By: Qeko
Is Malawi a secular state or a God fearing nation? This was the question that a close friend of mine asked as we were driving weeks ago. He wanted to know if at all what he read about my country in terms of its people and history is reflected in the nation’s constitution. This question opened my eyes and I later realised that the nation’s constitution does not say anything about the status of our nation in terms of its belief. This also created a debate within me because of the way our constitution was drafted in that it has no word to describe the nature and life of the people of Malawi which has given room for some to argue that Malawi is a secular state.
Realistically Malawians are religious people and that is what they have always been and this is what the constitution was to say as a way of introduction. The notion that Malawi is a secular state goes against the reality of what is on the ground. Malawi is a nation where majority of its people believes in God who made the heavens and the earth. They belief that there is the unseen Being somewhere who caused all what we see today come into being. This makes Malawians religious people. Statistically close to 94% of the population shares this belief in this God. This includes the Christians who are 80%, Muslims (25%), Bhahai (4%) and African Traditional Religion (5%). Now if we have to go by the demands of democracy and the power of the majority then we may as well declare that Malawi is a religious nation with a religious people.
However the tricky and irony of the matter is that in as much as the situation in the ground shows and demonstrate beyond measure that the nation is a religious with a belief in the unseen Being, the God of the heavens and the earth, the country’s constitution speaks different language on the matter. In this article, I will show that Malawi is not a secular State but a God fearing nation.
Firstly is that the situation on the ground in the country shows that Malawi is a religious nation. The statistics above proves beyond reasonable doubt that more than 90% of the people in Malawi believes in the unseen Being (God) who made the heavens and the earth. Now if in a democracy we go by the view and position of the majority vote then we may similarly say that Malawi is a religious state born out of the heart of the unseen Deity, the maker of the heavens and earth, God.
Secondly is that all our Presidents who have ruled this nation have always remembered to used words like, “God bless our nation/ God bless Malawi etc”, and have mentioned words like, God, Mulungu, Chauta in their speeches showing that they likewise shares the notion that the nation is a religious state. At the same time, as individuals they all believe in God the maker of heaven and earth. Infact even in the house of parliament close to 99.9% of the members believes that there is a God in heaven and many of them belong to various religious groups in the country.
Thirdly is that in our national anthem it is very clear that as Malawians we declare that only God can bless our nation. In this national anthem we declare, “Oh God bless our land of Malawi, keep it a land of peace, keep down each and every enemy….”. A national anthem is the declaration that the people of a particular country believes in. Strangely during the drafting of our constitution they forgot that as a people, Malawians in our national anthem we always declare that there is God who is the only one able to bless and protect our nation. This therefore shows beyond reasonable doubt that Malawi is a religious State, with a belief in God.
Finally is that in all the presidential functions in the country since independence, Clergy have always been included to open such meetings with a prayer and these have involved the Bishops, Revelands, Pastors, Sheiks and Apostles. Prayer has always been part of the program and no Presidential meetings have ever taken place without a prayer which means that in terms of general belief, Malawians believes in God. What this researcher means is that Dr. Kamuzu Banda, Dr. Bakili Muluzi and now Ngwazi Prof. Bingu Wa Muthalika, all include opening prayer in their programs. This researcher has never seen Presidential meeting starting without a prayer which is a strong sign that the Malawi is a God fearing nation and a religious state.
Finally is that the researcher believes that even if the referendum is done today, the results will still show that Malawians are religious people. Having said this, the researcher is of the view that something need to be done so that our constitution should reflect what the reality of the Malawi people. This as earlier explained, the constitution in terms of its belief and religious advocacy, it does not show a true picture of the Malawian people. In this regard, our house of parliament need to revisit this document so that it should reflect and show a true picture of the Malawi people which this researcher feels is fundamental
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