Dear Andrew Mitchell,
Thank you Andrew for writing this letter; it is much more diplomatic than the leaked cable Mr Dyet wrote to your government. I would also like to thank you for informing us that you decided that Malawi should be one of 27 priority countries for the future UK development support.
Firstly let me thank the British people for the support that they render to the people of Malawi at different levels. Apart from the help Malawi get through your department, there are a myriad other ways the British people reach out to the people of Malawi. Our relationship is much deeper than reflected in the British aid that you are writing about. We are forever grateful to the British people.
The minister of finance will send you our draft budget and our MDG’s if he has not done that already. After your reviews please inform us which areas of the budget you are willing to help. This government needs all the help it can get from its friends to fulfill its plans and goals as reflected in the two documents.
I am pleased to inform you that Malawi has done well in its pursuit to poverty reduction, respect for human rights and financial management. I cannot say we have been perfect, we are not where we would want to be yet but we have certainly scored very good points in our journey towards being perfect.
For this country to be where it is, it has taken a lot. It first of all had to be rescued from your government’s colonial hands, and then from years of very strict hands of Kamuzu and then the careless hands of Muluzi’s government. Despite the problems, there were gains that were made by the country and for the country through all these three leadership dispensations. This government is on course to preserve, celebrate and build on those gains. The biggest shortfall of those governments as regards to those gains that we don’t want to repeat is tha things were done without the direct influence and control of the local people. It is therefore at the heart of all that the government is doing now that the power and responsibility to decide the future and destiny of the country is taken back to the people.
Our budget, plans, international relations and policies for growth are all drawn based on the principle of giving power and responsibility for the country to the people. I am sure you will agree with me that that is the whole essence of democracy.
On the issue of minority rights, I am assuming that you are talking about the issue of homosexuality, I am sorry to tell you that where the people of Malawi are concerned that is a no go zone. They don’t even want to know. We have had statements issued by ordinary people and leaders from all corners of society voicing their concern about donor demands that homosexuality be legalized in Malawi. Much as we respect the wishes of your taxpayers who contribute a good chunk of the 40% we get from the donors towards our budget, those that contribute the 80% (Malawians) would want thing to be different. We are so sorry on that one, thing have got to stay the way they are in Malawi.
To say that freedom of expression in Malawi is suppressed is choosing not to be honest. I think Malawians are freer to express themselves even much more than people are in the UK. People including the media say all sorts about the president and his government as well as anything really without fear of reprisal. If you check the records there is no one that have been punished for speaking out in Malawi. On the other hand your government is on record for holding back people from expressing themselves in the interest of your national security. You have had an American reverend and a Danish minister denied immigration clearance as a way of barring them to express themselves in your country. Some of your universities are spied upon by the police. You refused people to demonstrate around the wedding of your prince etc. All these you do for the greater good of the British people and we cannot fault you for that.
As a responsible government we want to maintain the peace and stability and other development gains we have made over the years. People are allowed to demonstrate freely and it is free. We however want to instill in ourselves a sense of responsibility when we do it. It will take time but this government is using different strategies permissible in a democracy to ensure that that happens.
You are more than welcome to work with us to ensure that institutions that provide Malawians with an avenue for redress are empowered to do their job in the best way possible to serve the people of Malawi. We can use your expert and financial help in that area.
We are surprised that you still are talking about the purchase of the plane when an explanation was already offered to our donors and your government reclaimed part of its aid. I am not sure whether you would want Malawi to explain itself over the plane every financial year. The explanation you have had is the only explanation you can get, it therefore follows that it is you who should tell Malawi what action or actions you are going to take based on your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with that information.
This government does its best to serve its people much more also in times of need. When disaster strikes, this government does its best to respond. You can be assured that on hunger we are always upping our capacity to prevent and respond to it when it happens. Sorry that you are not happy with the pace of our response on the areas that were affected but we did is what we could do at that time and are happy notwithstanding the fact that we have learnt our lessons along the way.
We are of the view that the reason William Hague is reviewing our bilateral relationship is our loss of confidence with your diplomat, Mr Dyet. Nothing to that has changed, what Mr Dyet did was uncalled for and undiplomatic. There is no way the leadership of this country could work with him appropriately after the manner of the leaked cable. It was also unacceptable for William Hague to insist that he should remain without him even having considered our concerns. It made us wonder if we are still colonized by the Brits.
The fact of that matter is that the onus on whether we get the aid we get from your government or not is with your government. We cannot do much about it apart from calling upon you and your government to look at us for what we want to achieve as a nation and choose to support or not support us on that. It is not our wish that you cut, freeze, withhold, reduce, reclaim or whatever other term used, we can use a hand from a good friend even more also now than ever before. We would like to ask you to continue with the good work you have been doing in our country even though it all comes down to your discretion.
With best regards
Yours sincerely
Ndirande Love
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