It has come to our knowledge that the government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Lands, has sold land which houses a school called Livimbo School in Area 2, Lilongwe to Malawians of Asian origin. Or that part of land belonging to the school was sold. As black Malawians we are appalled by this decision which has disadvantaged the future of hundreds if not thousands of black Malawian children, who had hope to change their plights through an education.

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, during Bakili Muluzi’s presidency, Malawians have witnessed the pillage of government companies which were sold to mostly Asians both foreign and Malawian. To this day, there has been a systematic looting of prime land in our cities which has been primarily sold to Asians while excluding other Malawians in their own country.

In Blantyre, most of the prime land in the Central Business District is owned by Asians. This has disadvantaged other businesspersons who are quoted exorbitant rentals by the Asian landlords. Malawians who work menial jobs for some of the Asians are also mistreated on a daily basis and paid peanuts.

In addition, government contracts are awarded to the Asians and other foreigners  even though there is a deliberate policy to award 60 percent of them to indigenous Malawians. This has been ignored and Government of Malawi continues to disregard Malawians in this respect.

Most of our beautiful beaches along the Lake Malawi are also sold to foreigners with leases of up 100 years. Streams of lodges which receive money through foreign banks in deals made by foreign travel companies are making money which does not benefit Malawi. Accommodation funds never make it to Malawi because most of the reservation processes for some of these lodges require one to book through online portals, which are hosted in foreign countries. Furthermore, some of these lodges are allegedly discriminatory against Malawians who are discouraged from making reservations for accommodation.

We have also seen news reports of some Asians committing crimes in this country worth billions of Kwachas but our government protects these individuals. When other Malawians commit a crime, they are willingly slapped with a lengthy sentence while their Asian criminal counterparts are cushioned to live life outside a prison.

The government even went further to allow the Indian government to erect the statue of Mohandas Gandhi who is known as an ardent racist to black Africans. To erect this statue in Malawi is to prove that black Malawians are inferior to Indians just as Gandhi stated while he lived in South Africa a century ago. This is a sign that our Asian counterparts have become our masters and that we are to obey their demands that we honour a racist on our soil.

In the news, daily reports are rampant that foreigners are mining Gemstones and other precious minerals in the remote areas of Malawi. Just this week Zodiak Broadcasting Station reported that a Chinese mining company in Chitipa was threatening a whole village to move, as the village was sitting in the vicinity of their land operations. This is happening while the real custodians of these lands continue to live in abject poverty year after year.

The Government of Malawi since the advent of democracy has facilitated corruption which has seen our Malawian passports being abused by foreigners who come to this country. For the right price, foreigners are allegedly able to purchase the Malawian passport of which they begin to use to acquire large tracts of land which is meant for the future generations of this country.

Where do indigenous Malawians fit in all this as the government is eagerly cutting the national cake to foreigners? Do our leaders want Malawians to become slaves within their own country? Did we fight our independence only to become slaves again in our own country? Do you people have any ounce of shame as you do your dirty deals? 

We on behalf of Malawians are petitioning the Office of the President, members of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Lands to instantly address these issues where Malawians are systematically being excluded from owning their God-given natural resources. Our ancestors safeguarded these resources for us for thousands of years and we are not going to be the generation that betrays our ancestral privilege, to own our land and all its resources because of a few selfish and greedy individuals who do not love their kinfolk.

We have accommodated many races in Malawi without any infractions, but the current development trajectory which seeks to once again reduce black Malawians to paupers in their own country, is simply unacceptable. We are a very tolerant society but these issues are slowly creating an atmosphere that will pit black Malawians against foreigners in this country, and our aim is to ameliorate this dangerous situation which is inevitable if government is lax.

If you are a Malawian who has silently watched this obscene and systematic oppression, we implore you to sign this petition to rescind the sale of Livimbo Primary School or any lands associated to the school and to stop all sale of land to foreigners in Malawi. Furthermore, we want our government to usher in deliberate policies that empower indigenous Malawians to also become owners of properties and prime lands in cities and greater Malawi. It is time for the silent citizens of Malawi to come together to fight this disgusting injustice that is being perpetrated by our fellow black Malawians in positions of power.

On behalf of all Malawians, 

CITIZENS FOR PROGRESSIVE ACTION