More than 50 years ago, I was in New York as a member of the Malawi delegation to the United Nations annual meeting. At a reception hosted by one of the African delegations, a colleague of mine and I were invited to lunch by a wealthy African American woman.
When we arrived there, we found six other women right in the centre of New York not Harlem, the black Ghetto. It was a lively day. At one point, we were talking about women’s rights when I asked whether it was true that women lived longer than men. In unison, they affirmed this. Then I said: “Good Lord, I wish I were a woman.” Everybody laughed.
“Why?” one of them asked.
“I want to live longer,” I replied.
They encouraged me not to worry because they said there were always exceptions to a rule and that I might make it without changing my sex. They were right.
Still in view of what is happening in our society these days, I sometimes wonder if it is to change one’s sex that some men would change to be women and some women to be men. Possibly more women would opt to be men because they see privileges on the male side of life, forgetting the Sword of Damocles which dangles over the heads of men. In most countries, the percentage of women in the population is higher than that of men because men tend to engage in violence and get killed. It is men who start who start wars and terrorist groups. They kill one another.
Where do I get the evidence that more women would possibly opt for the male gender? It is usually women who cross over the gender divide and do things men do. Time was when men wore trousers, women wore dresses only. Now many women prefer to dress like men. Time was when men played football exclusively while women played netball. Now some women play football and even engage in the boxing game.
Women are compelled to cross to the male side because the male-dominated society confers more honour on what men do than on women do. Until recent years, in developed countries, women doing the same job as men were paid lower salaries than men. Even nowadays, professions in which women dominate, such as nursing and primary school teaching, command less pay than male-dominated professions.
All the above was mere prologue to what I am going to say about the Malawi makhosikazi (Queens), our netball players. They have done Malawi proud.
In the international scene, Malawi is often ignored or laughed at.
The poverty the cashgate and other forms of corruption have blemished the image of Malawi. Biut because of splendid performances of the Queens in beating netball players of countries traditionally known as formidable, such as Zambia and Uganda, people out there realise that something grand can come out of Malawi.
But what reward do the Queens get from their countrymen and women? When several years ago, the Flames defeated the Pharaohs of Egypt at Kamuzu Stadium and later defeated a team from Algeria, in Angola men stormed streets celebrating tumultuously. When the Queens return home victorious, there is no beating of drums, no holding of banquets. This is unfair and needs to be reversed.
The defeat that the Queens suffered in Kwazulu Natal recently does not worry me. No general, however good, won all battles. Shaka did not, Napoleon never did. Let us boost the morale of the Queens by receiving them with the same adoration when they win as we give to the flames.
One of man’s natural rights is self-preservation from danger. Decades ago, I was talking to a man who had fought in World War II if he had killed any man of the enemy side.
“Of course,” he replied. “When you are facing an armed enemy, if you do not shoot him first, then he will kill you.”
It is pathetic that our cops, in trying to protect our propertyand lives from robbers, have been shot dead by the robbers. How can anyone with a sense of justice condemn a police officer who shoots armed robbers? Are you suggesting it does not matter if the robber kills the officer? Are the human rights of officers inferior to those of the robbers?
A police officer killed in the course of service is no martyr. He that lives by the sword shall die by the sword. In any situation, a police officer must be granted the discretion what to do. He has a duty to his own life first, not holier-than-thou critics. Next time the robber kills their own relatives, they will not be so philosophical.
Since the advent of the multiparty era, cases of corruption and abuse of office seem to have multiplied. Perhaps we hear of more of them now because we have the independent press and a more transparent system than during the one party era.
Again and again, we hear of officials who have spent grants from donors on schemes other than those which were agreed.
There ought to be accountability about every dollar from our well-wishers. Annually, the Minister of Finance should give a report on how the grants have been used. We should not wait until the donor smells a rat and blows the whistle. If any official has abused the trust is up to us to discover this first.
From time to time, we read or hear of grants from Japan, China, Norway, Germany, USA and so on. These are grants to the people of Malawi who are entitled to know what they have been entitled.
