There is widespread speculation, however, that Dyet has been expelled from Malawi following publication of a story in the Weekend Nation titled ‘UK top diplomat speaks on Bingu.’ The story was based on a leaked diplomatic cable from the British High Commissioner to the UK government. “President Mutharika is becoming ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism. In a public speech on 6 March 2011, he called for his supporters to go to the streets to fight his critics to bring discipline in this country…” reads the cable dated March 2011.

The envoy also pointed out that there is strained relationship between the government and donors. “Some ambassadors have been summoned by the Foreign Minister for a dressing down, others (including me) have been summoned by the President’s brother for gentler delivery of the same message: stop supporting civil society to destabilize the government…” reads the leaked cable which further describes President Mutharika as “combative”.

The cable further said “….We want the Government to reverse its two-year slide on governance issues, mend fences with faith groups and civil society, and adopt a more open approach to dissenting views. We want civil society to be less confrontational.”

Published reports indicate that Dyet was summoned on Monday by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who have kept mum on reports of the British envoys’ expulsion.

Commenting on the reports, Political Affairs officer at the British High Commission, Lewis Kulisewa only said “…the British High Commissioner was summoned to see Foreign Affairs Minister on the afternoon of Monday, 18th April in response to an article published by the Weekend Nation. The High Commission awaits official notification of what the Minister said at that meeting and will then make a statement to the media.”

Meanwhile, a statement from the Foreign and Common Wealth Office in Britain quotes Acting Permanent Under Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Adams, as having warned that Malawi would face grave consequences if the decision to expel Cochrane-Dyet was implemented. Part of the statement reads: “Sir Geoffrey made it clear to the Charge d’Affaires that such an action would be unacceptable. Mr Cochrane-Dyet is an able and effective High Commissioner, who retains the full confidence of the British Government…if the Government of Malawi pursued such action there were likely to be consequences affecting the full range of issues in the bilateral relationship. He urged the Malawian authorities, through the Charge d’Affaires, not to proceed down such a road.”

Britain is a leading major bilateral donor for aid dependent Malawi. The governments of Germany, the United States and Norway have also expressed disquiet about the political climate in Malawi. A $350 million U.S. grant to improve Malawi's power supply network was delayed for several months until Washington said it had received "strong commitments" from the Malawi government to uphold human rights. The German government decreased aid after Malawi failed to repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality, and enacted laws seen as restricting media freedom. //End//

Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
Official Email: reagan(@)misa.org
Private Email: reagan32002(@)yahoo.com

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