Government calls for fedealism/secession debate

Government says it will welcome debate on the proposal for federalism or secession in the country once civic education is conducted by reputable organisations.

Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa said in an interview yesterday that the administration was not stifling debate on the issue, which has engulfed Malawi society, including inside Parliament during its ongoing sitting.

Said Nankhumwa: “Government is not stifling debate on secession or federalism, let those people talking about it continue. We have freedom of expression and freedom of association, but we only ask that these be carried out with some responsibility.”

He said government intended to encourage credible debate facilitated by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) to enlighten Malawians on the pros and cons of federalism and/or secession.

“When conducting this civic education, it should not just be for the people from the North, but also the Centre and South. It is clear that advocates of federalism or secession don’t understand the implications,” he said.

This position, as articulated by Nankhumwa, signal a change in tact by government in how it handles the debate.

Since the debate gathered momentum after the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections that showed regional voting patterns, the administration—through President Peter Mutharika’s adviser on national unity and parliamentary affairs Symon Vuwa Kaunda—has been holding meetings with traditional and religious leaders who have come out of the gatherings with a strong and uniform message against the proposals.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was the first to raise the federalism issue during a press conference held in Lilongwe in June this year and followed that up with a proposal to PAC.

But a crop of People’s Party (PP) parliamentarians—especially Mzimba’s the Reverend Christopher Ngwira and Harry Mkandawire who emerged as leaders of the movement—appear to be more fired up.

As such, the North has the momentum on the debate, which also saw a planned demonstration for secession halted in Karonga when authorities allegedly denied the organisers permission to hold it.

Nankhumwa promised that once debate is exhausted, government will not take sides, but will be guided by the people themselves on the way forward.

The minister, however, fell short of saying a referendum would be put to Malawians to decide whether to go for federalism/secession or maintain the status quo.

In reaction, PAC executive director Robert Phiri, whose organisation earlier offered to facilitate debate on the issue, yesterday welcomed government’s sentiments, saying constructive debate was a prerequisite for a common understanding on the issues.

“The opinion leaders must understand what federalism or secession means. We share the view that constructive debate has to be enhanced in this case,” he said.

PAC had already planned to engage various stakeholders in debates on the matter using an inclusivity format possibly starting in November.

CCJP national coordinator Chris Chisoni also welcomed government’s position on the matter, but asked that society should delve into the reasons people are opting for different types of governing systems.

“Any proposal for a federal government is being made due to the failure of another system in service delivery and equitable distribution of resources. But if approached to moderate such type of debate, CCJP has the relevant grassroots structures and getting public views wouldn’t be a problem with us,” Chisoni said.

In Africa, Nigeria is one country which has a federal model, defined as a system of government in which governmental parts that exist in a country are shared between central government and component regions.

In South Africa, the system of government has its parts shared between a federal or provincial government and State and local government.

Secession, whose calls are dying a natural death in most countries, refers to a section of a country annexing itself from government to form a self-governing independent nation with its own ideology and systems.