JOIN US — AUGUST 9TH TO 11TH — AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S MARVIN CENTER AS WE CELEBRATE BLACK LIFE ON THE BIG SCREEN WITH THE AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. 

DISCOVER 16 AWARD WINNING FILMS — INCLUDING FICTION AND DOCUMENTARIES – WITH THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL INCLUDING 12 US AND DC PREMIERES.

ENJOY REVIVAL SCREENINGS OF QUILOMBO and FALLEN ANGELS PARADISE…DISCOVER HISTORICAL DOCS ABOUT MOHAMMED ALI, DANNY GLOVER and THE BLACK MOZART IN CUBA! –

WITH TALK BACKS AND VIP RECEPTIONS…THE AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  AUGUST 9 TO 11 AT THE GWU MARVIN CENTER, - 800 21ST STREET NW.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE AVAILABLE @  NYADIFF.ORG OR CALL (212) 864-1760.

AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL…WHERE BLACK LIFE MATTERS!

For tickets, schedule and more information visit: https://nyadiff.org/dc-2019/

DC African Diaspora International Film Festival Aug 9-11 2019

AfricaNow! July 1, 2020 Reflections on The Malawi Rerun Election  

Topic and Guests: On June 23 citizens in Malawi went to the polls to elect a president for the country.  This process was a rerun of last year’s election.  A five-judge Constitutional Court panel on February 3 unanimously nullified the country’s May 21, 2019 Presidential Election and ordered new presidential election within 150 days from the ruling date.  Apart from Malawi only Austria, Kenya, the Maldives, and Ukraine have had their presidential elections nullified by the courts.  The judgement was delivered after months of deliberations which took place in Malawi’s Constitutional Court.   The case petitioned by then opposition leaders Dr. Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Dr. Saluos Chilima of United Transformation Movement (UTM), requested to have the Constitutional Court nullify the presidential election.  In the conclusion of its 500-page judgement the five-judge Constitutional Court panel in Malawi stated that “….in the present matter, it has been our finding that the irregularities and anomalies are so widespread, systematic and grave such that the integrity of the results have been seriously compromised….”  For several months there had been a political impasse in Malawi following the nation’s Tripartite Elections on May 21, 2019.  For months Malawi has also witnessed demonstrations organized by the civic group Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) demanding the resignation of the Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Justice Jane Ansah (Supreme Court Judge) for mismanaging the elections.   Chairperson of the MEC Justice Jane Ansah resigned prior to the presidential election rerun.    

In the June 23 rerun Dr. Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) heading the nine-party political coalition of Tonse Alliance received 58.57% of the votes defeating Professor Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).  With this result, Malawi became the first country in Africa where the opposition defeated the incumbent in a rerun.  Tonse Alliance is headed by MCP and UTM thus Dr. Saulos Chilima head of the UTM is now again the Vice President.  The other major party in the nine-party coalition is former President Joyce Banda’s People’s Party (PP).   DPP in this rerun went into an alliance with United democratic Front (UDF) headed by Atupele Muluzi. (FULL RESULTS: Lazarus Chakwera (MCP) 2,604,043 votes; Peter Kuwani (Mbakuwaku Movement for Development [MMD]) 32,456 votes; and Peter Mutharika (DPP) 1,751,877 votes. Source MEC https://fpe2020.com/)

A recent conversation with two of the Malawi’s noted political, social commentators Ernest Thindwa and Rafiq Hajat explored and dissected the election and the various elements which made the process succeed.  The conversation also focuses on the impact on the political scene locally and beyond, and challenges for the new administration.  

Mr. Ernest Thindwa is General Secretary of the Political Science Association of Malawi and Lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at Chancellor College, University of Malawi.  Social, economic, prominent human rights activist and political commentator Mr. Rafiq Hajat is Executive Director of Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI), and Chairman of International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa and a prominent human rights activist in Malawi.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC.  Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (Eastern).

(Photo courtesy of Mibawa TV, Malawi)

AfricaNow! Jul. 1, 2020 Reflections On The Malawi Rerun Election

AfricaNow!

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