Malawi, 1995

Allow me to congratulate the

President on his election to his high office at the fiftieth

session of the General Assembly. The Government and the

people of the Republic of Malawi hold him and his great

country, Portugal, in high esteem. His appointment to

preside over the deliberations of the Assembly during this

important session, as the United Nations commemorates its

fiftieth anniversary, is an indisputable reflection of the

recognition of his eminence by the international community.

My delegation is confident that he will guide the

deliberations of the Assembly to a fruitful conclusion.

At the same time, allow me to pay tribute to his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy of Côte

d’Ivoire, who, in spite of the complexity of the issues and

the difficult constraints which confronted the United

Nations during his tenure, guided the work of the

forty-ninth session with admirable skill, dignity and

vision.

It is indeed very difficult to have to speak today

after His Holiness the Pope, lest those words which this

morning flew up to high rafters of this building be

forgotten. We in Malawi feel that perhaps it was our fate

to be scheduled to speak after him. The Assembly will

recall that the Pope talked about the moral aspects of

nationhood, politics and relations between nations. The

Assembly will also remember how he gave the word

freedom a new dimension and meaning, saying that man

will insist on it, whether small or big. The Assembly will

also remember the moral responsibility he put upon the

human being, both as an individual and as a member of

the community of what is really a small planet. One need

only fly a few miles up in the air from this little planet,

which we call Earth, to see that we all really look like

little rabbits dashing from one foxhole to another.

However, as human beings, we also resemble God, our

creator. To me it seemed as if our call to speak after him,

this afternoon, was an occasion to try to strengthen what

His Holiness the Pope left with us this morning.

The twentieth century is soon coming to an end.

Historians will remember and record it as the century of

three great phenomena, I think. The first was the

establishment of a power structure, as demonstrated by

the rise of the great experiments: the experiment in

democracy built on capitalism and respect for individual

rights and the experiment in socialism based on a social

contract for a community with a common purpose. The

conflict of these ideas would lead to the emergence of

what would dominate the world’s political ways during

the first 45 years of this Organization’s existence: the

cold war.

The second great phenomenon that the Pope referred

to was the fall of the empires built by the European

Powers from Asia to Africa and the proud rise of

colonized people to independence. The third — and

perhaps the most heart-rending — phenomenon of this

century was that of racism. We saw it first in South

Africa and later began to see it rearing its ugly head in

the twilight of this century.

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The curtain of this act finally falls on the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations. Let us remember the joy

and ecstasy with which the former colonial countries

emerged into independence as Members of this body. What

genius woke up to think of and, later, to found this

Organization? What idealism sustained it? Yet a dark

shadow haunted it in its growth; and now, as the

celebration of the fiftieth anniversary is upon us, we

somehow realize that perhaps the cold war, that Iron

Curtain, was used by the great Powers, in the name of

democracy, human rights and justice for all, simply to keep

a balance of power.

Malawi does not wish to seem bitter in expressing

some of these thoughts; but 50, even in a mere human life,

is the age at which soul-searching is important. Along with

many others, Malawi sowed the seeds of its own gorgon 30

years ago — what the Pope referred to as the totalitarian

totem. The pattern of Presidents-for-life and one-party

autocracies bred a series of dictatorships supported by the

interests of the cold war’s great Powers.

When perestroika knocked on the door, man heaved

a sigh of relief. The cold war had ended. We in Malawi

were not left behind. A new dawn broke in the land once

described by Africa Watch as a place where silence rules.

Last year Malawi stood up in this Assembly to declare

proudly that a people cannot be kept down for ever by

man’s inhumanity to man. Thanks to the action of the

United Nations, Malawi fought, this time not for

independence, but for democracy. A referendum in 1993

and a general election, supervised by this world body and

other friends, on 17 May 1994, gave birth to a new country.

This is what the Pope referred to as “hope”.

Today, a year and five months later, the four estates

of democracy are taking root in Malawi. We now have an

elective executive and a pluralist parliament with one of the

most active and articulate oppositions slowly learning the

complex art of debate and the art of give-and-take. In

addition, we also have an independent judiciary protecting

the bastion of the rule of law from which all human rights

are protected and nurtured and we have an independent and

free press.

These four estates are almost a novelty in Malawi

after 30 years of autocracy and a dictatorship responsible

for the most vicious abuse of human life. Above all, it is

important to remember that pathological hero worship is the

price people pay for losing their self-respect. There is

therefore cause to celebrate the 50 years of the life of the

United Nations — especially for Malawi for, from the

land of the dead, we have come back to the land of the

living.

We are astonished, however, that at this moment of

rebirth Malawi — and possibly other countries — seem

to have been abandoned. Could this be what the Pope was

talking about — the small nations — those which have

power, whether it be economic or military? Where are

those great friends of yesteryear, the great friends of the

days of the cold war? We are astonished that as we are

rejoicing in our new democracy they are now standing

aloof watching our skeletons of hitherto silenced and

abused citizenry feeding the flickering fires of democracy

against the howling winds of poverty, hunger and disease.

In this wider breakthrough of understanding in the

universe, let us be thankful that on this tiny planet there

is on the East River in New York a piece of land where

people meet to discuss problems — some no bigger than

an ant-hill and some larger — thankful that somewhere

there is a little hill called Everest near Kathmandu where

lilliputian human ants can crawl up and become heroes!

After 30 Years of educated leadership we are still

one of the least developed countries in the world, highest

in the rate of illiteracy and the most highly indebted, but

the most beautiful in nature and the one best qualified,

perhaps, for a Marshall Plan.

Malawi is among those countries in the world that

have a high incidence of the HIV/AIDS infection. This

pandemic has seriously affected the young and active

segment of the population, which is the hub of

development activity in all sectors of the national

economy. We commend the untiring efforts of the World

Health Organization and other institutions which, together

with my Government, are actively engaged in tackling

this pandemic.

But perhaps I might add that, above all, the

Conference on Women held in Beijing brought to the

fore, at least for us, the entire issue of trying to

understand the whole question of man’s responsibility

towards man and the importance of the idea of hope and

sustenance in recognizing the role of women, for in my

country 70 per cent of the economy and 70 per cent of

human love and care and 70 per cent of all that makes a

nation admirable is in the hands of women.

How can one understand those who caused so many

bombs and mines to be planted in Mozambique and

Angola? How do they think of the women and children

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who wake up with new hope and who go to fetch water or

plant their plantations and who find themselves blown up

by those who should have cared much more than to play

with such weapons — such utterly senseless weapons of

destruction?

Until recently my country hosted a large number of

refugees from Mozambique when that country was

experiencing civil strife. The size of the refugee

community, which peaked at over a million, has now

decreased as refugees are returning home since the

conclusion of a peace accord between the then warring

FRELIMO government and the forces of RENAMO.

However, despite the ongoing repatriation of the

refugees back to Mozambique, a strong legacy of

environmental degradation is left behind. Deforestation,

overgrazing, and the destruction of roads used by relief

supply vehicles are some of the problems which resulted

from the presence of the refugees.

In addition, Malawi is playing host to a number of

refugee communities from around Africa — from Rwanda

and Somalia — although their numbers have grown

nowhere near those reached by our brothers and sisters

from neighbouring Mozambique.

The Government of Malawi would like at this juncture

to express its most sincere gratitude and appreciation for

the kind and invaluable assistance received from the United

Nations system, particularly through the Office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), as well as from donor Governments and

agencies, and non-governmental organizations at a time

when we most needed help.

Since the region experienced severe drought in the

1992 and 1993 crop seasons, with a mild recovery in 1993

and 1994, rainfall has continued to be erratic in southern

Africa. The economy of Malawi, which is almost entirely

agro-based, has been hard-hit, resulting in chronic food

shortages. This season has not been any better. Once again,

the country faces severe food shortages, which the

Government has to meet through importing grain, mainly

maize. Is this a test of our democracy? Can a democracy,

even a classical Grecian one, grow on an empty stomach?

Against this background is the programme for the

alleviation of poverty, which the new Government of

Malawi has enunciated in order to tackle the chronic

poverty which it inherited from the previous regime. The

poverty-alleviation programme seeks to target the rural

poor, who are in the majority as the primary beneficiary.

A poverty-alleviation fund has been set up, along with a

Malawi social action fund, which is a component thereof.

The programme is multisectoral in approach and aims at

promoting the education and health sectors among others.

The Government has, in this regard, introduced free

primary school education and has also tried to increase

the number of schools.

My Government would therefore like to thank the

United Nations system and the donor community and the

many other institutions in the private sector — especially

the missionary sector — which have extended assistance

in our development endeavours, for if our courage and

hope had not been evoked by the Catholic bishops of

Malawi I would not be speaking here today. I am a

product of the 30 years of exile which totalitarianism

imposed on my country.

The success of the poverty alleviation programme

therefore becomes a major aspect of our hopes and

expectations. The new culture of tolerance has created a

highly conducive climate for investment. We have

therefore opened the door to prospective investors to

come, explore and take advantage of the opportunities

which exist in other areas such as tourism, irrigation,

mining and other sectors of the economy.

Malawi has noted with interest the ongoing efforts

to reform the United Nations system. We have observed

in particular the various proposals that have been put

forward on the reform of the Security Council. The

Security Council is, truly, an important organ of the

Organization. It is therefore proper and fitting that an

organ of such high standing should operate in an

accountable and transparent manner. In addition, Malawi

supports measures aimed at enhancing equitable

representation in an effort to reflect the existing

international political configuration as well as the

composition of the United Nations.

As Malawi consolidates genuine freedom and

democracy it is pleasing to note that the rest of the

southern African region has unwaveringly embraced this

new culture of political pluralism and tolerance. More

important, those countries which have for long been

devastated by civil strife have either resolved or are in the

process of resolving their misunderstandings.

Malawi welcomes encouraging moves towards the

demobilization of combatants of both the Angolan

Government Forces and the National Union for the Total

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Independence of Angola (UNITA) under the third United

Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III). We

fully commend the invaluable role which we, the United

Nations, are playing in Angola.

In South Africa, the post-apartheid Government of

President Nelson Mandela is now firmly in place.

Incidentally, I am glad I can pronounce it properly, for it is

not “apartheid” but “apart hate” — put apart and hate. The

demise of “apart hate” brightened prospects for peace and

cooperation in southern Africa. Malawi therefore calls upon

the international community to render unflinching support

to the new and emerging democracies in the region so that

they do not slide back to anarchy and authoritarianism.

The Malawi Government is concerned about the slow

pace at which the identification of eligible voters is

proceeding in Western Sahara. We appreciate the efforts of

the United Nations to extend its Mission for the

Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as a show of

genuine commitment to resolving this long-standing issue.

It should, however, be noted that without the commitment

of the principal players in the matter the current efforts will

all be in vain. We therefore call upon the Government of

the Kingdom of Morocco to allow the United Nations

Mission a free hand in its operations so that the deadline of

January 1996 for the holding of a referendum can be met.

Malawi has noted with a good deal of concern the

horrendous massacres of innocent people in the Central

African country of Rwanda. However, despite the continued

existence of ethnic tensions, the efforts of the United

Nations to ensure that peace finally descends upon this

troubled area have not faltered. To this end, my

Government earnestly commends the role played by the

United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR),

to which we have made a modest contribution of military

observers as a demonstration of Malawi’s commitment to

the restoration of peace.

The militarization of the refugee camps outside

Rwanda is a source of great concern to Malawi. We

therefore call upon the international community to do its

utmost to reverse the reported inflow of weaponry into the

refugee camps, and appeal to the people of Rwanda to

exercise political maturity in order to avoid a degeneration

of the situation into the tragedy of yesteryear, especially

when the mandate of UNAMIR expires on 9 December

1995.

My Government is encouraged by the progress being

made in the Middle East peace process. We commend the

courage and determination of the Government of the State

of Israel as well as the leadership of the Palestine

National Authority to move ahead. The two players

deserve the unflinching support and applause of the

international community to ensure that elements which are

opposed to the peace process do not succeed.

On the other hand, we have observed with remorse

the tragedy which has unfolded in the countries of the

former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Innocent civilians

have been the most hurt in the shifting fortunes of war in

the Balkan region. Understandably, the United Nations

and the rest of the international community can play only

a limited role in the resolution of the conflict. My

Government, therefore, calls upon the principal players in

the region to cooperate with the international community

in finding a lasting solution to the conflict.

It is the hope of my Government that the Korean

people on both sides of the thirty-eighth parallel will

sustain and strengthen contact, with the aim of breaking

the existing impasse in the reunification of the divided

peninsula.

In the same vein, my Government favours any

efforts the United Nations may undertake with the aim of

resolving the issue of the international status of the

Republic of China on Taiwan in a manner which would

be acceptable to both the Government of the People’s

Republic of China and the authorities in Taiwan.

As the United Nations celebrates 50 years of

existence, let us take full stock of the work of the

Organization since its birth. Let us retrace our steps and

weigh our achievements and failures so that we may

approach the twenty-first century with renewed vigour

and commitment. Let us not lose sight of the ideals which

the Organization stands for as we continue to uphold the

necessary flexibility for its adaptation to current trends.

Lastly, to those who love and cherish democracy let

the word go out, lest we forget, that the name

“Nyasaland” at one time represented the biblical David

and Goliath in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland,

which, if it had been given birth, would have made the

script for that region a different story. When the borders

that defined our nationhood opened again and we became

part of Mother Africa and the rest of the world, our State

President, Bakili Muluzi, burst out of a suffocated

Malawi, which had become a prison, and invited the

world to come and rejoice with us. The silent Malawians

who had crept out of Malawi, cautious not to speak to

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others about the pain of imprisonment and death in their

prison country, now saw a new leadership, not only in

President Muluzi, but in the people of the country

themselves. If these 15 months of the new Malawi have not

meant much to the World Bank, the fatigued donors and the

sceptical theoreticians, let them remember the following

great words of Pliny:

“There is always something new out of Africa. Its

presence on this continent, like the great seas that

surround it, are legendary. Ignore Africa to your

peril.” (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VII, 77)

In the same breath, we plead to you here again and

again: listen to what was said at the United Nations social

summit meeting, at the United Nations women’s summit

meeting and during the International Year of the Child.

There is no hope for mankind in the twenty-first century

and after without a United Nations based on those three

great occasions. Malawi pleads to those great nations that

have grown up with the ideals and ideas of human giants of

the world not to jump off the ship that carries us all. No

one can say, “Stop the world, I want to get off.”

On behalf of the people of Malawi, I thank Members

of the General Assembly for their attention.