Is Malawi on the verge of becoming Africa’s newest dictatorship? President Bingu wa Mutharika’s double-standard behaviour toward Joyce Banda, the country’s vice-president, has certainly moved the troubled country in this direction.

Wa Mutharika also sounded dictatorial last year as he threatened Malawi’s journalists, telling them he’d shut down newspapers that tarnish his government’s image. Just last week a Malawian journalist was arrested in Blantyre and the idea of freedom of expression became even more of a distant memory in the country.

Yet the president has been all smiles internationally, winning prizes for encouraging women’s equality and for promoting Banda as Malawi’s first female vice -president.

On the home front it’s a different story.

In mid-December Banda was expelled from the ruling Democratic Progress Party (DPP), after vague and questionable allegations that she was forming parallel party structures and refusing to endorse wa Mutharika’s brother for the 2014 presidential nomination.

Banda’s expulsion is the culmination of escalating discrimination from within her own party. Not only have her vice presidential duties been taken away, but members of the DPP have actively campaigned against her and tried to quash any hopes she may have of running for president in 2014, only a few months into wa Mutharika’s second term.

Noel Masangwi, DPP Regional Governor for the South, recently raised eyebrows when he said: ‘Malawi is not ready for a female president.’ Banda has been given fewer funds to cover staffing and the Malawi Broadcasting Company (MBC), Malawi’s only TV Station, has only once reported on the functions of her office.

It’s a long way from 2009, when the president and his vice genuinely appeared as Malawi’s dream team. Banda was recognised as having a huge influence on the party’s landslide victory in the election, largely due to her popularity among the country’s women, who have historically been sidelined in the political arena.

However, things have changed drastically in a short time and a president who once happily endorsed and bragged about his second-in-command is now undermining her credibility and attempting to orchestrate her political downfall. Apparently the selection of Banda for vice-president was no more than window dressing in a poverty-stricken country desperate to impress international donors.

The current situation is of deep concern. It diminishes the great strides Malawi has made toward achieving gender equality and greater women’s representation in politics. It also constitutes a serious threat to the democratic principles stipulated in the country’s Constitution as well as regional and international protocols it has signed and ratified, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

It further symbolises how a president with a political majority in a young democracy can pretend to be one thing in the international public eye while practicing something very different behind his country’s closed doors.

‘Women in politics have been squeezed as a result of the oppression of the vice president; some are scared to voice their views in support of her due to fear of what will happen,’ says Anitta Kalinde, an MP who was assaulted by the DPP Youth Wing because she sympathises with Banda. ‘This is a sad development. The morale of women is down and this is an example of how a female politician is being used.’

Norway was one country that provided major financial support to the 50/50 Campaign launched prior to the presidential election in May 2009. The campaign’s goal was to increase women’s representation and participation in political decision-making positions and it was largely successful. Malawi elected 22 per cent women, more than ever before, including six female ministers and Banda, its first female vice-president.

‘Statistical increase in women representation in politics is positive. However, the gender imbalance will remain if the numbers are not given a practical meaning and content in terms of active women participation, which continue to be a challenge in Malawi,’ argues Bjorn Johannessen, former Norwegian ambassador to Malawi.

Public Affairs Committee (PAC), the prominent interfaith organisation made up of the main Protestant, Catholic and Muslim faith groups in Malawi, recently put out a statement about Banda’s treatment and the DPP’s succession plan, which said: ‘The ruling party’s path wasn’t clean as the selection of a successor never went through a convention which is wrong and undemocratic.’

PAC further stated: ‘The way the Vice President is being victimised is disrespectful and unheard of. It is tantamount to gender-based violence against a female politician and eroding values and principles of democracy. The way the expulsion was carried out further shows lack of intra-party democracy within the ruling party.’

Aside from this there is little public debate on the controversial matter and the DPP has created an environment in which national and international stakeholders are fearful to protest or present an alternative view.

However, outside Malawi the issue is being taken up. In a letter of solidarity addressed to the vice-president earlier this year the pan-African organisation FEMNET criticised the DPP’s treatment of Banda: ‘We feel that such attacks on female politicians are totally unacceptable in the 21st century and we condemn it in the strongest term.’

Malawi is at an important crossroads and the world is beginning to take notice. Either government can adhere to the principles of human rights and democracy enshrined in the regional and international documents it has signed, or it can continue down the dangerous path toward dictatorship.

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* Chifundo Phiri is not the author’s real name. The author has chosen to remain anonymous.
* This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service, which provides fresh views on everyday news.
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