Civil society activists congratulate Chakwera administration over UN granting Malawi ‘A’ on human rights

Unandi Banda (left) Caesar Kondowe (centre) and Caleb Ng’ombo at the press conference

* This is another milestone in Chakwera’s commitment on ensuring that the rights of Malawians are not only upheld

* But also promoted as enshrined in the Republic’s Constitution as read in Chapter 4

By Duncan Mlanjira

Malawi, known for some negative economic ranking as one of the poorest countries in the world, has reasons to celebrate for having the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) attaining an envious A-status accorded by UN’s Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

This positive news has since been embraced by the country’s civil society by congratulating President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration while pleading that MHRC’s A-status “must be sustained”.

At a press briefing in Blantyre on Friday, representatives of three civil rights society organisations (CSOs), Caesar Kondowe, Caleb Ng’ombo and veteran Unandi Banda said the recognition from GANHRI is “another milestone in [Chakwera’s] commitment on ensuring that the rights of Malawians are not only upheld but also promoted as enshrined in the Republic’s Constitution as read in Chapter 4”.

“The award of an ‘A’ status to the national human rights institutions (NHRI) is made based on a number of reasons — one being the role of government and the state in the restoration, sustenance of promotion and protection of human rights in that country for example, providing adequate support to the NHRI.

“President Chakwera and his Government are being applauded as having directly contributed to a credible NHRI in Malawi by creating an environment in which human rights are protected and institutions that serve as human rights watchdogs are being recognized worldwide due to the support, they are receiving from Government without interfering with their independence.

“The support that the GANHRI acknowledges which MHRC has received from the Chakwera Government includes a 41% increase in funding of the Commission; a commitment to strengthen the current legislation’s provisions for the immunity of members of the Commission, and no incident of the President abusing his powers to dismiss members of the Commission from office.

“We, the civil society, observe that since the day that President Chakwera won the elections on 27 June, 2020, he has strived to maintain his promise of upholding the Constitution.”

In their statement, the CSOs took note that in 2021, former chairperson of Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi Chapter, Teresa Ndanga — now an MHRC Commissioner — highlighted to President Chakwera “some of the prickly laws militating against free exercise of speech in the country”.

“She mentioned Section 4 of the 1967 Act of Protected Flag, Names and Emblems which also protected the President’s name from ‘insults’. This piece of legislation placed every voice critical to the president in peril of arrest. 

“The former MISA Malawi chairperson did not forget the seditious laws and criminal defamation laws as being among impediments requiring urgent intervention from the head of state.

“And true to his promise, President Chakwera acted expeditiously such that by November 2022, he ordered for the amendment of Section 4 of the Protected Flag, Names and Emblems and removal of seditious laws.

“Before that the president ordered for repeal of seditious laws. This immediately ended years of executive aggression during which state authorities took advantage of this provision in the laws to arrest and crackdown on individuals deemed critical to the government of the day.”

The CSOs took cognizance and the highlighted milestones are not the only ones that the Chakwera’s administration has made in addressing laws and policies that have “darkened Malawi’s history in the upholding of human rights”.

“There is also operationalisation of the Access to Information (ATI) Act. The previous government enacted the law but fell short of making it operational.

“Chakwera’s administration made it top priority and operationalized the ATI immediately after assuming reign of power in 2020 — keeping his word in his inaugural address on 20th July 2020: ‘I will operationalize the Access to Information Act in order to end the era of government secrecy and usher in the dawn of government accountability’.

“We, in the civil society, reiterate our support and commend President Chakwera and his government for the peace we are enjoying today as the citizenry is able to criticize Government and its officials without facing any form of retaliation,” concluded the statement.

Last month, Chakwera presided over the swearing of the 8th cohort of the MHRC that includes Chikondi Chijozi as chairperson; Ombudsman Grace Tikambenji Malera; Law Commissioner Rosemary Kanyuka; Scader Louis; Sunduzwayo Madise (Malawi National Council of Sports Board chairperson); Viwemi Chavula; Andrew Kavala; Boniface Massah and former MISA Malawi president Ndanga.

Chakwera appealed to the commissioners not to be selective in their approach to the protection and promotion of human rights but to be vigilant and focused in their duties, saying: “You must be vigilant against familiarity. Don’t become so familiar with the state of human rights in the country and take it for granted.”

He also urged the commissioners not to lose faith despite institutional, social and cultural challenges facing the promotion of human rights in the country — emphasizing that “there will always be challenging processes but that should not be the reason to lose faith”.

On his part, Minister of Justice, Titus Mvalo asked commissioners to commit themselves to follow the Constitution and the law in promoting and protecting human rights in the country.

At the press conference, the three activists recognized the presence of Chijozi in the MHRC, saying she deserves her lead in the defence of human rights as she is a legal counsel specialized in the same field.

She holds a Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law which she obtained in 2017 at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, having attained her Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the Chancellor College, University of Malawi.

She joined Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in March 2020 as consultant lawyer as criminal justice cluster lead and before joining SALC she worked as deputy executive director & litigation manager for Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA).

At the swearing in, Chijozi said their role is to promote human rights for everyone, including those who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex.

“There will be no selection,” she told the media. “We will also look at freedom of association and expression, among others. As a commission, we will do our part in civic education on people’s responsibility as they exercise the rights.”

The three activists also emphasized that human rights freedom goes together with responsibility as it is governed by the law, saying the citizenry should know and enjoy their rights while at the same time respecting those of others.

They said this in relation to rampant defamation practised by many members of the public using the social media, some of whom hide their identities.

Thus they emphasized that the CSOs would not protect or sympathize with those who abuse their human rights when the law takes its course on them.

“While we must celebrate with the government for this milestone, we must also jealously guard against taking steps backwards,” Undani Banda said. “We must join the government to make sure that our A-status is maintained because we will still be constantly assessed.”

The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) — formerly known as the ‘International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions’ prior to 2016 — coordinates the relationship between institutions like MHRC and the UN human rights system.

It is unique as the only non-UN body whose internal accreditation system, based on compliance with the 1993 Paris Principles, grants access to UN committees.

Institutions accredited by the Subcommittee for Accreditation (SCA) of the GANHRI with A-status means full compliance with the Paris Principles and are usually accorded speaking rights and seating at human rights treaty bodies and other UN organs, mainly to the Human Rights Council.