Abstract
In May 1993, a month before a national referendum was held in Malawi, when the population was asked whether the country should change its political system from a single-party state to a multi-party democracy, a small incident took place in Chiradzulu district, just north of the country’s main city of Blantyre. As was the case elsewhere in the country’s Southern region, the campaigns of single-party advocates versus those of the multi-party option were intense. Throughout the Chiradzulu district those marching with the symbol (the black cock) of the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) were confronted with those marching with the ‘lamp’, the icon of the multiparty opposition. That particular day a car showing the MCP’s insignia forced a car belonging to the United Nations international observers’ team — including the current author — to stop at the side of the road and a neatly dressed elderly gentleman jumped out. Trembling with anger he screamed at the observers: ‘In this country we teach respect for old age! What have you been telling those boys at the registration-office down there? That they should act disrespectfully? This is how we dress in this country! Those boys cannot tell a “father” how to behave!’
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Van Dijk, R. (1999). Pentecostalism,Gerontocratic Rule and Democratization in Malawi: the Changing Position of the Young in Political Culture. In: Haynes, J. (eds) Religion, Globalization and Political Culture in the Third World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27038-5_8
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