WHY CLERGY CAN'T SUCCEED IN MEDIATING PEACE TALKS IN MALAWI

BY: Peter Qeko Jere

In Malawi political economy, the church has been instrumental to help bring about change in the country. From time in memorial the church has been a the forefront helping in the struggle for change. We don’t have to remind you that it was the church in the late 1800s which saved the southern part of Malawi (then Nyasaland) from the Portuguese occupation. What we mean is that if it was not for the church, Blantyre and the entire shire valley could have been part of Mozambique today. But it took the church of Christ in Malawi to fight this war and save the situation. It was also the church which played a strategic role in the fight against colonialism in the country. It was the church again which helped a lot in the fight against Dr. Banda and bring about democracy in the country. In Malawi there is the unwritten law which states that you don’t talk of the birth of multiparty democracy without mentioning the church. We don’t have to forget the Roman Catholic’s Pastoral letter which revolutionize the country.
Due to the history and work the church has done in the past, Malawians have lived to trust that in times of any conflict, the church is the only institution to consult. It is in this vain that even in the madness in parliament over section 65 and the budget, politicians remembered that the best way forward to the issue was to involve the church leaders. Politicians realized that they not capable of bringing peace amongst each other because they don’t have that peace in the first place hence they called the clerics to mediate the political impasse. Many unfortunate things took place in the August house such that some wanted the house adjourned and give the chance to the peace talks.
While church leaders’ responsibility in our society is unique and appreciated, there are some few things that we want to bring to the attention of everybody so that you should know the exact position of the church in Malawi.
The first thing is that in Malawi, the church is badly positioned and can not be effective in mediation. The Malawi church need divine medication healing. There are issues in within the church body that need to be solved. Such issues include tribalism, favouritism, corruption and others. We have interchurch conflict between Livingstonia and Nkhoma Synod where this time around Livingstonia has penetrated part of the Central region. There are church internal leadership conflicts where leaders have taken each other to court and particularly in the Anglican, PIM and SDA. Church leaders have resolved to use the court to solve their issues since they fail to agree on one thing or the other. Also there are allegations of church leaders in the Blantyre Synod who pocketed some money from Bakili Muluzi, who is also a Muslim, with an aim of promoting him in within the Synod. This has shocked the entire Christian fraternity that church leaders can go this far and they ask that if the leaders are doing this then what about an ordinary member of the church? Unfortunately leaders have become instruments that politicians have targeted to manipulate and used in propagating their agendas.
The second thing is that the church in Malawi need to put its house in order first before it begins to get involved in mediating peace at the national level. This is because the church is not qualified to handle national issues this time around because its house is not in order. How can the church leadership be instrument of peace and unity when they themselves do not have the peace and can live in unity? How will they prescribe peace and unity to politicians when they don’t know the definition of peace and unity? Peace making is for those who stay and live in peace. You only give that which you have and you cant give something which you don’t have.
To our view, this team of religious leaders involved in the so called peace talks, should have convened to help solve all religious issues in the country. They should convene to help solve issues in the Anglican Church, the PIM, the SDA, the Nkhoma/Livingstonia Synod, Blantyre Synod corruption saga and others. Church leaders should help each other in unifying the broken churches so that they can be effective in peace making at a national level. Church leaders should be there for each other when the things are bad. Its not proper for leaders to convene with an aim of solving issues at a national level when hot and burning issues are destroying the church. Such meetings should be made to help solve church problems first before national issues are sorted out.
Thirdly is that the Church in Malawi should realize that mediating unity and peace talks is not just about sitting down and telling people what the bible say about unity and peace. They should know that this process to a large extend is about demonstrating what you have to those in conflict. This is about revealing the peace strategies that have sustained the church in years and ask politicians to emulate from the church. This is about giving out that which they live daily. Now it becomes a problem when church leaders’ lives are in a mess because many times ordinary people are too observant and they know the kind of life church leaders live and if they can be trusted. As earlier said here, you only give that which you have. If the church leaders have too much conflicts in within themselves, they can not be effective in any mediation talk.