingstone.” Upon witnessing the East African slave trade (and “discovering” Lake Malawi), Livingstone made it his mission to “save” the native Malawian, both spiritually and economically. Following his pleas to British authorities, missionaries began arriving in Malawi, and they were followed by businessmen to introduce commerce—as typified by the African Lakes Company—that would supposedly counter the slave trade.

As in many other colonies, the spread of Christianity,  and the capitalism that accompanied it, came with the stratification of society along racial lines, the mass theft of land, and the shift toward commercialized social and economic relations. Christianity and capitalism walked hand in hand, as Desmond Tutu once aptly remarked: “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

The economic blueprint that settlers imposed remains a central pillar of contemporary Malawi. The tobacco industry, which was primarily set up to cater to colonial needs is still Malawi’s main export, and the shadow of imperialism is ever-present, as theorized by economists Utsa and Prabhat Patnaik. The racialized social and economic features that followed from David Livingstone’s vision of Malawi, as seen in the emergence of the white settler class that controlled (and exploited) the country’s production processes, set the backdrop for the emergence of John Chilembwe, one of Malawi’s earliest revolutionaries. 

Although Chilembwe is often remembered as the man who staged an unsuccessful revolt against the colonial administration, Phoya shows that there was more to the man. Educated at Virginia Theological College against the backdrop of US Jim Crow, Chilembwe was heavily influenced by the radical black American theological tradition—a theology that did not shy away from the seemingly “political” concerns of social justice. Phoya highlights how these were central to Chilembwe’s progressive principles: his championing of education for Africans, his critique of Malawians participating in British wars, and his support for women’s rights and labor rights.

It is impossible not to see how Chilembwe’s values also mirrored other theologians, especially those of the liberation theology tradition, characterized by its commitment to prioritize the material needs of the poor, as well as their knowledge, experience and spirituality. Seen in this light, Chilembwe’s rebellion is not simply a miscalculated or desperate ploy as it is mostly remembered, but also a reflection of his broader influences, politics, and vision of society. Yet portrayals of Chilembwa still mainly focus on his failed rebellion and perceived role in laying the groundwork for the rule of Kamuzu Banda.

Dubbed the father of the nation, Banda was also a cunning manipulator of history. Phoya points out that Banada exaggerated his achievements such as claiming he was Malawi’s first medical doctor (it was Daniel Malikebu), and reorchestrated the story of Chilembwe, the sole standing memory of resistance against imperialism in Malawi, to situate himself in it. Using his control over the media, he pushed the narrative of a Chilembwe that was nothing more than someone who staged a revolt and prophesied the coming of an eventual savior—Banda himself. This amounted to a pernicious strategy to consolidate his legitimacy against the backdrop of colonization. Thus, the nuances of Chilembwe’s radical character were lost, with only fragments that upheld Banda’s narrative.

I did have a minor concern with the role Phoya says Malawian culture played in the broader process of Banda’s narrative. He points out that the “Malawi culture allowed” Banda to manipulate the story of Chilembwe to suit his agenda. Reading this, one assumes that there is a “uniqueness” to Malawian culture, suggesting it makes Malawians more gullible than other groups of people. It is difficult for me to imagine how Banda’s existing legitimacy and goodwill that came with his symbolic role in fighting against an oppressive colonial system would have been undone by a different culture. It may have been useful (even if anecdotally) to show how exactly the culture was complicit and to point out how different cultures managed this pre/post-independence period differently given their historical, material, and social conditions.

Overall, Phoya’s depiction of Banda (in the context of Chilembwe), lays bare an intriguing contradiction. While Banda relied on Chilembwe’s legacy, it is interesting to see that the two individuals held different beliefs, and by implication, different visions of Malawi. While Banda was cozy with the apartheid government of South Africa and maintained colonial economic structures after independence (settlers being replaced by the local political elite), Chilembwe was a pan-Africanist, vehemently opposed to supporting colonial powers, and a strong advocate for labor rights and land reform.

Banda’s fall from grace in 1993 was meant to usher in a new era of peace, prosperity, and freedom. Unfortunately, his departure coincided with the infamous structural adjustment programs, coupled with the continuing paternalist governance structure, which failed to stymie corruption and significantly reduced the state’s capacity to provide accessible essential services. Phoya illustrates how this epoch is epitomized by the singer Madonna’s relationship with Malawi.

Using Madonna’s establishment of the Mercy James Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care Unit as a point of entry, Phoya argues that Madonna’s relationship with the country typifies white saviorism. It is important to recognize that Phoya does not downplay the importance of the medical center, but rather questions how Madonna (and other NGOs) perceive themselves in relation to Malawi. More specifically, he illustrates how their work downplays the ability of Malawians to decide what they need and as seen in the name of Madonna’s NGO, Raising Malawi, exaggerates a paternalistic role.

Given the centrality of Madonna to his essay, I would have loved a more detailed discussion and illustrations of the various ways her white saviorism is reflected and reproduced. While the author aptly sets the backdrop for the discussion of Madonna and her relationship with Malawi by highlighting the complicity of the state in the entire process, I believe more could be done to acquaint the reader with the underlying contradictions and implications of white saviors. How does white saviorism manifest in a country like Malawi? What are the implications of such a phenomenon on the broader development of the country?

Overall, the book is a much-needed contribution to the emerging literature reclaiming the history of Malawi. Considering the growing economic and political uncertainty that has engulfed Malawi and its people, Madonna Is Our Mother is a jolting reminder of both the realities of our past and how these set the backdrop for the country’s contemporary predicaments.

Source

To prevent total collapse, Malawians, Africans must always look at the big picture

By Janet Karim

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:7-11

When one listens to the news, watches the news or reads postings on social media, one or two things are very clear: things are not working well for Malawi, not working well for Africa, and secondly, there are maneuverers, tinker-tankers. Generally many, especially in Malawi are super angry, super accusatory, and ready to pull the plug or carpet from under the feet of the elected leaders. The situation is that bad; on the other hand, there is widespread poverty, structural “things are not working here anymore,” and the anger is causing an unhealthy disrespectful appetite for disparaging people in authority. In such a frame of mind, it is compelling that Malawians see or look for the big picture in all that is happening in Malawi.

The bigger picture is that not all the evil taking place in Malawi or Africa, is home-grown.

Across the proverbial street  of our existence, are the Brits, Americans, the tall European Union, Russia, and China micromanaging one country after another in the developing countries, the majority of whom (48) are in Africa and includes Malawi. The micromanagers are seen one day speak from the left side of their mouths and the next day speak out of the right side. There are six points that portrays their tendencies, including the following: 1)ACP/EU New Partnership that takes over from ACP/EU Cotonou Agreement; 2) Privatization program; 3) Independence and forest fire development (to keep unwanted systems such as communism; 4) Africans and others in 2 world wars helping imperialists fight imperialist Germany; 5) Division of Africa in Berlin, Europe; and 6) Slavery.

Following the expiry of the Cotonou trade Agreement in 2019, the European Union flexed its muscles and prevailed, displaying to the world manipulative mastery with the January establishment of the stalled New Partnership Agreement. The new EU-ACP Partnership Agreement is the Post-Cotonou Agreement that was signed into being on 15 November 2023 in Samoa. With signatures from 27 European countries and 79 African, Caribbean and Asia Pacific countries, the EU has commandeered a very economic trade agreement of buy and sell  and craftly woven into it numerous items that have nothing to do with trade, nothing to do with economic matters.

The NPA, also known as the Samoa Agreement, is the overarching framework for EU relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and provides terms of agreement that are binding for the next 20 years for an initial period of 20 years. The NPA has evolved into a stronger arm-twisted institution with binding protocols that will compel the 79 ACP nations co-joined at the hip with the 27 European Union, growing into a big block. With the “voting as one” component of the NPA, it will serve as the new legal framework for EU relations with 47 African, 16 Caribbean, and 15 Pacific countries, and the Republic of Maldives.  

The agreement aims to strengthen the capacity of the EU and the ACP countries to address global challenges together and sites six priority areas

It lays down common principles and covers the following six priority areas: democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security, and migration and mobility. Nothing about food security, industrialization. And yet, the entity represents around 2 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations. The EU has morphed from 27 to a global 106 giant.

Voila! The big picture: A stronger European Union in the world, rubbing shoulders with its newly diminished partners. TheEU countries are partners from a smaller group (with 27 members) that has robbed 79 independent sovereigns of their right to vote, their right to make decisions, and the small group set agendas for the people that gave them the vote to rule the country. Among the agendas include gay rights, access to contraceptive and abortion rights even for young girls, and sexuality education. OH MALAWI! MY MALAWI! OH AFRICA, MY AFRICA!

It has long been the view of this author that, watching the state players of the Malawi Privatization program, the strategy where the Malawi Government sold all the shares it held in commercial entities, led to the country-wide buying of commercial companies, factories and nation-wide providers of services mostly by non-Malawians. Almost overnight, labor-intensive factories closed, with some uplifting machines, and hurling them across the border and setting up shop in neighboring countries.

During Malawi’s first 31 years of independence, there was forest fire development with the western allies led by the US, the UN and the EU, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and Israel. From 1964 to 1990, Malawi and other African countries experienced rapid growth, with donor countries falling all over themselves to finance projects in Malawi and Africa.

The big picture: to keep unwanted government systems such as communism and socialism out of Africa and other spheres of NATO influence.

The other big picture is three-pronged. The first is that of Africans and others taking part in two major world wars that helped the imperialist western allies fighting with  imperialist Germany. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and surely pan-Africanists saw the irony and used it to gain leaps to gain freedom, voting rights, and independent status for the entire continent and India.

The second was the dividing Africa into countries, in 1884, in Berlin, Germany in Europe, and without a single African present in the room. This is the big picture of how the Allies (Africa’s colonial masters, ergo imperialists) were able to entice, lure, or compel African soldiers to fight in World War I and World War II, wars to stop the spread of imperialism. The big picture: the imperialists are still here commandeering, rib-poking our leaders, shaming them into agreeing to or doing some bizarre thing.

Failure to comply: they have been known to drop information about you, use your own country’s media with dirt stories about leaders, corruption, and other vices.

Regrettably the imperialists have been with us (they never left after African countries became independent. This worked out well for them as many African countries have discovered minerals such as gold, diamonds, uranium, and oil, which have been mined and then ferried to European countries, processed, made billions of dollars selling them, and then turned around to loan African countries money for its development projects.

Lastly in 1619 slave ships took Africans from West Africa and later the East. The big picture here is there is animosity between the African-American and the African-African, due to narratives that fly about African chiefs selling them into slavery. The big picture here is the ability the Europeans appear to have in creating this thereby keeping African Americas separated from Africa-Africans.

These are the optics in the big pictures; thus while you are muse and dream about “we are yet to find someone whom we can call a leader,” I hold with love and respect all the six Malawi leaders and their VPs, they are all great leaders that have ruled Malawi with much love in their hearts for Malawi; leaders that are good-natured, kind-hearted but their legends are marred by foreign intervention.

In Malawi, in a year when the country was hit hard by hurricane Freddie, Malawi was strong-armed by Washington institutions (IMF and World Bank) to devalue its currency by 44%. This is economic murder because in the same year, the EU was hovering over Malawi with threats and coaxing it to sign the emasculating NPA. The big picture: Malawi on the floor with the effects of Freddie, devaluation, and corruption in high places and all over the government sector.

In my memories are pictures of three uncles who fought in World War II, fighting the evil imperialists Germany and Japan. The irony of this big picture is that the colonial rulers that African countries helped to defeat Hitler and Hirohito, are still here, still controlling, still puppeteering, still dividing us, and still causing us to hate or fight one another.

My plea to Malawians is please can we all proverbially hug our leaders; the weight of foreign influence interference is too much. Pray Malawi, Pray!

Source