Surely the current GB members could have laid this matter to bed by not mentioning it anymore, and blame their predecessors if it ever was brought up?
By bringing this up, they are complicit in the actions of previous GB members.
It's very bizarre.
Malawi CRAP in April 15 2015 Watchtower
by Marvin Shilmer 15 Replies latest jw friends
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Earnest
Of course Malawi did not always have a one-party constitution. Within weeks of independence in July 1964 a serious rift opened between Dr Banda and some of his cabinet colleagues, particularly Mr Chipembere, who all resigned from the government. Dr Banda reacted in 1965 with security laws which allowed him to detain political opponents without trial. In 1966 the government adopted a one-party constitution and expected everyone to support it. By 1974 there were well over 1000 political detainees in the prison camps which suggests there were alternatives to party membership. The arguments that suggest the card did not indicate nominal affiliation and support for the Malawi Congress Party ignore the fact there were repeated card-checking campaigns in a bid to force party membership on the entire population. -
Marvin Shilmer
The arguments that suggest the card did not indicate nominal affiliation and support for the Malawi Congress Party ignore the fact there were repeated card-checking campaigns in a bid to force party membership on the entire population.
Not a bid to force party membership. It was a bid to get money. There was no registry of party affiliation. The card-checks you speak of demonstrate this. A person could have been an MCP supporter, but if they didn't have a card on them during a card-check guess what, they had to pony up 25-cents. It was about the money. Insofar as Banda and the then government was concerned, every Malawian citizen was a member of the MCP. The MCP was the government in Malawi.
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Earnest
There was no registry of party affiliation because there was only one party, and it was expected that you would support it. But it is clear that many did not and the touchstone was the membership card. The suggestion that this was about the money ignores the nature of African politics and the megalomania exhibited by Dr Banda throughout his rulership. -
Marvin Shilmer
There was no registry of party affiliation because there was only one party, and it was expected that you would support it.
Lack of a central membership directory (or any membership directory) means membership was not the issue in relation to the MCP card. What mattered was either having a card when you were asked for a card, or not having a card when you were asked for a card. If you didn't have a card that was a good thing from the perspective of the Youth League because it presented an opportunity for them to get money for compelling you to had over 25-cents for a card.
But it is clear that many did not and the touchstone was the membership card. The suggestion that this was about the money ignores the nature of African politics and the megalomania exhibited by Dr Banda throughout his rulership.
When it came to prison camps during the Banda era, it didn't matter if a person had an MCP card on their person or not. If Banda or the Young Pioneers viewed you as a threat for any reason, you ended up in one of these camps. If having an MCP card on the person made the difference between living in one of Banda's prison camps or not, 99-100 percent of the population of these camps would not have been there; they would have forked over the 25-cents and had one of these innocuous cards on their person. But they were in the camp whether they had a card or not, because either Banda or someone in his militarized Young Pioneers viewed the person as a threat.
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jwleaks
For those who are interested in obtaining US Diplomatic Cables and embassy reports on the Watchtower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses in Malawi will find the following link useful:
JW LEAKS Database: US Diplomatic Cables relating Jehovah's Witnesses (1973 - 1976)