


Malawi Law Society: On the Arrest and Detention of Human Rights Defenders Coalition Members on 8th March 2020 (10.03.2020)











“I am directing the Police and MDF to stop these demonstrations. Should HRDC, MCP and UTM go ahead with the demonstrations, let them not say that they were not warned. Without the borders, there is no Malawi. These people [HRDC, MCP & UTM] are waging war on our country and it’s treasonous. I have no choice but to take necessary measures to protect the borders with all the necessary force a law unto themselves one day, evil will rule this country” – President Peter Mutharika (08.03.2020).
The Tipp-Ex President Peter Mutharika, who cannot stomach demonstrations nor public display of dissatisfaction towards him and the state. Now, there is no middle ground. He is now closing the space. His not accepting being questioned, neither the Malawi Electoral Commission. The President says this as several of the leaders in the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC). Therefore, his words are not worthless.
The President is setting himself up for failure. His closing the ability of the people to be vocal when the state is wrong. His saying the other opposition should be silent too. This is a clear step of a man who distrust of people is rising sky-high. Maybe, his feeling the pressure for techniques to rig the May 2020 elections?
The President of Malawi directing the army and police force, whose there to secure the public. Not to stop them nor stop the public from demonstrating against unfair policies and decrees. That is why they are on the streets with their feet.
That Mutharika is going to this step. Really shows how little governance, little ability he has to rule temporary, as his living on mercy after the “null and void” elections in 2019. The citizens deserves better than this.
Mutharika is saying they are treasonous for demonstrating, which is very convenient for him. Making any dissent into illegal action. This is a clear misdirection and malicious attempt of overriding any will of the people. Since, the President only allows his actions and his directions. The public has to silenced. If they dare to speak out, then they might face treason. How else you interpret these words?
The President whose already living on borrowed time with the highest office. Is clearly planning to stay by any means. As he is directing the authorities to stop the others from competing and using the boulevards as their platforms. Since, he got the State House and the Authorities in his pocket. This is why he makes offending him and his intelligence a crime against the state. That is what he has initially done by saying this! Peace.




The World Bank working paper named ‘Elite Capture of Foreign Aid – Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts’, which was finally released yesterday is a devastating read. Not because of the facts in it, but because of the extent of the misuse and theft of aid money. The World Bank are now proving by small samples how much of their loans, grants and funds, which is given by donors to the WB, which happens to be moved to tax havens by the regimes that needs it. That is eating of the plate of the poorest and living lavish on others people’s dime.
Just in the Annex, the truth really comes forward, where it is only a small samples, but showing the distasteful enterprise still. Like from table one. You can see that a certain amount of African countries have taken out huge funds into havens deposits and non-haven deposits.
The report explains this about the table one: “The table shows the 22 countries in our main sample and presents summary statistics for the main variables in our analysis. The sample includes all countries for which annual disbursements from the World Bank are equivalent to at least 2 percent of annual GDP on average. Sample mean is the average of the 22 countries in the sample. Annual WB aid (% of GDP) is annual disbursements from the World Bank as a fraction of annual GDP. Annual ODA aid (% of GDP) is annual Official Development Assistance (ODA) from all sources as a fraction of annual GDP. Haven deposits is foreign deposits held in the 17 countries classified as havens. Non-haven deposits is foreign deposits held in the countries not classified as havens” (World Bank Feb 2020).
| Nation | Haven (million USD) | Non-Haven (million USD) |
| Burkina Faso | 32 | 88 |
| Burundi | 103 | 19 |
| Eritrea | 8 | 11 |
| Ethiopia | 64 | 155 |
| Ghana | 76 | 446 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 8 | 16 |
| Madagascar | 193 | 232 |
| Malawi | 31 | 82 |
| Mali | 27 | 133 |
| Mauritania | 32 | 150 |
| Mozambique | 40 | 161 |
| Niger | 29 | 79 |
| Rwanda | 149 | 41 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 4 | 8 |
| Sierra Leone | 32 | 82 |
| Tanzania | 145 | 437 |
| Uganda | 73 | 188 |
| Zambia | 117 | 306 |
When you add into the A6 Table of the modestly aid-dependent countries. You see yet more African countries, where the money a flowing out of the coffers. Where surely not all aid is going where its supposed too.
The report explains table A6 like this: “The table shows the 24 countries for which annual disbursements from the World Bank are between 1% and 2% of annual GDP on average. is the average of the 24 countries in the sample. Annual WB aid (% of GDP) is annual disbursements from the World Bank as a fraction of annual GDP. Sample mean is the average of the 22 countries in the sample. WB aid disbursements is annual disbursements from the World Bank as a fraction of annual GDP. Annual ODA aid (% of GDP) is annual Official Development Assistance (ODA) from all sources as a fraction of annual GDP. Haven deposits is foreign deposits held in the 17 countries classified as havens. Non-haven deposits is foreign deposits held in the countries not classified as havens” (World Bank Feb 2020).
| Nation | Haven (million USD) | Non-Haven (million USD) |
| Benin | 42 | 96 |
| Cape Verde | 14 | 20 |
| Central African Republic | 18 | 53 |
| Chad | 11 | 91 |
| Comoros | 7 | 27 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 910 | 93 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 387 | 787 |
| Gambia | 24 | 82 |
| Guinea | 54 | 114 |
| Kenya | 1277 | 1784 |
| Lesotho | 11 | 28 |
| Senegal | 253 | 487 |
| Togo | 82 | 146 |
Without going into deep technicalities of these operations, neither how the World Bank came through these numbers. We can see there is a staggering amount of funds that disappear and goes missing. Which was supposed to go to development or directly to support the state functions. Which happens to end up in tax-havens, surely by someone closely associated with the state or heads of state. Since, these sorts of amounts couldn’t have left the nations without the approval of the executive or head of state.
We can also clearly see, that some aid is directly feeding the rich and keeping tax-havens alive. Giving them financial stimulus and also covering the expenses of the elites in the respective places. There is certainly a mismanagement and a need for more oversight from the World Bank. But also more mechanisms to stop the misuse of aid. If it is supposed to help and not just create a very vastly elite in the nation in question. Because, with this sort of operations, they have clearly achieved that. Peace.


