By Sylvester Chibwana
A number of so-called human rights activists in the country have been found wanting as their cause is for personal gain than anything else.
Lately, it has been observed that as a country we have some highly unethical and uncouth human rights activists who are not genuinely in the field to fight for the plight of poor Malawians.
All we see are some political parties’ mercenaries whose agenda is to satisfy the wishes of their masters and also yield monetary gains through clandestine funding to their briefcase organisations.
No wonder they have been desperately pushing for the March 20 mass demonstrations to take place. Social media has been awash with audio announcements released by these activists sensitising the general public on the planned demonstrations.
It is not a secret that some of these organisers earn a living through money obtained from the financers of the demonstrations. They do not make that noise free of charge, it is a permanent job.
There is a master somewhere who pays them handsomely, that is why they are not afraid of anything when organising such events.
For instance, Mr. Bon Kalindo, he has been arrested a number of times for being found on the wrong side of the law while serving as an activist but has never abandoned his role, he is still pushing because he knows that such events bring food on his table. Fact is, he currently has no job or business to sustain him.
It is very surprising that Mr Bon. Kalindo is so desperate for money to the extent of parading innocent people in the street for his own benefit. Despite that Mr. Bon Kalindo once served as a Member of Parliament but he is still living in a rented house until today and shamelessly survives by blackmailing people especially politicians.
He usually pays K1, 000 each to innocent people who participates in the demonstrations while he and his colleagues get a lion’s share.
The other person who is in such business is Mr. Redson Munlo. He is very active when it comes to organising demonstrations just because he survives through such money.
Lately, he was on the limelight conducting vigils (protests) for the removal of Martha Chizuma as ACB Director General. It is on record that he pocketed huge sums of money through vigils, no wonder today he is also part of the planned March 20 mass demonstrations.
It is not surprising that he is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy with school fees from money that he collects after organising demonstrations. Mr. Munlo does not have any business and also does not have a job to sustain him.
This is the same with Mr. Sylvester Namiwa of Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) who also earns a living through money realised from the organising demonstrations.
On several occasions, he has been so vocal in order to make ends meet. What he knows best is finding loopholes and utilising them by appealing for financial assistance from politicians especially those in opposition to finance him to conduct demonstrations. Mr. Namiwa is a pure DPP cadre and not an activist. He usually works according to orders given by his superiors.
The story is similar for one Billy Banda of Malawi Watch. He is hiding behind the brand name “Malawi Watch” yet he is pure DPP cadre who was running up and down assisting late Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika when protestors were being killed in broad day light and was also very active during Prof. Peter Mutharika regime.
If we are to assess the impact of the demonstrations do you think people in the country benefit the same way these so called organisers of demonstrations do? The above question gives a clear picture that these demonstrations conducted by the above mentioned fake human rights activists largely benefits them and not people they claim to fight for.
If we take a closer look at these uncouth characters, we will see that they are not fit to be Human Rights activists because they openly work for opposition political parties that is why their reactions towards issues are always biased.
This is not the time for mere politicking in the name of fighting for the rights of people, try other important things like mobilising resources and purchase bags of maize for distribution to people in rural areas especially in hunger prone areas. You will never see them fight predatory businesses that overprice commodities at the expense of struggling Malawians or render civic education on critical issues as expected of any proper civil rights organisation or NGO in the Governance space.
Currently, Malawi seems to lack ethical human right activists and that is why even the outcome of the recent demonstrations does not have any impact.
In short Malawians are not benefiting anything from these demonstrations. These are lazy people who lack vision on earning a proper living expected of any serious leader they try to portray themselves. Very pathetic creatures!
