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REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

DEMOCRATIZATION AND ECONOMIC SELF-DETERMINATION IN AFRICA:

THE CASE OF MALAWI

ADDRESS

BY

HIS EXCELLENCY PROF. ARTHUR PETER MUTHARIKA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

AT

YALE UNIVERSITY

1 October 2015

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Mr. President,

When I walked out of the corridors of Yale in 1969, destiny

never told me that I would become an African leader 45 years

later. I didn’t know I would come back to Yale as President of the

Republic of Malawi. But somehow, I knew I would return.

And let me start by paying tribute to this great institution.

Yale University is a place where the human quest for “light and

truth” finds its destination. This is surely a place where the

cosmopolitan spirit of humankind finds its home. During my time,

there were very few African students at Yale, but I am pleased that

our numbers have grown significantly over the years. With the

recent launch of the Yale Africa Initiative it is appropriate to speak

about Africa, and to speak about my home, Malawi.

I would like to acknowledge and salute President Peter

Salovey in his wisdom to lead Yale closer towards Africa.

Unwittingly, my own experience here many years ago laid the

foundation of a more robust relationship with the continent across

the arts, social sciences and various professional schools.

Today, as I see the growing influence of Africa at Yale, I can

confidently express my optimism for Africa’s future. In his book,

The End of Poverty, Professor Jeffrey Sachs says,

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“Let the future say of our generation that we sent forth

mighty currents of hope, and that we worked together to

heal the world.”

As part of Yale’s recent past, I am hopeful that we can work

together to build the future of a more prosperous Africa. At the

heart of this endeavor lies the question of how we choose to

govern. This is a question that the US has grappled with for almost

250 years, while most African countries have addressed in the last

50 years following independence from colonial rule.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The subject of Democratization and Economic Self-

Determination in Africa is a challenging one for me. Firstly, because

I played a role in the genesis of democratization in Malawi. I was

actively involved in the drafting of the 1994 Constitution in

Malawi. Secondly, as an academic, I have always had an interest in

the process, tools and institutions of democracy. And thirdly, now,

of course, as a leader of my country.

While the process, pace and level of democratization have

not been uniform on the African Continent, democratization began

to take root in Africa starting in the 1990s. Although it has not been

an even or smooth transition, we can celebrate the fact that

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democracy has come to stay. On the other hand, economic self-

determination continues to be elusive for many African countries.

It is not possible in a short presentation to give a

comprehensive treatise on a topic that is as vast as Africa. Whereas

there are common trends and features, I wish to dwell on my

country, Malawi, which best captures the story of democratization

and the spirit of economic self-determination in Africa.

In my present address, I wish to speak of democratization in

three dimensions:

1) The process, tools and institutions of democratization in

Malawi. Including how Malawi achieved a democratic

political system.

2) The challenges to democracy including those relating to

the economy in Malawi.

3) What my Government is doing to deal with these

challenges in order that democracy flourishes, expands,

deepens and benefits the people of Malawi.

Malawi is a Sub-Saharan country that is commonly referred

to as being “landlocked.” We prefer to think of it as a “land-linked

country.”It has an estimated population of 17 million. It is the land

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of lakes, and the land of mountains. It is the Warm Heart of Africa

with probably the friendliest people. Of course I am slightly

biased,, but it just so happens to be the truth.

Mr. President,

Malawi is part of the paradox of Africa: it is a rich country in terms

of natural resources but sadly ranked as being among the poorest in

the world. Yet we have some of the most magnificent parks and

mountains of Africa and we have land for productive agriculture.

We also have Africa’s third biggest fresh water lake which we are

now harnessing to irrigate the land as part of Africa’s Green

Revolution.

What I have said so far is by way of background to Malawi’s

democratization and opportunities for economic self-

determination, almost 20 years after 1994 when we became a

multiparty democracy.

Historical Background

Upon attaining independence in 1964, Malawi had a

Constitution that had a Bill of Rights and provided for regular

multiparty elections, thus providing a foundation for democracy.

As with most post-independence countries in Africa, attainment of

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self-rule was assumed and expected to translate into economic

independence and self-determination. But this was probably a

simplistic view harbored by the founding fathers.

Mr. President,

After independence, most African countries expected a bright

future because we could control our destiny. We believed that

social and economic change is more meaningful when it comes

from within, rather than being imposed from outside. Alain

Touraine asserts this point in context:

“It must be remembered that the central principle of

modernization of [the] Western model is that modernization

is endogenous, that society is capable of transforming itself

from within, and not as a result of any pressure or

intervention from without.”1

We wanted to take destiny into our hands. But the

challenges were too many. Most African governments immediately

prioritized nation-building to foster national unity.

But we soon lost our sense of responsibility as a wave of

dictatorships swept across the continent, and Malawi was caught

up in the same pattern. The first President of Malawi became

completely intolerant of any opposition and was finally declared

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President for life in 1971 – soon after I graduated from Yale Law

School. Most intellectuals, including myself, fled for our lives.

Mr. President

Malawi’s post-independence ideology was narrowly focused

on economic growth. Fighting poverty was not the main priority.

To this end, state intervention in the economy was commonplace,

and discouraged private investment and diversification.

Government supported traditional agriculture and some import

substitution, but few attempts were made to promote indigenous

capitalism or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in non-traditional

exports and manufactures.

Between 1964 and 1979, Malawi enjoyed growth rates

averaging in excess of 5%. This was enabled by encouraging the

estate farm sub-sector to produce tobacco for export and the

smallholder sub-sector to produce maize for subsistence, while

providing cheap labour to commercial farms.

By 1979, Malawi was a promising economy. Our per capita

income was actually ahead of China. Following the oil price shocks

of the 1970, Malawi adopted the Structural Adjustments

Programme (SAP) of the Bretton Woods institutions. The country

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had to privatize state owned industries, remove subsidies, reduce

wages, devalue the local currency and liberalize the markets.2 The

consequences of adjustment were negative and failed to improve

economic growth.

The economic reforms became known as the Washington

Consensus and were imposed on Malawi and other African

countries by the mid-1980s. Although we appeared to be running

our own economic policies, the policy agenda was externally

driven. In essence, the self-determination we sought at

independence had vanished.

This experience was not unique to Malawi as a number of

African countries were in a similar predicament. In the meantime,

international debt mounted in billions of dollars on the African

continent to underpin the structural reform programmes from the

West. The unsustainable debt burden uprooted our spirit of self-

determination and planted a mentality of donor dependency.

Mr. President,

At independence in the 1960s, we had demanded restitution

of responsibility over our existence, our people, and our affairs.

Political independence was meant to translate into economic

independence; economic freedom to accompany political freedom.

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While political sovereignty was realized in large measure, economic

sovereignty remained elusive.

THE 1994 CONSTITUTION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

AGENDA

Malawi’s political system changed through the adoption of

the 1994 Constitution. I had the honour and privilege of

participating in drafting the Constitution through the Constitutional

Conference. The 1994 Constitution is widely considered a liberal

democratic document, which if we live up to, will transform

Malawi into a great democratic nation. Democratisation, is of

course a journey; that is, a complex process that we in Malawi

have enthusiastically embraced over the past two decades.

The Constitution has so far been working well with regular 5-year

elections taking place. The adoption of the 1994 Constitution can

be described as re-democratization of Malawi or the “second

liberation.”

As a consequence, Malawi has been moving in a democratic

direction from less accountable to more accountable government;

from less competitive to fuller and fairer competitive elections;

from severely restricted to better protected civil and political rights;

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from weak or non-existent autonomous associations to more

autonomous and more numerous civil society associations.

Over the past two decades, Malawi has experienced a

significant degree of improvements in the quality of governance.

Democratic reforms and political liberalization have helped

improve the quality of politics, people’s representation and

responses to people’s needs. Malawi is no longer autocratic; it is a

liberal, multiparty democracy.

Malawi has held five parliamentary and presidential

elections since 1994, and in 2014 Malawi’s democracy culminated

the country holding the first ever-tripartite successful elections for

the President, Members of Parliament, and Local Government

Councilors. This is an expansion and deepening of our democracy.

Further, the Courts have worked independently and well,

protecting and enforcing human rights, declaring offensive laws and

actions unconstitutional, and ensuring that there is rule of law in

Malawi. Moreover, as a testament to growing political tolerance,

there have been no political prisoners in recent times. Freedom of

the press and speech are practiced for all to see. Civil Society

Organizations continue to be independent active participants in the

political and economic processes in Malawi and many laws have

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been developed in a consultative process allowing for the

participation of the citizenry.

Even as we continue to deepen democracy, we are mindful

that economic development has lagged far behind. You may

wonder if good governance is a sufficient condition for economic

growth and development. We believe that good governance and

democracy is a necessary condition but it will not by itself eliminate

poverty and inequality across Africa.

Allow me for a moment to sketch the challenges we are

tackling in order to have a democracy that moves in tandem with

our quest for economic self-determination. The challenges of

expanding and deepening democratization are multi-faceted. But I

shall only mention a few.

CHALLENGES

Mr. President,

The slowdown in Malawi’s economy presents a great

challenge to the deeper and expanded democratization as the

citizenry have legitimate expectations for greater political and

economic freedoms.

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To meet these expectations requires real resources – both

financial and human. And yet, we currently lack direct budget

support from our development partners, following the withdrawal

of donors in response to very poor financial mismanagement and

corruption that preceded my administration. We are now in the

process of restoring full integrity to our public resources

management culture and systems. I have strongly condemned

corruption at all levels, both in the public and private sectors.

Since I was elected to office, 16 months ago, my administration has

had a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, including the

successful prosecution of senior government officials found guilty in

our courts. The process is ongoing and will continue until its logical

conclusion – to rid the public sector of the scourge of corruption. In

Malawi, no one is above the law. As a former Law professor, I

know what this means and will be true to the values that I

developed at Yale many years ago.

In addition, my government has embarked upon the process

of reforming the public sector and strengthening public finance

management to ensure efficiency, accountability and responsiveness

to our people’s needs and requirements. The Constitution enjoins

us to do so.

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As a step towards deepening development, we are in the

process of setting up a national planning commission which will be

empowered to facilitate long-term economic and development

planning to avoid political shortsightedness.

In terms of policy implementation, lack of skilled labour has

been another challenge. This has undermined sustained growth and

our efforts to diversify the economy. The skills challenge has come

from a skewed education philosophy that has not been meeting

market and industry demands. For a long time, we failed to

provide education to underpin manufacturing and export. We are

now rolling out community colleges across the country to create a

skilled labour force that will meet the demands of investors, create

new businesses that will set the country on the road to

industrialization.

We are equally committed to supporting the private sector

to truly act as an engine of growth. At present, the government is

the biggest employer but we will reverse this by facilitating the

rapid expansion of private sector investment. Our goals is to

diversify the economy and to double the exports from Malawi by

2019, and turn Malawi from a predominantly importing and

consuming country to a predominantly producing and exporting

country.

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Mr. President, distinguished guests,

I have stated that Malawi’s first decade of democracy made

progress in setting up structures and institutions of democracy. But

our economic progress remained modest.

The second decade of Malawi’s democracy moved towards

economic self-determination, led by Professor Bingu wa Mutharika.

Under his leadership, we began to guide the country towards more

home-grown economic policies, even promoting the use of

subsidies in agriculture, against the position of some of our

development partners. This policy led to food self-sufficiency at

that time.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to state here that it is the primary

duty of my government to ensure the deepening of democracy and

economic self-determination in Malawi.

Our philosophy is that the ultimate goal of the government

is to make possible “the good life” for all its citizens. We are

committed to democracy and development because a government

needs to provide its people with a better quality of life.

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We are fully conscious that democracy only gives an illusion

of power to the people and to ourselves, if the people are not

economically empowered. How can the people have true freedom

if they don’t have the power to make economic choices?

Just over a year ago, I stated that “our first task is to create a

proper economic, political and democratic system. Our task is to

re-create an environment that gives our people hope and belief

once more”. This remains our task today and for the foreseeable

future.

I thank you for this opportunity to return to Yale and share

with you our vision.

1 Alain Touraine, “Modernity and Cultural Specificities,” Modernity and Identity: A Symposium – Culture, Economy and Development, 118, November 1988, Basil Blackwell/UNESCO, p.446. 2 See Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid, New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2009, p.20. See also Phillip McMichael, Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press, 2000.