Africa-Press – Malawi. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. – Rev.3:7
They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. – Jude 1:18-19
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. – Rev 21:4
Although not as has as 2020, the year 2022 was filled with its fair share of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. The year has many great things taking place like Argentina winning the World Cup, the world lifting travel bans after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, or after over 240 years, the US appointed its first black woman to the Supreme Court. But there were various bad things that were peppered in like the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II dying, , or the EU trying to steal the sovereign rights of 79 African Caribbean and Pacific states through a deceptive treaty component in the next round of the Cotonou Agreement. The downright uglies were Russia invading Ukraine, the US white supremacists’ immigration policies, and politicians breaking bad all over the place.
Globally, the humanity that bravely fought autocrats and killers of Worl War II or the humanity that carved a universally accepted Human Rights Declaration, world leaders speaking with one voice on living together on one planet, have lately developed into ultra-selfish, self-serving, manipulative “me-first bullies” one finds in elementary school playgrounds. The once polite way of doing things no longer matters; many times people are left wondering why the animosity, why the deception, why the hatred, and why the hypocrisy. Is anyone in control at all? Anybody!
Starting with the good news, the United Kingdom has a king, HRM King Charles III. The US appointed and confirmed its first black Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Onyika Brown-Jackson. Still in the US, the US House Select Committee on the January 6 attack released its 845-page report putting the blame on one person, former US President Donald J. Trump being responsible for inciting a mob to attack the US Capital. Seventy-nine countries from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific countries are working together to stop the EU from making them puppets of the 27-member group.
Locally, the Malawi government works with the local and international private sector and philanthropic sector groups in their collaborative works in multi-sector parts of the development process. To its credit, the country has eradicated trachoma, the disease that causes blindness. Still in the health sector, the Tanzanian government through its Ambassador, HE Pole-Pole is working with the health sector to have cardiology diagnostic work of Malawi patients conducted at the Kikwete Institute in Tanzania. This will save Malawian millions of Kwacha they have been pouring out to travel to India or South Africa. The Ministry of Education, which has the best website in Malawi, has also to its credit managed to establish early childhood development in every district. By the milestones highway, Nikiwe and Alison were awarded their PhDs, Moses clocked 15 of dedicated and committed service, I clocked 40 years in journalism, and published the book entitled A Girl Called Gaborone.
On the political scene, the President made three trips to the US, which included his maiden trip to the United Nations and a meeting with the US President and other African leaders; during the US trips, he met with the US-based diaspora. The president also attended the Least Developed Conference in Egypt. The Vice President also traveled outside the country this year. Among them was a trip to the US, where like the president, the VP met with the diaspora. Lastly, the Maseko Ngoni commemorated the 10th anniversary of His Royal Majesty Ngwenyama as Inkosi Ya Makhosi Gomani V.
On the international scene, the bad start at the Supreme Court that this year overturned Roe v. Wade, a provision that gave women the right to make decisions about their bodies. The second is the European deceptive attempts to cheat 79 ACP countries by introducing a treaty component into the Pos-Cotonou Agreement that ties the ACP to EU values on human rights concepts and values, like the Supreme Court decision, the EU is taking control where it does not have the right to do so.
This year the death of Queen Elizabeth II dealt a heavy blow to the world, the longest serving UK monarch. Other deaths that shook the world were Sydney Poitier who was the first African American to win an Academy Award. This year I lost my best friend diplomat Gail Farngalo of Liberia, who passed away suddenly. The world also saw the passing of Bob Saget, Olivia Newton-John, Angela Lansbury (of Murder She Wrote fame), Ivana Trump who was the former first wife of former President Donald Trump, Loretta Lynn, Kirstie Alley, the former first female secretary of state Madeline Albright.
On the Malawi scene, we recently last celebrated a giant in the photo-journalism sector Uncle Dick Milanzi; also passed on are Emmie Chanika (giant champion of civil liberties), my Ambassador Charles Msosa, former Solicitor General and first law commissioner Justice Elton Singini and Serina Surtee Bhima. My four relations M’Bah Mrs. Elizabeth Chulu, Cousin Wales Kaimila and son Dr. Bongani Kaimila, and my beloved nephew Kamwai Kamange also passed on leaving our perpetual teas etched on our faces and in our hearts.
This week the Malawi Government reports that in the ongoing cholera scourge, 1,400 people have died as a result of the disease. As we say goodbye to 2022, may we gather strength as we recall the good times, mindful also that there were some bad moments too. Next week: The downright ugly
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