Why did God create man? Was it out of carelessness or ill will? We don’t know. But in all events, man exists, black, white, red, and yellow, Far back in history, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians lived and fought, but God was aiming all the time at something different and better. He let the Greeks and Romans appear out of the darkness of barbarity to prepare the way for the race that from the start was chosen to rule over mankind, namely the British race – “limited islanders, baptised with mist, narrowed by insularity, swollen with good fortune and wealth”.

Lower races live in Africa, Australia and America and on all the thousands of islands in the South Seas. They perhaps have different names and petty differences between them, but all of them are essentially “niggers”, “bloody niggers”. Nor are Finns or Basques or whatever they are called anything to reckon with, They are just a kind of European nigger, destined to disappear.’

Niggers remain niggers whatever colour they are, but the archetype is found in Africa. Oh, Africa! God must have been in a bad mood when He created that continent. Why otherwise flll it with people who are doomed to be replaced by other races coming from outside? Would it not have been better to make the niggers white, so that all in good time they could become Englishmen, instead of giving us all the trouble of exterminating them?

Niggers have no guns, so no rights. Their land is ours. Their cattle and fields, their wretched household utensils and all they possess is ours — just as their women are ours to have as concubines, to thrash or exchange, ours to infect with syphilis, leave with child, outrage, torment, and make by contact with “the vilest of vile, more vile than beasts”.

Our bishops scream to high heaven when the Armenians are violated by Turks, but say nothing about the much worse crimes committed by their own countrymen. The hypocritical British heart beats for all except those their own empire drowns in blood. The God who has created people like us – must not he have been a fool?

Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (friend of Joseph Conrad), published 1897 in the “Social-Democrat” (English Newspaper)

External articles:
Nyassa Times
Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Africa

The identity of these two groups can be clearly seen in Fanon’s representation of the struggle. These two groups struggled with each other because the colonists are on one side, and the natives on the other. The natives see the colonists as “the others”. They are seen this way because they came over from Europe and took over the native’s land and then made them slaves in their own society. These peoples’ individual rights were taken away, and they were forced to live a life of oppression. The colonists took over the upper class, and pushed everyone else down because they felt that their way was better. Therefore, the upper class wrote the history of the oppressed nation, but of mother country exploiting the colonies. The only way to get the oppressed nation into history was if the individual rises up and decides to write what he has seen and heard. These natives then lie in wait to take over their rights and freedoms from which they have been stolen.” [...]
Source

eBook:
Frantz Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth (english)
Frantz Fanon – Les damnés de la terre (français original)

Regarding this alarming and critical issue on internet blocking policies, MACRA Act and media control, I would like to suggest to connect and exchange information in a more reliable, less controllable and more accessible way, which is “good old IRC”!

There is a channel #malawi on irc.freenode.net. For those who are not familiar with IRC (Internet Relay Chat), the easiest is to get an IRC Client and connect to the server chat.freenode.net, then entering the #malawi channel (e.g. command /join #malawi). One can also use the web frontend.

All the best, Lx

P.S. For those of you who’d like to know how to easily access the internet anonymously with a simple SSH tunnel, I’d like to recommend this blog post.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As a minor stakeholder in the information society; I was wondering that the regulator which was empowered under the Communications Act 1998, ordered Zodiak Broadcasting to stop live broadcasts and any updates to the events taking place across the country.

I have not seen the directive but somehow; instead of attending the public lecture at the Statehouse; one of the senior public sector officials wrote the directive. The point I am making here is that in the day and age where there is Internet with all the modern communications means including Facebook; Twitter; Blogs; Buzz, Youtube among the conventional media technologies; some of the policy implementation agencies could imagine a public black out to information. A birthright!

I have read the act in full and have participated in drafting the replacement act among other legal instruments that will guide the information sector. I could not understand the justification and basis. I was also surprised that there was no condemnation of the perpetrators of the violence against Zodiak in which a few vehicles were damaged and set alight.

My suggestion is we should leave politics to the politicians and act within the professional mandate for the sake of our beloved country and information sector.

If anyone is closer to the justification for the blackout and why MACRA and not law enforcement agencies; please keep me in the know.

Thanks and good luck.

Source: ITMalawi mailinglist

Further information: see Malawi Communications Act 1998 document.

Also read Malawi Voice article “MACRA bars demos broadcasting, Police beat up journalists”

[Update 9:29 pm]
Quote:

S*** thats imprtnt point MACRA shld knw that we stil in touch of events evry min’guys lets raise an alarm for this i hope as AOB ma bwana mwayitana ku AGM wo akauzidwe info is birthright.

[Update 11:09 pm]
Quote (reply):

Good people,

Does anyone know the policy for blocking Nyasatimes? I have observed the site is sometimes blocked and at times it is accessible. Does anyone know whether the blocking is done by ISP or at IXP level. As of now it is not accessible. It can only be opened through another site e.g. http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html. What surprises me is that similar sites such as http://www.malawivoice.com are not usually blocked.

Thanks,
B.

[Update 21th July 2011 10:29 am]
Quote (reply):

S******,

They said it was for national security reasons. You and I know that MACRA is more or less a political in spite of what the Act governing it says.

Why MACRA? Media houses fear them more than any other institution because they can suspend or withdraw their licence.

Justification? I believe they didn’t want people the live updates of violence in other parts of the country to encourage those in others to follow suit and flame the fires.

F.

[Update 21th July 2011 12:56 am]
Quote (reply):

With due respect, why are people so emotional to a point of missing issues of reason. Management at MACRA should/must not work like robots that should be programmed to follow the act by letter. Sometimes when its necessary,y necessity must shape their way of thinking. Rwanda was in a mess because radio was not well regulated during a crisis.

I do not blame MACRA at all because some stations were being emotional and that reflected on the masses behaviour. People in different towns were trying to out do each other.

[Update 22th July 2011 9:15]

Yes this topic is relevant in this forum because it concerns ICT. The reason that MACRA gave was just a cover up and they are not the real reasons for stopping live reporting and switching off transmission all together. We all know MACRA is government tool of making sure any anti-government news DON’T reach the public. Am sure if MACRA had a technical way it would block
some websites life facebook, nyasatimes and the like.

[Update 22th July 2011 9:23]

very relevant topic: ethics in the IT profession.

=^.^=
http://blog.lix.cc/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya.mp3

Look, please don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I feel like disappointed, cause I am not the person who likes to push and force things, but I like to see projects running with a certain automotive flow.

What I am strongly hoping and wishing is to establish and feed an autonomous and independent ICT movement which could compete with western and international standards. But as long as ICT donations do not turn into self deployment, I do not have any interest in feeding neo-colonial development aid and “begging culture”.I am sure you understand my point. It does not come with anger or frustration, but the intention to kick your University towards a paradigm shift which should lead to a thinking and understanding of independence and freedom.

“Anthu Ozindikira amagwirisa ntchito Free Software” (Self thinking humans use Software Libre)
The world is shifting and the political and commercial interest of western countries into Africa are trying to establish neo-imperial dependencies, which are deadly for African cultures.

I don’t like the role of the Imperialist Colonel Kurtz from Joseph Conrad’s story “Heart of darkness”. I want you, Poly and KCN to show that you can do it on your own. And don’t need the doctrine of western economies. This has not yet happened to a satisfiable extent, I think.

Maybe you can show and prove what Poly is doing with the gained knowledge and report how far the ICT dept. is working on research in the field of innovative ICT solutions?

Take care & all the best, Akulu-Akulu Alex