BY DRAXON MALOYA
Malawi (News of The South) -The leadership of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has denied an invitation from the former president, Bakiri Muluzi for a possible round table meeting aimed at defusing the impending demonstrations and vigils which are slated to take place at the country’s airports and border posts.
HRDC leaders say government is showing no interest with the initiatives hence no need to waste time with such meetings.
The letter forwarded to Muluzi reads as follows:
Dear Your Excellency Sir,
RE: YOUR PROPOSED MEETING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS COALITION (HRDC)
We have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 19th August 2019, Your Excellency Sir, in which you expressed your despondency over the petrol bombing of HRDC Chairperson Mr Timothy Mtambo as well as inviting us to a fresh dialogue meeting with you over what Your Excellency Sir, has termed as “politics of hate and intimidation that has engulfed this country.
Firstly, Your Excellency, on behalf of HRDC to put on record that the HRDC is a non-political grouping and therefore has no political interest whatsoever regarding the current situation in Malawi. The object of the HRDC is to uphold human rights of Malawians as well as spearheading a social accountability wave over matters of democratic governance concern which includes all those relating to mismanagement of elections. HRDC cannot and will not keep quiet in the face of systematic violations of the people’s right to a free, fair and credible elections, and as such shall remain a credible mouth piece of the voiceless in holding duty bearers to account over matters of “tippex-ed” elections.
Secondly, allow us to take this opportunity to express our deepest regrets that, Your Excellency, has not kept to the spirit of our previous dialogue, which was to the effect that we will be appraised on progress made with other parties to the dialogue, His Excellency Professor Peter Munthalika and Justice Dr. Jane Ansah SC. Your Excellency, the spirit of our dialogue had it that you would appraise us within 7 days from the date our discussions took place. To our dismay, you have not come back to us on the same but instead venturing into proposing another meeting with us whose agenda is different from our earlier agreed resolutions.
It is in such a context that we, HRDC, are apprehensive and suspicious over your fresh call for dialogue as only a ploy to detract us from our preparations of the forth coming vigils at borders and airports. As we had earlier indicated to the public on the eve of our previous meeting, HRDC finds dialogue a very useful tool to peace and national building but is against any form of manipulative dialogue whose ultimate objective is to achieve narrow selfish political interests rather than public interest.
Your Excellency Sir, HRDC’s standpoint on the dialogue proposed by Your Excellency, with us if indeed it has to take place, the following conditions should be fulfilled:
• That President Arthur Peter Mutharika, Justice Dr. Jane Ansah, SC, Public affairs Committee (PAC), and all the Opposition leaders form part of the meeting
• That the dialogue be given a chance to exhaustively explain the provision of section 12 of the Malawi constitution the substratum of which the call for her resignation originates as the other party seems not to decipher or fathom a meaning out of it.
• That the right to freedom of association, assembly and to demonstrate peacefully and unarmed is mutually agreed by all parties to the dialogue and that the intended dialogue does not ponder on the persuasion to stop the 26th-30th demonstrations and vigils slated for airports and all notable border positions and:
• That it is not negotiable but that Justice Dr. Jane Ansah resigns or the appointing authority – the State President fires her accordingly and that the same be published widely through the local print and electronic media in the country.
We thank you, Your Excellency, for your communication once again and please note that HRDC avails itself to this opportunity to renew to the Office of the Former Head of State the assurances of its highest consideration.
Yours Very Truly,
Timothy Mtambo Gift Trapence
National HRDC Chairperson National Vice Chairperson
Happy Mhango – Chair North
Madalitso Banda – Chair East
Dr Billy Mayaya – Chair Centre
Masauko Thawe – Chair South
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